Holy Trinity Winchester Podcast

When Jesus Chose Quiet: Learning to Pray Like Him

Tue, 11 Aug 2026 14:44:51 +0000

The Pattern in Christ’s LifeIt interests me that the devotional life of Christ is not described in much detail in the Gospels. What did He do when He was out praying? What was He doing in His devotions? Yet we can see a clear pattern in the Gospels, and I want to suggest that this pattern is an encouragement to us.After the Feeding of the Five ThousandIn Matthew chapter 14, the Gospel reading we have just heard, Jesus has performed a significant miracle: the feeding of the five thousand. Before that miracle, Jesus had been trying to get away for some peace, rest, and prayer, but the crowds followed him even into the desolate place—or the wilderness—that he sought.After the feeding of the five thousand, Jesus dismissed both his disciples and the crowds and went up on a mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone. It was in the fourth watch of the night—between three and six in the morning—that he came down from that mountain. Jesus was there on the mountaintop for a long time, alone, praying.Jesus as Our ExampleJesus was fully God, but he was also fully a man. Being a man, his life can be seen as a pattern laid down for us to follow in our own way and in our own time. It is right to say that Christ suffered and was worn out, just as we suffer and are sometimes worn out. By this point in Matthew 14, Jesus was extremely tired. Feeding five thousand people takes a great deal of energy, even when it is a miracle.This is the sort of tiredness we have all known: the kind that tells us we simply cannot go on until we have had rest. Jesus had given himself, body and soul, to the people who followed him and to his disciples, and he was spent. Yet observe what he does. He goes up on a mountainside by himself to pray. He sought the emptiness of a desolate place so that he could have quiet and dedicate himself to prayer.This is not an isolated incident. It happens time and again in the Gospels. We see the pattern: after a period of activity, solitude, silence, and prayer. He did this because it was through prayer that he renewed his communion with the Father, and in that quiet place he could hear the Father’s voice once again. We might even say that all of Christ’s actions in this world began and ended with prayer—often the prayer of solitude and silence.Different Gifts of PrayerWe do not know exactly what Christ was doing during those times—what prayers he was praying or what scriptures he was reading. God, in His wisdom, has made us all different; there is no single blueprint we are all to follow. If we knew precisely what Jesus was doing, we would probably all try to copy Him. We have different gifts of prayer, some still waiting to be discovered.What we do learn is the importance of withdrawing from the world of activity to pray, so that we might be strengthened to fulfil our callings before God and keep our focus on Him. Life has a habit of taking our focus off God. We lose sight of Him. He no longer seems as real, as near, or as relevant. Christ’s example challenges us to return often to Him in the silence of our hearts, in a quiet place, so that we might discover His presence once again.Pray Without CeasingWe might think of the well-known words of the apostle Paul in 1 Thessalonians 5:17: “Pray without ceasing.” This phrase has been interpreted in different ways. It can mean pray very frequently, at intervals, and make a habit of it. It can also mean pray constantly—pray all the time in whatever you are doing.The Eastern Orthodox, in particular, promote the Jesus Prayer for this reason: the repeated phrase, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy upon me, a sinner.” Used so often, it becomes the self-acting prayer of the heart, so that prayer is a constant companion even in the busyness of ordinary life.I offer this not to prescribe any particular method, but to invite you to consider what it would mean to imitate the example of Christ in your own life and how it might help you.Carrying Everything to God in PrayerI have been reminded this week of the well-known hymn:What a friend we have in Jesus,all our sins and griefs to bear.What a privilege to carryeverything to God in prayer.And especially this verse:Oh, what peace we often forfeit,oh, what needless pain we bear,all because we do not carryeverything to God in prayer.There is a great deal of truth in those words.As a priest, especially in this tradition, it is easy to think that prayer must be formal, liturgical, and carefully thought through—otherwise it might seem pedestrian and not worth doing. Nothing could be further from the truth. We ought always to pray, at all times, in all places, and in every way. Prayer can be formal and planned, and sometimes it should be. But