tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-41751304360272120272024-02-07T13:34:56.736+00:00From the Cottesloe TeamA regular diary by the Revd Robert Wright working in the Cottesloe Team of churches in BuckinghamshireUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger397125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4175130436027212027.post-68265937878398381462020-03-05T14:51:00.001+00:002020-03-05T14:51:22.568+00:00Let your light shine<h4>9th February 2020 at Great Brickhill</h4><h4><br></h4><h4>Reading—Isaiah 58</h4><p><b>58 </b>“Shout it aloud, do not hold back.<br> Raise your voice like a trumpet.<br>Declare to my people their rebellion<br> and to the descendants of Jacob their sins.<br><b><sup>2 </sup></b>For day after day they seek me out;<br> they seem eager to know my ways,<br>as if they were a nation that does what is right<br> and has not forsaken the commands of its God.<br>They ask me for just decisions<br> and seem eager for God to come near them.<br><b><sup>3 </sup></b>‘Why have we fasted,’ they say,<br> ‘and you have not seen it?<br>Why have we humbled ourselves,<br> and you have not noticed?’<p>“Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please<br> and exploit all your workers.<br><b><sup>4 </sup></b>Your fasting ends in quarrelling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists.<br>You cannot fast as you do today<br> and expect your voice to be heard on high.<br><b><sup>5 </sup></b>Is this the kind of fast I have chosen,<br> only a day for people to humble themselves?<br>Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed<br> and for lying in sackcloth and ashes?<br>Is that what you call a fast,<br> a day acceptable to the Lord?<p><b><sup>6 </sup></b>“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:<br>to loose the chains of injustice<br> and untie the cords of the yoke,<br>to set the oppressed free<br> and break every yoke?<br><b><sup>7 </sup></b>Is it not to share your food with the hungry<br> and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—<br>when you see the naked, to clothe them,<br> and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?<br><b><sup>8 </sup></b>Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear;<br>then your righteousness<sup>[</sup><a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=isaiah+58&version=NIV#fen-NIV-18795a"><sup>a</sup></a><sup>]</sup> will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.<br><b><sup>9 </sup></b>Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.<h4>Reading—1 Corinthians 2</h4><p><b>2 </b>And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God.<sup>[</sup><a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+corinthians+2&version=NIV#fen-NIV-28396a"><sup>a</sup></a><sup>]</sup> <b><sup>2 </sup></b>For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. <b><sup>3 </sup></b>I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. <b><sup>4 </sup></b>My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, <b><sup>5 </sup></b>so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.<p><b><sup>6 </sup></b>We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. <b><sup>7 </sup></b>No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. <b><sup>8 </sup></b>None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. <b><sup>9 </sup></b>However, as it is written:<p>“What no eye has seen,<br> what no ear has heard,<br>and what no human mind has conceived”—the things God has prepared for those who love him—<p><b><sup>10 </sup></b>these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit.<p>The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. <b><sup>11 </sup></b>For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. <b><sup>12 </sup></b>What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. <b><sup>13 </sup></b>This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words.<h4>Gospel Matthew 5</h4><p><b>Salt and Light</b><p><b><sup>13 </sup></b>“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.<p><b><sup>14 </sup></b>“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. <b><sup>15 </sup></b>Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. <b><sup>16 </sup></b>In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.<p><b>The Fulfilment of the Law</b><p><b><sup>17 </sup></b>“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfil them. <b><sup>18 </sup></b>For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. <b><sup>19 </sup></b>Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. <b><sup>20 </sup></b>For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.<h4>Sermon</h4><p>A few years ago, Vicky gave me a book for Christmas. In reality, our presents are something we would both enjoy: after almost 48 years of marriage, we have run short of gift ideas. But this book was special: Vicky had painstakingly stuck a gold star against all the places we had visited, and identified other places on our bucket list.<p>My own ideas of travel destinations does not necessarily agree with the author of this book—but that’s perhaps not surprising. I tend to lose interest quite quickly when vising the Grand Canyon but am fascinated by Japan, and can spend hours discussing the merits of coloured stones displayed under water, or debating the wonders of the top ten gardens.<p>After the terrible sight of the receding ice cap and glaciers of Greenland, I am not sure I can justify any more trips but at least we have a book of gold stars to remember our past trips, and our new lifestyle in Wendover is compact.<p>Short haul, Eurostar, and small ship cruises are a more politically correct alternative. Recently we discovered an upside down lighthouse in Northern Ireland. And on two trips to Germany by boat I found a shop in Regensburg where they only stocked herbs, spices, pepper, salt and many other condiments in amazing profusion. One grinder dispensed pink sea salt and peppercorns in one handy action.<p>I was reminded of both these finds when I looked in my lectionary to check this week’s gospel reading.<p>The lighthouse on Rathlin Island could not be constructed on the cliff top. It was too high, and the light would shine uselessly over the top of many ships. So they built the light half way down the cliff and the accommodation and facilities higher up. However bright, the light was of no value unless it can be seen clearly, assist navigation and warn sailors.<p>In Schuhbecks Gewürze you could sample all the salts and peppers—selecting just the right colour and taste. Some salts I found are very salty indeed—others are milder. Now on our dining room table we can season food with salt and pepper in one go.<p>It doesn’t take a genius to see what I am getting at, and how these two seemingly random experiences illustrate today’s gospel reading.<p><b><i><sup>13 </sup></i></b><i>“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? </i>Says Jesus. No doubt there were different strengths of salt from the Dead Sea at the time—and of course salt was used as a currency—that’s where the word <i>salary</i> comes from.<p>If for some reason salt gets damp, it rapidly becomes useless, only fit to be tossed underfoot or on our frozen roads and pavements. You cannot make it salty again, once it has lost its flavour.<p>A slightly more meaningful illustration is the common allegory of the light throughout Scripture. <b><i><sup>14 </sup></i></b><i>“You are the light of the world…</i> says Jesus. You can’t hide a village if it is built on a hilltop. Also you don’t conceal a light under a basket. Instead, the lamp is placed high up on a stand where it gives the most effective illumination.<p>As Christians, we are meant to be obvious—not hidden or weak, but giving light to everyone in the house.<p>“Look to”—says the bellringer. “Treble’s going! She’s gone”—and the bells ring out loudly—heard throughout the village. This is how we are meant to be. The bells announce the worship of God—who cares if they are sometimes out of time.<p>The light. The flavour. The call to worship. Which leads me on to my favourite invitation to the Offertory which those who come to BCP will hear regularly. I bet you didn’t know this comes after the mini parable of the <i>Light under the Bushel</i>—where Jesus says:<p><b><i><sup>16 </sup></i></b><i>In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.</i><p>So let us ensure we maintain the flavour of the good news and not water it down, or become lukewarm. And shine as a light to the world—so that they may see our good deeds and glorify our Father, who is in heaven.<p><b>Amen</b></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4175130436027212027.post-57651046440928368692020-03-05T14:47:00.001+00:002020-03-05T14:47:16.189+00:00Death through Adam–Life in Christ<h4>Reading—Genesis 2:15-17,3:1-7</h4><p><b><sup>5 </sup></b>The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. <b><sup>16 </sup></b>And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; <b><sup>17 </sup></b>but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”<p><b>3 </b>Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”<p><b><sup>2 </sup></b>The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, <b><sup>3 </sup></b>but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”<p><b><sup>4 </sup></b>“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. <b><sup>5 </sup></b>“For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”<p><b><sup>6 </sup></b>When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. <b><sup>7 </sup></b>Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.<h4>Reading—Romans 5</h4><h5>Death Through Adam, Life Through Christ</h5><p><b><sup>12 </sup></b>Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned—<p><b><sup>13 </sup></b>To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone’s account where there is no law. <b><sup>14 </sup></b>Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who is a pattern of the one to come.<p><b><sup>15 </sup></b>But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! <b><sup>16 </sup></b>Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. <b><sup>17 </sup></b>For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!<p><b><sup>18 </sup></b>Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people. <b><sup>19 </sup></b>For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.<h4>Gospel Matthew 4</h4><p><b>Praise to you, O Christ, King of eternal glory. The Lord is a great God, O that today you would listen to his voice. Harden not your hearts.</b><h5>Jesus Is Tested in the Wilderness</h5><p><b>4 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted<sup>[</sup></b><a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=matthew+4&version=NIV#fen-NIV-23211a"><b><sup>a</sup></b></a><b><sup>]</sup> by the devil. <sup>2 </sup>After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. <sup>3 </sup>The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”</b><p><b><sup>4 </sup>Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’<sup>[</sup></b><a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=matthew+4&version=NIV#fen-NIV-23214b"><b><sup>b</sup></b></a><b><sup>]</sup>”</b><p><b><sup>5 </sup>Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. <sup>6 </sup>“If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:</b><p><b>“‘He will command his angels concerning you,<br> and they will lift you up in their hands,<br> so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’<sup>[</sup></b><a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=matthew+4&version=NIV#fen-NIV-23216c"><b><sup>c</sup></b></a><b><sup>]</sup>”</b><p><b><sup>7 </sup>Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’<sup>[</sup></b><a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=matthew+4&version=NIV#fen-NIV-23217d"><b><sup>d</sup></b></a><b><sup>]</sup>”</b><p><b><sup>8 </sup>Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendour. <sup>9 </sup>“All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”</b><p><b><sup>10 </sup>Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’<sup>[</sup></b><a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=matthew+4&version=NIV#fen-NIV-23220e"><b><sup>e</sup></b></a><b><sup>]</sup>”</b><p><b><sup>11 </sup>Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.</b><h4><b>Sermon</b></h4><p><b>Our new house was built in 2006— younger than Tattlers but less frequented by trades people. It is one of 6 houses surrounding a courtyard. The courtyard is planted with shrubs, trees and lawns.</b><p><b>Last year two arguments surfaced, very politely, to disturb its tranquillity. The first concerned a Japanese Acer which stands proud in the centre of a large lawn. One of the male residents wanted it cut down, as it seemed to be dropping leaves in the autumn and looked slightly poorly. This proposal was unanimously rejected without much further consideration.</b><p><b>The second argument concerned the lawn. It was infected by chafer bugs. The resident rooks could hear the little blighters below the surface, and dug them up with their huge beaks, leaving a wreckage that resembled the battle of the Somme. The only sure-fire cure was offered by a lawn treatment company, but this was quickly rejected as it contained nicotinoids which were banned by the EU. So we ended up digging up the whole lawn and returfing it. The jury is out on whether or not the bugs are still down below and whether the stronger grass roots with deter the rooks.</b><p><b>Just after the lawn was re-laid, we received instructions on how to look after it. We organised a rota to water it every day, barring rain. We bought a new hose that extended like a serpent. And we had to avoid walking on the new turfs for at least 6 weeks.</b><p><b>One or two people were keen to walk over the lawn in order to remove dead leaves and plant some bulbs under the tree. It won’t be harmed, they insisted. They were just saying that to cover themselves. We resisted temptation, and even the serpent could not prevail against the prophets of hope, like myself.</b><p><b>The Genesis story is, of course, an attempt to explain why things are the way they are. Putting together these readings from the lectionary for the start of Lent adds a more modern perspective. The passage from Romans describes how Sin entered creation through the actions of human beings. This led to death through Adam, but to life through Jesus Christ our Lord.</b><p><b>To try and understand what the writer of the letter to the Romans is saying, you need to penetrate the dense and complex text, but the main thrust is clear:</b><p><b><i><sup>15 </sup>….the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! </i></b><p><b>As we have discovered with increasing horror as time goes on, Sin is toxic in the world. As the citation to VE75 starts:</b><p><b><i>When VE Day dawns on 8th May 2020 it will be 75 years since the guns fell silent at the end of the war in Europe. Years of carnage and destruction had come to an end and millions of people took to the streets and pubs to celebrate peace, mourn their loved – ones and to hope for the future….</i></b><p><b>Wherever it is found and however it impacts, Sin cannot be taken for granted. In recent years, we have experienced many examples of institutional as well as random acts of Sin. </b><p><b>The salvation offered by Romans could not be taken for granted after the incarnation that first Christmas. In today’s gospel reading, Jesus’s freedom from any sin was still tested in the Wilderness. The temptations by Satan are clearly appropriate to what Jesus must have been feeling at the start of his ministry, but when the devil left him, he was not gone for good and re-emerged prior to the crucifixion and in the garden of Gethsemane. </b><p><b>Individually these temptations invite Jesus to turn aside from faith and trust in the Father. </b><p><b>1. </b><b>In the first, the devil invites Jesus to prove his sonship through a display of power; that is, by establishing his validity through his own abilities. </b><p><b>2. </b><b>In the second, the temptation is to test God's fidelity. </b><p><b>3. </b><b>In the third, Jesus is promised all the power and glory the earth can offer if he will give his allegiance and devotion to the Tempter. </b><p><b>In each case, Jesus rejects the temptation and fixes his identity, future, and his time here on earth on God's trustworthiness and grace.</b><p><b>The temptation of Christ harks back to the wanderings of the Israelites in the wilderness. One lasts 40 days and the other 40 years. Both concern what it is to be human. Both are temptations to mistrust God and put our faith, not in him, but in our own worth and abilities. But so often we come up against the awareness that we are insufficient and not complete in ourselves. Our experience of temptation does not end after a certain period of time. Our own temptation lasts a lifetime. May the Lord God give you strength to withstand and hold out for as long as we endure. Amen</b></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4175130436027212027.post-56411514259634762372019-12-24T16:55:00.000+00:002019-12-24T16:55:09.666+00:00Brooding presence of the Light overcomes malevolence of Darkness<h2>Wingrave Church – Midnight Mass</h2><h2>Reading Isaiah 9:2—7</h2><p><sup>2 </sup>The people walking in darkness<br> have seen a great light;<br>on those living in the land of deep darkness<br> a light has dawned.<br><sup>3 </sup>You have enlarged the nation<br> and increased their joy;<br>they rejoice before you<br> as people rejoice at the harvest,<br>as warriors rejoice<br> when dividing the plunder.<br><sup>4 </sup>For as in the day of Midian’s defeat,<br> you have shattered<br>the yoke that burdens them,<br> the bar across their shoulders,<br> the rod of their oppressor.<br><sup>5 </sup>Every warrior’s boot used in battle<br> and every garment rolled in blood<br>will be destined for burning,<br> will be fuel for the fire.<br><sup>6 </sup>For to us a child is born,<br> to us a son is given,<br> and the government will be on his shoulders.<br>And he will be called<br> Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God,<br> Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.<br><sup>7 </sup>Of the greatness of his government and peace<br> there will be no end.<br>He will reign on David’s throne<br> and over his kingdom,<br>establishing and upholding it<br> with justice and righteousness<br> from that time on and forever.<br>The zeal of the Lord Almighty<br> will accomplish this.<h4>Gospel Acclamation</h4><p>Alleluia, alleluia. <p>The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory.<p>All <b>Alleluia.</b><h3>Gospel Luke 2:1—14</h3><h3>The birth of Jesus</h3><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody><tr><td valign="top"><p><br></p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. <sup>2 </sup>(This was the first census that took place while<sup> </sup>Quirinius was governor of Syria.) <sup>3 </sup>And everyone went to their own town to register.<p><sup>4 </sup>So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. <sup>5 </sup>He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. <sup>6 </sup>While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, <sup>7 </sup>and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.<p><sup>8 </sup>And there were shepherds living out in the fields near by, keeping watch over their flocks at night. <sup>9 </sup>An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. <sup>10 </sup>But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. <sup>11 </sup>Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. <sup>12 </sup>This will be a sign to you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.’<p><sup>13 </sup>Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,<p><sup>14 </sup>‘Glory to God in the highest heaven,<br> and on earth peace to those on whom his favour rests.’<h3> Sermon</h3><p><b>Two readings—Isaiah 9—Luke 2</b>. <br>Both are familiar—read each year on the night before Christmas. You might have thought they are entirely different—both in intention and separation by nearly 750 years. But not so—we are justified in placing these two pieces of prophecy side by side.<p>Reading from <b>first book of Isaiah—</b><i><sup>2 </sup>The people walking in darkness<br> have seen a great light;<br>on those living in the land of deep darkness<br> a light has dawned.<br></i>—is set around 732BC. Northern kingdom of Israel has fallen to Assyrians—Assyrian army is conquering the whole region. Barely 2 centuries later Southern kingdom of Judah will also fall—this time to Babylon and sent into exile.<p><b>All is darkness and failure</b>—but the prophecy sets a different tone. <i>People who walk in darkness have seen a great light</i>—and they are to be joyful and rejoice—for a child is born who will reverse their fortunes and save them—he will become a great governor—a man of peace—there will be justice and righteousness throughout the kingdom.<p><b>“Great light”</b> is actually a theme continued from the chapters before. In Isaiah 7, God offers to all of Israel a prophetic sign of peace in the face of imminent political disaster from conquering nations. <p>This sign is the birth and name of an actual child, Immanuel, which means <b>“God-Is-With-Us.”</b> This child is meant to be a physical sign of God’s assurance that no disaster will befall Jerusalem. But the frightened and faithless king ultimately rejects it, and with it, God’s saving help. <p>The parallels in <b>Luke 2</b> are evident—similar background is oppression, failure, separation from God, and despair—all symbolized by the brooding presence of darkness—again the theme of light. From this unpromising context there emerges hope—the birth of a saviour from the line of David.<p>On this <b>eve of another Christmas</b>—we gather once again in the place of meeting to await the coming of the Christ-child. This time—unlike Isaiah 9—God’s promises will not be frustrated and fail—regardless of the malevolent presence of evil that leads Immanuel to the cross. Even this apparent failure is not the end.<p>The dawn brings the <b>new light</b>—there will be rejoicing—this is a statement of faith, hope and gratitude. Just as it appears the powers of this world have a firm hold on humanity—God’s power brings the final victory.<p>How can we Christian listeners fail to hear in the words of the 8<sup>th</sup> C prophet the whole reason why we are here tonight?<p><i><sup>6 </sup></i><i>For to us a child is born,<br> to us a son is given,<br> and the government will be on his shoulders.<br>And he will be called<br> Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God,<br> Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.<br><sup>7 </sup>Of the greatness of his government and peace<br> there will be no end.<br>He will reign on David’s throne<br> and over his kingdom,<br>establishing and upholding it<br> with justice and righteousness<br> from that time on and forever.<br>The zeal of the Lord Almighty<br> will accomplish this.</i><p><b>Amen—Come Lord Jesus.</b></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4175130436027212027.post-89359823551460913642019-11-24T16:51:00.000+00:002019-11-24T16:51:02.401+00:00Christ the King<h2>Wingrave Methodist Church – 24th November 2019</h2><h3>Old Testament Jeremiah 23:1—6</h3><p><b> The righteous branch</b><p><b>23 </b>‘Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of my pasture!’ declares the Lord. <b><sup>2 </sup></b>Therefore this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says to the shepherds who tend my people: ‘Because you have scattered my flock and driven them away and have not bestowed care on them, I will bestow punishment on you for the evil you have done,’ declares the Lord. <b><sup>3 </sup></b>‘I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them and will bring them back to their pasture, where they will be fruitful and increase in number. <b><sup>4 </sup></b>I will place shepherds over them who will tend them, and they will no longer be afraid or terrified, nor will any be missing,’ declares the Lord.<p><b><sup>5 </sup></b>‘The days are coming,’ declares the Lord,<br> ‘when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch,<br>a King who will reign wisely<br> and do what is just and right in the land.<br><b><sup>6 </sup></b>In his days Judah will be saved<br> and Israel will live in safety.<br>This is the name by which he will be called:<br> The Lord Our Righteous Saviour.<h3>Colossians 1:15—23</h3><p><b> The supremacy of the Son of God</b><p><b><sup>15 </sup></b>The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. <b><sup>16 </sup></b>For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. <b><sup>17 </sup></b>He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. <b><sup>18 </sup></b>And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. <b><sup>19 </sup></b>For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, <b><sup>20 </sup></b>and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.<p><b><sup>21 </sup></b>Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behaviour. <b><sup>22 </sup></b>But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation – <b><sup>23 </sup></b>if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.<h4>Gospel Luke 23:33—43</h4><p><b><sup>33 </sup></b>When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals – one on his right, the other on his left. <b><sup>34 </sup></b>Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.’ And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.<p><b><sup>35 </sup></b>The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, ‘He saved others; let him save himself if he is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.’<p><b><sup>36 </sup></b>The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar <b><sup>37 </sup></b>and said, ‘If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.’<p><b><sup>38 </sup></b>There was a written notice above him, which read: this is the king of the jews.<p><b><sup>39 </sup></b>One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: ‘Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!’<p><b><sup>40 </sup></b>But the other criminal rebuked him. ‘Don’t you fear God,’ he said, ‘since you are under the same sentence? <b><sup>41 </sup></b>We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.’<p><b><sup>42 </sup></b>Then he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’<p><b><sup>43 </sup></b>Jesus answered him, ‘Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.’<h3>Sermon</h3><p>Back in 1925, Pope Pius XI instituted a new feast day in the Roman Catholic church. He called it <i>Christ the King</i>. <p>Other churches adopted the feast day with the <i>Revised Common Lectionary</i>. It was moved to the last Sunday in Advent, where it remains today. There is also another name for this Sunday, which comes from the post-communion prayer, but I will leave you to discover that for yourselves. Listen out for when I pray this prayer after the sermon.<p>The Pope apparently wanted to highlight the increasing secularism of the age. People were more keen to live in the kingdom of this world than look towards the kingdom of heaven.<p>You may be wondering what was the link between secularism and Christ the King. In truth, the Pope was keen to settle an argument that had been debated in the church since as far back in time as St Cyril of Alexandria. The theological difference of opinion concerned the supremacy of Christ over all things.<p>And so, as we prepare to begin a new church year next week with the First Sunday of Advent, and the coming of Jesus, not only in Bethlehem, but the second coming as well, we pause and reflect upon who Jesus the Christ is in our lives. <p>To challenge our thinking we turn, not to stables and shepherds, but to the final trial of Jesus. If we are to live in God’s Kingdom, we, like Pilate, need to know the answer to the question “are you king of the Jews?” or in other words “Are you Christ the King?”<p>So, let’s have another look at Jesus’s trial before Pontius Pilate from John’s gospel. <p>1. The opening scene of the trial begins when Jesus is brought to the Roman procurator’s headquarters. Pilate asks what is the charge, and gets no answer—except that Jesus is a criminal.<p>2. Pilate retreats into his palace to interview Jesus privately. “Are you King of the Jews?” he asks. Pilate is not concerned whether or not Christ is the anointed one. <sup>35 </sup>“Am I a Jew?” he scoffs. But if Jesus is a political leader who might challenge the supremacy of Rome, and with it Pilate’s position and power, that is a very different matter.<p>From our perspective in the modern age, we know that John has been telling us, from the beginning of his gospel, that Jesus is in fact the King of Israel. When seeking Jesus, whom his brother, Phillip, has told him is the one spoken of by Moses and the prophets, Nathanael declares, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” (John 1:49). <p>The gospel then goes on to explain that Jesus is not a king that the world would ever recognise. He is a king who speaks to the lowly and the rejected. He is a king who serves rather than being served. Jesus is a king who enters the holy city, not triumphantly on a horse, but seated on a donkey (John 12:14). He is the <i>Servant King.</i><p>Pilate asks what crime Jesus has committed. Jesus replies that his kingdom is not of this world. Pilate cannot understand such a king as that.<p>We know that Jesus is the Word of God that has become “flesh and lived among us.” Jesus has come from God and has come “so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16b).<p>We also know that, in order to recognise this king, this only Son, we must be “born from above” (John 3:3). Unless we have experienced this new birth, we, like Pilate, are unable to recognize the kingdom of God that surrounds us on all sides—this is the reign of Christ the King. <p>In the end, Pilate mocks both Jesus and the Jews. He could never understand that Jesus is a king not of this world, and not like any in this world. But in the end, Pilate unknowingly speaks the truth. “Here is your king” he says to the people.<p>And over the cross Pilate places the announcement for all to see, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews” (John 19:19)<p>Today’s gospel passage shows the practical effect of belief in Jesus Christ—both as <i>anointed one</i> and king of the Jews. Jesus has been brought to the ‘Place of the Skull’ as is crucified along with two criminals. <p><b><i><sup>35 </sup></i></b><i>The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, ‘He saved others; let him save himself if he is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.’</i><p><b><i><sup>36 </sup></i></b><i>The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar <b><sup>37 </sup></b>and said, ‘If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.’</i><p>The only one to express any faith was the second criminal, who said.<p><b><i><sup>41 </sup></i></b><i>We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man [Jesus] has done nothing wrong.’</i><p><b><i><sup>42 </sup></i></b><i>Then he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’</i><p><b><i><sup>43 </sup></i></b><i>Jesus answered him, ‘Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.’</i><p>Today is the last Sunday in the church’s year. Today we are invited to respond, in preparation for Advent which is coming. Are we willing to accept Jesus as our King, or are we drawn more towards the kingdoms of this increasingly secular age, with all its evils and distractions?<p>Do we live in the time of God’s new reign? Are we followers of the <i>Servant King</i>? Does the way we live our lives reflect that service? Do we reach out to the least and the lost? In short—are we fully citizens of God’s Kingdom? And can we answer Pilate’s prophetic question: “What is Truth?”<p><i><sup>14 </sup>The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.</i></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4175130436027212027.post-21135282953619432122019-11-07T10:04:00.001+00:002019-11-07T10:04:46.247+00:00Stand Firm<h3>2nd Sunday before Advent—17th November 2019—Gt Brickhill</h3><h4>Gospel Luke 21</h4><p>Alleluia, alleluia. Welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls. <i>All</i> <b>Alleluia.</b><p><b><sup>5 </sup></b>Some of his disciples were remarking about how the temple was adorned with beautiful stones and with gifts dedicated to God. But Jesus said, <b><sup>6 </sup></b>‘As for what you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another; every one of them will be thrown down.’<p><b><sup>7 </sup></b>‘Teacher,’ they asked, ‘when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are about to take place?’<p><b><sup>8 </sup></b>He replied: ‘Watch out that you are not deceived. For many will come in my name, claiming, “I am he,” and, “The time is near.” Do not follow them. <b><sup>9 </sup></b>When you hear of wars and uprisings, do not be frightened. These things must happen first, but the end will not come right away.’<p><b><sup>10 </sup></b>Then he said to them: ‘Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. <b><sup>11 </sup></b>There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven.<p><b><sup>12 </sup></b>‘But before all this, they will seize you and persecute you. They will hand you over to synagogues and put you in prison, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name. <b><sup>13 </sup></b>And so you will bear testimony to me. <b><sup>14 </sup></b>But make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves. <b><sup>15 </sup></b>For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict. <b><sup>16 </sup></b>You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers and sisters, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death. <b><sup>17 </sup></b>Everyone will hate you because of me. <b><sup>18 </sup></b>But not a hair of your head will perish. <b><sup>19 </sup></b>Stand firm, and you will win life.<h4>Sermon</h4><p>Jesus has a generally positive attitude to the Jerusalem Temple, which makes his predictions of the Temple’s destruction all the more stark.<p>We have been reading through Luke’s gospel. He tells us, for example:<ul><li>Simeon enters the Temple ‘guided by the Spirit’ (2:27);
<li>It is a place of ‘fasting and prayer’ (2:37; 18:10; 19:45);
<li>The boy Jesus was discovered there learning (2:46);
<li>Jesus attempts to protect the space as a “house of prayer” (19:45). </li></ul><p>The destruction of the Temple was not therefore something to be desired. <p>After the prophecy in today’s reading, Luke records Jesus as teaching in the Temple on several more occasions; and the final verse of Luke’s Gospel reports not only the disciples worship <i>of Jesus</i> (in itself quite shocking for first-century Jews!) but also how they remained ‘continually in the Temple blessing God’ (24:53). <p>In Acts, Luke’s follow-on from his gospel:<ul><li>Peter and John attend the ‘hour of prayer’ at Temple (3:1-3) and heal a disabled man who ‘entered the Temple with them’ (3:8-10);
<li>The apostles teach in the Temple area regularly (5:20-25); in fact, ‘every day in the Temple’ they taught Jesus as Messiah (5:42);
<li>Paul claims to have done nothing wrong ‘against the temple’ (25:8);
<li>Paul even received his ‘revelation’ (of Jesus’s Gospel) in the Temple itself (22:17). </li></ul><p>Now, you may be thinking of the words of Jesus when he threatened to destroy the Temple and rebuild it in 3 days. You’ll recall that this promise was used by his accusers during the trial leading up to Jesus’s crucifixion.<p>In John 2:18ff he says:<p><b><i><sup>18 </sup></i></b><i>The Jews then responded to him, ‘What sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?’</i><p><b><i><sup>19 </sup></i></b><i>Jesus answered them, ‘Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.’</i><p><b><i><sup>20 </sup></i></b><i>They replied, ‘It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?’ <b><sup>21 </sup></b>But the temple he had spoken of was his body. <b><sup>22 </sup></b>After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.</i><p>The same accusation is made in Matthew 26 and Mark 15—as well as against the early Christians at the trial of Stephen, the first martyr.<p>These accounts are rather different from today’s passage. Jesus seems to be warning the disciples about the so-called <i>end times</i> and how they should behave. How do I know this? Well, it’s the mention of earthquakes, famine, pestilence and persecution—all characteristic of eschatology.<p>For most of my life, I have lived in a benign religious environment where most faiths are tolerated, but the changing aspects of our multi-faith environment have led to shocking scenes of persecution against Christians where previously various different religions were practised side by side. This is even the case within the UK, so perhaps we should give more attention to the words of Jesus about eschatology in general and persecution in particular.<p>Jesus’s words of advice and command were of course addressed to a contemporary audience—and so we must be wary of adopting every saying as equally relevant to a contemporary audience. But we can distil Jesus’s commands into 5 pieces of advice:<p>· Be prepared to ‘testify’ (Luke 21:13);<p>· But do <i>not</i> prepare to testify in advance (21:14);<p>· Depend on Jesus’s ‘Wisdom’ (21:15);<p>· Family breakups will be part of this time (21:16);<p>· Do persevere (21:19).<p>Ultimately, although the teaching brings mixed news of persecution and family breakup, Jesus affirms:<p><b><i><sup>18 </sup></i></b><i>But not a hair of your head will perish. <b><sup>19 </sup></b>Stand firm, and you will win life.</i><p>Persevere. Stand firm—because whatever happens in this world all around us, the victory will in the end be ours. <b>Amen</b></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4175130436027212027.post-66248022368945317822019-11-05T17:29:00.001+00:002019-11-05T17:29:20.435+00:00It’s all about looking down on others<h3>Last after Trinity—27 October 2019—Ivinghoe Benefice</h3><h4>Gospel Luke 18</h4><p><b>The parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector</b><p><b><sup>9 </sup></b>To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: <b><sup>10 </sup></b>‘Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. <b><sup>11 </sup></b>The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: “God, I thank you that I am not like other people – robbers, evildoers, adulterers – or even like this tax collector. <b><sup>12 </sup></b>I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.”<p><b><sup>13 </sup></b>‘But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”<p><b><sup>14 </sup></b>‘I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.’<h4>Sermon</h4><p>It’s rare for Jesus to explain to whom his parables are directed. The parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector is one example when he does.<p>Jesus explicitly aims it at <i>those who are confident in their own righteousness, who look down on others.</i><p>Which includes me, of course…. As you may have seen, many priests are good at spiritual superiority. <p>In getting to grips with this parable, we need to forget all we know about the stereotypes of Pharisees and Tax Collectors.<p><b>Pharisees</b><p>The Pharisees of the first century were not “legalists” who were trying to earn God’s favour. They were a Jewish movement that emphasized the importance of obedience to the law of Moses.<p>The Pharisees’ attention to things like rituals for cleansing one’s body or one’s cookware was part of a larger effort to encounter God’s holiness in everyday life.<p>Not only did the Pharisees seek to follow the Law, but they also spent time developing the Torah—the oral body of interpretation of the Law. Even if the Pharisees became arrogant and contemptuous of others—they certainly were not villains, otherwise Jesus would not have spent so much time debating with them.<p><b>Tax Collectors</b><p>It’s hard to be sure what part the tax collectors played in collecting individual taxes, but we know private citizens were encouraged by the Roman authorities to bid for contracts to collect taxes, and to line their pockets with whatever they could recoup over and above what was properly due.<p>Forcing people at point of dagger to hand over more than was due did nothing for these men’s social standing—nor did the fact they were prepared to collude with the Romans. But tax collectors were not murderers or anything more than petty scoundrels—otherwise Jesus would not have socialised with them, nor reached out to them as objects for his mercy and compassion.<p><b>Justification</b><p>Having understood a bit about the Pharisees’ search for holiness and the Tax Collectors’ pursuit of money—we can now turn to look at what was the point of the parable.<p>The Pharisee gave an account of all he did—with thanks to God for his righteous and holy life. What help did he seek? None. He was not looking for forgiveness. He did not have to ask for mercy, because he did not feel in any need of it. After all, following the Law was what God asked of his chosen people, and that’s exactly what the Pharisee did.<p>The tax collector on the other hand could not bear to look up to heaven and pray to God. All he managed was <i>“God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”</i><p>Yet Jesus says:<p><b><i><sup>14 </sup></i></b><i>‘I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.’</i><p>When the tax collector leaves the temple “justified,” he goes home unburdened. Vindicated. In restored relationship with God.<p>But when Jesus says, “This man went down to his home justified” we should imagine his words taking his audience’s collective breath away. The tax collector is not the kind of person one might expect to be so easily restored. Beating his breast in sorrow, the man utters a simple request for mercy and confesses his sinfulness. But he does not promise to change. He does not offer to pay back what has extorted nor find another job.<p>Justification, for the tax collector, comes with simple, real, costly contrition. Forgiveness will almost certainly lead to repentance and reconciliation—but that is for the tax collector to offer.<p><b>Contempt</b><p>But what follows from the story of the Pharisee and the tax collector is not the full explanation. The Pharisee’s main problem is that his prayer regards the tax collector with such contempt. He assumes his corrupt neighbour has placed himself beyond God’s mercy when in truth he has not. So the message of the parable—for me—is one of contempt not just sin.<p>The parable exposes the disdain we harbour. What is disdain? It is the manifestation of a belief that we know better than God who should receive mercy and how they should receive it. Disdain is the failed attempt to put ourselves in the place of God. That’s the ultimate sin, and the rationale behind this small but powerful parable Jesus told.<p><b>Contrition or Contempt?</b><p>Contrition or Contempt. All of us—priests, parishioners, publicans, Pharisees, pastors, politicians, or perpetrators—are capable of either contrition or contempt. Those attitudes express themselves in how we view our neighbours and in what we rely upon to guide our daily lives.<p>Take the example of the tax collector—he could not bear to look up to heaven and pray to God. All he managed was <i>“God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”</i> <b>Amen</b></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4175130436027212027.post-13938562832005021232019-11-05T17:25:00.001+00:002019-11-05T17:25:57.593+00:00Parable of the Shrewd Manager<h3>14th after Trinity—22nd September 2019—Wendover</h3><h4><br></h4><h4>Gospel Luke 16</h4><p><b>The parable of the shrewd manager</b><p><b><sup>1 </sup></b>Jesus told his disciples: ‘There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. <b><sup>2 </sup></b>So he called him in and asked him, “What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.”<p><b><sup>3 </sup></b>‘The manager said to himself, “What shall I do now? My master is taking away my job. I’m not strong enough to dig, and I’m ashamed to beg – <b><sup>4 </sup></b>I know what I’ll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.”<p><b><sup>5 </sup></b>‘So he called in each one of his master’s debtors. He asked the first, “How much do you owe my master?”<p><b><sup>6 </sup></b>‘“Three thousand litres of olive oil,” he replied.<p>‘The manager told him, “Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it fifteen hundred.”<p><b><sup>7 </sup></b>‘Then he asked the second, “And how much do you owe?”<p>‘“Thirty tons of wheat,” he replied.<p>‘He told him, “Take your bill and make it twenty-four.”<p><b><sup>8 </sup></b>‘The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. <b><sup>9 </sup></b>I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.<p><b><sup>10 </sup></b>‘Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. <b><sup>11 </sup></b>So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? <b><sup>12 </sup></b>And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?<p><b><sup>13 </sup></b>‘No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.’<h4>Sermon</h4><p><b>The parable of the shrewd manager </b><p>The parable of the shrewd manager or dishonest steward comes after a similar passage in Luke chapter 15—the parable of the Prodigal Son.<p>In both parables, a subordinate is accused of squandering resources belonging to his superior— either the prodigal son’s father or the master of a house steward.<p>The Parables follow one another, but I will leave you to judge whether or not they are linked. They do seem to have several things in common.<p>Both stories run counter to our ideas of justice and fairness. The prodigal son comes to his senses and returns to face the music. He is rewarded, but his elder brother (who did not waste or squander anything) is left in self-imposed exile from his father's grace and mercy. His story can indeed be called The Parable of the Lost Son.<p>The Shrewd Manager on the other hand, at first seems to be treated very badly. When called to see his master, the report of his inefficiency is accepted without further enquiry, and the manager is summarily dismissed from his job and his future livelihood. <p>For the moment, we’ll assume he has been guilty of dishonesty, since that seems to be the implication of the teaching with which Jesus ends his parable. But what happens next is very strange.<p>After getting the sack, the Shrewd Manager comes up with a plan of action to ingratiate himself with his former master’s debtors. He could not make deals on his master’s behalf if his cash books—the symbols of his agency and his authority to make deals—had been taken away from him on the spot, so we have to assume his dismissal was not quite so summary as it seems.