Author: St Mary's

‘The last word’ – 24th September, 15th Sunday after Trinity

Posted on by St Mary's

Based around Jonah 3:10-end.

I’m a great fan of the Sherlock Holmes stories of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.  When I was a student I bought a building brick of a book published by Penguin that included all the novels and short stories.  I read through them happily until I was most of the way through ‘The Valley of Fear’ only to find the rest of the novel was missing.  It took me another 5 years to find out what happened….

I don’t know about you, but when I get to the end of tonight’s reading from Jonah,  I start flipping pages to see whether I’ve lost a bit.  God asks the question about Nineveh…

And that’s your lot. Nothing else; no reply from Jonah, that’s the end.

Our reading leaves Jonah pondering a question from God; what happened next? We have no guidance as to the fate of Jonah!   Was his mind changed? Did he live out his days in his scrappy little hut?

Your guess is as good as mine.

We have to assume that the writer of Jonah did this for a reason; that they felt that the ending was ‘fit for purpose’.  For us, the question tonight is ‘What is the purpose? Why does the book end with that question about the Assyrians?’

Let’s take a brief look at how Jonah got to this place.

Jonah had been tasked by God to go to the city of Nineveh, capital city of the Assyrians, and preach to the people, that if they didn’t mend their ways they would be destroyed.  Jonah, knows that God can be merciful, and feels that he would be wasting his time if he went to Nineveh. He disobeys God, and decides to run off in the other direction.  He takes a ship, the sailors believe him to be cursed and throw him in to the sea, where he gets taken in to the belly of a large fish, lives there for 3 days, prays to the LORD who causes the fish to vomit Jonah up on dry land.  Jonah is again told by the Lord to go to Nineveh – this time, he does what he’s told, and preaches the word of God so convincingly that the King of Nineveh says

“All shall turn from their evil ways and from the violence that is in their hands. Who knows? God may relent and change his mind; he may turn from his fierce anger, so that we do not perish.’

When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed his mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them; and he did not do it.

And that brings us to where we meet up with Jonah this evening. The fact that Nineveh is still standing at this point is quite interesting in itself.  The other Old Testament books about the minor prophets often involve states and cities that have been enemies of the people of Israel, that are then punished in some way by God. Nineveh was a major rival of Israel, and yet God has shown his mercy.  Jonah angrily prays to the Lord, telling God “I told you so!”:

“O Lord! Is not this what I said while I was still in my own country?”

And he then goes on to tell God that he’d rather die than live.  This seems to me to be quite an over-reaction from Jonah.  The Lord has shown mercy to the city and it’s people – and because of that Jonah would like to be dead?

What’s this telling us about Jonah?

We know from earlier in the book that Jonah hated the Assyrians.  Jonah was prejudiced and something of a bigot towards them; he may have had good reason in his eyes – who knows.  And it’s very clear he’s angry – what my mum would have called ‘cutting off your nose to spite your face’ angry.

In the novel, ‘Moby Dick’,  Father Mapple  preaches a sermon on Jonah in which he says that Jonah’s sin is “wilful disobedience.”  Which is spot-on.  But we still don’t really get any idea as to why he is so angry.

God questions Jonah’s right to be angry; after all, we’re talking about Jonah being petulantly angry with God’s decision here.  But God doesn’t punish Jonah; he sets out to engage with him.  After Jonah leaves the city to sulk, and sits under a homemade shelter, God sends him a bush to offer shelter and respite from the sun.  This pleases Jonah; he’s less pleased the following morning when God causes the bush to die and sends a heat wave for good measure.

And again, Jonah says to God that it would be better for him to die.  God points out that Jonah’s concerned about the fate of a bush that he was given as a gift, which he didn’t work to grow, and that came and went within 24 hours.  And he goes on to say:

“And should I not be concerned about Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who do not know their right hand from their left, and also many animals?’”

That question isn’t answered by Jonah. It’s just left hanging there.

Can WE answer it? Looking at Jonah’s behaviour and concerns during his adventures, we see that whatever happens to Jonah, his main concern is whether it’s what he wants to happen.  If something happens that isn’t what he wants, he takes his bat and ball home and states to God that he would prefer to die.  The removal of a bush or the salvation of a whole city of 120,000 people are much the same to him; it’s not what Jonah wants; therefore Jonah throws a magnificent strop.

So, as well as having issues with anger management, being a bigot, he’s also self-absorbed and egotistical, self-important and self-centred. Proud, and, ‘wilfully disobedient’.  I don’t know about you, but Jonah sounds awfully like me on a bad day.

Maybe that’s why the writer of the book of Jonah leaves it as he does – to make all of us Jonah.  God is engaging with us – as he did with Jonah.

We all have our own versions of Nineveh – those people who we just don’t like, the things that make us angry.  At the back of our minds we know that God loves these folks just like he loves us, and that despite our best efforts God will continue to work through us – as he does with Jonah.

Jonah couldn’t deal with the God’s grace that was being manifested to Nineveh; that ‘undeserved and unearnable’ love that God offers us all.

I know I have trouble taking grace on board; like Jonah, I like things my way and sometimes God’s grace may push in to my life in ways I’m not ready for. God’s grace is something we just have to receive and accept.

And the other thing about the ending of the book of Jonah? As always, God gets the last word.

Amen.

Reader Joe Pritchard

‘It’s SO unfair’ – 24th September, 15th Sunday after Trinity

Posted on by St Mary's

Based around Matthew 20:1-16.

One of the more enduring creations of the comedian Harry Enfield is the surly teenager, ‘Kevin’. Indeed, on more than one occasion I’ve heard a young teenage boy described with the word ‘He’s a right Kevin’. When we first meet Kevin, he’s a polite, 12 year old boy on the eve of his thirteenth birthday. Midnight chimes, and Kevin undergoes a transformation in to the grumpy, surly, bad-tempered, work-shy, rebellious teen whose main observation on life is that ‘It’s SO unfair!’

