Sermon for Trinity 8

Matthew 14:13-21

Do you have a special place which is just yours and nobody else’s? What about a favourite chair where you can settle down and enjoy a good read and a nice cup of tea or watch a good programme on the TV? Or what about a place where you can go when you need a bit of peace and time to think? Where do you go where you can really open your heart to God? Perhaps it’s here in Church, or in your back garden? Perhaps you go for a walk or even have a long hot soak in the bath? There are times when we all need moments to ourselves and Jesus was no different.

The opening words of our gospel reading this morning were ‘Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself.’ Jesus is tired and he is grieving. He’s just heard about the beheading of his friend and cousin John the Baptist and he’s in need of a bit of time out, to be alone, to heal, to rest and to pray.

I think we’ve all probably had moments like that, when we yearn for some solitude… where we can take ourselves away from prying eyes.

And yet, for Jesus, the crowds follow him in their hoards. How would you feel, if crowds of people intruded on your private moments alone?

We are told that Jesus had compassion for them and cured their sick. All other thoughts and emotions evaporated as he saw these people, needing him. He knew that they had deliberately set out to find him. They had left behind their towns and villages and walked miles out into the country to hear what Jesus had to say to them. They were so desperate in their search for him that they came just as they were.

As the day wore on, their Spiritual hunger was joined by the physical hunger for food. They are hungry and miles from anywhere to buy food. The disciples wanted to send the crowds away but Jesus had other ideas. Did you notice what he said to his disciples? He said “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.”

“You... give ... them... something... to... eat”

I expect their thoughts were something on the lines of “you’ve got to be kidding” but instead they said “We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish.”

I wonder what they expected? I imagine that the last thing on their mind would be that over 5,000 people would be fed with two meagre fish and five loaves. I mean…come on!

But our God is a God of miracles and out of nothing, God creates something. Jesus takes our little, blesses it - and produces fruit beyond anything we could have imagined.

We are always tempted to believe, as the disciples did, that we have nothing to offer when we are faced with overwhelming need. And there’s so much need in the world that there is a helplessness about it. We might shed a few tears or even make a small donation that we know in our hearts won’t make much difference.

This story reminds us that sometimes Jesus is asking us to simply give our nothing—our little loaves and fishes—and then to stand back and believe that 'with God all things are possible.'

One thing is clear and that is that the crowd were satisfied not because of anything that the disciples did but what Christ did. The disciples only did as they were told.

The ultimate question for Jesus’ disciples to answer, both then and now, is not “how much can you give?”  It is:  “how much do you trust in God?”  Faith is not something that we learn in a classroom or even in a church. It is something that we learn in the experiences of life when we follow God without visible means available to us.  

Jesus is the one who gives us the Bread that sustains us through all that comes our way. Because he feeds us we are strong enough to face whatever life throws at us because nothing can separate us from the love that Jesus has for us.

The chances are that you are here this morning because you believe that… or perhaps…you want to believe that. There’s also a world out there who is hungry for God. They have a real need to see for themselves the evidence that God is real and that he can feed their soul. People tell me all the time that they have a faith, the problem is that they’re not sure what to do with it.

Our God of Jesus knows no limits, he delights in feeding all who seek him out. He takes whatever is available to him and uses it for great good which far outstrips our expectations. He involves his followers in the work of preparation and distribution, regardless of their experience.

Without God’s intervention, the disciples would have opted to leave the crowds to their own devices, for them to figure it out for themselves and to find their own food.

Jesus blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples shared the food with the crowds.

Then they were fed, both physically and Spiritually.  I think of being fed Spiritually and automatically I think about Holy Communion. This morning is a Communion service and I’ve noticed that attendance is always a little higher than when it is a service of the word. We’ve had, and continue to have a difficult time because of Covid 19. For weeks on end, we have not been able to physically receive our weekly Communion and even now, it is of one kind only.

Like you, I greatly value being fed by the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ but we have to remember that there are many ways that we can be fed and sustained by Christ. (Wish I had a flip-chart!)

