Sunday 26 April 2015

BCP at Wingrave

Reflections on the Farewell Discourses in John 16

John 16:6—22

Third part of Farewell Discourses. Reminder of hostile world has particular relevance to what many Christians face today:

The time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God. 3 They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me. 4 I have told you this, so that when their time comes you will remember that I warned you about them. I did not tell you this from the beginning because I was with you, 5 but now I am going to him who sent me.

The disciples are warned against the world’s hatred, but are promised joys to come. There will be grief when Jesus goes away and is with them no longer, but this grief will turn to joy with the arrival of the Advocate—the Holy Spirit.

The main purpose of what Jesus says is to console the disciples post-Easter. The Comforter will come, who will accuse the world of wrongdoing, but act as the Disciples’ guide, when Jesus is no longer with them. For ‘them’ read ‘us.’

Now we are introduced to the Trinity, in a strong bond of relationship between Father, Son and Spirit of truth. The Spirit gives life.

What are these two time periods all about?

‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me.’

One is before his death. The other after. These are stressed by the use of rhetorical repetitions. Jesus knows what the disciples are discussing, and understands their confusion. ‘Verily’ or ‘Very truly’ (NRSV) marks a solemn introduction.

First, there will be a period of sorrow for the disciples, but rejoicing for the world. Second, the two are reversed, when the disciples’ pain is turned into permanent joy.

The period of a woman’s labour is used in the gospels as an image of the end of time, eschatological affliction, before we enter the joy in the Kingdom of Heaven. The time when the lost sheep allows itself to be found, which precedes a great feast.

Jesus’ prophecy will later prove a consolation to those who abandoned him. The farewell discourses end as Jesus assures the disciples of his peace, despite all the persecutions they will encounter. Their consolation, like ours, is their master’s victory over the forces of this world. That is the same consolation for all those Christians who are suffering today in various parts of the world for practising their faith.

Amen.

Sunday 12 April 2015

Faith and Belief part 2

Easter 2 at Great Brickhill – 12 April 2015

Invitation to Confession

Jesus said: Before you offer your gift, go and be reconciled. As brothers and sisters in God’s family, we come together to ask our Father for forgiveness.

Collect

Risen Christ,
for whom no door is locked, no entrance barred:
open the doors of our hearts,
that we may seek the good of others
and walk the joyful road of sacrifice and peace,
to the praise of God the Father.

Reading Exodus 14: 21 – 31

21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, 22 and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.

23 The Egyptians pursued them, and all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots and horsemen followed them into the sea. 24 During the last watch of the night the Lord looked down from the pillar of fire and cloud at the Egyptian army and threw it into confusion. 25 He jammed[b] the wheels of their chariots so that they had difficulty driving. And the Egyptians said, ‘Let’s get away from the Israelites! The Lord is fighting for them against Egypt.’

26 Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may flow back over the Egyptians and their chariots and horsemen.’27 Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the sea went back to its place. The Egyptians were fleeing towards[c] it, and the Lord swept them into the sea. 28 The water flowed back and covered the chariots and horsemen – the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed the Israelites into the sea. Not one of them survived.

29 But the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left. 30 That day the Lord saved Israel from the hands of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the shore. 31 And when the Israelites saw the mighty hand of the Lord displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant.

Reading Acts 4: 32 – 35

The believers share their possessions

32 All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. 33 With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all 34 that there was no needy person among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales 35 and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need.

36 Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means ‘son of encouragement’), 37 sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles’ feet.

Gospel Acclamation

Alleluia, alleluia. I am the first and the last, says the Lord, and the living one; I was dead, and behold I am alive for evermore. All Alleluia

Gospel John 20: 19 – 31

Jesus appears to his disciples

19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you!’ 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

21 Again Jesus said, ‘Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.’ 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.’

Jesus appears to Thomas

24 Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, ‘We have seen the Lord!’

But he said to them, ‘Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.’

26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you!’ 27 Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.’

28 Thomas said to him, ‘My Lord and my God!’

29 Then Jesus told him, ‘Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.’

The purpose of John’s gospel

30 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are written that you may believe[b] that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

Sermon

Two part sermon — this is part 2. They’re about belief and faith — resurrection and empty tomb. Part 1 can be found at wrightreverend.com.

