Sermon 12/10/25

 

Readings: Luke 17 11-19

Today I want us to think a bit about gratitude. Last week our harvest festival service was focused in giving thanks and being grateful for the food we have to eat. However that was a one off occasion. How many of us spend more time in prayer asking for things than being grateful and thanking God for what we have? When we send up an arrow prayer asking for help with a situation how many of us offer a prayer of thanks when things work out the way we want? If the rest of you are like me, I suspect the answer is not as often as we should.

In our gospel this morning ten lepers are healed, but only one comes back to Jesus and thanks him, and that one is the dodgy Samaritan. We can assume that all ten were healed and that all ten had faith. In the first century once you developed leprosy you had to live apart from society. Leave your family and friends, your job. You became an outcast and a beggar. If you did go near other people you had to ring a bell announcing you were unclean. 

If by some miracle you recovered from leprosy you could only rejoin society when a priest had inspected you and declared you fit. In our gospel today things get a bit mixed up. The lepers ask Jesus to heal them and Jesus tells them to go and show themselves to the priests. At this point they are still lepers, still suffering and showing signs of this terrible disease. You would think they would stop and say look Jesus heal us now, then we will go. What's the point of going to the priests when I am still clearly ill and suffering from this terrible disease. So all ten clearly had faith as they go off and all are healed by the time they get to the priest. However, only one comes back to thank Jesus. The bible doesn’t tell us anything about the motivations for why one came back and nine didn’t. Maybe the one had had a parent who had insisted they write thank you letters and the habit had become so ingrained that he had to come back and say thank you. Maybe he was the only one without family close by, the others all rushed of to rejoin their families, thinking they could come back and thank Jesus later, but that is all speculation, we just don’t know.

The acts of giving and receiving thanks can have an important role in forming relationships. The one leper that came back can then begin to form a relationship with Jesus. Relationships are two way things. If someone is taking from others all the time, whether that be in terms of physical help and effort, material things such as money, or in emotional ways. If one person in a relationship is always demanding or moaning, the relationship isn’t likely to last. It takes two to tango and it takes give and take on both sides for a relationship to work. 

This applies as much to our relationship with God as it does to our relationships with each other. I don’t know about you but I know for me it is very easy for my prayer life to slip into a quick Hi God, can you fix X.Y and Z, can you help me deal with this and that, OK see you tomorrow! I’m so busy worrying and being concerned for all the stressful and negative things in the world and my life that I don’t think as often as I should about saying thank you for the good things. What the leper know 2000 years ago, a quick internet search will show that modern science has confirmed. Taking time to notice the good things, give thanks and be grateful can improve your mental health. We maybe need to make thanking God, and identifying things to be thankful for, a core part of our prayer life.

But, it’s one thing saying be grateful when you have a roof over your head, warm clothes and food on the table. When I was writing this sermon I found myself thinking but what if you are really struggling, how can you be grateful then? I then came across an interview with a guy called Eli Sharabi. Eli’s wife and two daughters were killed in the 7th October attack on Israel. Eli was taken as a hostage into Gaza. Initially he was kept in a family home but then he was moved to an underground cell where he was with three other hostages. I want to read you an extract from the interview report.

“To keep hope alive, he encouraged the others to take part in a nightly ritual. Each hostage had to tell the group about a good thing that had happened that day “it was very difficult in the beginning” he admits

Good grief, I should say so Eli. You were all in the pit of hell and you’re saying please come up with something positive.

He nods as if that was obvious “Yes and believe me, it was many, many good things… You know, that the guy who is very cruel to us didn’t give us food today. It was a better guy. So that was a very good thing. We succeeded to sleep without having a nightmare, or somebody made you laugh today, or it was the that we got a shower – so that was a very good day.

