Christmas Day

Readings: Isaiah 9: 2-7

                 Psalm 96

                 Titus 2: 11-14

                 Luke 2: 1-20

May I speak in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit

In the words of Noddy Holder its christmas! Did that surprise you? 

Christmas can have lots of surprises.  For some of us some of the joy comes from planning surprises we hope people we love will like, or from trying to work out how they may surprise us. 

Has anyone else spent the last few days feeling the parcels under the tree trying to work out what might be under the bright wrapping paper or is that just me?

 But that first Christmas the only ones who might have been expecting something surprising to happen would probably have been Mary and Joseph,  certainly not the shepherd's, they would have just been trying to keep warm and keep their sheep safe, out on the hillside.  Maybe they could see the lights of Bethlehem and would have been dreaming of being inside, in the warmth with a nice hot drink.  

Then suddenly, Wham, bam, the sky's lit up by the angelic host, what a surprise. 

We like to think of surprises as nice things, but I think this one might have been slightly terrifying as well. Indeed, Luke tells us that the shepherds were terrified, but they still accept the message of the angels and act on it. Something about the angels must have convinced them to accept and believe what the angels said, and not just assume that there had been some dodgy mushrooms in the stew. 

So the shepherds leave their sheep, or most of them, in most depictions of the nativity there always seems to be a few sheep that have come with the shepherds. 

They go down into Bethlehem, a town that was stuffed full of families there for the census and in all the chaos and the crowded streets, surprisingly they find the one child, the one family they are looking for. 

Mary, who probably just wanted to get some rest in peace and quiet, was probably equally surprised by a bunch of shepherds turning up.

We don’t know what happened to the shepherds after that first surprising Christmas night, but I hope they kept something of the connection they found with God that night with them for the rest of their lives.  

God can still act in surprising ways now, in some ways I’m surprised to find myself standing here in the pulpit on Christmas day. 

The world into which Jesus was born was, much like the world today, a place of uncertainty and violence. The Jewish people were looking for a leader to come and set them free from Roman oppression.  

They looked to the writings of prophets like Isaiah to give them hope that a great leader would come, such a leader is surely going to be born into wealth and power. Someone who can grow learning how to lead and govern wisely. Great leaders aren’t born to a carpenters family from a back water town like Nazareth. 

Surprise, says God, that’s exactly whats going to happen, oh and by the way, he wont be that great military leader you are expecting. 

But He will change the world.

Isaiah 9 was written at a time when the Israelite people were suffering the consequences of war and occupation. They were feeling like a people living in darkness with no hope.  

However the vision Isaiah offers is one of hope, not just that this war will end but that all wars will end,  swords will be beaten into ploughshares, to grow food and give life rather than kill. 

No matter how deep the darkness, even when we may feel overwhelmed, there will be glimmers of light and hope.

God uses surprises to help us see that anything is possible. 

At the end of 2024 peace, especially in the place where the Christ child was born seems more impossible than ever. Yet because of the surprising events that took place there around 2000 years ago we can have hope that not only is peace possible but it will come, and probably in a way that will surprise us. 

Surprises even from God don’t always have to be big and involve angels or miracles. 

God can and does speak in the stillness and the calm too, in the smaller things of life. 

The other week I had had a stressful day at work. As I left work and was walking to the bus stop feeling tired and stressed I looked up and saw a beautiful sunset, and looking at that beauty I felt some of the tiredness and stress fade away and be replaced with a sense of God’s presence with me even in stresses and strains of daily life. 

God can surprise you even in the dark streets of Coventry.  

In the midst of the tinsel and the wrapping paper, the food and the drink, as we celebrate Christmas, you may find yourself suddenly seeing or hearing something that surprises you and connects you to God.

Pope Francis once said God enters history and does so in his original style- surprise. 

The God of surprises always surprises us. The Christmas story is a story of a big surprise, the word becomes flesh, God becomes man, the curtain between heaven and earth is opened. 

However, God also surprises us in the small things, a bird singing, a beautiful sunset, the perfect gift.

How will you find the God of surprises surprising you this Christmas?

Amen

Rememberance Sunday

Readings; Jonah 3:1-5, 10

                  Hebrews 9. 24-end

                  Mark 1: 14-20

May I speak in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit

Today we are thinking of all those that have died as a result of conflict, some of whom may have been known to us or form parts of our family histories, those who were prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice to safeguard our peace and freedom. They were and still are prepared to answer the call to serve wherever they should be sent and whatever the cost may be. 