I hope I wasn’t too much of a Kevin; but I was known to say ‘That’s not fair’ to my mum when confronted by a maternal decision I disagreed with. At which point my mum would give me one of her ‘looks’ and say ‘No son, it’s not fair, it’s a circus.’  And that would be the end of the discussion.

This morning’s Gospel readings give us an insight in to how the parables of Jesus turned the generally accepted ideas of fairness upside down.

Prior to today’s reading we have the parable of the rich young man, in which a young man is told that to get in to the Kingdom of heaven he must give away his goods.  We’re told that it’s easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of heaven. And ‘the last will be first, and the first will be last’.  It’s generally a series of stories in which the world is turned upside down for the people listening to Jesus.

It should be pointed out that the parable of the vineyard is not a business management lesson, or a lesson in economics, but is more surprise twists and challenges to expectations.  Let’s take a look at some of the ‘high spots’ from the parable – follow it on the hand-out if you like!

  1. A price is only agreed with the workers who come in at the start of the day; we’re told that the labourers agreed the usual daily rate. The later groups of workers are simply told they will be paid ‘whatever is right’.
  2. The landowner goes to the market place each time during the day – the landowner – not a foreman or a messenger, but the fellow that actually owns the vineyard.
  3. Why do people stay there all day and not go home?
  4. We see truly extravagant generosity in how the labourers are paid – the same rate – the whole day rate – goes to a man who has only just arrived!
  5. The landowner pays in reverse order – so that the early comers get to see what the latecomers are getting! The last are first in getting their reward, and the first are last.
  6. And as for the grumbling workers – It may appear unfair to the chaps who started the day – but they agreed the terms. This would be a direct challenge to the legalistic arguments raised against Jesus; law doesn’t matter; what matters is what is right.

What can WE draw from this? I’d suggest the following :

  1. Christ’s immediate followers – the early workers at the vineyard – were told explicitly the way to the Kingdom – their wages, if you like. Those of us who have followed are told that our rewards will be based on whatever is right. And for Christians, that will depend upon our faith.
  2. God – like the landowner – comes to find us where we are. Just as the landowner came to where he could find workers for his vineyard, God comes to where he can find us. We may not be found by God immediately – we may not have faith, or have heard the words of the Gospel – but He will keep coming back in to our lives until we hear Him.
  3. Whenever we come to God – no matter how late on in the day – whether at our birth or in our dying moments, whether 2000 years ago or now – we all have the reward of the Kingdom of heaven to look forward to provided we have ‘done the right thing’ in our lives – that we have shown faith.
  4. If you begrudge the generosity of God, you don’t belong in the Kingdom. Those grumbling workers, with their legalistic arguments have missed the point. Because of God’s grace, his generosity, we are all on the same footing – whether we were first or last to the party, so to say.

 

The disciples – who were first – would soon be followed by many other believers – other Jews, gentiles, freemen, slaves – all the way down to us here in St Mary’s this morning.  Right now, we’re amongst the last in a long line of workers pulled in to the vineyard, and we will be given God’s the same portion of God’s grace as those who sat at Christ’s feet to hear the parable when it was first told.

There is much in life – in God’s creation – that we might consider to be unfair. Earthquakes and storms devastate already poor communities. A mother is killed when she’s driving to work one morning and her car is struck by a stolen car driven by a couple of teenagers who flee the scene, leaving her to die. A toddler develops an inoperable cancer and his parents have to watch helplessly whilst he dies. Each one of us can look at our own daily lives and find things that may make us question ‘Why them? Why now? Why me?’  And when we look out in to the wider world – well, enough said.

It’s hard for us as Christians, with faith in a loving God and belief in salvation through Jesus Christ, to come up with an answer to others – and to ourselves – about our life experiences that doesn’t sound like platitudes or excuses.

But this parable isn’t about our daily life here in the world; it’s about the coming Kingdom of God. It’s not about being spared from sudden and tragic death, natural disaster, the cruelty of our fellow man or sickness and lingering disease.  Our faith in Christ offers us no ‘Gold Ticket’ to a better life, no angelic ‘Get out of Jail Free’ card.

What our faith does give us is the knowledge that despite what is happening, God is with us, God is in our lives, that we may be assured of his generosity and grace.

Whatever befalls us, God is with us. We may feel that it would be helpful if the yoke we carry were lighter, that our life were easier, that those around us suffered less – but God is with us, and in the end our entry in to the Kingdom of Heaven by virtue of our faith and God’s grace is assured.

In Psalm 103, we read : “If you, LORD, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand?”

Can any of us turn to our Saviour and say ‘I’ve lived a sinless life; I’ve done everything you asked of me.’ – I know I can’t.  But by His generosity and grace we will be forgiven and receive our reward.

As my mum might have said – and as I had shared with me recently as part of my ministerial development –  “No son, it’s not fair, it’s grace.’  Thanks be to God!

‘Peter, Paul and Jesus’ – 27th August, 11th Sunday after Trinity

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Based around Romans 8:1-8, Matthew 16:13-20.

For quite a long time now I’ve been aware that when I’ve been preaching I’ve made reference to finding some of the readings challenging or difficult to get into and it has bother me a bit. So I’m very happy to say that when I looked at the readings set for today I was really pleased because I liked them both, even the one from St Paul! I was particularly pleased because someone I have long wanted to consider in a sermon is St Peter and the passage from St Matthew’s Gospel provides exactly that opportunity. We hear Peter mentioned a great deal in readings but he isn’t usually the focus of the sermon. I really like him because to me he represents us, the common people. With all his faults and failings he is one of the central characters in Jesus’ life and ministry and that gives me hope that we too, however flawed we may be, can also have a part to play.

For anyone who reads or hears the New Testament stories I don’t think there can be any doubt that Peter loves and believes in Jesus. But he keeps getting things wrong. He’s always opening his mouth and putting his foot in it. He’s a classic example of opening mouth before engaging brain and Jesus has to keep putting him straight. He is so full of enthusiasm that he at times gets carried away with his ideas. In the story of the Transfiguration when Jesus takes Peter, James and John up a high mountain with him and is transfigured before them and Moses and Elijah also appear, Peter wants to build three dwellings for them. He rather misses the point of what he is witnessing. He tries almost too hard but what cannot be doubted is his sincerity and above his love for Jesus.