After two or three weeks, Eli says, with evident satisfaction, each one of them could find four or five very good things in that day. And it was like a muscle that you train. That’s how we stay optimistic” *

I can’t even begin to imagine how awful Eli’s situation was, and it amazes me that they could still find it in themselves to be grateful for things. I think Eli was onto something important. It can be so easy to get caught in a cycle of negative thinking, concentrating only on the bad things. This can damage our relationship with God as we may start to blame Him for all the bad stuff. Yet, it seems even in the very worst of situations, if you look hard enough, you may find something to give thanks for. It seems that giving thanks to God and to each other is good for our relationships with each other and, more importantly with God, and for our mental health. So my challenge, for myself and for you to try and do this week, is like Eli, each night, find something to thank God for, if it involves another person try and thank them as well. So, I will finish by thanking you all for listening to me.

*Article by Alison Pearson published in the Daily Telegraph 3rd October 2025

Sermon on faith

 Luke 12 32-40

Heb 11 1-3, 8-16

Gen 15 1-6

Where your treasure is there your heart will be also. These words are from our gospel this morning and something struck me when I read them. In the modern world we are often told to follow our heart. If we seek to have all that our heart desires then we shall be happy. What does your heart desire? In my case the answer is, if I’m honest, money, my own personal library, the biggest collection of teddy bears and a nice large country manor house. However the gospel doesn't tell us to follow our heart, rather it tells us our hearts will be fulfilled when we find our treasure, and I don't think it means money, nice houses, books and teddy bears.

I think the treasure here is faith. So, what is faith? Well according to the dictionary it can mean to have great trust or confidence in someone or something. As a Christian I think faith means, firstly believing in the existence of God and then believing in the goodness of God and trusting that he knows what is going on and somehow things will work out for good. This can be difficult sometimes, when we look at all the trouble in the world, or when we are facing our own personal problems such as grief, financial worries, and illness, both physical and mental. In such times faith is something that can sustain us.

To quote from the Lord of the Rings “the world is indeed full of peril, and in it there are many dark places; but still there is much that is fair, and though in all lands love is now mingled with grief, it grows perhaps the greater.” 

Our faith can reassure us as we pass through the dark places that one day we will arrive at a better place. That love will be greater than grief. That if we have faith in what is good and holy, that faith will be rewarded.

When we think about faith, especially in a church context, we tend to think about it in terms of what we believe, what we have faith in. But have you ever thought about God having faith in you? In the confirmation service we are told that God has chosen us and called us by name. Would He do that if he didn't have faith in us that we can respond to that call and respond well? 

Just stop and think about that a moment isn’t it amazing and awesome and mind blowing that God knowing you and me, knowing all our imperfections, still has faith in us. That thought can be something to hold onto in times of struggle and doubt, if God has faith in us then surely we can do whatever it is we need to do. 

I've always looked at the story of Abraham as being about Abraham having faith in God. Abraham takes a massive risk, he uproots his family, which in those days would have probably been quite an extended kinship group, not just what we would consider his immediate family. He sets out not knowing where he was going, his own people may have thought him a bit crazy and mad. Abraham had faith that he was following the path God had laid out for him, but God also had faith in Abraham that he was the right person to lead His people on this next stage of their journey.

Faith it seems can work both ways.

How many times when you have voiced doubt about doing something to someone have they said I’ve got faith in you. That knowledge that someone else believes in you can be a reason to carry on, to start believing that you can conquer whatever the challenge is. Now imagine, you have doubt, you are struggling to believe that you can achieve something or find a way forward through some problems and God whispers in your ear, I have faith in you. How encouraging would that be? Well, God does have faith in you.

In our modern scientific rational world faith can sometimes be seen as a negative, blind faith, believing in something without firm evidence is irrational, it's not scientific it's not how we should be thinking in the modern age. Yet how many people who rubbish a spiritual faith, have faith in science to solve all the world's problems? Faith is not about knowing all the right answers, about being able to evidence why something is the right thing. Faith isn't about being able to solve the problems we may face. Faith is about the hope and the belief that things will get better. If we have faith in each other, in God and God has faith in us, then we can all support each other to deal with the storms of life.