The disciples in our gospel reading this morning were also answering a call. Like those that answer the call to serve in our armed forces they did not know where this call would take them. Yet they chose to follow that call, leaving behind the relative safety and security of their life as fishermen. John the Baptist had just been arrested, there was growing tension between the Jews and their roman rulers. The sensible and safe option would have been to stay where they were, keep their heads down and get on with their normal daily life. Instead they chose to follow a calling which would lead them to danger and even death. A calling which those who answer the call to serve in our armed services still choose to answer today, despite the dangers of growing global tensions.

War is never a good thing, but it can sometimes be a necessary thing. There is a saying if you want peace, prepare for war. Much as we may want to believe in a world where everyone is happy to let everyone else live as they want, that is not our present reality. We have seen it in Putin wanting Ukrainians to be Russian, the Taliban wanting everyone to live according to their extremist religious laws. Many of the values that we see today as secular western values, actually have their roots in Christianity, care of the poor, concepts of mercy and justice. Many of these come from the Christian belief of man being made in the image of God and therefore everyone having something of God in them. If we want the freedom to keep living by these values and putting them into practice we may need to fight for them. Today we give thanks for all those that have been willing to do just that on our behalf. 

Jonah in our first reading, was also following a calling, although he had tried to escape it. If we follow the story of Jonah beyond what was in our reading, we find that Jonah was successful in his mission, the people repented, God forgave them , and Jonah? He goes of in a huff because the destruction he had been told to prophesy hasn’t come true. Jonah illustrates a problem we humans often have. We want to see people that we feel have done us wrong made to suffer, the losing side in the war must be punished, and whilst there is some truth to that, if that is not tempered by mercy it can lead to the losing side starting to feel they are being treated unfairly and they need to fight back and so another war starts. So, whilst we may need to fight sometimes to defend what is right we also need to show mercy to our enemies, not an easy task.

It can sometimes all seem a bit hopeless, are we doomed to be stuck for ever in a cycle in which the punishment for one conflict lays the seeds for the next one? After all, today's act of remembrance dates back to the end of the great war, the war to end all wars, accept it then became the first world war as we started a second and conflicts and wars continue to this day.  

Well, I have some good news for you, there is hope. In the letter to the Hebrews, the author makes a distinction between a sanctuary made by human hands, and the heavenly one. The one made by human hands is a mere copy. Imitations and copies are often seen as second best, the soft drink Irn Bru uses the slogan the original and the best. So, according to the writer of the letter to the Hebrews, what we have now on earth is only an imitation of what will be in heaven, only a copy and not the original and best. In the Jewish temple based worship, sacrifices had to be made repeatedly, but the offering of Christ’s suffering on the cross, was once for all. This action brings forgiveness once and for all. It ends the repetitive cycle of human action and reaction. In this world which is just an imperfect imitation of what is to come, we may end up making multiple sacrifices. However, one day this kingdom will be replaced by God’s kingdom and there won’t be a need to keep repeating ourselves. The one sacrifice of Christ will transform everyone and everything.

Today we remember and give thanks for those who have paid the greatest price to ensure our freedom. The state of the world may look bleak at times, but we can have hope that one day there will be an end to the cycle of violence. If we want to truly honour those who have given their lives in conflict, we all need to play our part in working for a more peaceful world now and sharing the hope of the peaceful kingdom that is to come.

Amen

All Saints

 All Saints Day 2024

Today we are celebrating the feast of All Saints, or All Hallows day, yesterday having been all hallows eve or Halloween as it is now known. Hallowed is an old word that can have two meanings. One is that if something is hallowed it is holy. When we pray the traditional words of the Lords prayer we say hallowed be thy name, meaning holy be thy name. The second meaning is something that is revered. Aspects of both meanings may be applied to saints. They are men and women who in some way are seen as especially holy. They are also people who we can look up to and revere as fantastic examples of how we should try to be.

All sorts of people can become saints. Saints aren't born saints. One of my favourite quotes comes from Oscar Wilde, “every saint has a past and every sinner has a future.” Perhaps one of the best known examples of this is St Augustine, who according to his confessions led a wild life of drink, sex and whatever the equivalent of rock and roll was in his day until he was converted to a life of faith and became an important theologian, there will be more about him and his mum later.