It might simply be to do as Jesus did and to find some time for yourself…in your special place…or your favourite chair where you can settle down and enjoy a good read with a nice cup of tea… or watch TV…or soak in the bath….or go for a walk… or simply just be…

…with God.

Amen.

Sermon - SUNDAY, 26 JULY 2020

Romans 8:26 - end

Trinity 7

We’re now in week two of being back in our church building and we are beginning to see a few glimmers of old routines creeping in. One of which, I’m pleased to say…are rotas. They were stopped in their tracks back in March when lockdown began.

I can remember, when I was new to church, I was painfully shy and I was reluctant to go on any rota. But you know what it’s like, one day you agree to do a bit of washing up after church and before you know it, you’re running Sunday School, arranging flowers and on every rota going.

Anyway, I can remember that the one rota that I avoided for a long time was the intercessions rota. Praying wasn’t something that I was good at, plus everyone else did such a good job.

Eventually I gave in and agreed to give it a go. I bought a few books to help me along and, if I’m honest, because I was shy and most people had their eyes closed, I quite liked reading them out.

One day, I was at the Sunday morning service in church and it came time to the intercessions and Peter, the vicar at the time, said something like “and now Julie will lead us in our prayers” …

I froze!

I had forgotten to look at my rota and I was down to lead intercessions. I was far too shy and embarrassed to admit publicly that I had forgotten…and so I found myself standing up and walking to the front, without a note in front of me.

It was like my biggest nightmare!

So, there I was…at the front of church, in front of the microphone, looking out at the congregation. No-one seemed to notice any difference, they bowed their heads and closed their eyes…and so I did the same.

The difference was that I then pretended they weren’t there… and I prayed to God…

I haven’t got a clue what I said but much to my amazement, I managed to complete them and made it back to my seat.  I couldn’t believe that no-one seemed to notice my predicament,

in fact I even received some nice comments afterwards.

I learnt a lot that day. Not only about myself but also about God.

It was one of those special moments when you just know, deep in your heart, that you have been held by God and done something in his strength and not just your own.

Prayer is something that many of us feel inadequate about. I mean… who are we that we can speak to God?

But God knows about our weakness hen it comes to talking with him. Paul – St Paul himself acknowledges that we do not know how to pray as we ought,

but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words.

Isn’t that wonderful…?

’sighs too deep for words’!

When we don’t know what to say or how to say it, we don’t have to because God does it for us.

At my home church, we used to have prayer services and there was a time

in the service where you could go forward for prayer and two people would pray with you. 

There was one man who I liked to go to. He was a lay person…a down-to-earth working-class man with the broadest Yorkshire accent. When he prayed, it was just like he was talking to his best friend. He didn’t flower his words, he said it the way he saw it. It was quite powerful and very moving.

Sometimes, we are too busy trying to find all the right words in order to articulate

what we really want to say. Sometimes we even forget to give God a chance

to get a word in. And of course, he already knows what’s on our mind and in our hearts.

Sometimes it is good to sit with God…and just be… we don’t need words.

Now, obviously you can’t get away with that when it comes to public intercessions, but prayer is about relationship…our relationship with God through Jesus Christ and that relationship

is rooted in love.

Too often, just like our prayers, that relationship also can become one-sided.

When that happens with our human friends, the bonds easily break and friendships fall away. But not with God. He doesn’t give up on us so easily. We might forget about him but he doesn’t forget about us. God is always ready to put the past behind us and help us start again.

It doesn’t matter what’s gone before and there is nothing that we have ever said or done, or had done to us that God cannot redeem through Jesus Christ. The good news is that the resurrection offers hope and new beginnings to everyone who believes. That’s because he loves each one of us with a fierce passion. Those words from St Paul are sooo powerful. We are told that NOTHING will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.

Do you believe that? I mean really believe it?

What I want you to do is close your eyes and feel God’s love for you now. Hear it and believe it because with God’s help, we can deal with anything and everything that life throws at us.