<p>His plan was to call in his former master’s debtors one by one and come to an accommodation with them, which was highly advantage to the one who owed money and prejudicial to the one who was owed. Debts were halved or heavily reduced in full and final settlement of what was due.<p>Now you might have thought the master would kick himself for not taking away his former steward’s authority. Far from being angry, the master commends his former steward for being shrewd.<p>This is where our sense of right and wrong rebels. The next few verses defy any simple explanation. Perhaps we should start at the end—the punch line Jesus is working towards.<p><b><i><sup>13 </sup></i></b><i>‘No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.’</i><p>This proverb picks up the master’s first words when finds out what the steward has done:<p><i>For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. </i><p>Luke loves contrasts. Economic restitution is part of the joy of Mary's Magnificat (Luke 1:53) and the gospel proclaimed to tax collectors such as Zacchaeus. When Zacchaeus restores what he had defrauded four-fold, he is justified, as proclaimed by Jesus, <i>“Today salvation has come to this house”</i> (Luke 19:8).<p>What Jesus is saying is that, in a time of oppression of the poor, fraud, overcharging and violent debt collection, the debts the steward managed were almost certainly exorbitant, and all he had done was charged a fairer sum. In doing so, no one was really wronged, and the jobless steward might get another job from one of those merchants by showing himself honest and fair dealing. <p>Remember that no Jew was permitted by their law to charge interest, let alone reduce it, and all debts were written off automatically each jubilee year for everyone.<p>Going back to Jesus’s punchline, the disciples are sometimes called ‘children of light’ and those outside the Kingdom are contrasted as the ‘children of this world’ who love darkness more than light.<p>If your standards are the same as those practised by this evil world, and you cannot be trusted to behave in a distinctly better way, how can you expect to be trusted with the things of the Kingdom of God?<p>The steward redressed a number of wrongs by his own changed standards, and the master commended him for it.<p>No one, God says, can serve me and behave as the world does. Either they will love one and hate the other or hate the one and love the other. You cannot have it both ways.<p>As if by way of a bookend, Luke then follows up with another Parable that might also be linked: the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus. Lazarus loved the good things of life, but ignored the poor beggar sitting by his gate. When the rich man dies, he petitions Abraham to reverse his fate—or at least warn the rest of his family to repent. But Abraham replies:<p><i>Son remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here, and you are in agony. </i><p>The rich man passing Lazarus on a daily basis received his comeuppance. It was too late for him to repent. But the shrewd manager was commended by his former master for his actions: for that man, it was not too late. <p><b>Amen</b></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4175130436027212027.post-91104505718713877662019-07-15T23:29:00.001+01:002019-07-15T23:29:04.277+01:00The Good Samaritan–Wingrave 14 July 2019<h4>Gospel Luke 10:25-37</h4><h5>The parable of the good Samaritan</h5><p><b><sup>25 </sup></b>On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. ‘Teacher,’ he asked, ‘what must I do to inherit eternal life?’<p><b><sup>26 </sup></b>‘What is written in the Law?’ he replied. ‘How do you read it?’<p><b><sup>27 </sup></b>He answered, ‘“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind”; and, “Love your neighbour as yourself.”’<p><b><sup>28 </sup></b>‘You have answered correctly,’ Jesus replied. ‘Do this and you will live.’<p><b><sup>29 </sup></b>But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbour?’<p><b><sup>30 </sup></b>In reply Jesus said: ‘A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half-dead. <b><sup>31 </sup></b>A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. <b><sup>32 </sup></b>So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. <b><sup>33 </sup></b>But a Samaritan, as he travelled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him.<b><sup>34 </sup></b>He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. <b><sup>35 </sup></b>The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. “Look after him,” he said, “and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.”<p><b><sup>36 </sup></b>‘Which of these three do you think was a neighbour to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?’<p><b><sup>37 </sup></b>The expert in the law replied, ‘The one who had mercy on him.’<p>Jesus told him, ‘Go and do likewise.’<h4>Sermon</h4><p>The Good Samaritan and the Prodigal Son are among the best loved of all Jesus’s teaching.<p>The Prodigal Son—or <i>Parable of the Lost Son—</i>is the more complex in my view, especially when you realise the message is as much about the elder brother (or lost son) than about the Prodigal who repents and is found.<p>The Good Samaritan on the other hand is fairly easy to understand, but is so important that it bears repetition and further thought, every time the Luke passage is set in the lectionary.<p>It’s fair to assume that when the man who is introduced as an “expert in the Law” asks for Jesus’s interpretation of the Law, the answer is already well known to him. We can find it in Leviticus chapter 19:<p><b><i><sup>18 </sup></i></b><i>‘“Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbour as yourself. I am the Lord. <b><sup>33 </sup></b>‘“When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not ill-treat them. <b><sup>34 </sup></b>The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.</i><p>Not much doubt about that then. On the other hand, it’s also fair to assume the lawyer well knew this was not the interpretation applied by the Jews, regardless of what was laid down in the books of the Law.<p>The lawyer probably thought he took good care of his immediate Jewish neighbours—helping them in hard times—providing for their needs—and lending them money interest free. But the Samaritans were clearly not eligible for consideration. On the contrary, they were reviled and thought unclean, even though they believed themselves Jewish and worshipped the same God on Mount Gerizim rather than in Jerusalem. In effect, they were untouchables, as we will discover.<p>Why was this, especially when care for the stranger and alien is a repeated theme throughout the <i>Torah</i>? Here’s another sample from Deuteronomy 10:<p><b><i><sup>17 </sup></i></b><i>For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. <b><sup>18 </sup></b>He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing. <b><sup>19 </sup></b>And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt. </i><p>A good sermon will need examples, and today these are not hard to find. We are surrounded by people who need our help. <p>We, like the Jews and the Samaritans, are a tribal people at heart and habit. We are most comfortable with, and care most about those like us. But now we live side-by-side with people of many different tribes as did the Jews and Samaritans. <p>Whether or not we live in multiracial parts of the country, or whether our neighbourhoods are made up of rich or poor—still we are close to places that are very mixed indeed and pass through them regularly.<p>How do we react to those sitting begging? What is our deep-down instinctive reaction when surrounded by people of another tribe, who are fundamentally unlike us? How did increasing immigration and asylum seekers impact on our attitudes? Who do we help, and how?<p>In Jesus’s parable, the priest was not a bad man. He saw the need, but he would have rendered himself ritually unclean were he to touch a dead body and one that was unclean anyway.<p>Likewise the Levite was not a bad man. He checked that the injured man was not one of his tribe—that would have been obvious from the victim’s dress—but like the priest, he did not bother to discover whether the injured man was alive or dead. <p>It’s no different really from the occasional reports from the streets of London when a homeless person dies and crowds of passers-by step over him, assuming him to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol—not wishing to intervene.<p>As familiar as the parable of the Good Samaritan is, it needs constant repetition, because the messages are so necessary to understanding what Christianity is all about. Each of us must wrestle with our conscience.<p>The Christian faith, following Jesus, reaches out beyond our tribal walls. Supporting homeless charities. Donating to <i>Crisis for Christmas.</i> Volunteering in a homeless shelter. Reaching out in other ways. At the very least, acknowledging that the person who needs our help is a human being—a child of God, made in his own image.<p>The Good Samaritan might be an easy parable to understand, but it is one of the hardest to follow. Deep down, the message is simple. Who are our neighbours? Our “neighbours” are those who need us. <b>Amen</b></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4175130436027212027.post-7483695288306442622019-04-01T10:19:00.001+01:002019-04-01T10:19:16.724+01:00The Two Lost Sons–One Found<h4>St Mary’s Wendover – 31 March 2019</h4><h4><br></h4><h4>Gospel Luke 15:1—3;11b—end</h4><p><b>15 </b>Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering round to hear Jesus. <b><sup>2 </sup></b>But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, ‘This man welcomes sinners, and eats with them.’<p><b><sup>3 </sup></b>Then Jesus told them this parable: ‘There was a man who had two sons. <b><sup>12 </sup></b>The younger one said to his father, “Father, give me my share of the estate.” So, he divided his property between them.<p><b><sup>13 </sup></b>‘Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living.<b><sup>14 </sup></b>After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. <b><sup>15 </sup></b>So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. <b><sup>16 </sup></b>He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.<p><b><sup>17 </sup></b>‘When he came to his senses, he said, “How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! <b><sup>18 </sup></b>I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. <b><sup>19 </sup></b>I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.” <b><sup>20 </sup></b>So he got up and went to his father.<p>‘But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms round him and kissed him.<p><b><sup>21 </sup></b>‘The son said to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.”<p><b><sup>22 </sup></b>‘But the father said to his servants, “Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. <b><sup>23 </sup></b>Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. <b><sup>24 </sup></b>For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.” So, they began to celebrate.<p><b><sup>25 </sup></b>‘Meanwhile, the elder son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. <b><sup>26 </sup></b>So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. <b><sup>27 </sup></b>“Your brother has come,” he replied, “and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.”<p><b><sup>28 </sup></b>‘The elder brother became angry and refused to go in. So, his father went out and pleaded with him. <b><sup>29 </sup></b>But he answered his father, “Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. <b><sup>30 </sup></b>But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!”<p><b><sup>31 </sup></b>‘“My son,” the father said, “you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. <b><sup>32 </sup></b>But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.”’<h4>Sermon</h4><p>The last-minute chance to talk about the Parable of the Two Lost Sons is too good to pass up, even if I cannot do it justice in the time available to me. <p>I’d like to introduce you to a Middle Eastern theologian whose name is Kenneth Bailey. His book <i>Jacob and the Prodigal</i> interprets Jesus’s retelling of the Genesis story of Jacob, traditionally known as <i>The Prodigal Son.</i><p>What sets Bailey apart is that not only does he scrape the barnacles of time from the parables but he explains in detail how the characters would have behaved, and the reaction of the tax collectors and sinners to what they heard—all through Middle Eastern eyes.<p>The story opens with the background. A father has two sons. The younger son makes a request. He wants his father to divide up his inheritance without further ado.<p>What is not clear to us today is how shocking is the younger son’s request. His father is likely the head man of the village, or at least a very important and powerful individual. Property was not passed on until death—and the elder son would have inherited the entirety. The younger son’s request was tantamount to wishing his father dead, as well as depriving him of his standing in the village and authority, and robbing his brother. <p>Jesus’s audience would have gasped at the sheer horror and sin behind the request.<p>Most people would have expected the father to react with fury—and his fellow land owners to have gathered together to shun the younger son for what he had done. But the father accedes to his son’s request—no doubt to the consternation of the elder son.<p>When the Prodigal Son gathered together his new-found wealth, and set out for a distant land, no one wanted to see him back ever again. But after squandering his money on riotous living, he was left penniless and starving when famine struck, and all his fair-weather friends deserted him. He was abandoned in Gentile territory, as we know from the mention of pigs whose food he was reduced to sharing.<p>But we are told he repents—and comes to his senses. There was nowhere further to fall—he was at rock bottom—and decided to throw himself on his father’s mercy and repent. The best he could hope for would be to be taken on as one of his father’s servants. The worst—utter rejection.<p>But the younger son’s reception by his father was full of grace. Had other men from the village spotted him first, they would have banded together to chase him away, exclude him from the village to protect his father from further unwise action, and very possibly kill the son. But his father sees him from far away—and literally runs down the main street to meet him and welcome him home. <p>The senior men in the village were horrified. They would never run, and never hitch up their robe to expose their legs. Instead, the father is extravagant in his forgiveness without precondition, and the other villagers can only fall into line, since to refuse an offer of a great celebration would cause grave offence to the host who has asked them.<p>The parable does not end here though. We tend to forget there is an Act 2. This concerns the elder brother, who to most of the villagers had behaved impeccably throughout, never refusing to work for his father, but ever resentful for the way his younger brother had been treated.<p>Returning home from his work in the fields, the older son asks what the noise of celebration is all about. No one seems to have sent for him in the fields—he hears from a servant that his father has killed the fatted calf and showered honours on his wayward and sinful brother. Who can blame him for his deep resentment and anger? Who would join the revelry—given what the younger son had done—who would have thought the father could be so weak-minded and unfair?<p>When the elder son refuses to go in, what does the father do? Does he wait for his son to come in and show proper respect? No—the father reaches out to his son, in exactly the same way he did for the younger one. He leaves the feast in search of the missing son.<p>Of course the wronged brother has a point. He should have had the entire inheritance—now he has to make to with half—he should have been honoured for his stalwart service—instead his brother is treated with honour and respect, and he is left out in the cold.<p>The punchline of the story is hard to swallow:<p><b><i><sup>31 </sup></i></b><i>‘“My son,” the father said, “you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. <b><sup>32 </sup></b>But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.”’</i><p>Who is who, in this parable? Clearly God is represented by the father. Through grace, he has humiliated and shamed himself in order to forgive and receive back his sinful sons. What is surprising is that the Prodigal Son repents of all his wrongdoing and is freely and fully forgiven. The older son’s actions are commendable, but he shows no grace and remains mired in sin, without repentance, and asking no forgiveness.<p>Who are the two sons meant to represent? Well—I’ll leave you to decide. Perhaps the two sons stand for you and me? If so—which is me? Which is you? <b>Amen</b></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4175130436027212027.post-39066792381586311412019-03-03T17:08:00.000+00:002019-03-03T17:08:01.406+00:00Clinging to the Worldly Measure of Glory<h2>Sunday 3rd March 2019 at Wingrave Parish Church</h2><p><br></p><h4>Reading Exodus 34: 29—end</h4><h5>The radiant face of Moses</h5><p><sup>29 </sup>When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the Lord. <sup>30 </sup>When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant, and they were afraid to come near him. <sup>31 </sup>But Moses called to them; so Aaron and all the leaders of the community came back to him, and he spoke to them. <sup>32 </sup>Afterwards all the Israelites came near him, and he gave them all the commands the Lord had given him on Mount Sinai.<p><sup>33 </sup>When Moses finished speaking to them, he put a veil over his face. <sup>34 </sup>But whenever he entered the Lord’s presence to speak with him, he removed the veil until he came out. And when he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, <sup>35 </sup>they saw that his face was radiant. Then Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with the Lord.<h4>Reading 2 Corinthians 3:12—4:2</h4><p><sup>12 </sup>Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. <sup>13 </sup>We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to prevent the Israelites from seeing the end of what was passing away. <sup>14 </sup>But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. <sup>15 </sup>Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. <sup>16 </sup>But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. <sup>17 </sup>Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. <sup>18 </sup>And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.<p>Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. <sup>2 </sup>Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God.<h4>Gospel Acclamation</h4><p>I am the way, the truth, and the life, says the Lord. No one comes to the Father except through me.<h4>Gospel Luke 9:28—36</h4><h5>The transfiguration</h5><p><sup>28 </sup>About eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray. <sup>29 </sup>As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. <sup>30 </sup>Two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendour, talking with Jesus. <sup>31 </sup>They spoke about his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfilment at Jerusalem. <sup>32 </sup>Peter and his companions were very sleepy, but when they became fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men standing with him. <sup>33 </sup>As the men were leaving Jesus, Peter said to him, ‘Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters – one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.’ (He did not know what he was saying.)<p><sup>34 </sup>While he was speaking, a cloud appeared and covered them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. <sup>35 </sup>A voice came from the cloud, saying, ‘This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him.’ <sup>36 </sup>When the voice had spoken, they found that Jesus was alone. The disciples kept this to themselves and did not tell anyone at that time what they had seen.<h4> Sermon</h4><p>Transfiguration Sunday this year occurs on Tuesday 6<sup>th</sup> August, but most of the liturgical churches following the Revised Common Lectionary observe the Transfiguration today, as is obvious from all three readings from Scripture.<p>The radiant face of Moses shone on Mount Sinai when he had been speaking to the Lord, with the result that no one would come near him and he covered his face with a veil.<p>This theme is developed by the writer to the church in Corinth. We are not like Moses he says, whose veiled face prevented the Israelites seeing what was passing away—the old covenant—but whenever anyone turns to Christ, the veil is taken away. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom, and we are transformed into his image with ever-increasing joy.<p>I’m sure you’ve heard many sermons in the past about Luke’s account of the Transfiguration in his gospel. I won’t repeat what is often said about the event, but maybe just pick out a few interesting points for you to reflect on.<p>Luke anchors his timeline to “about eight days” after Jesus had predicted his own death. He also warned his disciples:<p><i>‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. <b><sup>24 </sup></b>For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.</i><p>Despite everything that has been said, it will take more than an apocalyptic revelation before the disciples understand Jesus’s true vocation, identity and mission. Some are not ready—and so the only witnesses to this theophany are Peter, James and John. Even they misinterpret what they see. The signs are all there—a light bright as a flash of lightning—the presence of the OT Law and Prophets in the form of Moses and Elijah—the voice of God masked by a cloud—Jesus’s shining face— and God’s seal of approval <i>‘This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him.’</i><p>In case you should think this was some sort of vision or a dream, Luke makes it perfectly plain that Peter and his companions were wide awake and correctly interpreted at least part of what they saw. But why did they tell no one about it?<p>As soon as Jesus descends from the mountain, he is accosted by the father of a demon-possessed boy. The remaining disciples had failed to effect a cure whilst Jesus was up the mountain praying, with Peter, James and John. As if to underline their lack of comprehension, Jesus reveals his frustration and says: <b><i><sup>41 </sup></i></b><i>‘You unbelieving and perverse generation,’ […], ‘how long shall I stay with you and put up with you?</i><p>The answer was ‘not long’—and in case the disciples did not get it the first time, Jesus immediately follows up with a second prediction of his death. These visions of glory will not be consummated until after the crucifixion and resurrection.<p>Even so, the disciples cling to their worldly measure of glory—they compete among themselves for status—and James and John put in a request for seats of power on Jesus right- and left-hand side, when he comes into his Kingdom.<p>You may have wondered at the presence of Elijah and Moses. Apart from representing the Law and the prophets, Luke tells us they are discussing Jesus’s departure with him. The actual word used is ‘exodus’ which gives us a clue of how the crucifixion and resurrection are to be regarded.