How heartbreakingly sad then that next to Judas it is Peter’s failure to stand by Jesus when it mattered most that is so well known. Jesus has warned all his disciples that they will let him down at the end but Peter is adamant that he will not. When Jesus said to him “Truly I tell you, this very night, before the cock crows, you will deny me three times” Peter couldn’t believe he would do such a thing. In his own mind he was ready and willing to give his life for Jesus; in so many ways he already had. And yet when it came to the crunch, for the most human of reasons, he did fail. He was scared, just as most of us would be.

We all like to think or at least we hope that in bad situations we would do the right thing, whatever that might be, but how often in reality do we, in the moment, lack the courage to do so, only to regret it bitterly afterwards as Peter did.

And yet it is this man, Peter, who is frequently impetuous, who goes off half-cocked, who gets overrun with enthusiasm and doesn’t think things through properly or fails to understand, this man who makes so many mistakes, it is this man that Jesus describes as his rock. It is this man on whom he will build his church. It was not until I looked at our reading from Matthew again and again that I began to realise just how powerful and meaningful that paragraph is. Jesus is entrusting the future of his church to this person who he knows to be flawed in so many ways. Just take a moment to think about that.

We are very used to considering the notion of putting our trust in God or in Jesus and perhaps, for all sorts of reasons, finding that very challenging at times but how often do we consider this the other way round and see that God has put his trust in us? If we really take that on board it can be both humbling and terrifying, what an awesome responsibility. But in Peter we have a guide to rescue us. Who better than the one who so often got it wrong but who did indeed go on to be the rock on whom Jesus built his church, who better to show us the way and give us the courage to keep going, especially when things are hard.

Just like many other people, I have never been overburdened with self-confidence. I want to believe that I can do various things and I’ll work hard to develop the necessary skills and knowledge to accomplish them but so often fear and doubt get in the way. When it came to my path into reader ministry there were so many times when I could have talked myself out of it, convinced myself that I didn’t know enough or I was not the right sort of person or I just couldn’t do it. And yet somehow I was given the wherewithal to get past all the obstacles. People like Peter give me hope and courage to keep going. He shows what God can do with whatever we have and sometimes he does it in spite of what we think we haven’t got. So often he has more faith in us than we have in ourselves.

Originally I wasn’t intending to use the passage from St Paul’s writings but then I realised that he did have a contribution to this sermon and that it ties in with what we can learn from St Peter. I think Paul’s advice that we should Not think more highly of ourselves than we ought to think is worth listening to. I take it to mean that we shouldn’t become self-important or think that we can work everything out ourselves without God because we’re not and we can’t. That is, we’re not supremely important and we can’t do everything alone. Next he reminds us that we are not just individuals but that we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. In other words we all have our part to play but we all benefit from the contributions of each other and working together. It’s how society works. The final part of the reading describes some examples of the roles we might have and the gifts we have been given to enable us in these roles; “Prophesy in proportion to faith: ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness.” We could easily add a lot of modern day examples to the list. A role doesn’t have to be overtly religious or spiritual to have value. Practical stuff will always need to be done. Whatever we do in building and sustaining a good society is part of “Loving our neighbours as ourselves” and is what God commands us to do. Cooking and cleaning and building and repairing and farming and the making of music and artworks and all sorts of other roles are mentioned in the Bible and Jesus himself both worked with his hands and he fed and healed and cared for people in practical as well as spiritual ways.

So whatever your calling is, whether it’s an up front, public role or a quiet, behind the scenes one or perhaps a bit of both, learn to value it and allow God to work through you. We don’t have to do it all on our own. As Both Peter and Paul have already shown us, God will give us what we need for the work he asks of us.

Jesus said “you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.” His trust in the wonderfully imperfect Peter was not misplaced. With God’s help we are still here (and with his continued help it is our calling to go on passing the baton to the generations to come for as long as it takes).

I would like to end with a short prayer that I have used on previous occasions and I think it’s rather apt for the message of this sermon.

Father, take the little that I have to offer this day and use it as only you can. (Based on a prayer by Douglas Cleverly-Ford)

Amen.

Reader Kath Boyd

‘Inclusion’ – 20th August, 10th Sunday after Trinity

Posted on by St Mary's

Based around Isaiah 56:1-8.

The other evening I watched a documentary about the Beatles; there was some footage of the time when they played a short set from the roof of a building, and I found myself thinking ‘Where have I seen that before?’ Only to find myself answering “Oh yes…The Simpsons.”

In an episode where Homer and his friends form a Barbershop Quartet, they do their farewell performance from the roof of Moe’s bar, after finding out in a magazine ‘Are they hot, or are they not?’ article that they are now most definitely ‘Not’. They were no longer part of the ‘In’ crowd; no longer ‘beautiful people’, no longer part of what CS Lewis called the ‘Inner Ring’ – those folks that seem somehow materially blessed and separated from the rest of us. Mundane life was calling them home.

CS Lewis wrote in an essay the following:

“Of all the passions the passion for the Inner Ring is most skillful in making a man who is not yet a very bad man do very bad things. … As long as you are governed by that desire you will never get what you want. You are trying to peel an onion: if you succeed there will be nothing left. Until you conquer the fear of being an outsider, an outsider you will remain.

In the Old Testament there existed a particular covenant between God and the people of Israel; one that excluded foreigners; one that even excluded some people who were maimed. Some people in Israel – who may have been there for generations – were excluded from worshipping God. The exclusive nature of the relationship between God and the people of Israel would last until the coming of Jesus Christ, but as is often the case, Isaiah prophesies the changes that are to come when the Messiah comes.

Things are going to change; that a new covenant between God and man will make all of us God’s chosen.

Tonight’s reading from Isaiah reminds us that with God there is inclusion; no one will keep us away from God. There are no ‘gatekeepers’ or ‘style arbiters’ – just a desire from us to be part of His kingdom.

In Verses 1 and 2 we’re given a pretty simple reminder of what we need to do to be blessed by God.

