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.

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

Mothering Sunday Sermon

Readings: exodus 2 1-10

Colossians 3 12-17

John 19 25-27

May I speak in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy ghost.

Mothering Sunday is a day for thinking about the role of mothers in our lives. Mothers often play an important role in the Bible, not least that of Mary the mother of God. However motherhood in the Bible, as in modern life, can often also involve great sacrifice and tragedy. In our first reading we have the story of Moses and his mother. Moses was born at a time when the Hebrews were ruled by the Egyptian ruler Pharoah. Pharoah like many dictators became a bit paranoid that the Hebrews would rebel against him and so ordered all hebrew boys born to be killed. Moses's mother Jochebad comes up with a very risky plan to save him. She places him in a basket in the river when Pharaoh's daughter is coming. She is risking that the daughter of her enemy will have pity on a small child. The risk pays of, and even better Jochebad is able to offer herself as wet nurse to her son so she can still be with him. When reading this story I couldn't help thinking of the pictures and stories from Afghanistan and Ukraine of desperate mothers handing their children over to strangers as it seems their only hope of survival. Mothers across the world today are still taking great risks to try and protect their children. It can be seen that one aspect of being a good mother can be to protect their child.

Another aspect of motherhood that can be seen in the Bible is the role of mothers to be supportive. This is perhaps most clearly seen in Mary and her support for Jesus and his ministry. Mary still loves and supports Jesus even when others mock him and right through to his painful end on the cross. Loving support that must have cost Mary so much. My own mum always offered me her support, even with activities that when I've talked to her about them as an adult, I've discovered she thought I was bonkers to do. Without that support though I might not have the confidence to be up here talking to you today, of course you might not think that a good thing!

We are more used to thinking of God as father. There are however, also references to God acting as a mother such as sheltering Jerusalem like a mother hen shelters her chicks. God as mother is often seen as a protective role. But I think God also shares some of the other characteristics of being a mother. He supports and encourages us. In Hosea God says it was I who taught Ephraim to walk, I who took them up in my arms. He protects us, in Deuteronomy he is described as like an eagle that hovers over it's young, He spreads wings to catch you and carries you. In Isaiah God says as a mother comforts her child so I will comfort you.

God is also prepared to suffer for us and with us. The theologian Jürgen Moltman says that "when we feel pain we participate in His pain." God suffers most obviously through the cross. However he also like a good mother shares in our suffering. There are many other examples in both the old and the New testaments where God is described as being like a mother.

The mystic Julian of Norwich also talked about God as mother. She wrote 

"Jesus Christ therefore, who himself overcame evil with good, is our true mother. We received our being from him and this is where his maternity starts, and with it comes the gentle protection and guard of love which will never ceases to surround us"

We can see that God has within his nature many aspects that we associate with motherhood. He provides shelter and nurture, protects us, guides us and shares in our suffering.

 Motherhood is an important theme in many of the biblical stories. However many stories also have the lack of motherhood or the giving up of a child as a key theme, from Sarah and Abraham, through Hannah who gives her much wanted son, Samuel to serve the lord, to Elizabeth and Mary. The sad truth is that in the world today not everyone is able to have a good relationship with their mother, and not everyone that wants to be a mother is able to be one. A mothering relationship though, does not necessarily have to be a blood one.

Jesus from the cross gives Mary and the disciple John a new relationship, although John I am sure would never replace Jesus in Mary's heart, it gave both John and Mary a new and deeper relationship. This is something I think we as a church today need to think about. We are in relationship with each other as the body of Christ. There may be those among us, who for whatever reason need to be mothered and those among us who are good at providing that mix of support, advice and comfort that a good mother would. We may at different times in our lives be in both groups. However I am not sure we are always very good at either giving or receiving this support. Some may find it difficult to reach out and admit they might need something, others may worry that if they offer something they will be rejected. As a community we need to try and be conscious of the needs of others and also be willing to accept help, support or just a friendly person to talk to when it is offered.

As Christians we are called to try and live our lives in a way that reflects something of the nature of God. This includes the nature of God as mother. This means offering support, advice and comfort in times of need. It also means standing up for and defending those who are weak or unable to defend themselves. Saying that this is what we should do is easy, working out how to do that in practice might be a bit more difficult. Maybe we need to start by building relationships among ourselves that are supportive and nurturing. Our second reading today gives us some ideas for how to do this. Be compassionate and kind, that's the easy part and then it gets harder, be humble, meek and patient, and finally the big one, forgive each other. If someone has upset us, caused us a problem or had an opposite view to us about some aspect of church or our life together, it can be very hard sometimes to forgive. Lent is a season of penitence and for confessing our wrongs and asking forgiveness, we need to remember that sometimes we need to forgive. Paul tells us how to do this put on love and give thanks to God.

Mary and John developed a new relationship and a church based on comfort, support, encouragement and hospitality. This is the model we need to follow today, both as a church and as individuals in our relationships with each other.

Amen

Messy Church - A Reflection

Last week I had my first experience of messy church. Messy church is a fresh expression of church aimed at families with young children.  Not having any young children myself it was something I had avoided till now, however part of being on the vocation journey is that you are expected to experience other types of church. So I arrived feeling somewhat apprehensive, various craft activities were being set out on tables and a BBQ was taking shape outside. People arrived as and when and did which ever craft activities they wanted.  After about an hour everyone went into church for a short talk finished by asking what people wanted to pray for and Stella Bailey doing a very good job on prayers for topics including ladybirds and teddy bears. We then all headed out to the BBQ.

So, what did I think to messy church? Well I had fun,  I think it's a great environment for building relationships and having conversations, probably more so then a Sunday morning. However having spent a week thinking about it a bit more I also have some criticisms and questions. Most of my criticisms will not apply to everyone, this is just my thoughts and feelings.

I had fun, it was a pleasant way to spend a few hours but I don't feel as if I worshipped or even felt much of God there. I am not saying  God wasn't there, just for me this didn't seem like activity that helped deepen my faith or relationship with God.

The activites were all very craft based, which is to a certain extent fine for me because I enjoy crafty stuff, but what about people and kids that don't like craft? I said to a certain extent that craft based was fine for me, as an adult I am aware of my limitations and I am generally ok with the idea that there are things I an not good at. Art happens to be one of those things. There was an activity to make stained glass windows, this involved cutting paper shapes and drawing over lines in pen. I avoided this as most of the kids efforts would look better than mine. As an adult I am fine with this, a younger me might have felt embarrassed and stupid at being so obviously bad at craft stuff. Adding in some non craft based activities might be good.

My final question about messy church is how do we develop the faith and understanding of the people that go to a deeper level? Is there such a thing as a messy Eucharist? Can we provide something more for adults / older kids that might like to explore in more depth alongside messy church?

Messy church does provide some thing useful especially for families with young children, but it isn't going to be for everyone and I have noticed a tendency for people who say they won't go or be involved to be criticised for that. My husband has been criticised for saying he wouldn't go near it, yet he doesn't like young children or craft stuff so what would he get from messy church?

Overall it felt to me like an extended version of Sunday school rather than a new way of doing church.