I’m going to read out the last two verses from Paul’s letter and I want you to listen to God using speaking to you now

…… SILENCE ……

“… neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us

from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Amen.

Sermon for Trinity 5

Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

I’ve always loved stories, especially those with a good ending. One of my earliest memories

is of reciting nursery rhymes to myself over and over. Like most children, I liked them because they were so visual and they told a story. They didn’t always make sense, of course and I can remember really analysing each line to try to figure out what they really meant.

Jesus is well known for telling stories that need a bit of analysis. On the surface, his parables seem quite simple but he didn’t tell stories just because people liked them, he told them so that he could teach them something about God, his kingdom and about their relationship with him. Jesus used parables to make his stories clear. His stories were about the world in which he lived. He talked about things that people knew well and could relate to.  

So, when Jesus told them the story about the man sowing seed, they knew exactly what he was talking about and they could picture themselves in his story. I can imagine them nodding along as he spoke.

In Matthew’s gospel, we have the added benefit of actually having the gospel explained to us.  It’s at this point that we start to nod along too, because experience tells us that we know people who fit the description of each type of soil mentioned.

But what about us? What’s our soil like right now? How would you label yourself?

Of course, we all strive to be “good soil”. It’s sort of expected of us. We’ve heard the word of God and we responded to it. We go to church, we say our prayers, we read the Bible…

yes, we tick all of the boxes.

Or do we?

Now, if we’re being honest with ourselves, we probably fit into more than one category

depending on what’s going on in our life or how we are feeling. I know I do. There are times when things feel a bit stony or even when we’re feeling choked by the thorns of our everyday lives and things that get in the way. We wouldn’t be human if we didn’t.

The big challenge of course is about bearing fruit a hundredfold. That’s a lot of fruit! Now, we could be forgiven for not even reaching thirty-fold. After all, we’re still in the midst

of the corona pandemic and we’ve been in lockdown. Our church buildings have been closed for 15 weeks and the majority of our congregations are still shielding.

A couple of questions…

·       how would you label your soil before lockdown?

·       And…will anything change once some sort of normality resumes?

I take comfort from the fact that the sower keeps on sowing his seeds. He scatters them generously far and wide, even on the areas that shows little promise.

Jesus doesn’t give up on the unproductive soil even if the response isn’t forthcoming. The gardeners amongst us will know that the ground needs constant attention and for seeds to grow, it takes more than just the soil. It needs watering and warmth in order to yield a harvest.

Jesus invested in his disciples who, let’s be honest, showed very little promise. And just look at the people he gave his time to. The very people who the elite and respectable of his day frowned upon…the tax-collectors, the beggars and the unclean.

I often wonder what Jesus’ ministry on earth would look like in this day and age. What would the focus of his parables be in order to get his message of God’s kingdom out into the world? The obvious way of course would be the internet. I can just imagine Jesus saying

“Listen…a church put a post on facebook…”

Now…I jest! BUT…is it really that far off the mark?

This corona pandemic has really brought home to us the power of technology when it comes to being Church. Just look at us…here we are, worshipping God using Zoom

on the world-wide web. Who would have thought it?

The internet…the world-wide web…did I say worldwide?

Now that has a lot of potential when it comes to outreach and mission.

I know not everyone likes the internet but there is no denying that it has the potential to reach a lot of people. And people who don’t normally step over the church threshold.

·       Facebook

·       YouTube

·       Twitter

·       TikTok

·       Instagram

and a host of other social media platforms.

We now live in an age where we do many things …on demand. We choose when to do our shopping, when to watch a film… or even ‘live’ sport. And now that we record our morning worship and upload it to YouTube, it means that our congregation can be anywhere in the world and can worship God at any time they like. Night or day. How mad is that?

Those who administrate these social media platforms can see the statistics…and they are showing that massive numbers of people are viewing online worship. Much more than would ever attend church each week.

And that, my friends is…modern-day mission!