<p>Very soon now, Jesus will set out for Jerusalem, where the prediction of his death will be fulfilled. Looking forward, Luke is concentrating our attention on the resurrection, and not on Jesus’s death. The exodus imagery evokes liberation. As Moses led the people out of Egypt, so Jesus’ death and resurrection usher in an era of salvation and blessing.<p>But when the cloud dissipates, and all becomes clear, we are left with the ringing endorsement—the divine approbation<i>—</i><i> ‘This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him.’</i> <b>Amen</b></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4175130436027212027.post-40223586593492480192019-02-17T17:05:00.000+00:002019-02-17T17:05:03.970+00:00Blessings–and woes…..<h2>St Mary’s Wendover – Sunday 17th February 2019</h2><h4><br></h4><h4>Reading Jeremiah 17:5—10</h4><p><b><sup>5 </sup></b>This is what the Lord says:<p>‘Cursed is the one who trusts in man,<br> who draws strength from mere flesh<br> and whose heart turns away from the Lord.<br><b><sup>6 </sup></b>That person will be like a bush in the wastelands;<br> they will not see prosperity when it comes.<br>They will dwell in the parched places of the desert,<br> in a salt land where no one lives.<p><b><sup>7 </sup></b>‘But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord,<br> whose confidence is in him.<br><b><sup>8 </sup></b>They will be like a tree planted by the water<br> that sends out its roots by the stream.<br>It does not fear when heat comes;<br> its leaves are always green.<br>It has no worries in a year of drought<br> and never fails to bear fruit.’<p><b><sup>9 </sup></b>The heart is deceitful above all things<br> and beyond cure.<br> Who can understand it?<p><b><sup>10 </sup></b>‘I the Lord search the heart<br> and examine the mind,<br>to reward each person according to their conduct,<br> according to what their deeds deserve.’<h4>Reading I Corinthians 15:12—20</h4><h5>The resurrection of the dead</h5><p><b><sup>12 </sup></b>But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? <b><sup>13 </sup></b>If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. <b><sup>14 </sup></b>And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. <b><sup>15 </sup></b>More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. <b><sup>16 </sup></b>For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. <b><sup>17 </sup></b>And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. <b><sup>18 </sup></b>Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. <b><sup>19 </sup></b>If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.<p><b><sup>20 </sup></b>But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.<h4>Gospel Acclamation</h4><p>I am the way, the truth, and the life, says the Lord. No one comes to the Father except through me.<h4>Gospel Luke 6:17—26</h4><h5>Blessings and woes</h5><p><b><sup>17 </sup></b>He went down with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of his disciples was there and a great number of people from all over Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the coastal region around Tyre and Sidon, <b><sup>18 </sup></b>who had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. Those troubled by impure spirits were cured, <b><sup>19 </sup></b>and the people all tried to touch him, because power was coming from him and healing them all.<p><b><sup>20 </sup></b>Looking at his disciples, he said:<p>‘Blessed are you who are poor,<br> for yours is the kingdom of God.<br><b><sup>21 </sup></b>Blessed are you who hunger now,<br> for you will be satisfied.<br>Blessed are you who weep now,<br> for you will laugh.<br><b><sup>22 </sup></b>Blessed are you when people hate you,<br> when they exclude you and insult you<br> and reject your name as evil,<br> because of the Son of Man.<p><b><sup>23 </sup></b>‘Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their ancestors treated the prophets.<p><b><sup>24 </sup></b>‘But woe to you who are rich,<br> for you have already received your comfort.<br><b><sup>25 </sup></b>Woe to you who are well fed now,<br> for you will go hungry.<br>Woe to you who laugh now,<br> for you will mourn and weep.<br><b><sup>26 </sup></b>Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you,<br> for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets.<h4> Sermon</h4><p>In 325AD the Council of Nicaea established that Easter would be held on the first Sunday after the first Full Moon occurring on or after the vernal equinox. <p>In the Gregorian calendar, <b>Easter falls</b> on a Sunday between March 22 and April 25. This year, Easter is almost as late as it can be. It’s on 21 April. The last latest Easter was in 1943. It won’t happen again until 2038.<p>Today is the 3<sup>rd</sup> Sunday before Lent. Epiphany ended with Candlemas, but there are themes running through Epiphany and ordinary time which we can explore.<p>Today’s readings liken the faithful to elements of the natural world—in Jeremiah 17 and Psalm 1 we are compared to trees planted by streams of water.<p>I Corinthians 15 reassures us that this life is not the end, but is followed for the faithful by the resurrection of the dead. <p>Our gospel reading comes from the <i>Sermon on the Plain</i>—it also reassures, particularly the faithful lowly, of God’s provision—but the blessings are followed by woes, especially for the rich and well-fed who neglect the needs of others.<p>This was indeed the same passage set for this particular Sunday in 1995, when the vicar of St George’s Campden Hill in Kensington mounted the pulpit, his sermon about the woes of the rich and well provided for at the ready, and looked down, only to see in the front row several directors of Barings Bank—founded in 1762 but brought to its knees by rogue trader Nick Leeson. Too late to change his words, the vicar delivered his planned sermon regardless.<p>Most of us would probably admit to being well-fed. Most of us would confess to being rich by comparison to the world’s population in general. Many of us feel how wrong it is that the rich get richer and the poor poorer, but how do we—how should we— react to the messages of the <i>Sermon on the Plain</i>?<p>Many of you will recall Archbishop Makarios back in the 1970’s—the Greek Cypriot leader who became the first President of Cyprus. He survived four assassination attempts and a coup d’état. Makarios in Greek means “blessed”—it’s this word that is used by Jesus in the Sermon on the Plain. <p>Some people find it baffling that Jesus suggests the poor, hungry, and those who weep or are hated by others are specially blessed. Others are worried that those who are rich and well-fed are condemned by Jesus in the so-called woes. What is going on?<p>The first thing to be said is that although Jesus was surrounded by a large number of people, the blessings and woes are specifically addressed to his disciples and followers, and not a wider audience.<p>Secondly, Jesus doesn’t suggest that poverty and hunger are somehow desirable—but if the disciples suffer and are rejected by others, their reward is in heaven.<p>Thirdly, for those who are rich, well-fed and popular—they already have their reward in heaven—and their task now is to love and help others.<p>The remainder of chapter 6 is taken up with the rest of the <i>Sermon on the Plain</i>. Now Jesus’s words are addressed to the crowds:<p><i><sup>27 </sup></i><i>‘But to you who are listening I say: love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, <sup>28 </sup>bless those who curse you, pray for those who ill-treat you. </i><p>Love your enemies, and don’t judge others. Consider the plank of wood in your own eye before removing the speck of sawdust in your brothers’. Judge other people by their fruit—a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Or look at other peoples’ deeds—for a house built on sand has no solid foundation and cannot survive life’s buffeting wind and rain.<p>Although Luke does not explicitly encourage us to make a choice—nevertheless it’s clear that Luke wants listeners to choose the way of blessing.<p>What to us as Christians seem to be woes, may yet prove to be blessings. Those who hunger and thirst in this world will be satisfied—perhaps through our giving and sharing as a means by which God provides for them—but also because their hunger for the coming of God’s Kingdom will include them in the world to come.<p>To be sure, condemnation awaits those who do not repent. But a longer view of Luke’s attitude towards the wealthy reveals a pastoral concern—Luke wants them to avoid condemnation by repenting and joining the movement towards the Kingdom, which means putting their material resources at the service of the community. Luke intends to shock people with wealth into repentance and freely sharing their money and possessions.<p>So next time you feel good because you have saved money or received a bonus, remember that is your comfort. Next time you feel happy and well-fed, remember that is your reward. Next time everyone speaks well of you, remember you have had your just dessert.<p>But next time you are in a position to love and help those who weep, those who are hungry, those who are hated by others, those who are abused, neglected and counted as of nothing, and those who have little enjoyment of the world’s good things, rejoice for great will be your reward in God’s kingdom! <b>Amen</b></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4175130436027212027.post-4983618640508239802019-01-01T17:22:00.001+00:002019-01-01T17:22:52.804+00:00Christmas 1 - Holy Cross Slapton - 30 December 2018<h2>Reading 1 Samuel 2</h2><p><b><sup>18 </sup></b>But Samuel was ministering before the Lord—a boy wearing a linen ephod. <b><sup>19 </sup></b>Each year his mother made him a little robe and took it to him when she went up with her husband to offer the annual sacrifice. <b><sup>20 </sup></b>Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, saying, “May the Lord give you children by this woman to take the place of the one she prayed for and gave to the Lord.” Then they would go home. <b><sup> </sup></b><p><b><sup>26 </sup></b>And the boy Samuel continued to grow in stature and in favour with the Lord and with people.<h2>Reading Colossians 3</h2><p><b><sup>12 </sup></b>Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. <b><sup>13 </sup></b>Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. <b><sup>14 </sup></b>And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.<p><b><sup>15 </sup></b>Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. <b><sup>16 </sup></b>Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. <b><sup>17 </sup></b>And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.<h2>Gospel Acclamation</h2><p>Alleluia, alleluia. <p>The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory.<p>All <b>Alleluia.</b><h2>Gospel Luke 2: 41 - end</h2><h5>The boy Jesus at the temple</h5><p><b><sup>41 </sup></b>Every year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the Festival of the Passover. <b><sup>42 </sup></b>When he was twelve years old, they went up to the festival, according to the custom. <b><sup>43 </sup></b>After the festival was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it. <b><sup>44 </sup></b>Thinking he was in their company, they travelled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. <b><sup>45 </sup></b>When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him. <b><sup>46 </sup></b>After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. <b><sup>47 </sup></b>Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers. <b><sup>48 </sup></b>When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, ‘Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.’<p><b><sup>49 </sup></b>‘Why were you searching for me?’ he asked. ‘Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?’<sup> <b>50 </b></sup>But they did not understand what he was saying to them.<p><b><sup>51 </sup></b>Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart. <b><sup>52 </sup></b>And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.<h2> Sermon</h2><p>1. One of great <b>Christmas readings</b>—Hebrews chapter 1<br><b><u>God’s final word: his Son</u></b><br><b>1 </b>In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, <b><sup>2 </sup></b>but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. <b><sup>3 </sup></b>The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.<p>2. Today similar reading—Colossians 3—contrast doctrine of <b>Hebrews 1</b> about nature of Christ—with ethics of Colossians—how we should behave.<p>3. <b>Budgens</b>—orderly queue at one basket till—member of staff opened up check out. Woman at back of queue dived in—unloaded shopping onto belt. Loud argument from woman in middle of basket queue—reply from woman’s daughter—can’t you see she’s 81 and in poor health? Argument raged on until both had left store.<p>4. No sign of <b>forbearance</b>—embarrassing to staff and customers—probably still seething throughout the day and beyond—affront to her dignity as a person—should have asked individual in front of her in queue to be served first before jumping in.<p>5. What <b>conclusion</b> can we draw about two protagonists—woman and her mother who jumped the queue—and woman who felt affronted because she had been waiting longest? Can we judge their personalities from the way they behaved? What about Vicky and me—kept our heads down—avoided confrontation—would have behaved like a doormat to avoid unpleasantness?<p>6. As I was thinking about today’s sermon—confrontation led me to reflect on how we should behave towards one another. <p>7. It seems that Christians are to ‘put on’ certain characteristics so that they live these qualities—they do not merely ‘have’ them. They are not just traits, but <b>actions</b> which define Christian living. <b>As Christ lived, so Christians are to live.</b><p>8. If this is so—the difference should be obvious in the way we behave. Justification should not be by faith alone—but by works and faith combined—one leads to the other—both are intertwined.<p>9. <b>Five virtues</b>— compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience—are actually attributes of God in Christ—we are not commanded to show them as desirable in themselves—the ethical way to behave—but because we are to copy Christ himself.<p>10. These ‘virtues’ describe the character of <b>active Christian living</b>—as God’s chosen people who are called out of the ordinary realm of human existence to be especially dedicated to God because God loves them. The Christian community lives as it embodies the very gospel by which it was called—and that is what it now proclaims.<p>11. The rationale of all this—is not just that we follow Christ—but as the passage says: <i>Forgive as the Lord forgave you.<br><b><sup>14 </sup></b>And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.</i><p>12. This gospel reading is addressed to the Christian community as a whole—the word ‘you’ is consistently in the plural form—the gospel is personal but certainly not <b>private</b>.<p>13. Over all these virtues—we are to <b>put on love and peace</b>— Άγάπη—that characteristically self-denying form of Christian love. The kind that would help an 81 year old woman in poor health to unload her shopping—the kind that would sing to God with gratitude in their hearts—the kind that would not hold back from admonishing wrongdoing but teach and encourage others—the kind that continually gives thanks to God through our Lord Jesus Christ.<p><b>Amen—Come Lord Jesus.</b></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4175130436027212027.post-89302761658249602752019-01-01T17:19:00.001+00:002019-01-01T17:19:59.736+00:00Advent 4 – 23 December 2018 – Wingrave Methodists<h2>Collect</h2><p>God our redeemer, who prepared the Blessed Virgin Mary to be the mother of your Son: grant that, as she looked for his coming as our saviour, so we may be ready to greet him when he comes again as our judge; who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.<p><i>(or)</i><p>Eternal God, as Mary waited for the birth of your Son, so we wait for his coming in glory; bring us through the birth pangs of this present age to see, with her, our great salvation in Jesus Christ our Lord. <b>Amen</b><h2>Reading—Micah 5: 2 – 5a</h2><p><sup>2 </sup>‘But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,<br> though you are small among the clans of Judah,<br>out of you will come for me<br> one who will be ruler over Israel,<br>whose origins are from of old,<br> from ancient times.’<p><sup>3 </sup>Therefore Israel will be abandoned<br> until the time when she who is in labour bears a son,<br>and the rest of his brothers return<br> to join the Israelites.<p><sup>4 </sup>He will stand and shepherd his flock<br> in the strength of the Lord,<br> in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.<br>And they will live securely, for then his greatness<br> will reach to the ends of the earth.<p><sup>5 </sup>And he will be our peace<h2>Reading Hebrews 10: 5 - 10</h2><p><sup>5 </sup>Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said:<p>‘Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,<br> but a body you prepared for me;<br><sup>6 </sup>with burnt offerings and sin offerings<br> you were not pleased.<br><sup>7 </sup>Then I said, “Here I am – it is written about me in the scroll –<br> I have come to do your will, my God.”’<p><sup>8 </sup>First he said, ‘Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them’– though they were offered in accordance with the law. <sup>9 </sup>Then he said, ‘Here I am, I have come to do your will.’ He sets aside the first to establish the second. <sup>10 </sup>And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.<h2>Hymn 2</h2><p>· <i>xxx</i><h2>Gospel Luke 1: 39 - 55</h2><p><b>Mary visits Elizabeth</b><p><sup>39 </sup>At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, <sup>40 </sup>where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. <sup>41 </sup>When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. <sup>42 </sup>In a loud voice she exclaimed: ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! <sup>43 </sup>But why am I so favoured, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? <sup>44 </sup>As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. <sup>45 </sup>Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfil his promises to her!’<p><sup>46 </sup>And Mary said:<p>‘My soul glorifies the Lord<br><sup>47 </sup> and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour,<br><sup>48 </sup>for he has been mindful<br> of the humble state of his servant.<br>From now on all generations will call me blessed,<br><sup>49 </sup> for the Mighty One has done great things for me –<br> holy is his name.<br><sup>50 </sup>His mercy extends to those who fear him,<br> from generation to generation.<br><sup>51 </sup>He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;<br> he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.<br><sup>52 </sup>He has brought down rulers from their thrones<br> but has lifted up the humble.<br><sup>53 </sup>He has filled the hungry with good things<br> but has sent the rich away empty.<br><sup>54 </sup>He has helped his servant Israel,<br> remembering to be merciful<br><sup>55 </sup>to Abraham and his descendants for ever,<br> just as he promised our ancestors.’<h2>Sermon</h2><p>Sang Magnificat every Sunday—know little about it—sung by Mary who prepares to visit Elizabeth her <i>relative</i> or <i>kinswoman.</i><p>Zechariah is country priest—not rich or distinguished—belonged to priestly division of Abijah. Elizabeth his wife—both elderly and unable to have children. Shame and disgrace—judgement of God added to her sorrow at being unable to conceive.<p>Zechariah on duty in Temple—vision of angel announcing Elizabeth will conceive—baby will ne a delight and joy—name him John—John Baptist will be ‘great in sight of the Lord.’ John will announce coming of the Lord—forerunner<p>Zechariah struck dumb following vision of angel Gabriel until he had named his son.<p>After his tour of duty as priest—Zechariah returned home—Elizabeth became pregnant—remained in seclusion for 5 months—<i>God has taken away my disgrace</i> she says.<p>Gabriel had busy time—sent by God to Mary—betrothed to Joseph—addressed her <i>as highly favoured by the Lord who is with her</i>. Not sure this greeting would prove accurate.<p>After the <i>annunciation</i>—Mary indicated her acceptance of what the angel announced—<i>“May it be to me as you have said</i>. We may only wonder and reflect on what would have happened had Mary declined—how many other young women had been asked?<p>Mary had her share of disgrace—very young woman—did not count in society—given in marriage as a possession and had no say in her future. Worse, pregnant and unmarried—her family shamed and disgraced—Joseph thought about breaking off the betrothal and walking away from the transaction quietly as a kindness to her. <p>In our terms—Mary far from blessed—this may have been reason why she travelled to visit her kinswoman Elizabeth—whose disgrace had been mitigated by her pregnancy.<p>Mary could not have known what the future might bring—sadness turned to joy then catastrophe. We sang Simeon’s song <i>Nunc Dimittis</i> alongside <i>Magnificat</i> every evening—but did not include the prophecy that followed:<p><i><sup>33 </sup></i><i>The child’s father and mother marvelled at what was said about him. <sup>34 </sup>Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: ‘This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, <sup>35 </sup>so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.’ Luke 2</i><p>This is background to Mary’s Song—Zechariah’s Song follows it—Simeon’s Song is in next chapter.<p>Songs important in Scripture—over 200 in all—of which 150 are Psalms. Songs stir us and unite—songs can be laments or triumph—pleas to God for justice—calming songs like David sung to King Saul—many others.<p>Why did Mary choose to sing? What was she actually saying? Her song harks back to Hannah’s—mother of prophet Samuel:<p><b><i>Hannah's Song, 1 Samuel 2:1-10</i></b><i><br>Hannah prayed and said,<br>"My heart exults in the LORD; my strength is exalted in my God. My mouth derides my enemies, because I rejoice in my victory.</i><p>Both Hannah and Mary rejoice in their God—and take heart in the promises given them by God—that He considers, cares for, and does great things on behalf of the lowly, not just those who are mighty and powerful<p>Both identify that what God is doing for them, he is also doing for all people.<p>Both Hannah and Mary sing a song that can be, or should be, our song in this Advent season. As we have prepared for the coming of the Christ Child, we too can sing in thanksgiving, in celebration, in remembrance, and in proclamation of the promise made to our ancestors. <p>Like Hannah, and Mary, and Elizabeth too, this is the time for us to indulge in celebratory joy in the promises that come to us in Jesus. Let us raise our voices, like Mary in a great cry, magnifying our God.<p><b>Amen</b></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4175130436027212027.post-76056995947083097512018-11-25T14:33:00.000+00:002018-11-25T14:33:00.725+00:00Christ the (Servant) King<h2>Christ the King – Last Sunday before Advent</h2><h3>St Mary’s Wendover – 25 November 2018</h3><p><br></p><h4>Gospel John 18</h4><p><i>Alleluia, alleluia. Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.</i><p><i>Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John.</i><p><sup>33 </sup>Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, ‘Are you the king of the Jews?’<p><sup>34 </sup>‘Is that your own idea,’ Jesus asked, ‘or did others talk to you about me?’<p><sup>35 </sup>‘Am I a Jew?’ Pilate replied. ‘Your own people and chief priests handed you over to me. What is it you have done?’<p><sup>36 </sup>Jesus said, ‘My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.’<p><sup>37 </sup>‘You are a king, then!’ said Pilate.<p>Jesus answered, ‘You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.’<p><sup>38 </sup>‘What is truth?’ retorted Pilate.<h4>Sermon</h4><p>Back in 1925, Pope Pius XI instituted a new feast day in the Roman Catholic church. He called it <i>Christ the King</i>. <p>Other churches adopted the feast day with the <i>Revised Common Lectionary</i>. It was moved to the last Sunday in Advent, where it remains today. There is also another name for this Sunday, which comes from the post-communion prayer, but I will leave you to discover that for yourselves. Listen out for it after communion.<p>The Pope apparently wanted to highlight the increasing secularism of the age. People were more keen to live in the kingdom of this world than look towards the kingdom of heaven.<p>You may be wondering what was the link between secularism and Christ the King. In truth, the Pope was keen to settle an argument that had been debated in the church since as far back in time as St Cyril of Alexandria. The theological difference of opinion concerned the supremacy of Christ over all things.<p>And so, as we prepare to begin a new church year next week with the First Sunday of Advent, and the coming of Jesus, not only in Bethlehem, but the second coming as well, we pause and reflect upon who Jesus the Christ is in our lives. <p>To challenge our thinking we turn, not to stables and shepherds, but to the final trial of Jesus. If we are to live in God’s Kingdom, we, like Pilate, need to know the answer to the question “are you king of the Jews?” or in other words “Are you Christ the King?”<p>So, let’s have another look at Jesus’s trial before Pontius Pilate. There are 7 short scenes. We’re interested in the first two:<p>1. The opening scene of the trial begins when Jesus is brought to the Roman procurator’s headquarters. Pilate asks what is the charge, and gets no answer—except that Jesus is a criminal.<p>2. Today’s gospel reading is scene 2. Pilate retreats into his palace to interview Jesus privately. “Are you King of the Jews?” he asks. Pilate is not concerned whether or not Christ (as the name implies) is the anointed one. <sup>35 </sup>“Am I a Jew?” he scoffs. But if Jesus is a political leader who might challenge the supremacy of Rome, and with it Pilate’s position and power, that is a very different matter.<p>From our perspective in the modern age, we know that John has been telling us, from the beginning of his gospel, that Jesus is in fact the King of Israel. When seeking Jesus, whom his brother, Phillip, has told him is the one spoken of by Moses and the prophets, Nathanael declares, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” (John 1:49). <p>The gospel then goes on to explain that Jesus is not a king that the world would ever recognise. He is a king who speaks to the lowly and the rejected. He is a king who serves rather than being served. Jesus is a king who enters the holy city, not triumphantly on a horse, but seated on a donkey (John 12:14). He is the <i>Servant King.</i><p>Pilate asks what crime Jesus has committed. Jesus replies that his kingdom is not of this world. Pilate cannot understand such a king as that.<p>We know that Jesus is the Word of God that has become “flesh and lived among us.” Jesus has come from God and has come “so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16b).<p>We also know that, in order to recognise this king, this only Son, we must be “born from above” (John 3:3). Unless we have experienced this new birth, we, like Pilate, are unable to recognize the kingdom of God that surrounds us on all sides—this is the reign of Christ the King. <p>In the end, Pilate mocks both Jesus and the Jews. He could never understand that Jesus is a king not of this world, and not like any in this world. But in the end, Pilate unknowingly speaks the truth. “Here is your king” he says to the people.<p>And over the cross Pilate places the announcement for all to see, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews” (John 19:19).<p>Today is the last Sunday in the church’s year. Today we are invited to respond, in preparation for Advent which is coming. Are we willing to accept Jesus as our King, or are we drawn more towards the kingdoms of this increasingly secular age, with all its evils and distractions?<p>Do we live in the time of God’s new reign? Are we followers of the <i>Servant King</i>? Does the way we live our lives reflect that service? Do we reach out to the least and the lost? In short—are we fully citizens of God’s Kingdom? And can we answer Pilate’s prophetic question: “What is Truth?”<p><i><sup>14 </sup>The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.</i></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4175130436027212027.post-39195340143042701822018-11-18T14:38:00.000+00:002018-11-18T14:38:02.494+00:00Dan Brown–the End of Times<h2>Sunday 18 November at Stoke Hammond</h2><p>2nd Sunday before Advent</p><h4><br></h4><h4>Old Testament Daniel 12</h4><p><b>The end times</b><p>12 ‘At that time Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will arise. There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then. But at that time your people – everyone whose name is found written in the book – will be delivered. <sup>2 </sup>Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt. <sup>3 </sup>Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever.<h4>Epistle Hebrews 10</h4><p><b>A call to persevere in faith</b><p><sup>11 </sup>Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. <sup>12 </sup>But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, <sup>13 </sup>and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool. <sup>14 </sup>For by one sacrifice he has made perfect for ever those who are being made holy.<p><sup>15 </sup>The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says:<p><sup>16 </sup>‘This is the covenant I will make with them<br> after that time, says the Lord.<br>I will put my laws in their hearts,<br> and I will write them on their minds.’<p><sup>17 </sup>Then he adds:<p>‘Their sins and lawless acts<br> I will remember no more.’<p><sup>18 </sup>And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary.<p><sup>19 </sup>Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, <sup>20 </sup>by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, <sup>21 </sup>and since we have a great priest over the house of God, <sup>22 </sup>let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. <sup>23 </sup>Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. <sup>24 </sup>And let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love and good deeds, <sup>25 </sup>not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching.<h4>Gospel Mark 13</h4><p>Alleluia, alleluia. Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.<p>Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Mark.<p><b>The destruction of the temple and signs of the end times</b><p>13 As Jesus was leaving the temple, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Look, Teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!’<p><sup>2 </sup>‘Do you see all these great buildings?’ replied Jesus. ‘Not one stone here will be left on another; everyone will be thrown down.’<p><sup>3 </sup>As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John and Andrew asked him privately, <sup>4 </sup>‘Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are all about to be fulfilled?’<p><sup>5 </sup>Jesus said to them: ‘Watch out that no one deceives you. <sup>6 </sup>Many will come in my name, claiming, “I am he,” and will deceive many. <sup>7 </sup>When you hear of wars and rumours of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. <sup>8 </sup>Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth-pains.<h4>Sermon</h4><p>I have recently finished Dan Brown’s latest thriller published October last year. You’ve probably read some of them—light hearted page turners that are good for holiday reading providing you don’t take the content at all seriously.<p>The book is called <i>Origin</i>. The story is the usual mix of science and religion. It starts with the assassination of a scientist who is about to reveal a new absolute proof that creation happened out of chaos, and that no creator—no God was involved.<p>I won’t spoil your next journey through Gatwick, Luton or Stansted by revealing any more of the story—except to say if you liked any of his other novels you will probably enjoy this one—and maybe it will give you pause for thought about what the Bible calls <i>The end times</i>.<p>Two of today’s readings are headed with <i>the end times</i> and the Hebrews passage talks about the <i>last day</i> approaching. Like Revelation, and much of the apocalyptic literature of the Bible, the language can seem fanciful—most Christians never look at it—but today the preacher can hardly avoid it. Is this fair—or should eschatology (as it is called) attract our attention more than it does.<p>Why should it? You may ask. Well, the study of eschatology is described as <i>‘the part of theology concerned with death, judgement, and the final destiny of the soul and of humankind’</i> which sounds pretty important to me, and central to our faith. Increasingly we seem to think about our own mortality as we age—so why not reflect on what will be the scenario when the world ends, as almost all respected scientists agree will inevitably happen.<p>Mark’s portrayal of what Jesus is like dominates his gospel. At the beginning, Jesus proclaims the imminent arrival of the <i>Kingdom of Heaven</i>. He grapples with demons and other worldly beings. Chapter 13 is an extended discourse about the end times, but in reply to a question about when this will all happen from Peter, James and John—he will not be drawn.<p><i><sup>32 </sup>‘But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. <sup>33 </sup>Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come.</i><p>The portents and warnings given by Jesus are similar to what is in the Old Testament, and has been developed for centuries. Religious deception, violence, and betrayal. Planetary signs in the skies—the sun and moon go out—the skies will shake—<i>'And God will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens.’</i><p>Interestingly, these warnings can be linked to events at the time when Mark wrote his gospel—narrowing the dates down to around 66 – 70 AD.<p>The warnings accompanying the end times all sound terrifying, as Jesus must have intended. Why did he frighten his listeners in this way—especially as all they asked was <i>when</i> the world would end, not the signs and events that would accompany it? The answer seems to be in the repeated words “Watch out.” They appear in verses 5, 9, 23 and 33. Be prepared. Take nothing for granted.<p>The discourse ends with a parable about a man who leaves on a journey. Jesus’s charge to his disciples is the same as to those in the house while the owner is away.<p><i><sup>35 </sup>‘Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back – whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the cock crows, or at dawn. <sup>36 </sup>If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. <sup>37 </sup>What I say to you, I say to everyone: “Watch!”’</i><p>What is the equivalent charge Jesus would give us today? We live in an age of unprecedented scientific discovery, although perhaps not as dramatic as the E wave supercomputer imagined by Dan Brown. But our knowledge doesn’t really change anything—the cause of the end of the world might be a massive asteroid—climate change—a threat to the human race along the lines of whatever caused the elimination of the dinosaurs—or conflict using nuclear weapons and so on.<p>Whatever happens and when, we should remain active in the faith. Not become lukewarm. Not think the end times are so far away we have plenty of time to prepare ourselves.<p>If Jesus were sat here today, he would almost certainly repeat when he said in answer to his disciples’ question: <i>Be on guard! Be alert! </i>For you do not know when the end times will come. God works outside the cosmos, and can end this experiment called human kind at any time. <b>Amen</b></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4175130436027212027.post-56083685485008934312018-07-29T22:29:00.001+01:002018-07-29T22:29:27.117+01:00All things are possible<h2>Trinity 9 – Sunday 29 July 2018- Stoke Hammond</h2><h4><br></h4><h3>Gospel John 6:1-21</h3><p>Sometime after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), <sup>2 </sup>and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the signs he had performed by healing those who were ill. <sup>3 </sup>Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. <sup>4 </sup>The Jewish Passover Festival was near.<p><sup>5 </sup>When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming towards him, he said to Philip, ‘Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?’ <sup>6 </sup>He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.<p><sup>7 </sup>Philip answered him, ‘It would take more than half a year’s wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!’<p><sup>8 </sup>Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, <sup>9 </sup>‘Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?’<p><sup>10 </sup>Jesus said, ‘Make the people sit down.’ There was plenty of grass in that place, and they sat down (about five thousand men were there). <sup>11 </sup>Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.<p><sup>12 </sup>When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, ‘Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.’ <sup>13 </sup>So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.<p><sup>14 </sup>After the people saw the sign Jesus performed, they began to say, ‘Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.’ <sup>15 </sup>Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.<h3>Jesus walks on the water</h3><p><sup>16 </sup>When evening came, his disciples went down to the lake, <sup>17 </sup>where they got into a boat and set off across the lake for Capernaum. By now it was dark, and Jesus had not yet joined them. <sup>18 </sup>A strong wind was blowing and the waters grew rough. <sup>19 </sup>When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the water; and they were frightened. <sup>20 </sup>But he said to them, ‘It is I; don’t be afraid.’ <sup>21 </sup>Then they were willing to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the shore where they were heading.<h2> Sermon</h2><p>Today’s gospel reading from John describes the miraculous feeding of the 5,000, and immediately following that is the account of Jesus walking on water.<p>You have probably heard countless sermons on the so-called nature miracles; and most clergy have preached several times on these events, which turn up more than once, every year in our lectionary. <p>Let me start by reading for you a passage from 2 Kings chapter 4 in the OT by way of background:<p><i>Feeding of a hundred</i><p><i><sup>42 </sup>A man came from Baal Shalishah, bringing the man of God twenty loaves of barley bread baked from the first ripe corn, along with some ears of new corn. ‘Give it to the people to eat,’ Elisha said.</i><p><i><sup>43 </sup>‘How can I set this before a hundred men?’ his servant asked.</i><p><i>But Elisha answered, ‘Give it to the people to eat. For this is what the Lord says: “They will eat and have some left over.”’ <sup>44 </sup>Then he set it before them, and they ate and had some left over, according to the word of the Lord.</i><p>The ‘man of God’ was Elisha the prophet, and I am sure you were struck by the similarity of the miracle with the <i>feeding of the 5,000.</i> In fact the chapter is full of such events involving illness and famine.<p>Jesus’s audience would have immediately made the link for themselves. Did John want to depict Jesus as a prophet in the mould of the OT prophets? We know Jesus constantly quoted the Hebrew scriptures, and called himself <i>Son of Man</i> and so although we nowadays are not steeped in the Old Testament prophets, we can understand better the miracles such as the <i>Feeding of the 5,000</i> by appreciating how the first audience would have interpreted it.<p>The parallels are obvious. Moses led the Israelites across the Red Sea. The last meal that they ate in Egypt was the forerunner of the Passover, and of course the Holy Communion. Moses went up a mountain, and so did Jesus—and so on.<p>But the passage is not just about Jesus the Prophet, but who Jesus was which goes way beyond the fact that Moses talked face to face with God, as did Jesus himself. This is where we have the advantage—we know and believe Jesus to be divine, which would have been a giant step too far for those who sat down the eat with him.<p>Elisha’s servant protested to his master that 20 loaves of barley bread were hopelessly inadequate to provide a meal for a crowd, and Philip protested to Jesus that <i>‘It would take more than half a year’s wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!’</i> Elisha’s servant just did what he was told and there was food left over. Likewise there were 12 baskets remaining of bread left over at the end of the <i>Feeding of the 5,000</i>—proving God’s abundance and grace to those who put their trust in him.<p>The crowd are impressed by what they have seen, but they only conclude that Jesus is a latter day prophet in the OT mould.<p><i>‘Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.’</i> they say. This is why Jesus resists being acclaimed king. He is much more than that, but it will take more than a ‘sign’ before they are prepared to see him as more than just a prophet. This will be by a series of signs, some demonstrating mastery over the forces of nature which can only point to his divinity.<p>The <i>Walking on the Water</i> is a case in point. He tells the frightened disciples <i>‘It is I; don’t be afraid,’</i> making reference to the words “I AM” —It is I—which in this case is the name for God.<p>So here we have the start of a transition between how Jesus portrays himself in a way that people steeped in the OT can understand, but also laying the foundations with his disciples who will be called on to assert he is much more than just another prophet.<p>The test of our faith and that of the church is to put ourselves in the shoes of Philip and Andrew, or of Elisha’s servant. Would we respond with the impossibility and impracticality of what we were being asked to do—of what Jesus challenges us to believe—or would we put our faith and trust in him and boldly lay out the provisions, inadequate as they seem to be?<p>Putting prayer at the centre of a life of faith provides that challenge. Do we ask for the impossible? Do we stick to asking for what we believe can be answered? Do we listen to God’s command and believe that in Jesus, all things are possible? <br><b>Amen</b></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4175130436027212027.post-35925348653625360302018-07-09T16:59:00.001+01:002018-07-09T16:59:31.574+01:00Be prepared<h2>8 July 2018 at Wingrave – Trinity 6</h2><h2>Collect</h2><p>Merciful God, you have prepared for those who love you such good things as pass our understanding:<br>pour into our hearts such love toward you that we, loving you in all things and above all things, may obtain your promises, which exceed all that we can desire; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit,<br>one God, now and forever. <b>Amen</b>.<h2>Reading 2 Corinthians 12:2-10</h2><p><sup>2 </sup>I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know – God knows. <sup>3 </sup>And I know that this man – whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows – <sup>4 </sup>was caught up to paradise and heard inexpressible things, things that no one is permitted to tell. <sup>5 </sup>I will boast about a man like that, but I will not boast about myself, except about my weaknesses. <sup>6 </sup>Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say, <sup>7 </sup>or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. <sup>8 </sup>Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. <sup>9 </sup>But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. <sup>10 </sup>That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.<h2>Gospel Mark 6:1-13</h2><p><b>A prophet without honour</b><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody><tr><td valign="top"><p>6</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> Jesus left there and went to his home town, accompanied by his disciples. <sup>2 </sup>When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed.<p>‘Where did this man get these things?’ they asked. ‘What’s this wisdom that has been given him? What are these remarkable miracles he is performing? <sup>3 </sup>Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?’ And they took offence at him.<p><sup>4 </sup>Jesus said to them, ‘A prophet is not without honour except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home.’ <sup>5 </sup>He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few people who were ill and heal them. <sup>6 </sup>He was amazed at their lack of faith.<p><b>Jesus sends out the Twelve</b><p>Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village. <sup>7 </sup>Calling the Twelve to him, he began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over impure spirits.<p><sup>8 </sup>These were his instructions: ‘Take nothing for the journey except a staff – no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. <sup>9 </sup>Wear sandals but not an extra shirt. <sup>10 </sup>Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. <sup>11 </sup>And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, leave that place and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.’<p><sup>12 </sup>They went out and preached that people should repent. <sup>13 </sup>They drove out many demons and anointed with oil many people who were ill and healed them.<h2> Sermon</h2><p><b>Be Prepared</b> was a motto I learned at cubs. I never was prepared, and generally considered a boy who could immediately lay his hands on a swiss army knife as a bit of an anorak. Still, I am sure it was good advice at the time. <p>As I looked at today’s gospel reading, the thought occurred to me that we were witnessing an important preparation for the disciples in their training and development to be witnesses to Jesus, and we might learn from them too, but in this context was is it to “be prepared”. <p>Jesus’s encounter with the people of his home town starts chapter 6 of Mark’s gospel. It’s a self-contained unit. Jesus has been performing miracles elsewhere, but in Nazareth he encounters rejection and a complete lack of faith which prevents him doing the same in his home town.