that should never put us off sending our prayers and requests to God as they arise in the course of daily life, as troubles or anxieties arise in our hearts. We can use our own words and share our own thoughts with God. We ought also to remember the words of the apostle Peter, who tells us to cast all our anxieties upon God, because He cares for us.A Personal ChallengeI have asked myself: do I do these things? As a priest I am meant to pray Morning and Evening Prayer, and I try my best and manage it most of the time. But do I pray at all times and in all ways? Do I pray when I sit down to write a sermon, or when I feel overwhelmed by tiredness, or when I am troubled by the thought of a difficult conversation, or when I face an unwanted task? If the answer is no, then could I not try to do them a little more? Not because I am trying to earn God’s favour or because I feel guilty, but because I know I will find strength and restoration of soul if I do. I wonder how that might apply to you also.A Simple ExampleMany of you will know Father Christopher from the Cheriton benefice near here. He is a colleague of mine, and I occasionally have lunch with him. Sometimes it is a very full lunch, and by the end I am tired and ready for a nap—as many of you can identify. Yet Father Christopher always insists on going afterwards to one of his churches to say a prayer. Last time we did this at Hinton Ampner, a very fine church. There were many tourists and visitors in the building, but Father Christopher led us to the altar, turned on the lights, knelt, and we said a brief prayer together. I do not remember exactly what we said—probably thanks for the time together and for our lunch, and a prayer for the churches we serve. It took perhaps two minutes.Prayer can be just as simple as that: thanks to God for His blessings, whether recent, historic, or constant, and requests for blessing and help. If it can be that simple for two priests, it can be that simple for you also.Strength in the Midst of BusynessMy own life is sometimes quite busy. I feel as though I am rushing from one thing to another without time to respond adequately to the needs of the church or the people around me. Sometimes life feels as though there is no space to breathe. Yet I have realised something of a paradox: if I stop and pray, I find something there. It does not make everything easy or suddenly make everything all right. But it is a sense of having shared one’s burden with God and having invoked His power and help. It is the assurance that He will give enough to face whatever needs to be faced, and that one need not be filled with foreboding, dread, depression, or anxiety.How might these examples relate to you? Your struggles are different from mine. The pain and grief you bear are your own. But what we all have in common is the example of Christ: His withdrawal for silence, solitude, and prayer, and His desire to be strengthened in the power of God.I ask you to consider how your life might be different if you sought to put this example into practice in your own way, and how you might follow the example of Christ in this regard.Peter Walking on the WaterFinally, a word about Peter’s story. Peter saw Christ walking on the water and desired to walk towards Him. He got out of the boat and even walked on the water some way. Yet when he took his eyes from Christ, he began to sink.That is a powerful illustration of what I have been saying. When we look to Christ in prayer and with faith, we make progress towards God. It is not that the winds and the waves are not there—they are, and they always will be in this life. Crucially, our focus is on something else: on Christ. Although those things remain, they do not have the same power over us, because we have peace, consolation, and help in God.Even if we begin to sink, as Peter did, look at Christ’s saving compassion. Jesus immediately reached out His hand and took hold of him. Here we see the grace of God—how willing God is to help us, even when we take our focus away from Him, even when we neglect prayer or fail in some other way. He reaches out so that we might take hold of Him. Christ grasped the hand of Peter as he sank beneath the waves.Strengthened in the EucharistIn a similar way, in the Holy Eucharist, Christ offers Himself to us. He literally reaches out to us with His body, given that we might truly take hold of Him. In eating of His heavenly flesh we receive His very self into our bodies, and so we are strengthened and become one with Him.Friends, in faith, let us approach and be strengthened now through this holy sacrament, and let us always continue in prayer—at all times, in all places, and in every way.In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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The Light of Tabor and the Glory of Golgotha

