Palm Sunday

 

 

 Imagine Jerusalem that first palm Sunday. The city is busy, full of people there for the festival.
People who may not be so keen on the occupying Romans. From the west a cloud indicates a
great procession approaching the city. Horses, carriages, soldiers, pomp and splendour. It is the
governor coming to the city from his summer home, ready to impose his law and order, with
force if necessary. After all he can't let a Jewish uprising take place. That could destroy his
political ambitions.

From the east another group approaches. A rag taggle band led by a wandering messianic
preacher. No horses or smart carriages here, no guards for protection. Someone has found a
donkey for the leader to ride. People are cheering, there is something in the air, an expectation
that change is coming. The people have had enough of their imperial Roman overlord, maybe
this is the chance to stand up and fight back, to take back control of their lives and land.

Two leaders riding from opposite directions into Jerusalem and in the next few days they will
meet and the world will be changed, but not in the way anyone on the streets of Jerusalem that
day is expecting.

Two leaders with different views on leadership, for Pilate it is about control and power. He wants
to keep the people obedient to him, through force if necessary. He sees this as the only way to
keep his position, his status and his wealth, and possibly even his life, in the turbulent world of
Roman politics, and to Pilate it is Pilate that is important.

Jesus of Nazareth, seeks to love people, he wants people to follow him through choice not
force. He wants to bring people closer to God, through showing them God’s love and care. He
doesn’t seek wealth and status, in fact the opposite, he acts as a servant to his friends. He looks
to ensure their needs are met, providing food when needed.

Pilate, as he rides into Jerusalem, has the possibility that he might die if he loses control at the
back of his mind. He fears death, he thinks, maybe rightly, that an uprising in Jerusalem will lead
either to his death at the hands of the Jews or to his death as punishment from the emperor.

Jesus rides into Jerusalem knowing that he is riding to his death. Knowing that the next few
days are going to be unimaginably hard for him, betrayal, pain and suffering. Yet he comes
willingly, willingly to pay the ultimate price for the fate of the world.

Two leaders, two very different ways of thinking. We are called to follow Jesus, but how often do
we think more like Pilate? How often do we allow what we think other people will think of us to
impact our actions, putting our social status first. When we are out shopping how often do we
buy something as an extra little treat for ourselves, but don’t buy something to donate to the
food bank? We are loving ourselves, putting our selfish wants before the needs of others. We
are being more Pilate than Jesus.

The world around us these days seems to be moving ever closer to world war three, yet here in
the UK we are, so far, relatively safe. How easy is it to say it’s not our problem, we shouldn’t get
involved, even as our Christian brothers and sisters are being killed for their faith, or for standing
up against an oppressive regime.

I admit, it can be very difficult at times, to judge what is the right thing to do, what actions will
lead ultimately to more peace and less war. Yet if we fail to engage with these issues, we as
Christians, risk be seen as washing our hands of the worlds evils and doing nothing about it. It
may take time and hard work, double checking with other sources rather than just blindly
re-posting something, but if we don’t engage, if we don’t stand up for those being persecuted,
then we are being more Pilate than Jesus.

Even as he heard the cheering crowds, Jesus knew the cost of what was to come for him.
Although they didn’t know it yet, the disciples and other followers of Jesus would also face a
high cost for their belief in him in the years to come. This Holy week through our services we will
follow that journey, to the cross and beyond. This journey may in some ways reflect our life
journeys. There may be times when life seems hard, to choose the way of Jesus rather than the
way of Pilate seems hard, but to quote Sam in Lord of the rings

“But in the end it’s only a passing thing, this shadow; even darkness must pass.”

Because of the events of Holy Week, we know there is hope for a better future and that can give
us the strength, to do our part, in helping create a better world, by being more Jesus than Pilate.

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

Advent 2: Some Thoughts on Prophets and Prophecy

Readings: Isaiah 40:1-11 2 Peter 3: 8-15 Mark 1:1-8 

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

 Later this morning we will be singing the words, Long ago, prophets knew, Christ would come, born a Jew. But did they really know? Is prophecy just about foretelling the future, I prophesy I will have a cup of coffee after this service! Well, prophecy is not always just about predicting the future. Prophecy in the bible can be seen as falling into two categories, the prophesy that seems to predict the future and the prophesy that takes the form of speaking truth to power. 