I came across a comment on what faith is on twitter when I was writing this sermon, it said “faith doesn't always take you out of the problem, faith takes you through the problem. Faith doesn't always take away the pain, faith gives you the ability to handle the pain. Faith doesn't always take you out of the storm, faith calms you in the midst of the storm.”

Faith is not just a belief in God, although that is a very important part of Christian faith. It is the glue that binds us together as a community, it is the thing that can help you get out of bed in the morning when all seems pain and despair, but most of all faith is what gives us hope for a better future and the strength to make that future a reality. I pray that we as a community here can grow in out own faith and strengthen each others faith.

The Good Samaritan

Luke: 10: 25-37

Colossians 1: 1-14

Today's gospel reading, the story of the good Samaritans, is one that most of us are probably familiar with. 

One of the things I like about preaching is that it gives me a chance to really look at a text and try to find something new. 

This story is so familiar, so much a part of out culture that the phrase a good Samaritan is used routinely outside of church contexts. 

As I was reading and thinking I realised that the lawyer that Jesus is in conversation with wasn't someone I had thought much about. A lawyer in the biblical text wasn't quite the same as we think of a lawyer today. They were experts in religious teaching and religious law. They didn't really have anything to do with civil law.  

So, when this expert in religious law asks Jesus what should we do to inherit eternal life? 

Jesus seems to respond with an attitude of your the lawyer, your the expert here, you tell me the answer.

In response the lawyer says love the lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind and your neighbour as yourself. 

The lawyer is quoting from the book of Deuteronomy. It’s a passage that forms part of the Shema prayer in Judaism. The shema is a central prayer in Judaism. For observant Jews it is a requirement to recite it twice a day and it is an integral part of morning and evening prayer, a bit like the Lords Prayer for us. So, it is something that would have be well known to both Jesus and the lawyer. 

So, if the lawyer knew the answer, why did he ask the question in the first place? Well, he asks a follow up question, who is my neighbour? and maybe this is what he really wanted to know but needed a way in to asking. 

In response Jesus tells the parable of the Good Samaritan. When he finishes the story, he asks the lawyer who was the neighbour in the story. 

The lawyer doesn’t respond by saying the Samaritan. It’s almost as he can’t admit that it might be a Samaritan who is his neighbour.

The hostility between Jews and Samaritans dated back a long time, to the death of King Solomon in about 930 BC. 

After Solomon's death the Kingdom split into two kingdoms, Israel and Judea, due to differences in how rulers should be selected. Jerusalem was in Judea and remained the capital there, but Israel needed a new capital, which ended up as the city of Samaria. 

After about 200 years Israel was conquered by the Assyrians, who took a large part of the native population away, and replaced it with colonisers from elsewhere. 

Some Jews had remained and over time they intermarried with the colonisers and began to follow some of their traditions. 

Judea, of course, faced it’s own exile sometime later under the Babylonians. It was during this time that the later parts of the Old Testament were written, and brought back after the Babylonian exile. 

So when the exiles returned Judea had a different set of religious texts to the Jews living in what had been Israel. 

Also Samaria and Jerusalem are quite close to each other so while the Jews that had lived in Jerusalem had been in exile, some of the Samaritans had moved onto their land.

So you had two peoples who although they had shared roots, they now had different religious texts, different ways of worshipping and living, and conflict over land. 

Some of the returning Jews thought the Samaritan people were weird and strange and definitely not like them and not to be counted as proper Jews. 

By the time of Jesus the differences and hatred had deepened. The Judeans had taken a stance of trying to resist outside influence at all cost. Meanwhile the Samaritans had developed a better relationship with those around them in the Roman empire and become more like them. To a Judean Jew, the worst insult you could give would be to call them a Samaritan. 

So, to return to our lawyer, Jesus has basically just told him that he has to love a Samaritan, one of these terrible, scum of the earth, not the right type of Jew people, as his neighbour! I mean it’s like telling Putin and Zelensky they need to be best friends! 

We don’t know how the lawyer reacted to this, but I suspect he found it difficult to deal with what Jesus told him.