Fri, 07 Aug 2026 10:12:01 +0000

The Transfiguration, 2026‘And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.’ 2 Corinthians 3:18In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.Why the Transfiguration?In his second epistle, the Apostle Peter wanted to convince his audience that what he was saying about Christ was not just another cleverly devised myth but that it was, in fact, the truth. He says that the Apostles ‘were eyewitnesses of his majesty’. That is, that they saw his majesty. But what he says after that is a little surprising. He does not mention Christ’s miracles – his feeding the five thousand, his healings and exorcisms, his raising people from the dead, or even his resurrection, as we might expect him to. But instead he mentions the Transfiguration.There was evidently something about the Transfiguration that struck Peter with an unforgettable force. Without overstating the case, we might even say that the Transfiguration revealed something about Christ which not even his miracles – not even his resurrection – did in quite the same way. The Transfiguration was, so Peter says, the moment when Christ ‘received honour and glory from God the Father’ – and this in a very particular way.And we see something of this particular and unique revelation if we look closely at the Scriptural account.The Light of the Vision of GodWe are told that the appearance of Christ’s face was altered and that his clothing became dazzling white. The great Eastern Orthodox father Gregory Palamas says here that this is the moment when the veil of the Incarnation was lifted and when Christ shone with the uncreated light and energy of God himself. Palamas wrote,“He was transfigured, not by assuming what He was not, nor by changing into what He was not, but by revealing to his disciples what He was, opening their eyes and giving sight to those who had been blind.”Palamas linked this with the disciples’ own participation in this vision, teaching that the uncreated light of God with which Christ shone will one day be the light in which all the saints of God share, saying,“The light of Tabor is the light of the Kingdom of God, in which the righteous shall shine forth like the sun.”This is particularly pertinent because only shortly before Peter’s reference to the Transfiguration in 2 Peter, the Apostle described the ultimate end of salvation, which is to become ‘partakers in the divine nature’.This is an often-underemphasised aspect of salvation in Western Theology, but the idea is that, through God’s grace and our participation in the vision of God, we too may be raised to the level of godhood in the Kingdom of Heaven. Our vision of God plays a crucial part in this process because it is by seeing God that we become transformed into his image. We become the vision of God, in this sense.This is very reminiscent of Psalm 36:9: ‘For with thee is the fountain of life; in thy light shall we see light.’And here we may also observe that it is through the light of the vision of God that we are returned to the world to see the world in a new way, with a new illumination. We no longer see with our earthly eyes, but we see with the eyes of God. This is what it is to be transformed by this vision.So, friends, as we come to Mass and as we enter into the Divine Liturgy together, let us open the eyes of our hearts, praying that we may have a vision of God in this place through Word and Sacrament. Let us cherish this vision and allow it to transform our vision, even as we make our way back down the mountain and enter once again into the everyday world.The Fulfilment of the ScripturesWe see also through the Transfiguration that Christ is the fulfilment of the Old Testament Scriptures. This is, of course, what Moses and Elijah represent, the Law and the Prophets. At the time, this was a shorthand way of referring to the whole of the Old Testament and it is literally depicted here in the appearance of Moses and Elijah.Moses and Elijah spoke with Christ and the subject matter is interesting: we are told that they spoke of his ‘departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem’.That word “departure” is an interesting choice because the literal Greek of the passage does not say “departure” but “exodus”. And the allusion to the Exodus of Israel from their bondage to slavery in Egypt is not accidental. The point is, of course, that Christ was about to accomplish the true exodus. What the Exodus from Egypt pointed forward to symbolically was the ultimate and final liberation of humanity from our bondage to slavery: that of slavery to the Devil, to sin and to death. Christ was about to accomplish this final and true exodus at Jerusalem through his death and resurrection. And it is only through Christ and these things that all of humanity can be truly liberated.The Voice of GodThe final point I would like to emphasise concerns what happened after Peter’s somewhat fumbling attempt to accommodate these important people who stood with him on this mountaintop. A cloud came and overshadowed them – this cloud, of course, reminds us of the presence of Yahweh that led Israel through the wilderness and the cloud of the Shekinah glory that signalled the presence of the Lord in the Temple. A voice spoke to them, “This is my Son, my Chosen One – listen to him!”And then…it was all over. Jesus was alone. The veil had, as it were, fallen once again and, to anybody who may have been passing by, everything might have seemed completely normal – just four men on a mountainside.“The Son of Man is about to be Delivered into the hands of men”Our reading this evening takes us only this far but, as soon as these things were over, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let these words sink into your ears: The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men.” In other words, Christ warned them, immediately after the Transfiguration, of the fact that he was about to be betrayed, arrested and put to death. The timing is no coincidence. Christ wanted to show something of his glory to his closest circle before he went to the cross. He wanted them to know something of who he truly was. He wanted them to see his glory before they saw his humiliation.And we can here draw out at least a couple of reasons as to why:Firstly, Christ perhaps wanted to encourage his disciples. They were about to suffer the loss of their Master and to see his abject humiliation, torture and death. He had shown them so much already and yet this was a final vision, with Moses and Elijah and the voice of God the Father himself bearing witness, to prepare them for the shocking rupture of the cross. It was not as though the Transfiguration would explain everything that would happen next but it could have reassured the disciples that, even though they did not understand, yet they trusted because they knew who Christ really was. And perhaps they may have gone further and recognised the Cross and the Tomb could not have been the final word. Notice also the words of the Father, “Listen to him.” The vision would pass quickly but Christ’s words would remain: “Let these words sink into your ears”. Store them up. Remember them. You are going to need them soon.This is a good word for us. We too have mountaintop experiences with God when we feel his presence especially closely in private prayer, in church, in the Holy Eucharist, in the confessional, or wherever it may be. But in the cut-and-thrust of everyday life, when God seems distant or perhaps even irrelevant, when we suffer our own crosses and feel that we cannot bear the pain, we too can remember the vision that we once had, the words we once heard, and know that this is no fable, no cleverly devised myth.And why does God leave us without this vision? It is surely so that we can grow strong in faith. It is surely so that we can choose to draw closer to God even when we do not have the vision to assist us. And, in this way, our faith is strengthened and our souls are enlarged.The final observation I’d like to share is this: that, in the Gospels there are really two great visions of Christ’s glory: there is the Transfiguration and there is the Cross. Now the Cross does not reveal the uncreated energy of God in the same way as the Transfiguration does but the Cross reveals the very nature of God himself: greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. In Christ, God laid down his life for us. He took a human life up, and he laid it down again.But notice how important the Transfiguration is in all of this: if we did not know who Christ was then the Cross would be of very little significance. A good man crucified perhaps. But, because we have seen his glory, glory as of the only begotten Son of the Father, we know that the one who ascended Golgotha was also the one who ascended the Mount of the Transfiguration and shone with the light of Tabor. We know that the one who was clothed with the uncreated energy of God was covered in the mock purple gown of a king and crowned with a wreath of thorns. We know that the one to whom Moses and Elijah paid tribute was the one who was mocked and spat upon by the Romans and the Jews. We know that the one of whom God the Father said, “This is my Son, my Chosen One,” was also the one about whom the crowds shouted, “Release Barabbas instead and crucify him!”Friends, let us remember this vision of the glory of God always, when we find ourselves on the Mount of Transfiguration and when we find ourselves on the hill of Golgotha. Until that day when we too shine with the uncreated energy and light of God.In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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The Small and Joyful Things of God