The church of England doesn't create new saints now, although we do have commemorations for those that are deemed worthy. The Roman Catholic and orthodox churches still make new saints. 

Nine hundred and twelve saints have been canonised by pope Francis, so far, and there are more currently going through the process that leads to formal sainthood.

Saints are often categorised as different types. The more observant among you will have noticed we have different coloured vestments in use this evening. These represent the different types of saints and I want to spend a bit of time looking as some examples of each one.

Red, not surprisingly is for martyrs. When you think of a martyr, what is it that comes to mind. I suspect for a lot of people it will be the apostles and other martyrs of the early church who were killed during the various Roman persecutions. 

The first martyr was of course St Stephen, he was chosen and commissioned by the church to help serve a group of Greek widows. However he also did some preaching which led to accusations of blasphemy and Stephen was stoned to death. St Stephen may have been the first martyr but sadly has certainly not been the last. Indeed the Vatican as of last year has investigated the cases of 550 martyrs in the last twenty five years. Being a Christian can still be a dangerous thing to do. 

We often think of martyrs as those killed for refusing to recant their faith, but some martyrs become martyrs because of how their faith compels them to act. St Maximilian Kolbe was a polish priest, during the second world war he helped refugees including Jews trying to escape. He was arrested by the Nazis and sent to Auschwitz. One day a prisoner escaped and in order to deter future escapes ten men were picked to be starved to death. One of the selected men cried out my wife, my children. Maximilian Kolbe then offered to take his place. That action which was prompted by his Christian faith led to his death and eventually to canonisation as a martyr of the church.

The next colour we have is white, this represents those who were recognised as saints due to their exceptional holiness, or have been great theological thinkers. These two things don't always go together. St Augustine, as I have already mentioned, didn't always live a holy life. In his confessions he recounts an occasion when he stole some fruit, not because he needed it or wanted it, but just for the fun of stealing. He also had a son from a relationship with a concubine that he never married. However after a change of heart he eventually became a priest and then a bishop. His theological writings have played an important role in the development of Christian thinking. 

Another scholar who became a saint was St Bede. He was a monk in Anglo Saxon Northumberland and is generally regarded as having written the first history of England in the way we would understand history today. According to one book that I was reading when preparing this sermon, called Drinking with the saints, Bede was also one night at a gathering with some monks who had perhaps had a little too much to drink and was accused of heresy. 

People will sometimes pray to a specific Saint for help with certain issues. Bede’s tomb is in Durham cathedral and just before my first year Greek exam I went to Bede and prayed something like. Bede you were a scholar you must know some greek please put some into my head for the next few hours. I passed my exam so it must have worked!

Our final colour is green, now green is the colour we use for ordinary time, what has the ordinary got to do with saints who are thought of as extraordinary? Well some saints become saints because of their perseverance in ordinary things. We have already mentioned St Augustine's change of heart from wild young man to priest. The person who is credited with having played a large part in this is St Monica. Monica was Augustine's mum. She prayed for him every day and Augustine tells of how her life of faith eventually influenced him. In many ways Monica was an ordinary woman living out in her faith in her daily life and praying daily for those she loved, but by that example she helped those close to her to find God. An ordinary woman in many ways doing ordinary things, but in such a way that she became a saint.

I recently came across a description of a saint as someone who is transparent, who lets God shine through. I think St. Monica must have been like this. I am sure we have all met people in our journeys of faith that let God shine through, there may even be some in this church community now. The big question though is, do we let God shine through us, can we be a saint that lights the path for someone else? I am reminded of an old hymn from childhood, the first verse goes 

“Jesus bids us shine

With a pure clear light

Like a little candle burning in the night

In this world of darkness, we must shine

You in your small corner

and I in mine.”

So as we celebrate all the saints let us all try to be a bit more saint like and shine God’s light into the darkness of the world.

Amen

Sermon 11/08/2024

Ephesians 4:25-5:2

John 6 35, 41-51

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit

Why have you come to church this morning? What has made you get out of bed at an early hour and give up your time to come and sit in church? I’m sure it’s not just to hear me preach. There is something that draws us here and nourishes us, and no, I don’t mean the coffee and biscuits or even  the occasional Prosecco and cake, nice though they may be.

Jesus tells us today that no one can come  to him unless drawn by the Father.  You know when you meet someone who you really connect with and you feel drawn to them and want to spend time with them? Well, maybe we come to church because we are drawn here by God and by wanting to spend time in his presence and worship him. 