But, what about us? How often do we think or act like the lawyer?  How often do we think, oh that charismatic, evangelical church, they don’t do worship the right way, they understand the bible differently to me, don’t want anything to do with them! Or, that person voted for a political party I totally disagree with, I’m not having anything more to do with them! 

Well, I have some bad news for you, according to Jesus, they are your neighbour, and you need to love them, or at least try and treat them with respect. 

We can see across the world the terrible consequences of what happens when people fail to do this. The other starts to be seen as less, it’s OK to insult them, then to hurt them, then to kill them.  

We have seen recently how disagreement with the actions of the Israeli army quickly turned to chants calling for all members of the Israeli army to be killed including those that are there by conscription, not choice.  

There needs to be another way to deal with conflicts, otherwise we will be in a never ending cycle.

The church of England often talks about the need to disagree well, But how do we do that?  Whilst we may all hold to our views with passion and possibly for deep seated emotional reasons, we have to accept that it is the same for the other person. Their experiences and thinking may have brought them to a different view but they may hold that view as passionately and emotionally as we hold ours. Treat them like you would want to be treated. 

Be open to the fact that you may be wrong. If you enter a conversation determined to prove that you are right, you won’t really listen to the other person and may seem to just dismiss their experience and thinking, leading them to then resent you.

We need to listen well, and respond well. In the first letter of Peter, Peter writes about how the Christians should answer people who challenge them, he says be prepared to give an answer “But do this with gentleness and respect.”  We also need to think about the words we are using in one of the letters to Timothy this advice is given “Warn them before God against quarrelling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen” 

Wise words indeed. Too often we can twist or misinterpret what someone else has said, leading to more misunderstanding and conflict.

Later on today we are having lunch and a bible study. I hope that we can keep in mind the need to disagree well. 

It’s not an easy thing to do, but if we can start by managing to disagree well among ourselves, then maybe we can show the wider world what we have learnt. Show them that there is another way, the Christian way, and that it’s a way that’s worth following and can help move the world onto a more peaceful path.

Good Shepherd Sunday

Today has traditionally been known as Good Shepherd Sunday after the gospel reading we have just heard and the psalm set for today. 

A good shepherd seeks to keep his flock together and bring his sheep along with him. Now if God is the shepherd that makes us the sheep, and I suspect that we can be a very troublesome flock. To use a biblical phrase we all like sheep have gone astray, each to our own way. 

We all have our own views, our own way we prefer things to be done, and of course, it’s obvious, to us, that our preferred way is clearly the best and right way and everyone else should just do as we want.

 The culture we live in these days can seem to reinforce that view. We are inundated by articles, inspirational quotes etc telling us to find our true self, that the most important thing is me and what makes me happy and the implication is not to worry how that might make others feel.  We are told to speak our truth and if we speak the loudest our truth will be the truth. 

 However, if we are all shouting, then we can fail to listen. Jesus says his sheep know him because we hear his voice. If we are to hear the voice of the shepherd than that means we have to stop shouting about my truth, or my rights, or why everyone should do things my way. We need to shut up and listen for the voice of the shepherd. We can do this through spending time quietly in prayer and contemplation of scripture.

 There is another danger in listening to our own voice, it might not be telling the truth. I was on a training course one day this week. I was learning about a form of cognitive behavioural therapy. One point raised is how we as humans developed language as a way to communicate. Language, whilst extremely useful, can have a dark side. When we tell ourselves we are useless, no one can love us we are that bad, not even God and we can come to believe it. Our own inner voice can start to drown out the gentle voice of the good shepherd calling us and telling us that he loves us. 

The gospel tells us that the sheep will recognise the voice of the Good Shepherd. We need to atune our ears and make sure we are listening to the shepherd.   

If each sheep follows it’s own way then the flock scatters. A scattered flock then becomes easy pickings for the wolves and other predators. If we all seek our own way, divisions grow, relationships break down.  We stop being a caring Christian community and can instead end up hurting others, making them feel excluded and cast out. Meanwhile we end up as a club for those that think like we do. This can be clearly seen in the history of the church, and in our own church of England now.  The new Archbishop of Canterbury, whoever they may turn out to be, will have a hard job to shepherd his or her flock.  This is why our shepherd calls us to a different way. 