It does of course make us wonder …how deep the soil is? But God’s word is God’s word

and it isn’t up to us what takes root or how or why! When the seeds land on good soil, they can flourish and multiply, regardless of who does the sowing.

It has become even more apparent over the past few months that the church isn’t the building, it is the people.

Each one of us chooses our own path. We decide how we respond to God’s call. It is between us and God. The more we put into it, the stronger our roots will become. It doesn’t matter whether we have been attending church all our lives or whether we are new

and just dipping into the occasional service online, we need ears to hear what God’s Spirit is saying to us. We need God’s warmth and water so that we can be nourished by his love and grow in faith. When that happens, the most natural thing in the world is to share the story of Jesus with others…and to tell our own story. We all have one.

People enjoy a good story!

So…”Let anyone with ears listen!”

Amen

^“Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain,

some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

Let anyone with ears listen!”

Matthew 13:8-9

Sermon for Trinity 4

Sermon for Trinity 4

Matthew 11:16-19, 25 - end

Do you ever overdo it when it comes to carrying things? I know I do. You know what it’s like, you go into a supermarket and don’t bother with a basket because you only need a couple of things? And you end up with your arms full by the time you get to the checkout? Or do you take advantage of the special offers and convince yourself that you can carry the bags all the way home? Or…do you make one trip or two trips from the car to the house? Or what about when you are tidying up and try to carry too many things at once and they all live in different places…and as each thing is put away, the load is lightened and it gets easier the more you offload.

Feels good, doesn’t it when you are free of the things you’ve been carrying around?

And all of us, at some time in our life find ourselves carrying things around whether we like it or not. Things like the cares and worries of life: Illness, unemployment, money, our family. It might even be something we’ve said or done, or even not said or done. Sometimes, all the little worries niggle away and keep coming to the surface and it is so easy to become overwhelmed by them.

The thing is though is that we get so used to carrying them around that we somehow get attached to them and forget all about letting them go.

We might even feel that these burdens are just too big to share with anyone else. Or that people might judge us or won’t understand.

In our gospel reading from St Matthew, we hear that Jesus invites each one of us to share our cares and our worries with him.

He tells us: “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest’

These are some of the most well-known words in the Bible and are part of what the Book of Common Prayer refers to as ‘comfortable words. I like that word…comfortable. It suggests things like safe and secure and of course comforting.

I think we need some of that. These past few months have probably been some of the most testing times that we have experienced. Living in fear of a virus that so far has taken the lives of over 11 million people worldwide, over 44,000 of them in this country. You might even have lost family or friends to the virus yourself, I know I have. I even took the funeral of a friend just three weeks ago.

Jesus’ invitation is for all of us. He said “Come to me, all you…” It doesn’t matter who you are or how big or small our burdens are, Jesus wants to offer us some rest…some respite from the constant little niggles that are wearing us down. He wants to set us free from them.

In Jesus’ day, the people who were weary and carrying heavy burdens were the poor and the sick and they had the added burden of also being weighed down by the rules and restrictions of their religion. Jesus went on to say “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Upon first reading that, you could be forgiven for thinking that Jesus is piling even more problems on us by saying “take my yoke upon you”.

Did you notice the image that I added to the gospel reading of the two oxen? They were yoked together. We don’t see that nowadays in this country but it would have been common to see that in Jesus’ day. To yoke two animals together lightens the load.

 Jesus is telling us that he won’t take all our worries away but he will carry our burdens with us. We need to walk alongside him and to share our troubles with him and to trust him as we pull the load together, side by side.

I don’t think that we are very good at asking for help and we’re even worse at accepting it. We don’t like putting people out…they’ve got enough on…they’re busy people…they’ve got their own lives, their own families…and their own problems…

The stubborn among us, when we are offered help, often choose to go it alone. But ask yourself this…how grateful have you been over the past few months for all the help given to you when it came to getting your shopping and prescriptions throughout lockdown?

Jesus wants us to turn to him in our time of need. He tells us “I will give you rest.” He doesn’t add any conditions. He doesn’t say I might, he says I will.