Whilst at church we can be nourished through words and music and of course through our receiving of the Eucharist.  Jesus said “my flesh is true flesh and my blood is true blood. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me and I abide in them” This is food that can feed, nourish and strengthen us like no other.  It is a food that helps us to grow in a more Christ like way. As plants grow towards the sun, we are called to grow towards Christ and to model our lives on his. The keen gardeners among you will know that plants grow better if we give them plant food. So we will grow into better Christians if we receive the nourishment of the Eucharist.

We also might feel drawn to come to church so that we can spend time with other Christians. I hope we can be honest with each other about our faith and our struggles with faith. That we can be one family and one body helping to build each other up. However, we are also human, and live in a culture that loves to moan and complain, but in today's gospel Jesus tells us do not not complain among yourselves. 

I love to have a good moan about things as much as anyone else, but I think Jesus has a point. After all what does moaning, usually to those who agree with us actually achieve? Usually not a lot except for making ourselves feel better. The thing is, if we stop complaining to each other about things then we are left with the options of either doing nothing or having to do something about what we are complaining about! 

C S Lewis wrote a book called the Screwtape Letters, which is a collection of letters from Screwtape, who is a senior demon to a younger demon, Wormwood, in which Screwtape offers advice on how to tempt a Christian away from God. At one point Screwtape writes 

“The Church itself is a fertile field if you just keep them bickering over details, structure, organization, money, property, personal hurts and misunderstandings. One thing you must prevent, don’t ever let them look up and see the banners flying, for if they ever see the banners flying you have lost them forever.”

How much time do we spend bickering, moaning, looking down and in effect achieving nothing. What happens if we stop moaning and looking down and look up, up to God and the angels and realise we are not on our own. 

The last weeks and months with continuing conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, a rise in Islamist attacks on churches in Africa and the rioting in our own country can seem like it’s too much to deal with. It’s easier to look down, to think there is nothing that we can do and that is exactly what the devil wants. 

If we look up and remember that we are not alone, that we have God and  the whole host of angels also working against the evil in the world, then we can have hope that things can change and we have a part to play in that change. Don’t panic, I’m not suggesting we all go out on the streets as a counter protest. However we do have one very strong weapon we can use wherever we are, and that is prayer.  

 

Prayer can be a strange and difficult thing to understand, I assume as we are all here at church that we all believe that prayer can and does work, even if we don’t understand the how.  There are many things that are difficult for us to sense or understand, what some people would call supernatural or others spiritual. If we believe in God, then it makes sense to believe in these other supernatural beings or forces. Our prayers can help strengthen good and attack the evil. It my be a comic book image but I think of someone having a devil whispering in one ear and an angel in the other. Our prayers can ripple out and maybe make a person listen more to the voice saying don’t get involved in this, don’t pick up that brick than to the voice encouraging them to violence.

I have a challenge for myself and for you for the week. To try and spend 10mins a day praying for peace. How you do it is up to you, you can do it by yourself or find time with others, follow the daily office, a set prayer or use your own words. Sit down, go for a walk, or even dance if that is what works for you. The important thing is to pray.  

I want to finish with a prayer:

O God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, our only Saviour, the prince of Peace: Give us grace seriously to lay to heart the great dangers we are in by our unhappy divisions. Take away all hatred and prejudice, and whatsoever  else may hinder us from godly union and concord: that, as there is but one Body, and one Spirit,and one hope of our calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all; so we may henceforth be all of one heart, and of one soul, united in one holy bond of truth and peace, of faith and charity, and may with one mind and one mouth glorify thee; through Jesus Christ our Lord. 

Amen

A sermon for my commissoning as a lay preacher

Isaiah 6 1-8 Colossians 4 2-6 

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost  

A  vocation to any form of ministry can be an interesting thing. I’m sure I am not the only person whose first response to a sense of calling is ha,ha,ha, very funny God, you’ve got a great sense of humour, followed by a list of all the reasons why God has really got it wrong this time. 

However, God usually gets his way and here I am about to start this new chapter of my ministry, and here are all of you as well and I would like to say a big thank you to you all for being here and supporting me on this journey. 

The calling of Isaiah we heard in the first reading was a bit more dramatic than most. Isaiah also feels unworthy of his calling, until he senses God’s forgiveness. Isaiah is being called to a prophetic ministry, and preaching can sometimes have a prophetic edge. Isaiah is being called to speak out against the actions of the secular and religious leaders of his time, and to warn of the dire consequences to come if they did not change. 