In our reading from Acts this morning, we heard about a lady called Tabitha. Tabitha is a faithful disciple of the church. She is also clearly a person who has good relationships with others. She cares for the widows and helps them. The other members of the community clearly care about her. When she becomes ill and dies, they don’t just accept her death and move on, they know that Peter has recently performed a healing miracle, and is nearby so they send for him. 

Peter travels from Lydda to Joppa a journey of around eight miles. When Peter comes, he tells them to clear the room, prays, then speaks to Tabitha and bids her rise. It is not Peter’s prayer that triggers Tabitha’s return to life, rather it is when Peter speaks to her, that she responds. 

 We all respond when we hear things, especially our name. How often have you being having one conversation and you hear your name mentioned by someone in another conversation and instantly switch your attention. 

Our names are important. When we meet someone new, we tell them our name and they tell us their name, this is the first step of building relationships. Relationships will only grow if we are prepared to listen and to hear what the other has to say. By listening to each other, we can learn from each other about what we each feel  is important and why. When we do that we can start to compromise, to find a path that the flock can all follow, hopefully without any sheep going astray.  

God is the good shepherd  who calls each of his sheep, you and me, individually by name into relationship with him. A relationship that can be life changing. However he is also calling us into relationship with each other. Relationships, where whilst we might not always agree with each other we can build trust, build a community or a flock, that has God’s love and care at the heart of it.  A community that can show the world another way of being, a way where it’s about us, not me, where thorough compromise and understanding of each other, we can achieve more, become more of our best selves than we can if we just focus on me.  

I pray that this week we can all find time, to pause and listen for the voice of the Good shepherd that loves us and calls us by name.

Holy Week 3: Judas Iscariot

 Today, the Wednesday in holy week is traditionally known as spy Wednesday and the focus is on Judas Iscariot. As with the other nights this week I am starting tonight by using my imagination and trying to see what Judas may have been thinking

It wasn't supposed to end like this. When I first met him and heard him preach I thought he was surely the one. The next great Jewish leader. The one to overthrow the Roman oppressors. He was supposed to lead a great uprising. Kill the oppressors, drive them out. Make the Jewish people free again. I wanted to be part of that, to play my part in the glorious new government that would follow his victory. But then he just kept talking about forgiveness. But I truly thought when we came to Jerusalem he would take action. I thought when we gathered for that meal in the upper room, we would be planning the insurrection, the overthrow of the Roman oppressors, but no. I thought if things came to a head, if the temple authorities tried to stop him, then it would be a catalyst. The spark that would start the fire, the fire that would burn down the Romans and leave the Jewish people free. But then, even when Peter drew his sword, he told him to put it away. He let them arrest him without any resistance. I know now they mean to kill him, and I’ve helped them, how can I live with that, but why oh why won't he stand up and be the great leader we need, why allow himself to be killed, to kill all our hopes when he should be leading the fight.

Judas wanted Jesus to be something that he wasn't. The Jews had been living for years under Roman persecution and Judas believed the only way to change that was to physically fight back. The problem is that that is not God’s way. God sees things from a different perspective to us. He has an understanding of how things will pan out over the span of eternity. We are stuck in the here and now. We may often ask or even try to demand of God that he does something, the something that we think is the right thing to do, now. Like Judas we focus on our own understanding and what we think should happen for the best. We need to realise that God may, sometimes, know better. That things happen according to God's plan and time, not ours. 