Resurrection appearances in 4th gospel include 4 distinct events that focus on 3 people — Mary Magdalene (twice), Peter and Thomas. In between is a cameo with the other disciples when Jesus breathes into them and bestows on them the Holy Spirit, in preparation for his ascension.

John the Evangelist could have told his story very differently. Could have described atmosphere, crowds, drama, mystery. Instead he focuses on reactions and acts of certain individuals. Quite brief. Just description of what happened as they reported.

1. Mary Magdalene
Jesus makes first appearance to Mary. A woman. A disciple, but not from inner circle. She finds at the tomb the “stone rolled away.”

Does not say she looks into tomb. Goes to Peter — complains “they have taken the Lord away; do not know where they have laid him.”

Why does she assume body of Jesus missing? Why does she not just report stone rolled away? We don’t know.

2. Peter and unnamed disciple. John?
Peter runs to tomb, but is overtaken by ‘other disciple.’ Disciple hangs back, but Peter goes straight in. Sees body cloths. Sees rolled up head cloth separate from others. Sees tomb is empty. “Sees and believes.” What does he believe?

Both disciples just go home. Do not report to others. Too early? Dispersed? Dangerous? Peter believes, but may not understand truth behind what he has seen.

3. Mary (again)
Encounter in garden. Mary could not rest. Went back to tomb — woman invisible posing no political threat to authorities. Had vision of angels. Sees someone she assumes to be gardener. Post resurrection, Jesus’ appearance was different than it had been before.

4. Thomas and Other Disciples
Thomas is forever branded ‘doubting’ even though we may feel we would have wanted the same level of proof as he demanded, and his confession “My Lord and my God” is perhaps the single most bold and insightful in the whole of Scripture. Let’s call him Faithful Thomas for once.

Thomas is never criticised for his doubts. He is not told “Do not doubt” by Jesus, but “Do not be αφίστος — ‘unbelieving.’” Belief is not just a state of mind, but a relationship. To believe in the resurrection demanded more faith than Thomas initially possessed, but when his belief turned into a relationship with Jesus, and ultimately with the Father, then Thomas can be said to have suspended his unbelief and entered a relationship with God for all time.

That was the purpose of the writer of John’s gospel: ‘that you may believe, and may have life in his name.’

What are we to believe in? The Lent and Easter seasons are opportunities to reflect, and think about just what it is we believe when we encounter the empty tomb and the resurrection appearances of Jesus.

Thomas disbelieved when Jesus appeared to the other disciples, and an account of what happened was handed down to him later on. We are in the same boat, except all our post resurrection appearances are handed down to us through the ages, and we never had a real personal experience that Thomas and the other disciples had.

Not just empty tomb. Not just Jesus come back to life again. Empty tomb means more than all these. It’s the bedrock of our faith. The Empty Tomb, without which our faith is meaningless.

And the Empty Tomb means resurrection to new life, not only for Jesus himself but us in Jesus and through his name. This is what I mean when I say the Empty Tomb is the bedrock of our faith, because without it, our faith is no different from so many other forms of religion, which make less demands and are more readily believable.

For Jesus himself conquered sin and death through his incarnation and sacrifice, and each and every Easter reminds us afresh of what all this means for our salvation. He continues to bear the scars of the crucifixion, even in his resurrected body.

Nothing could be more important. Nothing could be more critical. Our response, each and every year, is to emulate Peter and Thomas who “...saw and believed.”

But unlike Peter, Thomas, Mary and the other disciples, 2,000 years of interpretation and revelation have passed. What we are called on to believe, as Peter found in the days and weeks to come, is so much more than he believed at the start. This is the message of this and every Easter season. ‘Blessed are those who have seen and believed. Blessed are we, who have not seen, and yet have believed.’ Amen.

Introduction to the Peace

The risen Christ came and stood among his disciples and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ Then were they glad when they saw the Lord. Alleluia.

Presentation of Gifts

Generous God, creator, redeemer, sustainer, at your table we present this money, symbol of the work you have given us to do; use it, use us, in the service of your world to the glory of your name.

Preparation of Table

Wise and gracious God, you spread a table before us; nourish your people with the word of life and the bread of heaven.

Short Preface

But chiefly are we bound to praise you because you raised him gloriously from the dead. For he is the true paschal lamb who was offered for us, and has taken away the sin of the world. By his death he has destroyed death, and by his rising to life again he has restored to us everlasting life.