We need to be just; to maintain justice. This can be hard in our day to day lives – but it is required of us.

We need to do what is right, and not commit acts of evil.

We need to keep the Sabbath – putting regular time aside for the worship of God, time in which we re-centre ourselves and make God the centre of our world.

The observant amongst you will have noticed that the reading tonight is what I call a ‘book end’ reading – there are a couple of verses, then a skipped section of the Bible, then the reading finishes with a couple more verses.  Let me share with you the words of Verses 3 to 5 of tonight’s reading.

Do not let the foreigner joined to the Lord say,
“The Lord will surely separate me from his people”;
and do not let the eunuch say,
“I am just a dry tree.”
4 For thus says the Lord:
To the eunuchs who keep my sabbaths,
who choose the things that please me
and hold fast my covenant,
5 I will give, in my house and within my walls,
a monument and a name
better than sons and daughters;
I will give them an everlasting name
that shall not be cut off.

Verse 3 and 6 both mention ‘foreigners’ – those people who were not of Israel, who were not Jews, but who had bene living in Israel for several generations in some cases and who had been forbidden to worship God.  Not any more; God is saying ‘Don’t feel that you’re separated from me because you’re not of my people’.  If they serve God, love the name of the Lord, worship God and keep the Sabbath – most likely meant to describe the religious observances of the day – they too are welcome in God’s all inclusive Kingdom.

The rest of this excluded section deals with a particular section of society – eunuchs – men who were typically servants or soldiers who had been castrated. This group too were traditionally ‘outsiders’ and were excluded from worship under one of the Deuteronomic Laws that excluded any who had been emasculated by cutting or crushing.  They were indeed regarded as ‘dry trees’ – as branches of the Jewish nation that could not produce children, at a time when the family history and family lineage were important.  This group too would be welcome as long as they follow the observances required and worship the Lord. The eunuchs are being told that within God’s Kingdom – within the Temple and it’s walls – they will have a memorial and an ongoing name as God’s offspring that will be better than sons and daughters.

As an aside, the Hebrew for “a memorial and a name” is Yad Vashem; this was chosen from Verse 5 as the name given to the main Holocaust monument in modern Jerusalem.

Verse 6 reminds us that that we come to the Lord to serve him, to worship him, to enter in to a covenant or relationship with him, and by doing so we will be blessed by Him.

In Verse 7 we’re told that God will bring these people – now His people –  US – to His Kingdom. He will guide us, bring us to prayer and worship and then bring us joy. We may come to God mourning, damaged, broken, hurt; but through Him we will find joy.

We’re told that our sacrifices and offerings will be accepted on God’s alter – that we will be accepted by God.  And God’s house of prayer will be for all nations – not just the Jews of the Old Testament; not just the Gentiles and Jews of the New Testament – but all people, everywhere.

God wants to include us all in His plans; He wants all of us – Jew and Gentile, ‘foreigner’, the whole and the broken. Those excluded previously by tradition; those who have been in our lives and communities for generations and yet who still feel excluded.

We are all offered the opportunity to be ‘In’ with God and His Kingdom. We can all be hot; we can all be within the Inner Ring for all eternity, and God has not finished bringing us all in to His Kingdom yet.

Amen

Reader Joe Pritchard

‘Love is the True Miracle’ – 13th August, 9th Sunday after Trinity

Posted on by St Mary's

Based around Matthew 14: 22-33.

For the last few years it has seemed that anywhere you may have looked at merchandising aimed at children you have been found items featuring characters from “Frozen”.  Last Sunday this film, “Frozen”, was shown on TV and so I decided that I ought to know what it was about.  I had heard of the character Elsa (and knew that “Elsa dresses” were popular for dressing up) and of the song “Let it go”, that has apparently become fashionable with some people as a mantra for not getting hung up on things in the past. I had also come across the rather oddly shaped snowman who I now know is Olaf, but that was about all I knew.

However, I very soon realised that the real heroine of the film is not Elsa, but her feisty sister, Anna. Elsa might be older and have special powers to turn things to ice but Anna is the sociable, vibrant and caring sister.  When Elsa turns her whole world to ice and flees to a solitary ice castle, it is Anna who courageously sets off alone to find her sister, to confront her, determined to undo the icy spell and restore life to the world. Anna is determined to do whatever it takes to save the world and her sister. Ultimately it is Anna’s love and self sacrifice that save the day when, even though mortally wounded by Elsa, she throws herself in harms way to save Elsa’s life and break the spell.  Elsa has extraordinary powers but it is her life-loving, courageous, impetuous and feisty sister who is the real heroine. It is Anna’s actions that restore life to the world, achieving the real miracle of restored joy and harmony.

So what has this to do with our Gospel for today?  Last week and this week our Gospel stories are known by the miraculous events occurring within them – Feeding the Five Thousand when Jesus makes 5 loaves and 2 fish feed more than 5000 people and Walking on the Water when Jesus walks across the lake to reach his disciples struggling against the wind in their boat.  These amazing actions are not party tricks to dazzle or even the main event. The underlying importance of these stories is Jesus’ compassion and love for the people who followed him and his trustful dependence on prayer to his Father.

In last week’s story Jesus had set off across the lake to find a quiet place to mourn John the Baptist who had been killed by Herod but the crowds rushed round and crowded the shore where he arrived.  Jesus did not turn them away, even though he may had wanted to, but had compassion on them, healed the sick and spoke to them. Later in the day he was concerned for their physical needs and when the disciples urged him to send them away to buy food he told them to give the people food.  But they said they only had 5 loaves and 2 fish.  So Jesus blessed what there was and had the disciples distribute it and there was enough for everyone and to spare. There was no drama – food did not fall from the sky or pop up from the ground but there was enough for all as the distribution progressed.

Jesus then sent the disciples away by boat, dismissed the crowds and went off alone to pray.  During the night the disciples, even though some of them were experienced boatmen, were still in the boat struggling against the wind and Jesus came to them, walking on the water. The disciples were terrified but Peter asked if he could walk on the water too and Jesus called him but fear overcame Peter’s faith and Jesus had to restore both of them to the boat.