Judas is also focused on money and on what prestige he can gain from being in Christ's inner circle. This makes it hard for him to hear Christ's message of a different way of being. How often do we prioritise what we want over what God wants? Judas’ motivations for following Jesus isn’t always the right one. When our motives are more about seeking what we want, even if our actions look good, we are not following God. Once we start to make decisions for the wrong reasons, then we can start to lose sight of what is good and right. Evil can start to creep in to our hearts and minds and corrupt our thinking and our relationships. Our focus shifts to what is the right thing for me, what will benefit me the most, and not what does God want? If other people start to get hurt, they become collateral damage. This is not the way God wants us to be. God calls us to be a community, to make decisions for the common good not just our personal good. We can only do this if we have a good relationship with God, if we spend time in prayer where we don’t just issue a list of demands to God, please can you fix X,Y,Z now. We also need to allow time for stillness and to listen to what God may be saying to us. To accept that our way is not God’s way and sometimes we just have to trust that God has a plan, even if we don’t understand it.

Over the last three nights I have tried to explore the events of Holy week through the eyes of three different people involved. On Monday we learned from Mary that we should always aim to bring our best to God. On Tuesday from Simon Peter, we learned that we will probably all mess it up at some point, but because of the events of this week there is always forgiveness and redemption available. Tonight Judas has shown us the importance of seeking to understand God’s ways and recognise that they may not be the same as ours. Judas has also shown us the importance of ensuring that what we do, both in our worship and outside in the wider word is done for the glory of God and not ourselves. I hope that over the next few days as we journey to the cross and to the heart of God’s love we can also grow closer to God and stronger in our faith.

Holy Week 2: Simon Peter

 

Today we continue our journey through holy week by looking at events from the perspectives of different people. I am using imagination and starting each evening with a monologue from the viewpoint of a different character. Today we are looking at Simon Peter. 

Was it only a few days ago, that marvellous entry into Jerusalem? It seems like a thousand years ago. Everything was going so well. I really thought this was it. Jesus would be accepted as the next great Jewish leader. The important people, those in authority would recognise who he was. Then it all went so wrong. We shared the Passover meal, he wanted to wash my feet, but I protested. He’s the leader I should serve him, but somehow he turns everything upside down. Insisted that he serve me. At that last meal when he was talking about one of us betraying him, I promised to lay down my life for him, and I meant it. When they came to arrest him, I tried to fight back and stop them, but He stopped me. When they took him away I followed him, I wanted to help, find a way to rescue him. But then, then, I betrayed him as much as that snake Judas did. They asked if I was with him and I was scared, worried what they would do to me, worried that if I said yes I would have no chance to save him. I wasn't able to save him anyway, and now I’ve let him down, let myself down, can I ever find forgiveness for my actions that night.

We know that Simon Peters world is going to be turned upside down several more times over the next few weeks, but ultimately he will find the forgiveness he seeks. 

Simon Peter always strikes me as a bit of a larger than life character, the one that's always rushing in almost without thinking. In the transfiguration, when Jesus is on the mountain top with Moses and Elijah, he rushes in wanting to build shelters. When he sees Jesus walking on the water towards the boat he immediately wants to go to him and finds himself walking on the water, then he has a moment of realisation and starts to sink. In Holy week it is Peter who declares he will lay down his life for Jesus, then when the reality sets in, in the courtyard, surrounded by the leaders and people that want Jesus dead, he falters.

How often do we act like Peter? Keen to follow Jesus at first, but then when things get a bit tough, when lent seems long, we may give up. I see this in myself, a lot. I want to follow Jesus, I want to have a good spiritual life, but when I’m tired or when I'm rushing about trying to do several things at once and get out the door in time to get to work, that quiet time in the morning for prayer is the first thing that gets lost. If I'm honest it can even just be spending too much time scrolling on social media. Time that could and should be spent building my relationship with God. 

However, we know how Peter’s story ends. That beautiful scene on the beach where Jesus gives Peter the opportunity to say that he loves him three times, cancelling the three denials. The same Peter that denied Jesus, will through faith go on to die for him.

The events of Holy week and Easter mean that this same life changing forgiveness is available to us all. Now, that isn't a reason to just carry on as we are. The reality is that we are human and however hard we try, we are going to mess it up at some point. That in essence is how we end up at the cross. 