It would be good, wouldn’t it if walking alongside Jesus meant the end to all our troubles? But life doesn’t work like that. It continues to put   obstacles in our way. To be human means that we live with the challenges and temptations of everyday life and the result may mean that things get us down.

What we need to constantly remind ourselves of is that Jesus’ invitation to turn to him isn’t a one-off and if we are yoked with him, we will be guided by him and close enough to him to allow him to continue to help to bear our load.

That way we don’t get too over-loaded with the things that we carry.

So the next time that our shopping tumbles from our arms onto the supermarket conveyor belt or when we stop for breath as we carry our shopping home, remember that when we are weary, the help is there…all we have to do is ask.

Amen.

“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens,
and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me;
for I am gentle and humble in heart,
and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Matthew 11:28-30

FROM SLAVERY TO FREEDOM

SERMON - FOR ST PETER’S DAY

Ezekiel 3:22-26   Romans 6:12-end    Matthew 16:13-19

I wonder what you are addicted to? We all have addictions. I’m addicted to cats, chocolate & cricket - and that’s just for starters! But we all are addicted to sin ( the dark angels of our nature) – we are SLAVES to sin, St Paul writes. Sin has power over you, me, all of us.

Now usually, an addiction can be cured – or at least controlled – by therapy or medication. But the only remedy for addiction to sin is the grace & love of God.

And for me the ‘great & mighty wonder’ is that God became man - taking the form of a slave, in solidarity with our sinful selves to liberate us from slavery to sin. Jesus Christ. It’s all there in Philippians 2:5-9. The Greek word is ‘doulos’, which means slave, or servant. So we read in John 13:2-10 of Jesus washing the disciples’ feet. That was the duty of a slave.  Jesus did this to show that God is totally there FOR people – and remains so today, for us, for everyone.

Slavery is a terrible thing. It has been a poison infecting humanity since as far back as we can remember. It was taken for granted in the Persian & Roman Empires. It was assumed by the Constitution of the USA – that stirring manifesto of liberty & equality! Our British Empire & ‘civilization’ was built on it. As also was the ancient empire of Egypt….

Which is where it all starts to get exciting! Because we now come to a remarkable event about 3 and a half thousand years ago, the turning-point at the heart of our Jewish-Christian faith – th LIBERATION by Moses of the Hebrew/Jewish people from slavery in Egypt. The EXODUS, the ‘going out from’ Egypt. Now the Hebrews not only came to see the hand of God in this. They saw this freedom as God’s GIFT – the gift of freedom:  but they saw also that this gift entails RESPONSIBILITY. God makes it clear beyond doubt: “As I have done this for you, so I now call you to liberate the poorest of this land” ---> of this earth – those suffering injustice under the heel of the overlord, the dispossessed, the stranger & the refugee whom we are to welcome into our community. God repeats this obligation time and again through the prophets, right through to Jesus, and so to us today. Here in Settle are refugees and those who seek welcome, and a home. Here in Britain there are still slaves.

So it is that this important journey – literally one of life & death – brings us to our CHRISTIAN FAITH - and nearer to St Peter. We arrive at the Second Exodus. We see that by way of God’s work in Jesus Christ, we have become liberated from slavery to sin, we are freed from all that deals the cards of death rather than life. God is at-one with us (and indeed all creation) in the  life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The requirement to act on this – to make it real in today’s world – does not come cheap. It calls for commitment and risk. But this liberation is also the gift and promise of new community life in all its fullness!

Today I mark the 50^th anniversary to the day – Sunday 28 June 1970, St Peter’s Day – of my ordination as deacon in Worcester Cathedral by Bishop Mervyn Charles-Edwards. ‘Deacon’ is another word meaning servant – All of us in the church, lay people, priests, bishops…the Pope…remain servants, always for other people and their needs. Unlike slavery, service – ministry – is truly reciprocal, a mutual 2-way thing .