As anyone who has read Harry Potter will know, understanding prophecy can be a tricky thing. We can read into the words what we expect to find there, which may not be how the original speaker or listeners would have understood the words. The words we heard from Isaiah this morning, have often been linked to Jesus, as the coming Lord who will make paths straight. However in Judaism prophecy is seen more as God declaring his current concerns to his people. The listeners at the time , might have interpreted it as referring to the coming of, the Persian King Cyrus who, when he defeated the Babylonians, allowed the Jews to return, from captivity in Babylon to their homeland. 

Down the centuries Jews and Christians when facing terror or hardship have reapplied these words to their own situation, situations the original writer could never have conceived off. 

Biblical prophecy shouldn’t be seen as prophecy in the fortune telling mystic meg sense of the word. We would maybe like to know what the future holds for us , as long as it is good, we may be less willing to know if it is bad. 

The problem with reading prophecy as fortune telling is that it can’t be true because the future is determined by our actions now, by choices that we are free to make. When we try to follow prophecy in a fortune telling way, we become enslaved to it and lose the freedom God gives us to choose our own path. 

What the prophets like Isaiah did do was give people, people that may feel they are waiting in the darkness, hope. It can still offer that hope today even as this advent the world around us may feel in a dark place. There is that hope that the light will shine in the darkness and the darkness will not in the end overcome. 

Prophets of course aren’t just in the Old Testament. Mark starts his gospel by quoting our friend Isaiah, but then introduces a new prophet, a prophet of the New testament, John the Baptist. John is perhaps more the second type of prophet, who speaks truth to power. He goes around in his wild way, telling people look here is the truth. He dares to speak the truth to those in power, and loses his head for it. Whilst I hope we will not all be called to lose our heads like John, maybe we do need to have a little bit of John the Baptist in us. 

To call out those, anybody, but maybe especially those in positions of power or influence who do not stick to their promises. Those who present information in a misleading way in order to stir up hated and violence towards others. We need to show people there is a better way. It can be very easy in the heat of the moment when our emotions have been stirred up, by a post on social media to quickly hit the re post button, without checking the source of the information, and the message the original poster is trying to put across. 

Video and audio clips can be edited, to put across a certain viewpoint, that may not accurately reflect reality. We should pause before hitting the re-post button, check the source and if something is misinformation, then maybe still post about it, but point out the problem. 

Be like John the Baptist.

 Advent is also a time of waiting, and it can seem like we have been waiting a long time, over two thousand years. After waiting this long it can be easy to give up, to drift away, from living as God intends us to. Peter, in his letter today, reminds us that how we see time and how God sees time may not be the same. God is not slow, he just wants to give everyone time to find the right way. Some people might need help to find that way, and that is where we come in. Peter calls us to live lives of holiness and godliness whilst we wait for the coming of God. To be lights in the darkness ,and lead others to the hope and promise of God, through the prophetic way we live our lives as children of God. 

So, how should we interpret prophecy today? Well we can use the writings of the biblical prophets to comfort and to challenge us to repentance and a turning to a better way. The prophets are also though, calling us to follow their lead, to comfort where comfort is needed but also to challenge and live in a way that speaks of God. 

At this time of year church life can feel as if it’s operating on a different time zone to the rest of life. We are here in Advent waiting and thinking of prophets, of calls to repentance. The rest of the world out there, has already got their Christmas tree up and is eating mince pies. By the New Year, they will be pulling everything down, saying Christmas is over, our celebration of Christmas will still be going on. This can in itself be a prophetic act, a way of saying to people, look there is more to this than parties and turkey and presents, something which is deeper and longer lasting than a bit of tinsel on a tree. Come and see, come and hear the deeper truth and find the deeper joy, and we like the prophets of old must have the courage to speak out and deliver the message. Amen

Sermon for Advent 4

Readings: Isaiah 7: 10-16

Psalm 80 :1-8, 18-20

Romans 1: 1-7

Matthew 1:18-25

Advent 4 is traditionally a time to think about the blessed virgin Mary. I wonder what comes to mind when you think about Mary? As a child I must have seen Mary as a figure of some importance as I can remember the excitement I felt the year I was chosen to be Mary in the school nativity play. However some of the first things that come to mind when I think about Mary are terms such as meek, mild and obedient. Yet when I consider things more deeply I realise that these are not really words that sit well with Mary when we really consider her story.