<p>The text suggests a positive reception at the beginning, but the crowd are scandalised when they consider who Jesus is, his questionable paternal lineage, and his familiarity as a <i>tekton</i>—a craftsman, a small builder or a carpenter. <p>You will recall that in Mark 3 Jesus’s family came to fetch him and stop him preaching and teaching because they thought he had gone out of his mind. Tradesmen did not suddenly morph into prophets and miracle workers—it would be like your local village handyman leading public meetings and claiming to be inspired. ‘Who does he think he is?’ would probably be most peoples’ hostile reaction.<p>Given his known background, it’s no wonder those who have known him all his life refer to him as ‘son of Mary.’ This question of Jesus’s identity is a recurrent theme in Mark. Think forward to chapter 8, where Jesus himself asks:<p><i>‘Who do people say I am?’</i><p>—and after Peter’s declaration<p><i>‘You are the Messiah’</i><p>we are asked the same question<p><i>‘But what about you? Who do YOU say I am?’</i><p>The sending out of the disciples follows from verse 7. The background is not auspicious. The disciples in chapter 4 fail to understand Jesus’s parables, and ask for explanations. In the same chapter the disciples are accused by Jesus of lacking faith and being fearful before he stills the storm. They wonder ‘<i>Who then is this?’—</i>a man who can intervene in the forces of nature and save them all from drowning.<p>The immediate background is the controversy in Nazareth, and the people’s complete lack of faith which prevented Jesus performing any miracles in his home town. Now the disciples are told they are being sent out on a mission to preach repentance, heal the sick, and cast out demons. It’s this challenge that I think speaks to us today.<p>The first thing that occurs to me is that God does not necessarily choose those who are well versed and equipped to do his work. The disciples were for the most part completely unqualified and lacking the skills to face the immense challenges that came their way. Maybe we need to hear this kind of encouragement occasionally when we doubt our ability to fulfil our own mission.<p>Secondly, the list of equipment and resources the disciples were allowed to take was meagre in the extreme—yet people continue to emulate this unpreparedness even today. A month or so ago I saw on <i>Breakfast TV</i> a disabled cyclist who rode her recumbent bicycle round the coast of the UK. It took her years to complete the task—she carried everything on her bicycle—and when she was not camping out in bad weather alone she was invited into people’s houses and given provisions needed for her immediate needs. God will provide—and does—through our own hands.<p>Thirdly, how much does our own faith determine how effective we are in furthering God’s mission through his Son here on earth? Jesus marvelled at the unbelief that surrounded him—but for some of us, in our nice houses, with lovely views and every advantage including a pension that will guarantee our economic security for the rest of our lives—how much are we like the man who pulled down his barns and built bigger, in order to house all his wealth and put his feet up—only to wake up the next day and find his soul had been required of him?<p><i>‘Take nothing for the journey except a staff – no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. <sup>9 </sup>Wear sandals but not an extra shirt.</i><p>What is the modern day equivalent of this I wonder? The disciples took a walking stick—and not only no money, food or possessions, but no bag to hold anything they were given, and no pocket in which to keep donations.<p>While the disciples were away, John the Baptist was beheaded. They returned to report back:<p><i><sup>30 </sup></i><i>The apostles gathered round Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. <sup>31 </sup>Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, ‘Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.’</i><p>Notice how Jesus cared first for their physical wellbeing before anything else. Yet the comparison between their meagre equipment and the abundance associated with the <i>Feeding of the 5,000</i> could not be more striking.<p>We do, though, have one thing the disciples did not, and it makes all the difference. We have experienced the faithfulness of God in Jesus crucified and risen. So, we may marvel at the unbelief around us, but still we go forth, proclaiming and practising our faith in Christ, trusting in God to provide abundantly for our journey. That is to “be prepared”.<br><b>Amen</b></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4175130436027212027.post-82415030309107399182018-06-10T16:33:00.001+01:002018-06-10T16:33:12.112+01:00Family Troubles<h2>Trinity 2–10 June 2018 at Great Brickhill</h2><h4><br></h4><h4>Reading Genesis 3</h4><p><sup>8 </sup>Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. <sup>9 </sup>But the Lord God called to the man, ‘Where are you?’<p><sup>10 </sup>He answered, ‘I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.’<p><sup>11 </sup>And he said, ‘Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree from which I commanded you not to eat?’<p><sup>12 </sup>The man said, ‘The woman you put here with me – she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.’<p><sup>13 </sup>Then the Lord God said to the woman, ‘What is this you have done?’<p>The woman said, ‘The snake deceived me, and I ate.’<p><sup>14 </sup>So the Lord God said to the snake, ‘Because you have done this,<p>‘Cursed are you above all livestock<br> and all wild animals!<br>You will crawl on your belly<br> and you will eat dust<br> all the days of your life.<br><sup>15 </sup>And I will put enmity<br> between you and the woman,<br> and between your offspring<sup> </sup>and hers;<br>he will crush<sup> </sup>your head,<br> and you will strike his heel.’<h4>Reading 2 Corinthians</h4><p><sup>13 </sup>It is written: ‘I believed; therefore I have spoken.’<sup> </sup>Since we have that same spirit of<sup> </sup>faith, we also believe and therefore speak, <sup>14 </sup>because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you to himself. <sup>15 </sup>All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.<p><sup>16 </sup>Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. <sup>17 </sup>For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. <sup>18 </sup>So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. <sup>5.1</sup> For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.<h4>Gospel Mark 3</h4><p><b>Jesus accused by his family and by teachers of the law</b><p><sup>20 </sup>Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat. <sup>21 </sup>When his family<sup> </sup>heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, ‘He is out of his mind.’<p><sup>22 </sup>And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, ‘He is possessed by Beelzebul! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons.’<p><sup>23 </sup>So Jesus called them over to him and began to speak to them in parables: ‘How can Satan drive out Satan? <sup>24 </sup>If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. <sup>25 </sup>If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. <sup>26 </sup>And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come. <sup>27 </sup>In fact, no one can enter a strong man’s house without first tying him up. Then he can plunder the strong man’s house. <sup>28 </sup>Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter, <sup>29 </sup>but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin.’<p><sup>30 </sup>He said this because they were saying, ‘He has an impure spirit.’<p><sup>31 </sup>Then Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. <sup>32 </sup>A crowd was sitting round him, and they told him, ‘Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.’<p><sup>33 </sup>‘Who are my mother and my brothers?’ he asked.<p><sup>34 </sup>Then he looked at those seated in a circle round him and said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers! <sup>35 </sup>Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.’<h4> Sermon</h4><p><b>Our journey</b>—in the lectionary year B—takes us through the gospel of Mark. We have reached chapter 3, and in the beautiful weather of an English June we are suddenly confronted by a need to linger on the offence Jesus caused, and the reasons behind it.<p>The incident we are focusing on today has three competing groups of people: <p>1. The crowds who constantly swarm and press in on Jesus<p>2. His family, who are concerned about him<p>3. The Scribes—theological heavyweights come down from Jerusalem<p>At this stage—<b>chapter 3</b>—the crowds seem interested in what Jesus has to say and what he does. They want to hear and learn more. They express no worries and ask no questions—but are a constant presence that will in the end be manipulated by the Scribes among others and turned against him.<p>The second group is <b>Jesus’s family</b>. They have come to rescue him from the trouble and notoriety he has got himself in. His family think they are the ones who know him best. Their belief is that he is out of his depth, and that dangerous groups of people, such as the Scribes, and watching him and judging his impact on the crowds.<p>These people have the power to put an end to his teaching, or worse to put an end to his freedom and even his life. His family think he is “beside himself”—not in his right mind—the Greek is existemi [εξιστεμι]—the same word can also be translated as ‘insane.’<p>We the readers know he has been acting this way since his baptism by John the Baptist—his family members have therefore come to find him and take him away to a place of safety.<p>The last group is the <b>Scribes</b>. These are the experts in theology—come down from Jerusalem to investigate and make a judgement on what Jesus is doing. They recognise that a power is at work in him—but do not consider that God is performing a revival through him—instead they decide Jesus is an agent of evil—a servant of Satan.<p>In one sense, it was good that the Scribes took Jesus’s power seriously—and did not put his works down to magic, illusion or pronouncing him a charlatan. On the other hand, branding him a Satanic agent was deeply damaging. <p>Unlike the magicians in Egypt, who could replicate the <b>‘signs’</b> that Moses and Aaron performed—the Scribes could not match Jesus’s miracles, and so had to fall back on ascribing his power to a malevolent force.<p>Jesus in return accuses the Scribes on being blind to the possibility of truth—they blaspheme against the Holy Spirit—searching for every possible source of power except that of God’s renewal and forgiveness—healing, casting out demonic possession, freedom from guilt and sin, both to individuals and the people as a nation. Their minds are closed—they do not recognise the transformative power of God’s grace at work.<p>The <b>response</b> from Jesus is short and to the point. He does not address the accusation at length, but does point out the logical absurdity of saying that he is using Satanic power to act on itself. The powers of evil show no signs of loosing the bonds of oppression—the reign of Satan is dominant and ruthlessly unyielding. In reality, are the Scribes in thrall to the evil one themselves?<p>Jesus’s little parable is short and to the point. He likens himself to a burglar, who breaks into a house owned by a strong man who represents Satan. The possessions the strong man has plundered can only be taken from him by tying him up and neutralizing his power.<p>This rest of the gospel harks back to this little illustration. God in Jesus comes to displace the reign of Satan—to tie down and neutralize the kingdom of evil—a power that is not given up easily, but only by the transformative love of Jesus, so aptly illustrated by Episcopalian bishop Michael Curry at the wedding of Prince Harry and Megan Markle.<p>Jesus then turns back to the other protagonists—his family. He renounces their claim on him—family ties and love are not sufficient to divert him from his clear mission in the world.<p>So in this passage we have the start of the <b>conspiracy</b> against Jesus by various groups who eventually join together in a plot which leads to the cross. As we continue to read through Mark in year B of the lectionary, we can see how these attacks develop—how the conspiracies play out.<p>Jesus promises <b>good news</b>—but this is very different from <b>comfortable news</b> as his family found out. The reign or Kingdom of God that Jesus keeps talking about is not going to have a smooth ride—it is far from ‘business as usual.’ <b> Amen</b><p>§ <b>Amen</b><h4>Intercessions</h4><p>We pray for God to fill us with his Spirit. Generous God, we thank you for the power of your Holy Spirit. We ask that we may be strengthened to serve you better. Lord, come to bless us <b>and fill us with your Spirit.</b><p>We thank you for the wisdom of your Holy Spirit. We ask you to make us wise to understand your will. Lord, come to bless us <b>and fill us with your Spirit.</b><p>We thank you for the peace of your Holy Spirit. We ask you to keep us confident of your love wherever you call us. Lord, come to bless us <b>and fill us with your Spirit. </b><p>We thank you for the healing of your Holy Spirit. We ask you to bring reconciliation and wholeness where there is division, sickness and sorrow. Lord, come to bless us <b>and fill us with your Spirit. </b><p>We thank you for the gifts of your Holy Spirit. We ask you to equip us for the work which you have given us. Lord, come to bless us <b>and fill us with your Spirit</b>. <p>We thank you for the fruit of your Holy Spirit. We ask you to reveal in our lives the love of Jesus. Lord, come to bless us <b>and fill us with your Spirit. </b><p>We thank you for the breath of your Holy Spirit, given us by the risen Lord. We ask you to keep the whole Church, living and departed, in the joy of eternal life. Lord, come to bless us <b>and fill us with your Spirit.</b><p>Generous God, you sent your Holy Spirit upon your Messiah at the river Jordan, and upon the disciples in the upper room: in your mercy fill us with your Spirit, hear our prayer, and make us one in heart and mind to serve you with joy for ever. <b>Amen</b>.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4175130436027212027.post-54535577256991127372018-06-10T14:53:00.000+01:002018-06-10T14:53:03.993+01:00The Great Conspiracy Theory<h3>10 June 2018 – Great Brickhill – Trinity 2</h3><h4>Gospel Mark 3</h4><p><b>Jesus accused by his family and by teachers of the law</b><p><sup>20 </sup>Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat. <sup>21 </sup>When his family<sup> </sup>heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, ‘He is out of his mind.’<p><sup>22 </sup>And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, ‘He is possessed by Beelzebul! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons.’<p><sup>23 </sup>So Jesus called them over to him and began to speak to them in parables: ‘How can Satan drive out Satan? <sup>24 </sup>If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. <sup>25 </sup>If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. <sup>26 </sup>And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come. <sup>27 </sup>In fact, no one can enter a strong man’s house without first tying him up. Then he can plunder the strong man’s house. <sup>28 </sup>Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter, <sup>29 </sup>but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin.’<p><sup>30 </sup>He said this because they were saying, ‘He has an impure spirit.’<p><sup>31 </sup>Then Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. <sup>32 </sup>A crowd was sitting round him, and they told him, ‘Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.’<p><sup>33 </sup>‘Who are my mother and my brothers?’ he asked.<p><sup>34 </sup>Then he looked at those seated in a circle round him and said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers! <sup>35 </sup>Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.’<h4> Sermon</h4><p><b>Our journey</b>—in the lectionary year B—takes us through the gospel of Mark. We have reached chapter 3, and in the beautiful weather of an English June we are suddenly confronted by a need to linger on the offence Jesus caused, and the reasons behind it.<p>The incident we are focusing on today has three competing groups of people: <p>1. The crowds who constantly swarm and press in on Jesus<p>2. His family, who are concerned about him<p>3. The Scribes—theological heavyweights come down from Jerusalem<p>At this stage—<b>chapter 3</b>—the crowds seem interested in what Jesus has to say and what he does. They want to hear and learn more. They express no worries and ask no questions—but are a constant presence that will in the end be manipulated by the Scribes among others and turned against him.<p>The second group is <b>Jesus’s family</b>. They have come to rescue him from the trouble and notoriety he has got himself in. His family think they are the ones who know him best. Their belief is that he is out of his depth, and that dangerous groups of people, such as the Scribes, and watching him and judging his impact on the crowds.<p>These people have the power to put an end to his teaching, or worse to put an end to his freedom and even his life. His family think he is “beside himself”—not in his right mind—the Greek is existemi [εξιστεμι]—the same word can also be translated as ‘insane.’<p>We the readers know he has been acting this way since his baptism by John the Baptist—his family members have therefore some to find him and take him away to a place of safety.<p>The last group is the <b>Scribes</b>. These are the experts in theology—come down from Jerusalem to investigate and make a judgement on what Jesus is doing. They recognise that a power is at work in him—but do not consider that God is performing a revival through him—instead they decide Jesus is an agent of evil—a servant of Satan.<p>In one sense, it was good that the Scribes took Jesus’s power seriously—and did not put his works down to magic, illusion or pronouncing him a charlatan. On the other hand, branding him a Satanic agent was deeply damaging. <p>Unlike the magicians in Egypt, who could replicate the <b>‘signs’</b> that Moses and Aaron performed—the Scribes could not match Jesus’s miracles, and so had to fall back on ascribing his power to a malevolent force.<p>Jesus in return accuses the Scribes on being blind to the possibility of truth—they blaspheme against the Holy Spirit—searching for every possible source of power except that of God’s renewal and forgiveness—healing, casting out demonic possession, freedom from guilt and sin, both to individuals and the people as a nation. Their minds are closed—they do not recognise the transformative power of God’s grace at work.<p>The <b>response</b> from Jesus is short and to the point. He does not address the accusation at length, but does point out the logical absurdity of saying that he is using Satanic power to act on itself. The powers of evil show no signs of loosing the bonds of oppression—the reign of Satan is dominant and ruthlessly unyielding. In reality, are the Scribes in thrall to the evil one themselves?<p>Jesus’s little parable is short and to the point. He likens himself to a burglar, who breaks into a house owned by a strong man who represents Satan. The possessions the strong man has plundered can only be taken from him by tying him up and neutralizing his power.<p>This rest of the gospel harks back to this little illustration. God in Jesus comes to displace the reign of Satan—to tie down and neutralize the kingdom of evil—a power that is not given up easily, but only by the transformative love of Jesus, so aptly illustrated by Episcopalian bishop Michael Curry at the wedding of Prince Harry and Megan Markle.<p>Jesus then turns back to the other protagonists—his family. He renounces their claim on him—family ties and love are not sufficient to divert him from his clear mission in the world.<p>So in this passage we have the start of the <b>conspiracy</b> against Jesus by various groups who eventually join together in a plot which leads to the cross. As we continue to read through Mark in year B of the lectionary, we can see how these attacks develop—how the conspiracies play out.<p>Jesus promises <b>good news</b>—but this is very different from <b>comfortable news</b> as his family found out. The reign or Kingdom of God that Jesus keeps talking about is not going to have a smooth ride—it is far from ‘business as usual.’ <b> Amen</b></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4175130436027212027.post-12730117721030375222018-06-03T14:18:00.000+01:002018-06-03T14:18:03.296+01:00Trinity 1 at the Methodist Church in Wingrave<h4>3 June 2018</h4><h4><br></h4><h4>Reading—I Samuel 3:1—10</h4><p><b>The Lord Calls Samuel</b><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody><tr><td valign="top"><p><br></p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> The boy Samuel ministered before the Lord under Eli. In those days the word of the Lord was rare; there were not many visions.<p><sup>2 </sup>One night Eli, whose eyes were becoming so weak that he could barely see, was lying down in his usual place. <sup>3 </sup>The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the house of the Lord, where the ark of God was. <sup>4 </sup>Then the Lord called Samuel.<p>Samuel answered, “Here I am.” <sup>5 </sup>And he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.”<p>But Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.” So he went and lay down.<p><sup>6 </sup>Again the Lord called, “Samuel!” And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.”<p>“My son,” Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.”<p><sup>7 </sup>Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord: The word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.<p><sup>8 </sup>A third time the Lord called, “Samuel!” And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.”<p>Then Eli realized that the Lord was calling the boy. <sup>9 </sup>So Eli told Samuel, “Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.<p><sup>10 </sup>The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!”<p>Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”<h4>New Testament 2 Corinthians 4</h4><p><sup>5 </sup>For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. <sup>6 </sup>For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,”<sup> </sup> made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.<p><sup>7 </sup>But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. <sup>8 </sup>We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; <sup>9 </sup>persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. <sup>10 </sup>We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. <sup>11 </sup>For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. <sup>12 </sup>So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.<h4><p>Gospel Mark 2:23—3:6</p></h4><p><b>Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath</b><p><sup>23 </sup>One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grain fields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain. <sup>24 </sup>The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?”<p><sup>25 </sup>He answered, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? <sup>26 </sup>In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.”