But it is not the miraculous that should hold our attention – it is rather Jesus’ care for all the people in whatever circumstance, and his willingness to act to make life better.

We can get hung up on the miraculous and forget that the mundane is often the place where real miracles happen, as demonstrations of human love, kindness, compassion, courage achieve amazing things.  And human love backed by prayer and deep faith in God can achieve spectacularly amazing things.

But we sometimes have to let go of our fears and step beyond the familiar to make things happen.  Anna had to leave what she knew and venture far away to find Elsa and reverse the wintry curse on their homeland.  But is is Elsa who sings the song “Let it Go”. I have heard people quote that song as an ideal of putting the past behind and stepping out into the future.  But that is not the context of the song in the film.  Elsa has turned her world into an icy wasteland and fled.  She is now saying “Let it go” and trying to tell herself that she likes living in the cold.  She is letting go of warmth and life, turning her back on a world she has cursed to icy winter and adopting a cold, solitary existence in a lonely ice palace – hardly a liberating “letting go”.  Anna releases her from this self-imposed exile and breaks the wintry spell on the land by her acts of love and positive giving.

We need to let go of the negative things that hold us back and take hold of what gives life to ourselves and others.  By our trust and faith in God we can do that – and go beyond what we could achieve alone.

In my prayer time this week, all the meditations have been about St Columba and the monastery on Iona.  This was fitting really when thinking about the disciples in their boat as the monks largely travelled by sea in coracles at a time when land travel was very difficult.  From Iona, Columba and his missionary monks travelled far and wide taking the Gospel to many places, founding churches and monasteries along the way in Scotland and the Western Isles.  On the way they encountered many storms – real wind, waves and rain as well as spiritual ones and they trusted in God and pressed on, driven by a desire to share the Gospel and bring God’s love and life to more people.

One reflection included this poem by St Columba:*

Alone with none by Thee, my God,

I journeyed on my way:

What need I fear, when Thou art near

O King of night and day?

More safe am I within Thy hand

Than if a host did round me stand.

 

The child of God can fear no ill,

His chosen dread no foe:

We leave our fate to Thee, and wait

Thy bidding when to go.

‘Tis not from chance our comfort springs,

Thou art our trust, O King of kings.

 

Placing trust in God, and reaching out to others, Columba and his monks achieved extraordinary things. And we can be assured that Jesus is by our side at all times, knows what we need and loves us through it all.

It is not miraculous powers we should be in awe of or hanker after.  Rather we should affirm life, reach out to others, believe in the good, trust in God and see what amazing things come from that.

Let go of past fears. Turn away from bad habits. Seek God’s heart. And may life and love flow in us and enrich us and those around us. Choose life and love, and trust in God. Believe in Jesus by your side and may you see desolation turned into richness, desert wastes turned into verdant spaces and frozen hearts freed to overflow with joy.  And may we all travel safely through all the stormy phases of life!

Reader Anne Grant

 

 

* As quoted in “Celtic Daily Prayer”, from the Northumbria Community, Collins 2005, p.482

‘Crisertunity’ – 25th June, 2nd Sunday after Trinity

Posted on by St Mary's

Based around Jeremiah 20:7-13.

In one episode of the TV show ‘The Simpsons’, Lisa says to Homer ‘Dad, do you know that in China they use the same word for crisis as they do for opportunity?’  Homer, not renowned for his language skills, replies “Yes! Crisertunity!”

I’ve been reminded of this exchange most days for some weeks now; we seem to be living through times of crisis when the very fabric of our society seems to shift as Government seems to be fumbled, accidents and terror attacks take dozens, if not hundreds of lives, and our national institutions and relationships with other countries look like they will undergo massive changes.

We have the crisis; we just don’t yet seem to be seeing much opportunity.

In fact, we probably need a prophet to help us out; not a pollster, pundit or astrologer, but a good, old fashioned, Old Testament prophet.  The Biblical prophets had pretty straight forward job descriptions; To explain the plan and purpose of God and tell us what he will do in the future, and to turn people away from evil and back towards the will of God so that they might be saved.

But they were also men.

Tonight’s reading from Jeremiah isn’t the usual ‘fire and brimstone’ we might expect from the Biblical prophets like Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekial. It’s the words of a man who is expressing the anguish and torment within him – partially, as he sees it, from being a prophet of the Lord.

Jeremiah began prophesying around 620BC in the reign of Josiah, and continued through a time of massive unrest when the fate of Judah itself – like many other small nations of the Middle East – was being sealed by the rise of the larger empires such as Egypt, Assyria and Babylon, and by the time he finished his writings – around 587BC – Jerusalem had been destroyed and the majority of the people had been taken to exile in Babylon.

Amongst the prophets one thing that is interesting about Jeremiah is that he wasn’t shy about telling us that he was human; he wrote several verses that are often summed up as expressing feelings of  ‘woe is me!’.  These are called his confessions, or his lamentations.

Tonight’s reading is the last and longest of these lamentations, and like the previous confessions it showed something of the inner turmoil and unrest that Jeremiah felt. I think that these confessions make Jeremiah more human in many ways than the other prophets. If you think about it, his job on a day to day basis was not an easy one.

Jeremiah’s grumbles are written in a format and structure that would be familiar to anyone who has a knowledge of the Psalms.  The ‘Lamentation Psalms’ are psalms in which the writer is directly addressing God on the event of some calamity; more than that, they frequently have a direct complaint against God, and some theologians have argued the ‘Lamentation’ is too wishy-washy a word to associate with these Psalms, and that we should just use ‘Complaint’. Because that’s what’s happening – the Psalmist is addressing a complaint to God – either for himself or for the community as a whole.  If you want to read a couple of these Psalms, take a look at Psalm 13 or Psalm 74.

Jeremiah starts by accusing God of deception; basically Jeremiah feels that God conned – some translations use the word seduced or enticed – him in to the job of Prophet.  One of my commentaries uses the phrase ‘God had been excessively persuasive’.  In the second part of Verse 7, Jeremiah starts complaining about his own situation “I am ridiculed and mocked”, and then in Verse 8 continues in this vein; by preaching the word of the Lord he’s put himself in the position of being insulted and vilified by the people.