 A part of preaching can sometimes be to challenge people and institutions, to ask if they are really acting in God’s way or in their own interests. 

However,  Paul also has some advice, to preachers, to speak with grace and and make sure what we say speaks to the person we are speaking to. After all, if someone thinks the preacher is just having a go at some aspect of what they believe they probably won't listen to the prophetic message. 

The challenge is to be prophetic,  gracefully. Not always easy. 

To follow a calling is not always an easy path, it can put stress on not only the person called but those around them. I'm sure Andrew will agree with that when he wants to go to the pub and I'm saying sorry I need to write a sermon.  

This is where our relationship with God and finding time to nurture that relationship and draw on his strength becomes important. The act of benediction which we are ending our service with this evening provides space and time to sit with God. In Anglican belief God is really present in the Eucharistic host, in a different more real way than he may be in other places. The physical presence of the host on the altar gives us a focus to help avoid distractions as we come and kneel or sit before God and simply spend time in His presence and open ourselves to receive his blessing. 

Everything that I have said doesn't just apply to those in “official” ministry roles. We are all unique and loved by God as we are, we are also all called to do God’s work in the world, whatever that may be. It could be doing things for charity or just been that one person that someone else knows they can trust and lean on.  

In the Jungle Book Baloo tells Mowgli to forget about your worries and your strife. Benediction allows us a chance to perhaps forget about our worries and strife and just rest in God's presence for a few minutes. Through this we can be strengthened to continue with the work God has called each of us to do. Amen

Sermon 16/06/24 - The Kingdom of God

Readings: Mark 4: 26-34

2 cor. 5:6-17

In this morning's gospel reading Jesus is trying to explain the kingdom of heaven to his disciples. Jesus uses parables to do this, and the first parable points to why this might be. As how seeds grew into crops was a mystery to many people in the first century, so the kingdom of God is a mystery. It is something we can not fully understand.

The kingdom of God is another way of saying heaven, Matthew tends to use the term kingdom of heaven in his gospel, written for a Jewish audience whilst Mark and Luke writing for Romans and Greeks use kingdom of God.

A friend recently asked me a question about what heaven is like. He wanted to know if heaven is supposed to be a perfect sort of place, how does that work for different people at the same time. The example he used was that he likes smoking, I don't, I like dogs, he doesn't. We both like beer, so in heaven could we have a beer together with him smoking and me petting a dog and both still be happy? My honest answer to his question was I don't know.

A quick Google search for images of heaven reveals modern images mainly of clouds and blue skies. A look at medieval pictures of heaven produces more varied images of heaven. Some show it as a sort of palace, or city, one shows angels carrying souls up to heaven in what looks like a hammock made from a sheet. I don’t think anyone can say what heaven is really like.

The Bible tells us that heaven will be a place of joy with no more tears, no more pain, no more suffering. We will have physical bodies, but what will they be like? Will they be the state they were in when we died or a younger version? Will disabilities still exist, some disabled theologians have argued that their disability is such a key part of their identity that they don't want a heavenly body that excludes that part of them.

Lots of questions, ifs and maybes but very few definite answers. We just have to have faith and trust that in heaven we will be with God, and somehow he will make it all work, but how He does that will remain a mystery to us for now.

The second parable we heard this morning, points us to another aspect of heaven. Jesus compares heaven to a mustard seed. A mustard seed is a small round seed, only about 1-2 millimeters in diameter. Yet from this tiny seed grows a large tree. They can grow to 20-30 feet high and 20 feet wide.

So we can say that the kingdom of heaven is big, but I think Jesus is pointing to more than just the size of a mustard tree. He talks about it being a place where birds can build their nests. A home, a place that provides shelter and gives us rest. The kingdom of heaven will be our heavenly home where we can find shelter and rest from the struggles of this life.

The parable of the mustard seed also points to something else. Heaven can come from very small beginnings. In the Lords Prayer we pray thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. It is a call to us that we should be trying to live our earthly lives now in a way that reflects something of the kingdom of heaven.

Now we all know that we should be kind and caring, love our enemy etc. However it’s not always easy. As we approach the general election, political debate seems to get more agitated and angry. We as Christians should be setting an example of how to listen to those we disagree with and engage with them in a more friendly way. In this way we can try and show others a glimpse of what the kingdom of God may be like and show them it is something that may be worth exploring.