<p><sup>27 </sup>Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. <sup>28 </sup>So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”<table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody><tr><td valign="top"><p><br></p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> Another time Jesus went into the synagogue, and a man with a shrivelled hand was there. <sup>2 </sup>Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath. <sup>3 </sup>Jesus said to the man with the shrivelled hand, “Stand up in front of everyone.”<p><sup>4 </sup>Then Jesus asked them, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they remained silent.<p><sup>5 </sup>He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored. <sup>6 </sup>Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.<h4>Sermon</h4><p>The reading from I Samuel is all about God’s call. The influence of religion and people’s awareness of the Lord had reached a low ebb. The references to light and darkness are surely deliberate. At a time when God revealed himself in dreams, the passage explains that:<p><i>In those days the word of the Lord was rare; there were not many visions.</i><p>Eli was getting old, and his eyes were dim. His apprentice Samuel did not recognise God’s call because he did not yet know the Lord. <p><i>The word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.</i><p>Even the Temple at night was in darkness. God’s light was not recognised, the light he spoke into being at the time of creation. But eventually, God’s call was plain, and Samuel is told to reply:<p><i>“Speak, for your servant is listening.”</i><p>Like Samuel we pray the same prayer today, that God will speak and that we will listen, but the New Testament experience of God is very different. You may have to re-read the passage from II Corinthians several times to try and appreciate what Paul is saying, but briefly he rejects any cleverness, holiness or value in himself, describing his body as a clay jar which is fragile and vulnerable, but which contains the treasure of the life and death of Jesus which we continually witness to in our daily lives.<p>When we proclaim the Messiah as Lord, this truth does not come from us. What we announce to others does not come from our personal or collective egos. Our achievements, what makes us special, our learning or understanding—all these are meaningless. Why?—because God’s Word lives in us—fragile clay jars—and it is God’s light, spoken into existence at Creation, that is being announced, not by us but God himself. The light of God shines in the darkness, and sin and death cannot overcome it, even though in Jesus his death and resurrection live side by side.<p>Anyone who has plant pots knows how vulnerable they are—how easily damaged by frost or chipped by the slightest knock—how cheap and fragile. That is why earthenware was used in the Temple sacrifices, according to Leviticus, and not just precious metals and fine wood. Clay jars symbolise the vulnerability and fragility of our human form, yet like the sacred vessels there is treasure in God’s indwelling of us through Jesus Christ.<p>Because we are clay vessels, Paul explains our affliction:<p><i><sup>8 </sup>We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; <sup>9 </sup>persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. <sup>10 </sup>We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.</i><p>Not only are we afflicted, but Jesus shared our vulnerability.<p><i>“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Mark 15:34; see also Psalm 22:1).</i><p>But it is through the death of Jesus that all that disfigures us, distorts and spoils our created goodness dies. Jesus’s life is manifest as the flourishing of new creation in our lives. Treasure in clay jars. The light of God’s glory shining amid our fragile human existence.<p>Breaking through the bonds of sin in all its forms is something Jesus seems to have rejoiced doing. Today we rejoin Mark’s gospel and continue reading from it until November. There are two incidents which we must understand if we are to grasp the meaning of Mark’s gospel as a whole. <p>You can illustrate the incidents in this way:<p>1. Lawlessness and those who hunger<p>2. Lawlessness and those who suffer<p>The Pharisees are good at laying down the letter of the law. Jesus is good at interpreting its intention, and adapting its rules to those in need.<p>Both incidents take place on the Sabbath day. In the first, the Pharisees complain that the disciples of Jesus are eating ears of corn from the fields as they cross because they are hungry. The law prohibits gleaning on the Sabbath day, and any food for the Sabbath must be prepared in advance.<p>In the second, the Pharisees watch to see whether or not Jesus will heal a man who suffers from a shrivelled hand on the Sabbath day.<p>Both incidents sound totally nit-picking—and they are—but the direct challenge to the authority of the Pharisees and the violation of the law’s very foundations drive those in authority to rid themselves of this troublesome rabbi.<p>In asking whether it is lawful to do good or evil on the Sabbath, Jesus poses a bit of a conundrum. The answer is obvious to us—doing good is the best choice—but not to the Pharisees whose whole foundation of life is challenged by any thought that the law should be interpreted, rather than applied directly to every situation. In the end, the man with the disability seems to have healed himself—Jesus did not touch him or do any of the things that were usually associated with healing. But the die was cast, and it was the violation of the Sabbath and the suggestion the law could be applied more compassionately that let to the plots to kill Jesus and do away with him.<p>Both of these cases seem to be in direct violation of God’s command to keep the Sabbath holy, but Jesus sees the wider picture. This is that human beings are not shackled—slaves to the Law—but free. The Law is intended to serve human beings and not the other way round.<p>Only 79 verses into Mark’s gospel, and the Pharisees and Herodians are already plotting to do away with Jesus. This is why is say that understanding what is happening at this early point in the narrative is important for helping interpret the rest of the gospel.<p>But Mark has good news to announce, and does not leave us with all the controversy and threat. Jesus, like the God who instituted the Sabbath, is committed to preserving life. His ministry will expose the oppressive and corrosive tyrannies of fear, pretence, and hypocrisy, wherever they reside. Yet, finally, he will deliver us from them. <b>Amen</b></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4175130436027212027.post-12241606654333928312018-05-13T14:22:00.000+01:002018-05-13T14:22:05.933+01:00Easter 7 at the Methodist Church in Wingrave<h3>13 May 2018</h3><h4>Reading—Acts 1:15—17;21—end</h4><p><sup>15 </sup>In those days Peter stood up among the believers (a group numbering about a hundred and twenty) <sup>16 </sup>and said, “Brothers and sisters, the Scripture had to be fulfilled in which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through David concerning Judas, who served as guide for those who arrested Jesus. <sup>17 </sup>He was one of our number and shared in our ministry.”<p><sup>21 </sup>Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus was living among us, <sup>22 </sup>beginning from John’s baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection.”<p><sup>23 </sup>So they nominated two men: Joseph called Barsabbas (also known as Justus) and Matthias. <sup>24 </sup>Then they prayed, “Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which of these two you have chosen <sup>25 </sup>to take over this apostolic ministry, which Judas left to go where he belongs.” <sup>26 </sup>Then they cast lots, and the lot fell to Matthias; so he was added to the eleven apostles.<h4>New Testament 1 John 5</h4><p><sup>9 </sup>We accept human testimony, but God’s testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which he has given about his Son. <sup>10 </sup>Whoever believes in the Son of God accepts this testimony. Whoever does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because they have not believed the testimony God has given about his Son. <sup>11 </sup>And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. <sup>12 </sup>Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.<h4><p><i><br></i></p>Gospel John 17</h4><p><b>Jesus Prays for His Disciples</b><p><sup>6 </sup>“I have revealed you<sup> </sup>to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. <sup>7 </sup>Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. <sup>8 </sup>For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. <sup>9 </sup>I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. <sup>10 </sup>All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. <sup>11 </sup>I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of<sup> </sup>your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. <sup>12 </sup>While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by<sup> </sup>that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.<p><sup>13 </sup>“I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. <sup>14 </sup>I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. <sup>15 </sup>My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. <sup>16 </sup>They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. <sup>17 </sup>Sanctify them by<sup> </sup>the truth; your word is truth. <sup>18 </sup>As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. <sup>19 </sup>For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.<h4>Sermon</h4><p>How many believers—early church at start of Acts? Hard to believe only 120 people recorded by Luke who were listening to Peter’s address to them. Not just men—Peter refers to them as “Brothers and Sisters.”<p>How many Methodist chapels in Bucks does this represent in numbers? 6? Yet even after the momentous events of Easter—resurrection of Christ and his appearing to his disciples—gift of the Holy Spirit—Peter can only count 120 people to take forward the great commission given to the believers by Jesus himself. No wonder Jesus in today’s gospel passage prays earnestly to the Father for the followers he will leave behind after his ascension. It’s like we can listen in to what he prays:<p><i><sup>11 </sup>I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of<sup> </sup>your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. <sup>12 </sup>While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by<sup> </sup>that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.</i><p>The gap left in the number of apostles by Judas Iscariot was also a first priority for the early church. The number 12 was important to the Jews in very many ways, but how were they to make up the number—who to choose—what qualities they must have—how to go about appointing them?<p>The background was one of crisis—which explains the priority given to strengthening the leadership.<p>1. They were frustrated that the resurrection of the dead did not immediately lead to the restoration of Israel—their hopes dashed with the death of Jesus on the cross [Emmaus]—they rose to the pinnacle of expectation on his resurrection. Jesus had told them it was not their business to know the place or the time—nor was it his but God’s own time.<p>2. The believers were forced to wait—no one likes waiting do they?—in the meantime God would deliver on his promise through Jesus to give them the Holy Spirit—but the longing for restoration never really went away—there was short term thinking—that led to a delay for many years writing down the gospels.<p>3. There was a leadership crisis—which explains the priority given over other matters to the replacement of Judas. For 3 years Jesus had led them—interpreted the scriptures—taught his disciples—resolved disputes—prepared them for the time when he would no longer be with them. Now they had to work out a transition—how would the group be directed?—who would lead them?<p>4. They had a short list of two men—Joseph Barsabbas known as Justus—and Matthias. They prayed to God for guidance on how to choose between the candidates—drew lots and Matthias was chosen.<p>To us today, this sort of recruitment looks like an act of desperation—Matthias does not appear anywhere else in scripture—but there is a tradition that he took the gospel to Cappadocia and the Caspian Sea region.<p>We know that the extra apostle in effect was not Matthias but Paul—so the choice may not have been for the best and the method of selection crude—but Paul’s vocation revealed by God on the road to Damascus was probably the single most critical factor in the spread of the gospel around the Mediterranean and Roman world.<p>What are we to make of the fact Jesus hand picked Judas as his disciple—yet after his treachery and betrayal the remaining believers cast lots for his replacement? Sin can appear to triumph and derail our hopes—but in the end we know that God’s will will be done—that is exactly what happened here. Despite the shared prayers of the believers—it was the Holy Spirit that overruled and chose Paul as the twelfth disciple—and the rest, as they say, is history—but the early church moved from only 120 followers to millions in the next 2 or 3 centuries, thanks to Paul the twelfth apostle and his boldness and leadership.<p>No wonder Jesus prayed for his disciples at some length—and continues to do so, as we offer our prayers to the Father through him.<p>Today’s gospel reading is actually only a part of the extended discourse by Jesus with his disciples that stretches from chapter 13 to 17. The most significant theme is that of ‘giving’ — mentioned 9 times in this chapter alone. Here are 6 in three verses alone:<p><i><sup>6 </sup>“I have revealed you<sup> </sup>to those whom you <b>gave</b> me out of the world. They were yours; you <b>gave</b> them to me and they have obeyed your word. <sup>7 </sup>Now they know that everything you have <b>given</b> me comes from you. <sup>8 </sup>For I <b>gave</b> them the words you <b>gave</b> me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. <sup>9 </sup>I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have <b>given</b> me, for they are yours. </i><p><b>Knowing we belong</b><br>Both God the Father and the Son are extravagant givers through grace—we are inheritors of the grace given to us through Jesus—and in this state of grace we are enabled to live. We have only to accept the word that comes from God, and believe in him. We are identified as belonging—we belong to Jesus<p><b>Knowing the Father’s name</b><br>Knowing his name stands for knowing all that God is and has done—if we wonder why we are enabled to know Jesus as Lord, it is because we have been given to him from the very beginning<p><b>Knowing the Word</b><br><i> <sup>8 </sup>For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me.</i><p>We are sanctified—made holy—we are sent into the world—belonging to God, knowing his name, and accepting the Word. Guarded and sustained in that Word we can know ourselves as disciple community—constituted in the power of Christ's death and resurrection and in the promise of his presence in the gift of the Holy Spirit, the Counsellor and Comforter—about which we may hear more next week—Pentecost.<p><b>Amen</b></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4175130436027212027.post-45233986432629082712018-05-09T14:32:00.001+01:002018-05-09T14:32:56.162+01:00Easter 2 at Wingrave Methodist Church<p>8 April 2018</p><h4>First Reading—Acts 4</h4><p>The believers share their possessions<p><sup>32 </sup>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. <sup>33 </sup>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 <sup>34 </sup>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 <sup>35 </sup>and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need.<h4>New Testament 1 John 1</h4><p><b>The incarnation of the Word of life</b><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody><tr><td valign="top"><p><br></p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched – this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. <sup>2 </sup>The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. <sup>3 </sup>We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. <sup>4 </sup>We write this to make our<sup> </sup>joy complete.<p>Light and darkness, sin and forgiveness<p><sup>5 </sup>This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. <sup>6 </sup>If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. <sup>7 </sup>But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all<sup> </sup>sin.<p><sup>8 </sup>If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. <sup>9 </sup>If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. <sup>10 </sup>If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.<table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody><tr><td valign="top"><p><br></p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father – Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. <sup>2 </sup>He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.<h4>Hymn 2</h4><p>· <i>Walk in the light 397</i><h4>Gospel John 20</h4><p>Jesus appears to his disciples<p><sup>19 </sup>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!’ <sup>20 </sup>After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.<p><sup>21 </sup>Again Jesus said, ‘Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.’ <sup>22 </sup>And with that he breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. <sup>23 </sup>If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.’<p>Jesus appears to Thomas<p><sup>24 </sup>Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. <sup>25 </sup>So the other disciples told him, ‘We have seen the Lord!’<p>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.’<p><sup>26 </sup>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!’ <sup>27 </sup>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.’<p><sup>28 </sup>Thomas said to him, ‘My Lord and my God!’<p><sup>29 </sup>Then Jesus told him, ‘Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.’<p><b>The purpose of John’s gospel</b><p><sup>30 </sup>Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. <sup>31 </sup>But these are written that you may believe<sup> </sup>that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.<h4>Sermon</h4><p>Barely a month has passed since the snow, and my last visit. We spoke about Zeal—for Law, Wisdom, Temple as Body of Christ. This time—clear choice of Jesus appearing to disciples—giving gift of Holy Spirit—Thomas not present—told to believe, not doubt—which he does <b>“My Lord and my God!”</b><p>You’ve heard this many times before—sermons on <b>Believing Thomas</b>—but as we are in the Methodist church let’s heed the words of John Wesley:<p><i>“If the preacher would imitate any part of the oracles of God above all the rest, let it be the first epistle of St John” (Sermons on Several Occasions).</i><p>Why did <b>John Wesley</b> elevate 1 John in this way? The clue is in the content. The first century was something of a <i>honeymoon period</i> for the early Christian gatherings—followed the ideal of holiness and unity—led by the Holy Spirit—a period of fresh revelations, miracles, and rapid growth in numbers. But it was also a time of differing beliefs, strife, and splits in the church over passionate differences in doctrine.<p>One of most controversial splits was between those who differed fundamentally over the <b>person of Christ and the nature of the Christian life</b>. These dissenters denied that Christ was ever really human—they followed the model of the ‘spiritual’ Jesus—Christ they believed was <i>heavenly, sinless and wise</i>—they thought that made them the same. This same split in doctrine has never gone away—the church tried to reconcile differing views by asserting Christ was <i>fully human and fully divine</i>—but over the centuries this ideal of the early church gave way to violence, torture and death—but that’s another terrible story in the history of religion.<p>The writer of 1 John—we’ll call him <i>The Elder</i>—fearing the effects of dissent and fracture—wrote his letter to <b>set the record straight</b>, as it were. He wasn’t criticising anyone, but making a passionate appeal for the believers to join in their relationship with both Father and Son. Surprisingly, over the generations, this letter has never held centre stage—nor did people tend to agree with Wesley about it’s importance—but here we are in the shadow of John Wesley, so I’ll continue with 1 John.<p>According to Luke, when Paul was in Athens, he was engaged in discussion with Greek philosophers who enjoyed new teachings. Some early Christians were more interested in special wisdom—revealed especially to them—in Greek they were known as <i>Gnostics</i>—after the Greek word for knowledge—a special kind of revelation that only they had.<p>John the Elder therefore opened his letter by a restatement of the incarnation. What he has heard, what he has seen with his own eyes, what was from the beginning, what he has held with his hands, in short what concerns the Word of life—these are the things he declares to those who hear of read his letter.<p>John the Elder avoids personalising the Logos—although the opening of his letter sounds like the opening to John’s gospel—so he restates <i>what</i> he has seen and heard without immediately declaring the personality of the Word (Logos). This <i>news</i> sounds new and fresh—and so the dissenters would be all ears—but the news is old news—no secret wisdom or special knowledge—unchanged <i>from the beginning</i>.<p><i><sup>3 </sup>We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. <sup>4 </sup>We write this to make our<sup> </sup>joy complete.</i><p>It sounds strange to our ears that John says the word he declares has been <i>touched</i> by human hands. The Greek word here means something closer to <i>grapple</i>, <i>wrestle,</i> or <i>physically examine.</i> It’s interesting that Luke uses the same word in reference to his resurrected body:<p><i>“Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. <b>Touch</b> me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see I have.” (Luke 24:39)</i><p>Instead of a new revelation of special wisdom, John the Elder’s hearers get the <i>old, old story of Jesus and his love</i>. This Jesus was a person, a human being. We cannot know Jesus—we cannot reckon with Jesus as risen and reigning Lord—we cannot do all this without engaging with the incarnation—the flesh and blood Jesus. We cannot do all this without Jesus’ early life on earth, the words he spoke and the things he did—and of course his death on the cross. All these are necessary before we can comprehend his divine nature, his resurrection, his ascension, and his salvation. Only then can there be fellowship for us with Christ as well as God the Father.<p>God is Light—we cannot have fellowship with Him without dealing with our sinful nature first. Justification by faith leads on to works—inspired and impelled by faith. God is Light. In Him is no darkness at all. So we must attend to sin. Not that we can make things right with God through our own power, but by grace. There cannot be light without darkness—but one banishes the other, however feeble is our reflected light from our personal fellowship with God the Father and the Son.