Verse 9 is Jeremiah feeling sorry for himself again; he’s experiencing that major problem of a prophet of the Lord in that even if he’s reluctant to speak the word of God  – in this case to protect himself – Holy Spirit will be working within him to compel him to speak out – as Jeremiah himself puts it, the word of God is like a fire in his bones trying to burst out, and he can’t stop it.

In Verse 10 Jeremiah again regales us with the activities of his ‘friends’ who seem to be waiting for him to make a mistake, and his enemies, who’re waiting for him to prophesy again so they can take their revenge on him.  This wasn’t an unusual fate for prophets – on more than one occasion in his career Jeremiah was beaten up for speaking God’s work when the people didn’t appreciate it.

We can probably all feel for Jeremiah – he’s between a rock and a hard place; compelled by the Holy Spirit to do the right thing, but scared for his life and well being if he does; friendless, feeling sorry for himself, stressed; perhaps even powerless – what’s the point of prophesying the word of God if no one listens and some even regard you as a liar and troublemaker?

There’s a quote from Gandhi – “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win” – that Jeremiah would have probably appreciated.  Because in Verse 11, he remembers just who he has got on his side; the Lord God. In Verse 11 Jeremiah re-states his trust in the Lord, and in Verse 12 he requests that the Lord punish his enemies.

And finally – in Verse 13, Jeremiah praises the Lord.

Because despite his grumbles, Jeremiah has been promised by the Lord that the Lord will be with him through his work; and even in the depths of this lamentation, in Verse 11, he reminds himself of that “The Lord is with me like a mighty warrior”.

 

Do you think it feels a bit odd to be complaining and grumbling at God? I know it does to me, sometimes, but at other times I have to admit that I’m tempted to start my prayers with “Hey, Lord, where ARE you right now? We need some help here!”

But I think that the desire of God isn’t that we have a ‘fair weather friend’ relationship with us.  I think he wants us to be able to come to Him ‘warts and all’ – to be able to bitch and grumble at whim when we feel things have gone pear-shaped – because it is only through honesty in relationships that true relationships grow.

Like Homer Simpson, we’re not immune to the crises of modern life. Nowhere in the Bible – Old or New Testament – does it say that being faithful to God will give you a ‘Get out of trouble free’ card in life.

Right now, MY heart is full – personal issues, terrorist attacks, the Grenfell Tower fire, political crises and scandals. “Lord, where are you? We’re here; we’re suffering; your people are crying out. I am suffering; I am crying out too. Where are you? “
But then, like Jeremiah, I remember “The Lord is with me” – and I start looking for His work. And I remember the words of Jesus to his followers “And I am with you always, to the end of the age.” I have His promise; like Jeremiah, I can take the promise of the Lord and work with it; it may not be easy, but I know that, no matter what, God is with me. And all of us. We need to have faith, and look for His works.

Reader Joe Pritchard

‘Fatherhood’ 18th June, 1st Sunday after Trinity

Posted on by St Mary's

Based around Romans 5:1-8 and Matthew 9:35-10:23

 

“Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be your name.”

These are the opening words to the prayer with which we and many millions of others are so familiar. We call God our Father and as today is Father’s Day it seemed to me entirely appropriate that we should consider and celebrate fathers and father figures because they are important to us.

Having decided on the theme for this sermon I thought I ought to do a bit of research. Somewhere at the back of my mind I seemed to remember hearing that Father’s Day was a fairly recent invention which came about in order to mirror the fact that we celebrate mothers on Mother’s Day and a more cynical view is that it was dreamed up by the retail industry who wanted to sell us yet more cards and gifts and stuff. Without wishing to actually be cynical, I’m pretty sure there is an element of both involved.

Imagine my pleasant surprise then when I learned that in the Catholic parts of Europe Father’s Day has been celebrated since the 14th or early 15th century, usually on the 19th March which is St Joseph’s Day and it is now celebrated in many countries throughout the world although not necessarily on that date. Marking it on the third Sunday in June seems to have come from the United States when the tradition was established in the early twentieth century.

According to what I read, and this is a very concise history, the first recorded modern observance of a Father’s Day was in 1908 in Fairmont, West Virginia and was the idea of Grace Golden Clayton whose father had been killed in a terrible mining accident the previous year along with 360 other men. Apparently 250 of these men were fathers and their loss left around a thousand children fatherless. Imagine the impact this must have had on the community as well on the individual families concerned. Ms Clayton suggested that her pastor, Robert Webb, of what is now the Central Methodist Church, honour these fathers but this seemed to have been a one off event at that time. The next few years saw numerous attempts to establish Father’s Day as a regular celebration but for various reasons it didn’t work out. After this somewhat faltering start it seems it was another woman, Sonora Smart Dodd who after hearing a sermon about Mother’s Day suggested to her pastor that fathers should be honoured in a similar way. Her father, a veteran of the Civil War, had brought up his own six children without a mother. As a result, it was in 1910 that a number of local clergymen throughout Spokane in Washington, preached sermons honouring fathers. Again though the observance was local and not regular. Over the next four decades there were attempts to get Father’s Day established as a permanent national holiday but they met with resistance from Congress. Apparently there was a good deal of cynicism about the motives of the trade groups who were helping to promote the idea of a father’s day but in 1957, Senator Margaret Chase Smith accused Congress of ignoring fathers for forty years while celebrating the role of mothers and in 1966 President Johnson issued the first presidential proclamation honouring fathers and set the third Sunday in June as the date to mark it. Finally it was President Nixon who in 1972 signed this into law as a permanent national holiday. We seem to have followed the same tradition and I for one am very glad that we do honour and celebrate the role of fatherhood as well as motherhood and in the broadest senses of these terms.

