10th November 2024 6.30pm – Eucharist

The Readings

Revelation 7. 9 - 17

After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands. They cried out in a loud voice, saying,
‘Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!’
And all the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshipped God, singing,
‘Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom
and thanksgiving and honour
and power and might
be to our God for ever and ever! Amen.’

Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, ‘Who are these, robed in white, and where have they come from?’ I said to him, ‘Sir, you are the one that knows.’ Then he said to me, ‘These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
For this reason they are before the throne of God,
and worship him day and night within his temple,
and the one who is seated on the throne will shelter them.
They will hunger no more, and thirst no more;
the sun will not strike them,
nor any scorching heat;
for the Lamb at the centre of the throne will be their shepherd,
and he will guide them to springs of the water of life,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’

Matthew 5. 1 - 12

When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:
‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
‘Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
‘Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
‘Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
‘Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
‘Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
‘Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
‘Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Scripture Quotations are from: New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright © 1989, 1995 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org

The Sermon
By the Revd Canon Dr Alan Billings.

Over the last few years I have visited many schools across South Yorkshire. One thing I have noticed, wherever I have been, is that every school has a set of values. They are often displayed: posted on noticeboards, painted on walls, they sometimes appear on tee shirts. They vary hugely, though there are some commonalities.

All primary schools seem to have something along the lines of ‘kindness’ or ‘friendliness’. Secondary schools generally have something along the lines of ‘ambition’ or ‘excellence’. Both primary and secondary will have ‘tolerance’ or ‘respect’ or something that means the same thing.

But there are many other values. From memory I recall: empathy, happiness, resilience, compassion, confidence, fairness … the list goes on.

I wondered when this need to set out the school’s values like this started as I didn’t remember it from the schools of my youth.

At least that was what I first thought. Then I realised that my boys’ grammar school did have values, but hid them inside a Latin motto that was part of the school badge – which I wore on my cap until I was 18.

We also sang the values in songs and hymns every day at morning assembly, which in those days was an act of worship.

One of my favourites was called Treasure. I still remember it. The first verse went like this:

Daises are our silver,
Buttercups our gold.
These are all the treasures
We can have or hold.

This is not very aspirational. I can see why ni head teacher would want that sung now. We must aspire to a good salary and not be content with a buttercup. (Though it didn’t stop my school producing a governor of the Bank of England.) But it does commend an appreciation of the natural world, which is very relevant in these days of anxiety about nature.

In those decades just after the second world war, many of these hymns reflected quite explicitly Christian values. We shall have one later:

When a knight won his spurs
in the stories of old,
he was gentle and brave, he was gallant and bold...

Other hymns commended unselfishness, sacrifice, hard work, not clock-watching, putting others first. It was thought that these values got us through the war and were needed to bring post-war renewal.

These were the default values of that time.

Fast forward to the present and we find that these are not the values people want to start with now. Not hard work and self sacrifice but almost the opposite. And all organisations have them, not just schools. They are often now about personal well-being, life-work balance and so on.

A well-being champion in my office in my last job summed them up in a wonderful post one week. It said: When you are saying yes to others, make sure you are not saying no to yourself’. That captures the essence of so many of these modern values very well. This is the new default position.

No wonder so many people find Remembrance day a puzzle. It creates a tension between that new emphasis and what the men and women who fought and died stood for.

Putting the interests of others ahead of your own, self-sacrifice. These are not often part of the default values of modern Britain. Perhaps on Remembrance Sunday it’s time to revisit them.

The Prayers

Let us pray for all who suffer as a result of conflict,
and ask that God may give us peace:

for the service personnel
who have died in the violence of war,
each one remembered by and known to God;
may God give peace.
God give peace.

For those who love them in death as in life,
offering the distress of our grief
and the sadness of our loss;
may God give peace.
God give peace.

For all members of the armed forces
who are in danger this day,
remembering family, friends
and all who pray for their safe return;
may God give peace.
God give peace.

For civilians, children and adults
whose lives are disfigured by war or terror,
calling to mind in penitence
the anger and hatreds of humanity;
may God give peace.
God give peace.

For peacemakers and peacekeepers,
who seek to keep this world secure and free;
may God give peace.
God give peace.

For all who bear the burden and privilege of leadership,
political, military and religious;
asking for gifts of wisdom and resolve
in the search for reconciliation and peace;
may God give peace.
God give peace.

O God of truth and justice,
we hold before you those whose memory we cherish,
and those whose names we will never know.
Help us to lift our eyes above the torment of this broken world,
and grant us the grace to pray for those who wish us harm.
As we honour the past,
may we put our faith in your future;
for you are the source of life and hope,
now and for ever.
Amen.

St Marys Walkley

The Church on the Road: inclusive, eucharistic, a safe place to be with God

10th November 2024 6.30pm – Eucharist