<p>Salvation is not obtained by special knowledge, but by grace. This is the message of John the Elder:<p><i><sup>7 </sup>But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all<sup> </sup>sin.</i><p><i><sup>8 </sup>If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. <sup>9 </sup>If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.</i> <b>Amen</b></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4175130436027212027.post-10984268522331522982018-05-09T14:31:00.001+01:002018-05-09T14:31:03.438+01:00Easter 3 at All Saints Marsworth<p>15 April 2018</p><h4>Reading Acts 3:12—19</h4><h5>Peter Speaks to the Onlookers</h5><p><sup>11 </sup>While the man held on to Peter and John, all the people were astonished and came running to them in the place called Solomon’s Colonnade. <sup>12 </sup>When Peter saw this, he said to them: “Fellow Israelites, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? <sup>13 </sup>The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. You handed him over to be killed, and you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go. <sup>14 </sup>You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. <sup>15 </sup>You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this. <sup>16 </sup>By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has completely healed him, as you can all see.<p><sup>17 </sup>“Now, fellow Israelites, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders. <sup>18 </sup>But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Messiah would suffer. <sup>19 </sup>Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.<h4>Reading 1 John 3:1—7</h4><p>See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. <sup>2 </sup>Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. <sup>3 </sup>All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.<p><sup>4 </sup>Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. <sup>5 </sup>But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. <sup>6 </sup>No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.<p><sup>7 </sup>Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.<h4>Gospel Luke 24:36—48</h4><p>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.<h5>Jesus Appears to the Disciples</h5><p><sup>36 </sup>While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”<p><sup>37 </sup>They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. <sup>38 </sup>He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? <sup>39 </sup>Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.”<p><sup>40 </sup>When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet. <sup>41 </sup>And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?” <sup>42 </sup>They gave him a piece of broiled fish, <sup>43 </sup>and he took it and ate it in their presence.<p><sup>44 </sup>He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.”<p><sup>45 </sup>Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. <sup>46 </sup>He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, <sup>47 </sup>and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. <sup>48 </sup>You are witnesses of these things. <sup>49 </sup>I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”<h4> Sermon</h4><p>Today’s gospel passage from the last chapter of Luke follows on from everyone’s favourite travel story—The Road to Emmaus. In Luke’s account, it is <b>Sunday morning</b>—as the day starts two women make their way to the tomb where Jesus has been interred. There they find the stone covering the entrance has been unsealed and rolled aside. Two men in dazzling garments announce to them that Jesus is risen.<p>Armed with these momentous tidings, the women go straight to the disciples and announce the resurrection. They are not believed—their tidings are judged to be no more than an idle tale.<p><b>Peter</b>, however, <b>runs to the tomb</b> and finds it as the women had reported. Apart from confirming that the tomb is empty, Luke does not tell us anything about any conclusions Peter reached. At this point Luke’s narrative cuts abruptly to the account of the Road to and from <b>Emmaus</b>.<b></b><p><b>Two of the disillusioned disciples</b> have decided to escape from the febrile atmosphere in Jerusalem and start walking the 13 miles home to Emmaus. They encounter, but do not recognise Jesus. They express their disappointment. They hoped that Jesus would be the one to redeem Israel, but Jesus explains how everything that happened was necessary according to Scripture. <p>The two invited Jesus to spend the night with them. <b>During the meal,</b> when Jesus blessed and broke the bread, their eyes were opened, and they recognised him, but he vanished from their sight. They rushed back to Jerusalem and reported to the gathered believers what had happened.<p><b>Jesus’s greeting</b> was the first word the disciples had heard from him since the dark and terrible events of the weekend. The word was <i>Shalom</i>. Peace was what the disciples needed to hear. They were in hiding, fearing for their very lives after the leader of their fledgling movement had met his fate. Jesus’s appearing in their very midst, unaccountably, was accompanied by the reassurance that all would be well, despite every indication to the contrary.<p><b>Peace</b> is a repeated theme in Luke—think of the angels in the fields, and the hymns of Zechariah and Simeon. But before their minds could be put at rest, the disciples needed assurance they were not seeing an apparition. Jesus showed them the marks of the nails in his hands and feet, but also demonstrated his ability to eat and drink—something phantoms could not do.<p>In our modern translation, it’s easy to miss Jesus claim to be divine:<p><i>Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.”</i><p>“It is I myself”—ἐγώ εἰμί in Greek—<b>I AM</b> is the name for God. After sharing the peace with his friends, Jesus gives his authority for the peace he shares with them. His credentials are nothing less than the assurance of God the Father. The news must have been startling to the band of disappointed, fearful, disciples who remained in Jerusalem, despite the likelihood they would be betrayed, arrested and killed themselves.<p>All this can be understood in <b>fulfilment of Scripture</b>. That was why Jesus expounded the law of Moses—effectively what had been written about him—to the disciples in the upper room as he had on the road to Emmaus.<p>All this is not for interest alone. The elaborate explanation is for a good reason. The disciples, as witnesses of Jesus, are now called to proclaim <b>repentance for the forgiveness of sins</b> in his name to all nations, a theme that will be traced further in Acts.<p>Both for the early disciples—and also for us—the message of Easter is the fulfilment of what God has been accomplishing throughout human history. <b>The reality of Jesus is the reality of God’s plan revealed</b>. This understanding moves the disciples forward to the future—no longer fearful and alone—but sure in the knowledge of the resurrection through their own witness of a physical Jesus who is very much alive.<p>Luke in his gospel account immediately follows this episode with a commission to the disciples—and of course the same exhortation to us:<p><i><sup>48 </sup></i><i>You are witnesses of these things. <sup>49 </sup>I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”</i><p>Belief in the empty tomb is a prerequisite of every Easter day of our lives. What follows from this confession is our own commission—the same promise and the same assurance as was given to the disciples by the physical Jesus himself.<p>Luke did not himself witness these things—he is in the same position as we are in that sense. Like the apostles we have to account for what we have done with the witness account we have just read. That is the big question asked of all of us.<p><i>You are witnesses of these things, says the Lord</i>. I was dead, and behold I am alive for evermore. <b>Amen</b></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4175130436027212027.post-21803017772939397612018-05-09T14:29:00.001+01:002018-05-09T14:29:06.397+01:00Easter 4 at Wing<h4>22 April 2018</h4><h4><br></h4><h4>Reading Acts 4:5—12</h4><p><sup>5 </sup>The next day the rulers, the elders and the teachers of the law met in Jerusalem. <sup>6 </sup>Annas the high priest was there, and so were Caiaphas, John, Alexander and others of the high priest’s family. <sup>7 </sup>They had Peter and John brought before them and began to question them: ‘By what power or what name did you do this?’<p><sup>8 </sup>Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: ‘Rulers and elders of the people! <sup>9 </sup>If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a man who was lame and are being asked how he was healed, <sup>10 </sup>then know this, you and all the people of Israel: it is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. <sup>11 </sup>Jesus is ‘“the stone you builders rejected,<br> which has become the cornerstone.” <sup>12 </sup>Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.’<h4>Gospel John 10:11—18</h4><p>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.<p><sup>11 </sup>‘I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. <sup>12 </sup>The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. <sup>13 </sup>The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.<p><sup>14 </sup>‘I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me – <sup>15 </sup>just as the Father knows me and I know the Father – and I lay down my life for the sheep. <sup>16 </sup>I have other sheep that are not of this sheepfold. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. <sup>17 </sup>The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life – only to take it up again. <sup>18 </sup>No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.’<h4> Sermon</h4><p><b>Magic Persian carpet</b>—2,000 years—Jesus tells <i>Parable of Good Shepard</i>. Not cosy pastoral fable with a message—not sitting on the grass with disciples as Jesus taught—background threatening investigation of lawbreaking by Pharisees.<p><b>Lawbreaking</b>—John 8—Pharisees present to Jesus <i>Woman taken in Adultery</i>—long dispute follows—Jesus claims about himself—chapter ends with Jesus claiming in effect he is God:<p><i><sup>58 </sup></i><i>‘Very truly I tell you,’ Jesus answered, ‘before Abraham was born, I am!’ <sup>59 </sup>At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds.</i><p><b>Chapter 9 continues theme of lawbreaking</b>—this time Jesus himself—healing of <i>Man Born Blind</i>—on Sabbath Day. Pharisees investigate—interview man who was healed—under whose authority did Jesus do this?—chapter ends with accusation against Pharisees of <i>spiritual blindness</i>.<p><b>Chapter 10</b>—opens with <i>Good Shepherd</i>—parable told at first against Pharisees—they are accused of being <i>thieves and robbers</i>—who do not enter gate of sheepfold but try to break in by climbing the wall. The <i>Good Shepherd</i> enters through gate—sheep recognise him—know his voice and feel safe. They run away from a stranger—they do not know his voice.<p><b>Pharisees do not understand</b>—miss the point—parable is aimed at them. Thieves come only to kill and destroy—Jesus not only the gate keeper—also the gate itself. Not only does Jesus control the gate—he is the gate <u>and</u> the gatekeeper.<p><b>Sheep are dumb creatures</b>—follow the leader—if rescued from snow drifts weighing down their fleece—tend to climb back again because the blanket of snow is warmer—easily stray into danger. How funny we so readily associate with the sheep when told this parable!<p><b>Christological reflection</b>—Pharisees misunderstood—represented as wolves preying on sheep—or thieves and robbers. We need to understand what part we play—more important we use parable and other I AM sayings to learn more about Jesus—who and what he is.<p><b>Logos</b>—John starts by a grand vision of The Word—creative force since before time itself—through who all things came into being.<p><b>Jesus uses I AM </b>also in several parables to help our understanding:<p>· Vine and Branches<p>· Bread of Life<p>· Living Water<p>· Shepherd and flock<p>· Door of sheepfold<p>Easter—good time to get to know Jesus better through these images.<p>There is a <b>difficulty</b> for us in today’s parable—we understand little of sheep husbandry compared to Jesus’ hearers. Shepherds were universally mistrusted—badly paid with no incentive to confront danger—prone to theft of the sheep. So it’s interesting Jesus represents himself as the Good Shepherd. Scripture is full of images of God as shepherd of his flock:<p><i>The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.<br> He makes me lie down in green pastures,<br>he leads me beside quiet waters,<br> he refreshes my soul.<br>He guides me along the right paths<br> for his name’s sake.<br>Even though I walk<br> through the darkest valley, <br>I will fear no evil,<br> for you are with me;<br>your rod and your staff,<br> they comfort me. (PS 23)</i><p>The twist now is that Jesus is representing himself as Shepherd—but also as God in OT. If we reflect on the nature of Christ post Easter—what theologians call theological reflection—there are a number of questions that you may think come to your mind:<p>· What kind of flock are we? What kind are we meant to be?<p>· Jesus mentions <i>another flock</i>—they are not of this sheepfold—what flock is this and what has happened to them?<p>· What does it mean to be part of Jesus’s flock—protection from harm—access to the gate—being trusted and loved by the Good Shepherd—being fed and nurtured—knowing his voice and choosing to follow him—being rescued and valued if we repent after wandering off?<p>The Pharisees and others thought they were chosen by God—but Jesus tells them about only one flock and one Shepherd. We—through Christ—by God’s Holy Spirit—have the invitation to belong to this <b>one flock</b>. This is not the way we tend to remember the parable of the Good Shepherd. Too often the parable is recalled out of context—with a warm glow of satisfaction—whereas the truth is much grittier—born out of a dispute between our Lord and the religious authorities.<p>So this Eastertide—let us read anew one of the most familiar passages of Scripture—this time in a much more direct and grown up version—knowing our salvation depends on it—and not falling into the trap of the Pharisees, believing they are God’s elect—or that justification is necessarily by faith alone. <b>Amen</b></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4175130436027212027.post-36403289580828506752018-04-02T15:26:00.001+01:002018-04-02T15:26:12.228+01:00Easter Day<h5>Stoke Hammond 1 April 2018</h5><p><br></p><h4>Readings Isaiah 25:6—9</h4><p><sup>6 </sup>On this mountain the Lord Almighty will prepare<br> a feast of rich food for all peoples,<br>a banquet of aged wine –<br> the best of meats and the finest of wines.<br><sup>7 </sup>On this mountain he will destroy<br> the shroud that enfolds all peoples,<br>the sheet that covers all nations;<br><sup>8 </sup> he will swallow up death for ever.<br>The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears<br> from all faces;<br>he will remove his people’s disgrace<br> from all the earth.<br>The Lord has spoken.<p><sup>9 </sup>In that day they will say,<p>‘Surely this is our God;<br> we trusted in him, and he saved us.<br>This is the Lord, we trusted in him;<br> let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation.’<h4>Reading Acts 10:34—43</h4><p><i><sup>34 </sup>Then Peter began to speak: ‘I now realise how true it is that God does not show favouritism <sup>35 </sup>but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right. <sup>36 </sup>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. <sup>37 </sup>You know what has happened throughout the province of Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached – <sup>38 </sup>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.</i><p><i><sup>39 </sup></i><i>‘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, <sup>40 </sup>but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. <sup>41 </sup>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. <sup>42 </sup>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. <sup>43 </sup>All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.’</i><h4><p>Gospel Acclamation</p></h4><p>Jesus said, ‘I am the resurrection and the life.<p>Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live,<p>and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.’<h4>Gospel John 20:1—18 OR</h4><h5>The empty tomb</h5><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody><tr><td valign="top"><p>20</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p><i>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. <sup>2 </sup>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!’</i><p><i><sup>3 </sup></i><i>So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. <sup>4 </sup>Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. <sup>5 </sup>He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. <sup>6 </sup>Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, <sup>7 </sup>as well as the cloth that had been wrapped round Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. <sup>8 </sup>Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. <sup>9 </sup>(They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) <sup>10 </sup>Then the disciples went back to where they were staying.</i><h5><i>Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene</i><i></i></h5><p><i><sup>11 </sup></i><i>Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb <sup>12 </sup>and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.</i><p><i><sup>13 </sup></i><i>They asked her, ‘Woman, why are you crying?’</i><p><i>‘They have taken my Lord away,’ she said, ‘and I don’t know where they have put him.’ <sup>14 </sup>At this, she turned round and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realise that it was Jesus.</i><p><i><sup>15 </sup></i><i>He asked her, ‘Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?’</i><p><i>Thinking he was the gardener, she said, ‘Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.’</i><p><i><sup>16 </sup></i><i>Jesus said to her, ‘Mary.’</i><p><i>She turned towards him and cried out in Aramaic, ‘Rabboni!’ (which means ‘Teacher’).</i><p><i><sup>17 </sup></i><i>Jesus said, ‘Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”’</i><p><i><sup>18 </sup></i><i>Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: ‘I have seen the Lord!’ And she told them that he had said these things to her.</i><h4><br></h4><h4>Sermon</h4><p><b>“Who is it you looking for?”</b> That’s the question Jesus put to Mary Magdalene on her second visit to the empty tomb on Easter Day. Mary was asked several times why she was crying—Jesus was the only one who linked both questions together: “<i>‘Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?’”</i><p>Unusually our lectionary offers us a choice of two gospel readings for today. Mark 16 differs slightly from the John passage we heard just now. Mary Magdalene comes to the tomb with two other women, bearing spices to anoint the body of Jesus. They find the heavy stone sealing the entrance to the tomb has been rolled away. A young man, dressed in white, tells them Jesus had risen again, and would meet his disciples in Galilee. Notoriously Mark’s gospel seems to end with the trembling women, who told no one of their encounter because they were afraid. The earliest manuscripts do not contain verses 9-20 as they appear in our Bible nowadays.<p>Let’s go through the events of Easter Day as they are reported in John 20. It’s early in the morning, the first day of the week. Mary surprisingly visits the tomb alone, presumably from outside only, having made no arrangements for the stone to be removed. She does not look in the tomb, but jumps to a wrong conclusion and runs to tell Peter that “they” have taken the body of Jesus, and “we” don’t know where they have put him. This begs the question: who are “they” and who are “we?”<p>Peter and James then run to the tomb and find it empty. Peter’s account of the discarded linen strips reads like an eye witness. James sees the same thing, but having seen, he believes. What he actually believes is not clear. Indeed, in the very next verse, we are told the disciples did not understand.<p>Whilst all this was going on, Mary Magdalene, after informing Peter, must have followed the two disciples at a walking pace. She is crying. This time, alone, she dares to look in the tomb and sees what she describes as two angels. Her assumptions are quite reasonable: <p><i>‘They have taken my Lord away,’ she said, ‘and I don’t know where they have put him.’</i><p>Mary turns to see a man standing there. He does not answer her query, but responds with one word only: “Mary.” The way he spoke her name left Mary in no doubt. This was not a garden worker, but Jesus himself. It didn’t look like him, but still she was in no doubt.<p>For Mary, the day had started in darkness, and now there was light. For us, the darkness of Lent is banished by the light of Christ, coming into the world, as we celebrate at Easter in the ancient words of the hymn <i>Hail Gladsome Light</i>.<p>Mary had no proof. The sound of word and gesture was enough. This morning, like every year, we ask ourselves the same question that was put to Mary Magdalene: <i>Who is it you are looking for?’</i> Can we also encounter the risen Christ with one word of recognition and acceptance this Eastertide?<p>One word of recognition—Jesus called Mary by her name. One word—“Mary.” She responded in Aramaic with the word for “Teacher.” Those two short words sufficed to illuminate the encounter. There was, for Mary, no room for further doubt. Jesus explains his destiny <i>“I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”</i><p>But why are we told that Jesus chides her for holding on to him? What is she holding on to? The presence of Jesus physically walking and taking with her? Her desire not to let go, not to ‘move on,’ her need for everything to stay the way it is, or her doubts about the resurrection and ascension? We don’t know, but Mary’s reaction begs a question for us—is there anything in our relationship with Christ that we are reluctant to let go of? Is there anything holding us back?<p>We ourselves should reflect on what John the Baptist says about the Messiah in John 1:18:<p><i><sup>18 </sup></i><i>No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and<sup> </sup>is in the closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.</i><i></i><p>Mary does not hold back. She immediately brings the good news to the disciples, with the words <i>“I have seen the Lord!” </i>and relates to them everything that had happened, and the words he had spoken. This time she does not hide behind the first person plural—her confession is in her own words. Nor does she merely refer to the empty tomb and describe her encounter. Her confession is important to John’s gospel as a whole, and the fact Jesus appeared first to a woman—one in his outer circle but not one of the apostles—is important too.<p>This is an example to us of the direct testimony we are called to make. An account of our own experience of the Lord. Today is the most important day in the church’s year. What better time is there for renewing our statement of belief, and our future relationship with God in Jesus? <b>Amen</b></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0