So – PETER. Jesus calls a fisherman, Simon son of Jonah, to spearhead his motley mixed-bag group of disciples – a very ordinary, vulnerable, down-to-earth bunch of sinners – it could be you and I … well, it is, now!. Peter was a nick-name which Jesus – slightly tongue-in-cheek but with great intent - gave to Peter. ‘You are my ‘petros’, my rock, on whom I will build my church’, my new community’ says Jesus. The Greek N.T. word translated as ‘church’ actually means ‘people called out’, together in community. COMMUNITY, YOU SEE, IS AT THE HEART OF IT. As the socially crammed, not distanced, Bournemouth beach sadly showed 3 days ago, our collective behaviour can be very different from our individual behaviour, for better and worse. But God calls us, the Christian community, to set a clear example as a responsible, merciful community open to all. So Pentecost, the beginning of the church, was the public demonstration of a new movement of the will in face of a Jewish religion stale and tired under the heel of oppression.

Was Peter promising material to be the leader of a world-changing new movement? Well no, not really. Fickle, unreliable, impulsive, hot-headed…doesn’t think before he speaks.. repeatedly gets it wrong! And yet…. Jesus sees deep-down into Simon – spies the potential – takes a huge risk – just as God does with you and me….

Indeed, as the ministry of Jesus pans out, things don’t look at all promising in Simon Peter’s case… At the Transfiguration he just doesn’t get it. He tries to walk on the water, and fails embarrassingly! And here in today’s Gospel he acclaims Jesus as Christ/Messiah oh so full-heartedly……But then what happens? After Jesus’ arrest, when all seems lost, Peter denies Jesus 3 times, most emphatically!

JESUS, THOUGH, KEEPS FAITH WITH PETER, through torture, crucifixion and beyond – God’s huge risk will be justified! So at the very end of John’s Gospel, we see Jesus affirming Peter 3 times as he confirms Peter’s calling, and ours, to practical service – the requirement that we serve one another with utmost care and compassion – that we be deacons. “FEED MY SHEEP”.

Peter, then, comes to lead this new Spirit-filled community – the Church. He finishes up in Rome. At the end, he is bound hand & foot and taken where he does not want to go (cf Ezekiel 3) – to crucifixion.

That could be it – except for one final, tantalising but maybe very significant question…. Were there women apostles too? Perhaps Mary of Magdala?  Later on, in Romans 16, v.7, Paul greets Andronicus and Junias ‘numbered among the apostles’. But according to the Greek original, Junias is more likely to be JUNIA. This would mean that, as well as quite possibly Mary Magdalene, here is another lady we should number among the apostles! Quite a thought…..

AMEN

Rev Paul Fisher

Sermon for Trinity Sunday

Matthew 28:16-20, 2 Corinthians 13:11-end

In my professional life, before I was ordained, I was a technical trainer. I worked for a telecommunications company and I worked on projects. It was my job to get to grips with a new product or service, learn all the intricate technical small print and then put it into laymen’s terms and train it out. So, here we are today…Trinity Sunday and I imagine that you are all here, expecting to grasp, once and for all, a theological explanation of the Trinity…but in laymen’s terms.

Well…it’s moments like these that I wonder what on earth God was thinking when he called me to ordained ministry! The thing is that there is no white paper that we are issued with when it comes to explanations of our Trinitarian God. No step-by-step instructions. No ‘Getting Started Guide. Not even an illustration to help the visual learners amongst us.

Trinity Sunday is the only Sunday in the Christian Calendar that is devoted to a doctrine – that is… the beliefs of the Church. Luckily for us, way back in the 4^th Century it was all thrashed out and put into words that the Church has been reciting ever since as part of their liturgy. And today, straight after my sermon, we will be saying together the words of the Creed. A Creed is a statement of belief and the Creed that we use the most in our churches is the Nicene Creed. It was first compiled by the first Council of Nicaea back in the year 325. It was a hot debate and continued to be controversial. It was amended in the year 381 to include a further statement about the Holy Spirit.