Going back to the idea of St Joseph being associated with the first celebrations of fatherhood, I can’t think of anyone more appropriate as a figurehead. He epitomises the good qualities we associate with being a good father: protector, provider, nurturer, teacher, and encourager to name but a few. I also think he is a great example because in Jesus case, he was not actually his biological father and yet he loved him and brought him up as his own son. He could have turned his back and walked away but he didn’t. He could have boasted and made much of his role in Jesus life but we certainly don’t hear anything like that in the Bible. He was an honourable, kind, modest and faithful man who was content to play the part God had given him in spite of what others may have thought of him. God chose well when he chose Joseph.

It always seems a shame to me that the men who day by day, quietly go about the business of being good, reliable, dependable father figures don’t always get the credit they deserve because fatherhood like motherhood isn’t always glamorous and fun. Sometimes it’s hard and frustrating and even painful and heart breaking and there’s a fair amount of self-sacrifice involved. All the more reason why the value of good fathers and father figures should never be underestimated. They are sharers in the shaping of the next generation and their influence is great and lasting so it needs to be good. We all need good male as well as female role models if we are to be balanced, compassionate and loving human beings. I am aware that unfortunately not everyone is blessed with having a good father and that there are damaging and destructive relationships that cause a great deal of lasting harm. But surely that is all the more reason to value, encourage and celebrate the good ones and hopefully there will be good father figures somewhere along the line for all of us. They don’t have to be perfect, none of us are.

Sadly my own dad died nearly ten years ago. I still miss him. But because he was a good father he left me with many things that have enabled me to go on making my way through life, able to appreciate the good and deal with the not so good. We used to work together and in many ways we were kindred spirits. We could inspire and encourage each other and keep each other going when things were difficult which they often were. I could talk to him about pretty much anything, we didn’t always agree but in the end there was always respect, understanding and kindness. But as with all of us there were things I kept to myself. I’m sure we all have thoughts and feelings at times that we are not proud of and wouldn’t want anyone else to know about fearing that they would think badly of us or reject us if they knew.

But with our Heavenly Father it is different. To Him we are completely known and in spite of all our faults and failings we are loved anyway. I don’t know about you but I find this knowledge very liberating. God is the only one I can say and confide anything to, confident that I will not be misunderstood and not being misunderstood matters so very much. How many of our problems in life, in society and in the wider world stem from misunderstandings and an unwillingness to forgive human imperfections and failings? How comforting to know that God sees beyond what we see and that his judgement is not the same as ours.

I recently re-read Psalm 139 and I think it expresses this close relationship with God far better than I can. Here are just a few of the verses and I hope they speak to you as they do to me.

“O Lord, you have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from far away. You search out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, O Lord you know it completely.

Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence? If I ascend into heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there. If I take the wings of the morning and settle at the farthest limits of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me and your right hand shall hold me fast.

Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts. See if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”

Here’s to good fathers on earth and in Heaven. Let us value and celebrate them and let them know how much they mean to us. I think we all like to know that we are valued and loved.

 

Reader Kath Boyd

Magazine Article – Fair Trade at St Marys

Posted on by St Mary's

St Mary’s Church has promoted Fair Trade for many years, primarily by offering specifically ‘Traidcraft’ grocery and seasonal goods for sale after selected Sunday morning services and at certain events at the church.

Taking over from her predecessor, for a long while Catherine Burchell brought such goods from the ‘New Roots’ shop on Glossop Road, on a sale and return basis. When the shop closed, it was decided to continue offering ‘Traidcraft’ merchandise by setting up an account directly with them and for over 3 years now I have sold ‘Traidcraft’ products on behalf of the church.

But what is ‘Fair Trade’? In simple terms, fair trade benefits producers in a number of ways; it guarantees: –

1. Farmers a fair and stable price for their products.
2. Extra income for farmers and estate workers to improve their lives and communities.
3. A greater respect for the environment.
4. Small farmers a stronger position in world markets.
5. A closer link between consumers and producers.
6. Decent working conditions and no exploitative labour.

Along with quarterly catalogues, I receive quarterly ‘Traidcraft’ magazines and monthly bulletins. These regularly include stories illustrating the benefits realised by producers in those third world countries with which ‘Traidcraft’ has established links. ‘Traidcraft’s’ strategy is to maximise its impact in those particular countries with which it works and in practical terms this also means that ‘Traidcraft’ cannot spread itself too thinly (unlike the ‘Sweet Justice’ ‘Traidcraft’ honey that you might spread on your morning toast!)

Here is just one example of the many real-life stories given to us: –
Mwathi Musyoka and her family are from Kenya. Mwathi took part in ‘Traidcraft’s’ Flourishing in Vulnerable Environments (FIVE) programme. She joined the programme to improve her farming technique and knowledge. Previously she was only able to sell one bag of maize for 1250 ksh. Her land had a lot of erosion leading to low production. Since receiving training on soil conservation her production has improved and now sells two bags of maize and two bags of cow peas thus earning 6100 ksh and also grows beans, greens grams, sorghum and pigeon peas. Mwathi sends her children to school but had incurred a debt to the school of 24,000 ksh and her children used to miss entire terms. With her increased income, she is starting to pay off her debt and doesn’t have to buy a lot of food from the market. Because of the poor harvests previously experienced, some days the family had no food. Now the family eats every day, three times a day. Mwathi is now passing on to other growers what she has learned about soil conservation.

‘Traidcraft’ products are often more expensive than their nearest high street non-fair traded equivalent. The reason is explained by the previously-listed, and other, factors and is evidenced by stories like that of Mwathi. The more fair trade products that are sold the more ‘Traidcraft’ can work with families like Mwathi’s to help them grow more, earn more and eat more.
Unfortunately, St Mary’s cannot operate on a sale and return basis. If products do not sell, St Mary’s makes a loss and I am forced to withdraw such products from the range sold at church. Regular supporters of ‘Traidcraft’ at church will have noticed this decline. If you would like me to source other products not currently sold, please let me know and if you don’t currently make purchases, please think about doing so and the benefits this is likely to bring, such as that experienced by Mwathi.

Geoff Vause

‘St Patrick’ – 11th June, Trinity Sunday

Posted on by St Mary's

Today is Trinity Sunday – when we celebrate the Holy Trinity.  Tonight, I don’t intend to preach on the readings, but want to think a while about this enduring mystery.