I still don’t know what heaven is like or how God will work things so that we can all be happy, despite our different likes and dislikes, and I don’t think we ever will know until we get there. We just have to accept with faith that somehow it will be.

I'd like to end with a prayer attributed to St Brigid, which gives a description of how she saw heaven.

I’d like to give a lake of beer to God.

I’d love the heavenly

Host to be tippling there

For all eternity.

I’d love the men of Heaven to live with me,

To dance and sing.

If they wanted, I’d put at their disposal

Vats of suffering.

White cups of love I’d give them

With a heart and a half;

Sweet pitchers of mercy I’d offer

To every man.

I’d make Heaven a cheerful spot

Because the happy heart is true.

I’d make the men contented for their own sake.

I’d like Jesus to love me too.

I’d like the people of heaven to gather

From all the parishes around.

I’d give a special welcome to the women,

The three Marys of great renown.

I’d sit with the men, the women and God

There by the lake of beer.

We’d be drinking good health forever

And every drop would be a prayer.

Amen

Easter 3: The Importance of Meals and Forgiveness

Readings: 

Acts 3:12-19 1 

John 3:1-7 

Luke24: 36b-48 

When I first looked at the gospel reading for this morning I was imagining the scene in my mind and it started to seem to me to have a bit of comedy about it. To set some context, the disciples from the road to Emmaus have just rushed back to Jerusalem. They have met up with some other disciples and are regaling them with the strange and wondrous tale of their encounter with the risen Jesus. Then suddenly up pops Jesus in the middle Hi guys, peace be with you! The disciples all seem to lose their heads and start screaming and shouting it’s a ghost (to be fair I think I might have reacted like that too.) Jesus manages to calm them all done and persuade them that it is really him. They then all stand about in joyful disbelief gazing at him in awe and wonder, also I think a perfectly natural reaction, Jesus, who hasn’t had a lot to eat for the past three days and is I assume starting to feel a bit peckish asks errm any chance of some food. In my imagination the scene then ends with Jesus and the disciples sharing a meal whilst Jesus inspires them and explains everything to them, again.

Luke sets a lot of Jesus’s teaching around meals, There are 19 meals in Luke, and they are used as settings for teaching,fellowship and celebration, healing and hospitality, forgiveness and reconciliation, and prophetic confrontation. Here we have been known as the church that loves to eat. 

Sharing meals can be a really great way to get to know one another and grow in our relationship as a community. They can be an opportunity to exchange ideas, we don’t and won’t always agree with each other, but somehow I feel it can be easier to discuss our different views without getting into a full blown argument if food is involved. 

Every Sunday we share in bread and wine, body and blood together at the mass. We all share in the one bread because we are one body, even if we might disagree on politics, or what the best hymn is, or which hymn we should never sing. Somehow, in the sharing of bread and wine, food and drink we are all drawn together as one, sharing as one body in the one bread, despite our differences. We are called to share in this meal by God the father because we are all children of God, and he calls and values us each as we are. 

When administering the chalice to someone I may have had a recent disagreement or argument with, I have often felt a sense of being pulled back together with that person through the shared chalice, the shared blood of Christ which redeems us both. 

 In John’s letter he calls us Children of God, and that is what we all are. However, like all families the children of God can have their arguments, their disagreements. This leads to fractured relationships within the family of God and the world. At the end of the gospel Jesus tells the disciples to go and declare forgiveness to all the nations. 

Forgiveness is one of those things that I think sounds nice and we should definitely do, but when you really start to look at it in depth and even try and do it, it suddenly becomes a lot more difficult. I mean the small things are easy, if you accidentally step on my toe, that’s easy to forgive. If you eat my last bit of chocolate that might be a bit more difficult! And if you say or do something that causes me to feel hurt that can be very difficult. 

The problem is that whilst wrong actions might deserve a just punishment if we don’t forgive we can go on trying to punish that person or that group of people beyond what is just, until they start to punish us in return and so begins a cycle of violence, such as we see in the Holy Land and other places today. 

 John talks about sin being lawlessness. I think what he is getting at is the concept of God’s law, if we live within God’s law and that includes forgiving each other then we may find a peaceful way to live. But living in a way that breaks the laws God gives us can lead to a cycle of violence and community breakdown. 