So who was Mary? She was the daughter of Anne and Joachim, but according to the legends she was no ordinary daughter. Anne and Joachim were a reasonably well of couple but had no children. Joachim went into the wilderness for 40 days to pray and was rewarded with the birth of a daughter Mary. This story has parallels to those of Sarah and Abraham and Eli and Hannah, and would have marked Mary out as a special person.

However we don’t really know that much about her background or upbringing. The gospels tell us that she was betrothed to Joseph, who was a carpenter, a skilled craftsman. All probably fairly normal for a middle class girl of her age in that time and place.

Then along comes an angel. Now I don’t know about you but if I was just getting on with life, washing the dishes or whatever one day and suddenly there’s an angel wanting to speak to me, I would probably be a quivering heap on the floor. However in the accounts we have Mary appears remarkably calm. When the angel tells Mary God’s plan, Mary’s first response isn’t to say yes. It’s more of a hang on a minute, can we just have a quick chat about this. She answers back to the angel and questions him, that’s not been meek and mild, that’s more brave and bold.

Of course, as we all know, Mary did agree to God’s plan, but that in itself was yet another brave and bold act. With that yes Mary must have known she was signing herself up to nine months of ridicule, of being the main topic of gossip among the local population. Just imagine what the women would have been saying when getting their water at the well, have you heard about that Mary, got herself knocked up and is saying it was an angel and God doing it? Who does she think will believe that?

And then there was the impact on her relationship with Joseph. As we heard in today’s gospel reading Joseph’s first reaction is to dump her and cancel the wedding plans. Mary has gone from a nice middle class girl to someone shameful that he no longer wants to be associated with. Then Joseph gets his own angelic encounter, although in this case it is in the form of a dream. There was maybe a heavenly assumption that an actual angel may have been too much for Joseph to cope with!

Matthew’s gospel is the only one that records Joseph’s angelic dreams, it is also the only one that tells us anything at all about Joseph’s reaction to Mary’s news. I always feel a bit sorry for Joseph, the bible writers don’t seem to include him much at all. Yet his life must have been turned upside down as much as Mary’s by this unexpected pregnancy.

Both Matthew and Luke give a genealogy of Joseph, although they differ in their details both show Joseph to be descended from King David. In Matthew's gospel Joseph gets to have two more angelic dreams, one telling him to flee to Egypt and one telling him when to come back, and that’s it. In Luke’s gospel he is in the story of the journey to Bethlehem, the birth of Jesus, the return to Nazareth and the story of the 12 year old Jesus getting lost when visiting the temple, and that's it. It is assumed by his absence that Joseph had died by the time Jesus starts his earthly ministry.

However, I think Joseph like Mary was a very brave man. Not only was he risking the ridicule of the local gossips by standing by Mary and caring for Jesus as his son, he was possibly risking his business as well. After all people may think twice about ordering their new dining room furniture from that Joseph whose gone a bit funny in the head , claiming to have dreams of angels even dragging his whole family of to Egypt on the basis of a supposedly angelic dream. What if he does that when he’s half way through making my table and chairs?

To do the task that God called them to, to be the earthly parents of Jesus, Mary and Joseph had to be far from meek and mild, they had to be bold and brave, to potentially risk everything, family, friends, financial security, and their social status. The young Jesus couldn’t have had two better role models to help shape him and give him the strength for his future ministry.

Their bravery and boldness was rooted in their faith and they can be an example to us today. In a world that is increasingly secular, or even hostile to religious faith, we all may need some of that courage if we are to follow the command of Jesus to make disciples of all men. The great thing is, that we are not alone in this. We are supported by the great cloud of saints including Mary and Joseph. In a few minutes we will be asking Mary to help us, using the words “Hail Mary, full of grace, the lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.”

I for one, can’t think of anyone else I would rather have on my side.

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.