There is a rather nice cartoon on Youtube in which St Patrick attempts to explain the Trinity to a couple of local farmers he meets.  He makes various attempts to explain the Trinity with examples – like a three leaf clover, water existing as water, ice and steam, a man being a father, a brother and a son…all of which are (correctly) shot down by the two not so dim farmers, who go so far as to mention exactly which heresy Patrick is stating.

Eventually, Patrick loses it, and recites the statement on the Trinity from the creed.  After a few seconds of digesting it, the farmers simply say “Patrick, why didn’t you just say that in the first place”

I think those farmers are right.  Sometimes we overthink things.

The Trinity is mysterious; it should be. The Medieval theologian Meister Eckhart said :

“Thou canst understand nought about God, for He is above all understanding. A master saith: If I had a God whom I could understand, I would never hold Him to be God.”

We can’t understand our God completely. So, what do we understand when we talk about the Trinity?

There is one God who eternally exists as three distinct Persons — the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This is often stated as ‘God is one in essence but three in person.’

In the Bible, we have a number of examples of God being three in person – we read of the Father as God, Jesus as God, and the Holy Spirit as God.  And at Jesus’s baptism we get a wonderful demonstration – Jesus is baptised, the Holy Spirit descends upon him in the form of a dove and the Father in Heaven says ‘This is my son in whom I am well pleased.’  And the Holy Spirit is a ‘person’ as well – not some sort of mystical ‘Force’ like in Star Wars.

Just think how our Christian life starts – or how I started tonight’s sermon.  We’re baptised in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit – not just in Jesus’s name, or in the name of the Father.

Each person is fully God; we’re not talking about the persons being a third of God each – each of Father, Son and Holy Spirit is God entire.

And there is one God – we are told this numerous times in scripture.

Now, I have to admit that this does all sound rather strange to us mere mortals living in a three dimensional world where we’re used to things being distinct and separated.

Theologian and apologist Norman Geisler explains it this way; while essence is what you are, person is who you are.  So God is one “what” but three “who’s.

The three ‘whos’ are quite capable of referring to themselves as ‘I’ and the other two as ‘You’.  And so we can have relationships between the three persons within the trinity. The Trinity is thus not a splitting of God’s essence or being in to three separate parts; it’s described as an ‘unfolding’ of God’s single essence in to these relationships.

And that was one thing that the early theologians agreed upon; that what was important wasn’t the gender or exact nature of the three persons of the Trinity, but the relationships between them.

Do the persons have ‘jobs’?

We often hear people says that ‘The Holy Spirit is working through them’. The pattern of our prayer is to pray to the Father through the Son and in the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit is that which moved over the water in Genesis in the act of creation.  We might think that, therefore, Father, Son and Holy Spirit has some sort of skill set special to them.  But that’s not so – of single essence, and being totally God, whatever one person of the Trinity is involved in in our lives, the others will be involved with too.

It’s been said that the Father is the Infinite one, Jesus is the Imminent – coming in to being with us – one and the Holy Spirit the Intimate person of the Trinity; of course, there is also intimacy and infinity in the person of Jesus, and a sense of imminence and intimacy in the Father, and so on.

God is not only more complicated than we imagine Him to be; He is more complicated than we CAN imagine Him to be!

However, it’s fortunate that we don’t have to be able to fully understand God for us to be in a relationship with him.  And that’s what I’d like to think about now – how our relationship with God, how we worship Him, how His love for us is manifested – is intimately linked in with the Trinity.

It’s often said that the Bible is the story of God’s relationship with human beings; in the Old Testament, with the people of Israel, and in the New Testament we see that relationship expanded to all peoples.

But for us, our own Christian belief is about our relationship with God; and with the Trinity that can get quite complicated!

Franciscan priest and writer Richard Rohr suggests that the perceived roles and functions of the persons in the Trinity are not that important; what matters is the relationships between them, and, as we are in a relationship with God, we’re also intimately involved in the relationships between the persons of the Trinity.  Which, you must admit, is pretty special.

In his book ‘The Divine Dance’, Rohr suggests that we might like to reflect on the Trinity when we cross ourselves, rather than just allowing the act of crossing ourselves to become a ritual without thought or prayer.

At the head, home of our mind and source of all our intentions and actions, he suggests we honour the person of the Father; as we move down to our chest, over our hearts, reflect on the person of the Son – the fleshy incarnation of the Trinity. And finally, sweeping from shoulder to shoulder, reflect on the Holy Spirit

And finally tonight – one of Rohr’s prayers:

 

God for us, we call you Father.

God alongside us, we call you Jesus.

God within us, we call you Holy Spirit.

You are the eternal mystery that enables, enfolds, and enlivens all things,

Even us and even me.

 

Every name falls short of your goodness and greatness.

We can only see you in what is.

We ask for such perfect seeing—

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be.

Amen.

 

Reader Joe Pritchard

Magazine Article – Friends of Walkley Cemetery

Posted on by St Mary's

Our AGM will be on Friday 23 June this year. This is always a great opportunity to get a good idea of the whole range of activities under-taken by the Friends. Hugh Waterhouse will be giving a talk in the first half of the meeting followed by the AGM business after a break.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission sign has now been affixed to the gatepost at the cemetery entrance.  It looks good and helps to advertise the presence of war graves on our site.

We have several events that are part of Walkley Festival – please consult the Festival programme for details.  One new venture will be the Big Draw on Saturday 1st July.

The Bracken Bash is this month. This helps keep the bracken under control and prevents it spreading.

Do join us for any event. No experience necessary!

 

Forthcoming events in the cemetery 

AGM:  FRIDAY 23 June 7.30, St Mary’s Community Hall (Refreshments available before and during meeting)

WORKDAY: Bracken Bash THURSDAY 22 June 2-4pm

TOURS:  SUNDAY 2 July (Walkley Festival Tours)

                    2pm and 4pm

FESTIVAL EVENT:  SATURDAY 1 July  Big Draw 12-4pm