As a church and as a community we can model to the world a different way of living. In a world that seems to be becoming ever more polarised and where a mentality is developing that if you don’t think like I do, I can’t possibly like you, we can give a glimpse of what a different kingdom, the kingdom of God might look like. To do this isn’t easy and we won’t always manage it, we may be children of God but we are still only fallible humans. 

However there are things that we can do that can help us. The first and possibly most difficult is to look at ourselves and see what we might need to ask forgiveness for. I know this is not something I find easy, I don't want to see myself as the bad person, but the reality is that I can and will do things that hurt others. 

We also need to nurture and grow our relationship with God, through prayer and receiving the sacraments. As well as relationship with God we need to form and grow relationships with each other. Next week after our 90th anniversary service we are having a bring and share lunch and I hope this will provide opportunities to help our relationships with each other grow and deepen. 

 If we do these things then we may indeed be able to follow Jesus command to proclaim repentance and forgiveness to all nations and people may see something in us that leads them to listen and respond. We are to proclaim repentance and forgiveness of sins, repenting of our own sins can be difficult, so can forgiving those that have sinned against us but through receiving the body and blood of Christ in the mass we can be helped to achieve this. Through shared meals we can grow as a community and model what living in a way that takes repentance and forgiveness seriously means.

Easter 2024 An Impossible Truth

May I speak in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost.

Christ is risen

He is risen indeed, Alleluia

 But is he really? People don’t  just rise from the dead, It’s impossible, yet this impossible truth is at the very heart of our faith, without it everything else falls apart. 

C S Lewis wrote that if Christianity is false it is of no importance but if it is true it is of infinite importance. 

So, can it be true? 

Let’s take a look at some evidence. Our gospel reading this morning features our very own patron saint, Mary Magdalen apostle to the apostles and the first witness to the resurrection. 

Hang on, this is the first century Roman Empire. A woman cannot be a reliable witness, that’s what the law says, her evidence wouldn’t be acceptable in court. 

If you want to convince people what you are saying is true, why do all four gospel writers have an unreliable woman as their first witness?  You wouldn’t write it like that, except, just maybe you would, because it’s the impossible truth.

Lets have a look at the rest of the apostles. On that first Easter day they are all hiding behind locked doors, too scared to go out, clearly believing Jesus is dead. 

Yet as we hear in the next few weeks, something changes for them. In forty days time at Pentecost they will be on the streets preaching the risen Christ, even at the risk of torture and death, and many of them will face torture and death for their belief in the risen Christ. What a massive, impossible change in attitude, unless the impossible is true. 

When Mary Magdalen first arrives at the tomb, she notices that the tomb was open. Archaeological evidence suggests that a typical tomb would have had a slope down to the entrance with a grove down which the stone disc to seal the entrance could easily be moved. 

It would be a lot more difficult to move the stone disc up the slope away from the entrance. We are also told that the linen wrappings from the body were still inside the tomb. 

Now some people have suggested that the body was moved by other people, but why would you go to all that effort to move the stone, then unwrap the dead and messy body before moving it? 

And if someone had moved the body, why did no one find it  and bring it out as evidence to stop this crazy new belief spreading? Or maybe the impossible is true and the tomb was empty because Jesus rose and a risen body doesn't need the grave clothes, so he left then behind.

I have one final piece of evidence for the impossible truth. In first century Judah there were quite a few itinerant preachers, going around claiming to perform miracles, even possibly claiming to be the messiah. 

Some may even have been crucified if the Romans thought they were a threat to the state. Yet 2000 years later, only one is not only remembered, but known around the world, why? Because of the impossible truth that he died and unlike the others rose again.

So we can believe in an impossible truth, but why is it needed in the first place?

The first Easter marked a crisis for the world. A crisis is a pivot point, where things could go one way or another, think about how we talk about the crisis point of an illness. The moment where the patient turns onto the path to recovery or not. 

A crisis is an event not a process, the decisive moment when something could go  either way. Easter marks a decisive moment for the world. 

Either the devil will win, and we are all doomed or  humanity will be redeemed, the mistakes of the garden of Eden will be reversed and we will be saved. 

The Whole future of humanity is at stake.  

Like a seed that has to be buried before it can bring forth new life, Christ has been buried but risen to new life. Because Christ is raised to new life, we can all be raised to new life. 

If Christ isn’t God and doesn’t rise again we are all doomed.  Through the cross and resurrection the world can be transformed, pushed onto a new life giving path and we can be transformed as well. 