There are other Christian Creeds…The Apostle’s Creed, The Athanasian Creed, the Chalcedonian Creed…all of which are not without controversy. The all speak about the nature of God. But the thing is that I don’t think we are meant to have a good understanding about God. The Creed of Saint Athanasius, (which is in the Book of Common Prayer) includes

“The Father incomprehensible, the Son incomprehensible; 

and the Holy Ghost incomprehensible.”

So, basically Father, Son and Holy Spirit are all one and the same …all three are incomprehensibles…but one incomprehensible…” Confused? I think that we are supposed to be.

Just a thought…when you say your prayers, who do you pray to? Do you always start with Dear Jesus or Dear God? I wonder how many of you start with ‘Dear Holy Spirit…?’

Does it matter, if they are all one and the same?

At this time when the world is living in fear of the Covid pandemic, to focus on a complex doctrine might not be at the top of our list of priorities. But searching God out in times of crisis is often the way that people respond in uncertain times. If there’s a time to focus on God’s nature, it could be argued that now is the time!

At our Chapter meeting this week, we were told that statistics are showing that 10 times more people are worshipping online than they did in a church building each week…10 times as many!

And we’ve all seen in the past, that when there has been a national disaster, people gravitate to a place of worship, perhaps leave flowers, light a candle, say a prayer or write something in a book of condolence. That connection with God is important. It brings hope and comfort that they are not alone in their pain. And it is a great sadness that our buildings are locked at this time.

Everything that we know about God, we have learnt through the Bible. All the clues are there and we should read it and take from it what we can.

Throughout the Easter season we have followed Jesus as he was betrayed, crucified and rose from the dead. We heard about his last days on earth and his ascension into heaven. And just last week at Pentecost, we listened to that amazing story of the Disciples being equipped with the Holy Spirit.

A great story, you might be thinking but what has all that got to do with you and me in this day and age? Remember I said that the clues are in the Bible? In our Gospel reading, we hear once again that Great Commission from Jesus. We hear it in our readings a lot …because it is means a lot. It is what we are told to do as followers of Christ. Jesus said “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” 

Jesus said “remember, I am with you always…”

Just six little words…“remember, I am with you always…” Who are we that God himself tells us that he is with us always. That’s every bit of the day. That includes those mornings when we really don’t want to get out of bed or even get dressed. You know those days when you just can’t be bothered. Well… we’re not alone. Or those times when we’re not well, we’re in pain and feeling a bit neglected …well, guess what? God is in it with us, sharing that pain. And what about when we’re feeling depressed or lonely and totally misunderstood? Yep, you’ve got it…God is there as well.

God can relate to every part of our humanity because he’s been here before us. He’s been through it… from the growing pains of childhood, experienced the highs and lows of everyday life…to the death as a criminal.

God has promised through Jesus that we are not and can never be alone and that nothing…absolutely nothing can separate us from his love. So, let’s have a think about this…if God the Father is in heaven, God the Son came to earth and then ascended into heaven, then that leaves God the Holy Spirit to be here on earth with us at all times and in all places.

How mind-blowing is that?

So my blessing for you all this morning is the same as the one that St Paul left with the people of Corinth in his second letter to them. It is what we know of the Grace…”The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all”.

Amen.

Sermon for Pentecost 2020

Whit Sunday

Numbers 11: 24-30; Acts 2:1-21, John 20:19-23

          

Many sermons begin by looking at last week’s events to try and connect the readings with “the real world” that we may venture out in tomorrow. We look back because we’ve no idea what the coming week will bring, or even if it is a Monday due to lockdown brain fog!

We are in good company because the Gospel reading jumps back - to the evening of the first Easter Day. Bishop Helen-Ann often quotes from Nick King’s freshly translated New Testament – Nick is a Jesuit priest but also an expert in Greek, hence he’s translated his own Bible. I’ve bought a copy for lockdown and Nick’s comments run alongside the text.

Our reading began at verse 19 but in verse 18 Mary Magdalene announced to the disciples that she has seen the Lord. Verse 19 begins with the disciples locking all the doors so they do not seem to have believed her.