Extended Preface for A, B and E

It is indeed right, our duty and our joy, always and everywhere to give you thanks, almighty and eternal Father, and in these days of Easter to celebrate with joyful hearts the memory of your wonderful works. For by the mystery of his passion Jesus Christ, your risen Son, has conquered the powers of death and hell and restored in men and women the image of your glory. He has placed them once more in paradise and opened to them the gate of life eternal. And so, in the joy of this Passover, earth and heaven resound with gladness, while angels and archangels and the powers of all creation sing forever the hymn of your glory:

Post Communion

Lord God our Father,
through our Saviour Jesus Christ
you have assured your children of eternal life
and in baptism have made us one with him:
deliver us from the death of sin
and raise us to new life in your love,
in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit,
by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Blessing

The God of peace, who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the eternal covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight; and the blessing …

Sunday 5 April 2015

Easter Day 2015

at Wingrave Methodist Church

The Gathering — Hymn

300 - Hail the day that sees him rise

Opening prayers confession

Collect for Easter Day

Hymn

247 – I danced in the morning

1st Reading – Acts 10

34 Then Peter began to speak: ‘I now realise how true it is that God does not show favouritism 35 but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right. 36 You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, announcing the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all.37 You know what has happened throughout the province of Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached – 38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.

39 ‘We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a cross, 40 but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. 41 He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen – by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 42 He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. 43 All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.’

44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. 45 The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on Gentiles. 46 For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God.

Then Peter said, 47 ‘Surely no one can stand in the way of their being baptised with water. They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.’ 48 So he ordered that they be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked Peter to stay with them for a few days.

Reflections on Acts

The 2 chapters 10 and 11 in Acts represent the central truth in the whole book, if not the entire New Testament. The first Easter dramatically changed the way the early Christians understood God’s activity in the world. This truth is played out in Acts, that God shows no favouritism in whom he calls.

At the time, if anyone thought Christianity was for the Jews alone, or if they believed they had joined a sect within Judaism, they were to be proved wrong in dramatic fashion.

At the start of our reading, Peter is addressing the family of Cornelius the centurion. Cornelius had a vision, and was instructed to send for Simon Peter who was in Joppa. Peter was unsure how to respond, and himself had the vision of the clean and unclean animals.

Cornelius was a gentile, of course, and a powerful man, but probably a proselyte. As soon as Peter heard about his vision, it became clear to him that salvation through faith in the crucified Christ and the grace of God was for all people, not just the Jews, and the family of Cornelius was filled with the Holy Spirit and baptised that very day.

The readings from Acts are set as compulsory for Easter Day. The reason for this is evident from what I have said. We can contemplate the grace of God towards us and all people as we hear once again the witness of Peter, firstly to God’s impartiality, and then as a witness to everything Jesus did, which ended in his death and resurrection.

42 He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. 43 All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.’

Psalm 118

14  The Lord is my strength and my defence;
he has become my salvation.
15  Shouts of joy and victory
resound in the tents of the righteous:
‘The Lord’s right hand has done mighty things!
16
The Lord’s right hand is lifted high;
the Lord’s right hand has done mighty things!’
17  I will not die but live,
and will proclaim what the Lord has done.
18 
The Lord has chastened me severely,
but he has not given me over to death.
19  Open for me the gates of the righteous;
I will enter and give thanks to the Lord.
20 
This is the gate of the Lord
through which the righteous may enter.
21  I will give you thanks, for you answered me;
you have become my salvation.
22 
The stone the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
23  the Lord has done this,
    and it is marvellous in our eyes.
24 
The Lord has done it this very day;
    let us rejoice today and be glad.
25  Lord, save us!
Lord, grant us success!

26  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
From the house of the Lord we bless you.
27  The Lord is God,
and he has made his light shine on us.
With boughs in hand, join in the festal procession
up to the horns of the altar.
28 
You are my God, and I will praise you;
you are my God, and I will exalt you.
29  Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his love endures forever.

Commentary on Psalm

Psalms 113 — 118 used at Passover. 113,114 said before the meal. 115 — 118 afterwards, with 4th cup of celebratory wine. Parts of 118 read in all 3 years on Easter Sunday and Palm Sunday.

All 4 gospel writers quote v26 in their Palm narratives: Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. In Mark 12, Jesus quotes v22 The stone the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
as his explanation for the so-called Parable of the Vineyard. Parts are also quoted in Acts, Romans and Hebrews.