Easter can be a chance to renew our faith, to bring fresh hope to ourselves and the world. As Liverpool football fans sing, we can walk on with hope in our heart.

The famous fictional detective Sherlock Holmes, once commented, that when you have eliminated all other options whatever remains however impossible must be true. The impossible is true, we have hope, the world is renewed, 

Christ Is risen! 

He is risen indeed, Alleluia.

Transfiguration and St. Cademon

11/02/2024 – Sunday before Lent Readings

 2 Kings 2 1-12 2 Corinthians 4 3-6 Mark 9 2-9 

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. 

Today’s gospel reading is the somewhat odd story of the Transfiguration. Jesus takes three of his disciples of from the rest for a walk up a high mountain. At the top Jesus suddenly turns blazing white, whiter than even Daz will get your laundry. Next Moses and Elijah appear and Jesus has a chat with them. Then there is a voice from heaven declaring this is my son, the beloved, listen to him. Not surprisingly the disciples are terrified. 

So, what is going on here? Moses and Elijah are perhaps two of the most important prophets of the Old Testament, and between then represent both the prophets and the law. Here, they are bearing witness to who Christ is, the greatest prophet of them all, the fulfillment of the law, the Son of God. The transfiguration reveals, beyond doubt, his true identity. 

We have just finished the season of epiphany, and here we have one final reminder of exactly who Jesus is as we turn to face the cross and begin our Lenten journey. 

 Today, is also the feast day of one of the lesser known English saints, St Cademon and his story is also one that can be seen as a form of transfiguration that allows the glory of God to be shown. 

Cademon lived in the second half of the seventh century. He was a cowheard that worked caring for animals at Whitby abbey, which at the time was under the leadership of St. Hilda. One night after the days work there was some music and singing taking place, but Cademon feeling that he had no musical ability and couldn’t sing or offer any poetry crept away to settle down with his animals for the night. Cademon went to sleep and whilst he slept he dreamt that someone approached him and asked him to sing a song about the beginning of created things. At first he refused but then he sang a short poem praising God as the creator. Now, I normally forget most of my dreams as soon as I wake up, but Cademon the next morning could still remember the song he had created, and even added to it. He told his foreman about this strange dream and the new ability to compose songs and poetry that he now seemed to have. His foreman promptly sent him to see Abbess Hilda. 

The abbess and her advisers questioned Cademon and then set him a test to see if this really was a gift from god. He was to produce a new poem based on sacred scripture or doctrine. Caedmon came back the next day with a new composition and Hilda asked him to take monastic vows and gave orders that he was to be taught sacred history and doctrine. Each day Cademon would turn what he had learnt into poetry in his native old english tongue. According to the historian Bede “by his verse the minds of many were often excited to despise the world and to aspire to heaven.” Like the transfigured Jesus, Cademon was also showing the reality of who Jesus was to the people around him. 

Wednesday sees the start of lent, as Fr Edward has spoken about in previous sermons it can be a time to think about trying a new religious activity, a new way of praying or spending more time reading the bible, fasting or confession. Whilst these things may be good for our own spiritual lives may they also lead to other things? 

When I first started to think about this sermon the line from The hymn Love Divine, all loves excelling, that talks about us changing from glory into glory, kept coming into my mind. If by deepening our own relationship with God, can that impact on how others see us? 

In the second letter to the Corinthians Paul talks about how the God of this age has blinded people so they can’t see the glory of God. What things might be blinding people today so that they cannot see the glory of God? The idea that we are rational human beings who don’t need any sort of deity to guide us? Look at the world around us, that's working out so well… or not. 

Social media and TV shows tell us that the path to true happiness is about looking or acting a certain way, except as fashions change the path is never ending and can instead lead to people feeling as if they have somehow failed if they don’t have the latest whatever the latest thing is, or the ability to look a certain way. I know I often look at clothes and think that looks great on a skinny model, it’ll probably look terrible on me. 

Wellness retreats promise that we can find ourselves if only we pay them a large amount of money for someone to help us do so. St Augustine on the other hand said “our heart is restless until it rests in you.” True peace, truly knowing who we are and true wellness can only come from our relationship with God. So as we approach Ash Wednesday I have a question for us how can we seek to be transfigured this lent and better show God’s glory to the world and show people the true path to inner peace in relationship with God? Amen