They are described as in fear of “the Judaeans”, a much more accurate phrase than “the Jews” of the King James and the New Revised Standard Version Bibles, translations which reflect centuries of misunderstandings and antisemitism with “our older brothers.”

On Easter Day here in our time much was made by bishops and priests about the locked doors because, just like the disciples, we were in lockdown, afraid to go out for fear of our very lives. Little did we think that we would still be in lockdown 7 Sundays later. The press conference on Bank Holiday Monday was unusual because it was the first ever by a “Chief Adviser” rather than an elected politician, but with all the presidential trappings of a rose garden. Was he right to leave lockdown? If it was lawful was it moral?

The scene in John is chosen by the Church today because it’s John’s Pentecost - Jesus came and stood among his friends, breathed the Holy Spirit towards them, 2 metres apart hopefully, and commissioned them to go and forgive sins. The disciples now had work to do, though Thomas was commissioned later. If we were going to have 3 points, then the first would surely be that the Holy Spirit comes in to send us out.

Our 2^nd reading from Acts is Luke’s Pentecost. For Luke the Spirit in action can be felt and seen – there are dramatic winds and flames. We are meant to recall the sights and sounds of Jesus’s baptism in Luke 3. One of Luke’s emphases is that there will be opposition. Like many ancient historians, Luke uses speeches to interpret to his readers what he thinks is going on. We could think of the Queen’s Speech when she opens Parliament. The Queen reads it to tell us what is going on but a few 100 people contribute to the writing of it.

So in verse 13 Luke speaks of rejection and mockery as the speakers are accused of being drunk, a theme that will reappear frequently in Acts. The Spirit’s sheer energy drives the good news around the known world -

– if we put a pin on a map for all those difficult place names that were read out they would make a circle round what we used to call the Near East. The Spirit went even further, eventually, as we are sat in western Europe listening today. However, the

 Spirit brings opposition because of its message of judgement - think of Peter’s phrase in verse 21 – “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved”.

Today, in these strange times, we have gathered behind closed doors. No one from outside our household may come nearer than the garden wall, unless it’s the cleaner and we leave the room 20 minutes before her – or him. It may be easier to crave the safety of closed doors and minds as we find comfort in the familiar routine of home. The risk assessment for churches when they are opened says that gates, outer doors and inner doors must be left ajar, so that no-one touches them and the priest has to use the south or “priest’s door.”

We continue moving back in time like Dr Who for our last point that came in our first reading from the Book of Numbers. In the Ribblesdale parishes we always have the Old Testament reading apart from today, because the reading from Acts is just so long! Still, in lockdown we can read it during the week. It’s that wonderful story of someone snitching on their neighbour.

We used to react in horror when East Germans shopped their neighbours, school children informed on classmates and students passed information about other students. We now know from the archives of the Stasi – the secret police - that eavesdropping was widespread. Now the Coronavirus has brought that same plague here and, unlike the East Germans, we aren’t even rewarded with a new apartment or Trabant car – though the Daily Mirror will pay you for a tipoff about celebrities.

The story in Numbers relates how God shared his Spirit with Moses and 70 chosen elders in the holy tent. The 70 elders were only given the Spirit for that one ceremony. Joshua, Moses’s right hand man, snitched on the wonderfully-named Eldad and Medad. They hadn’t even been in the service, and yet, there they were, running around, full of God’s spirit. “Stop them!” said Joshua.

To his surprise, Moses wished that the Lord would put his Spirit on all the Israelites.

The last point then is that Pentecost is for all God’s people. We too can offer the simple prayer or plea that the people of God have whispered and sung down the centuries: “Come Holy Spirit” – that we may be sent out through doors that are left ajar, vulnerable to opposition and ridicule, but willing to be challenged so that we can seek - and find - Jesus in the ones we serve.

The Holy Spirit is not just for Peter, Thomas and the elders, but for Eldad and Medad, you and me.

Rev Stephen Dawson