Might have been sung as a hymn. Obviously familiar to people generally. Referring to corner stone, the psalm adds: 23  the Lord has done this,
    and it is marvellous in our eyes.

The Hebrew word “marvellous” can also be translated “difficult to understand”. Here today, as we contemplate the empty tomb, we echo the words of the Psalmist.

Hymn

306 – Now the green blade riseth

Gospel – John 20

The empty tomb
Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance.2 So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, ‘They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!’

3 So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4 Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7 as well as the cloth that had been wrapped round Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. 8 Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed.

Sermon

The resurrection appearances in John’s gospel include 4 distinct events that focus on 3 people — Mary Magdalene (twice), Peter and Thomas. This morning, we are concerned with Mary and Peter (plus an unnamed disciple).

John the Evangelist could have told his story very differently. Could have described atmosphere, crowds, drama, mystery. Instead he focuses on reactions and acts of certain individuals. Quite brief. Just description of what happened as they reported.

1. Mary Magdalene
Jesus makes first appearance to Mary. A woman. A disciple, but not from inner circle. She finds at the tomb the “stone rolled away.”

Does not say she looks into tomb. Goes to Peter — complains “they have taken the Lord away; do not know where they have laid him.”

Why does she assume body of Jesus missing? Why does she not just report stone rolled away? Can she see from outside tomb that contents have been tampered with? Does she assume theft of body as only reason for tomb being open? We don’t know.

2. Peter and unnamed disciple. John?
Peter runs to tomb, but is overtaken by ‘other disciple.’ Disciple hangs back, but Peter goes straight in. Sees body cloths. Sees rolled up head cloth separate from others. Sees tomb is empty. “Sees and believes.” What does he believe?

Both disciples just go home. Do not report to others. Too early? Dispersed? Dangerous? Peter believes, but may not understand truth behind what he has seen. Did not believe in resurrection necessarily — that would take a lot more faith than from merely observing a missing body. But convinced something marvellous had come about — not merely theft of body by Roman soldiers anxious to avoid ‘martyrdom.’

This level of belief only led to faith when they had processed what had come about, and this meant not only seeing empty tomb, but Jesus himself. Could there be any other explanation for what the disciples all did next, transforming from frightened, disbelieving, quarrelsome bunch to men of strong faith, standing up for what they had witnessed to the death.

3. Mary (again)
Encounter in garden. Mary could not rest. Went back to tomb — woman invisible posing no political threat to authorities. Had vision of angels. Sees someone she assumes to be gardener. Post resurrection, Jesus’ appearance was different than it had been before.

Mary tries to hold on to Jesus — hold on to incarnation — not let go. Then returns to other disciples and announces “I have seen the Lord.” Again, it was a woman who confessed the truth as she saw it first. It was to a woman that Jesus first appeared in post resurrection form.

Then writer of John’s gospel states his purpose: ‘that you may believe, and may have life in his name.’ What are we to believe in?

Not just stolen body. Not just empty tomb. Not just Jesus come back to life again. Empty tomb means more than all these. It’s the bedrock of our faith. Most doctrine and many events related in scripture can be negotiable — no particular set of beliefs is mandatory. There’s little we have to buy into, in order to call ourselves Christians. Except the Empty Tomb, without which our faith is meaningless.

And the Empty Tomb means resurrection to new life, not only Jesus himself but us in Jesus and through his name. This is what I mean when I say the Empty Tomb is the bedrock of our faith, because without it, our faith is no different from so many other forms of religion, which make less demands and are more readily believable. For Jesus himself conquered sin and death through his incarnation and sacrifice, and each and every Easter Day reminds us afresh of what all this means for our salvation. Nothing could be more important. Nothing could be more critical. Our response, each and every year, is to emulate Peter. “He saw and believed.” But unlike Peter, 2,000 years of interpretation and revelation have passed. What we are called on to believe, as Peter found in the days and weeks to come, is so much more than he believed at the start. This is the message of this and every Easter Day. Blessed are those who have seen and believed. Blessed are we, who have not seen, and yet have believed. Amen.

Hymn

568 – Alleluia sing to Jesus

Prayers of Intercession

Led by: John Cotton — Use pp164-166 and enlarge on the prayers — finish with Lord’s Prayer.

Peace

Creed and Peace

Hymn

351 – In Christ alone my hope is found

Communion

Followed by Prayers and Dismissal

Hymn

94 – To God be the glory