We, both individually and as humanity in general, get it wrong so often. We let our own self interest, our laziness, our lack of ability to focus on what we need to do and instead spend twenty minutes looking at cute cat videos get in the way of what is really important. Our relationship with God and our seeking to discern God’s will through prayer and other spiritual practices should come first. However, like for Peter, forgiveness is there. On Easter Eve, we have the chance to renew our baptism vows, to reset our relationship with God, to seek and receive forgiveness. We may mess things up but Simon Peter's story tells us that, no matter the mistakes we make, because of the cross and resurrection we can ask for and receive forgiveness and get a fresh start.

Holy Week 1: Mary Magdalen

 Over the next three nights I want to explore the events of Holy week from the viewpoints of three different people involved, starting tonight with our own Mary Magdalene and moving on to Simon Peter and Judas Iscariot. 

These sermons will be a little bit different from normal. I have let my imagination lose and each one will begin with a monologue that imagines what the person we are focusing on might have been thinking and feeling, then going on to explore what we can learn from them and their experience.

So, let's imagine what Mary Magdalene may have been thinking.

I love him, he saved me from myself, from the madness that was tearing me apart. He brought me healing and wholeness. When we entered Jerusalem with the crowds cheering, I was happy at first. I thought everyone else saw what I saw in him. But crowds can be fickle, and I started to have a bad feeling. Others thought I was being over dramatic I can almost hear them saying “that Mary Magdalene, she's still a bit weird”. I just thought if something does happen I want him to know what he means to me, I want to give him the best that I can. That's why I went and spent my money on that expensive perfume and poured it on his feet. I know Judas and a few others complained, they thought the money could have been better spent, but I'm so worried about what might happen in the next few days. The atmosphere on the streets is so charged, with everyone gathering for the festival, anything could happen and I’ve got this feeling that everything's going to change how and when and if it will be good or bad I just don't know. I just want him to know how much he means to me. He has helped me to become the person that I am. I want to give the best that I can to him.

Mary Magdalene’s actions in pouring expensive perfume onto Jesus’ feet are motivated by her love for him. When we love someone we want to express it, to them and to let others know the way we feel. How do we show what Jesus means to us? One way is through the worship we offer. We want to make the worship we offer the best that it can be. Vestments that looks good, that reflect the richness of God’s love for us. The wonderful organ music that Tim provides for us, the lovely smell of the incense, covering any not so nice smells. What about us though, do we always bring our best selves to worship God? If I’m honest I know that I don't always. There can be so many other things going on that even in the time that is supposed to be dedicated to and focused on God, I find my mind wandering to more day to day issues such as do I need to buy some more bread? Did I remember to get something out the freezer for dinner? I wonder who the killer is in the latest crime novel I’m reading. So many things competing for our attention but Mary reminds us that we if we truly love God, we should pay him attention. God wants relationship with us, but it's hard to build relationship with someone who is constantly distracted by other things. Let's try and use the liturgy and time of holy week to really give God our full attention and build our relationship with him.

Mary doesn't just bring herself to God, she offers to him the most expensive perfume she can buy. How often do we spend money on ourselves first and put how God might want us to spend money second? I will put my hands up and admit this is an area I really need to work on. Why do I always buy more books, when I have a to be read pile that will take me several years to get through? Could I be using that money better by giving it to the church or other charities whose work can show God's love to people. The answer is almost certainly yes. 

Mary's actions also tell other people how she feels about Jesus. Mary is the sort of person that I should imagine everyone would be talking and about her relationship with Jesus. But what about us? Do our actions tell the people around us about Jesus and how great he is? Do people that know us even know that we are Christians? Mary provides an example of how to live a life of unashamed deep love of God. A relationship to which she brings everything that she is and has, and through which she finds wholeness and healing. 

Mary challenges us to do the same. This Holy week I hope we can provide some amazing worship, that we can bring the best of our skills and talents to God. I pray that what we do will draw people into relationship with God and that we can learn to be people that reflect God to others and make them want to find that relationship with God for themselves.