Mon, 27 Jul 2026 13:15:47 +0000

“For while gentle silence enveloped all things, and night in its swift course was now half gone,your all-powerful word leaped from heaven, from the royal throne, into the midst of the land that was doomed.” Wisdom 18:14–15In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.The Mustard Seed and the LeavenOur Gospel reading today consists of four of Jesus’ parables that describe the Kingdom of Heaven. The first section is about a mustard seed that is the smallest of all seeds but which when it grows becomes the largest garden plant and then a tree with branches that prove themselves hospitable to the birds. The second is a woman who hid some leaven in three measures of dough until it was all leavened.What is Jesus’ meaning in these parables? Put simply, I think that here he is telling us that there is a smallness and a hiddenness to the things of God.Consider the mustard seed: small at first. But when it is cast into the ground and dies, it grows up again and becomes something of great significance.The leaven likewise is literally hidden in the flour, invisible to the eyes of the world, and yet it spreads through the flour until the flour is completely permeated with it.About this, the Patristic Father Peter Chrysologus says:“Christ is the kingdom of heaven. Sown like a mustard seed in the garden of the virgin’s womb, he grew up into the tree of the cross whose branches stretch across the world. Crushed in the mortar of the passion, its fruit has produced seasoning enough for the flavoring and preservation of every living creature with which it comes in contact.” Chrysologus, Sermon 98In our catechesis class, we have been reading the letters of St Ignatius of Antioch, a second century bishop who was transported across Asia Minor to Rome where he was eventually martyred. One of the themes that he returns to in these letters is the silence of God. By this he does not mean God’s absence, but that there is a certain way that God acts in the world.In Christ, God’s plan was hidden in the womb of the Virgin. His identity was concealed under the humble guise of a carpenter’s son. Even in his public ministry, when he was performing his miracles, he was careful not to make himself known too soon. Upon the cross, he died the seemingly ignominious death of a common criminal. But all of this was given so that the prince of this world, the Devil, might be thwarted in his schemes. For in Christ’s resurrection and ascension, his glory has finally been revealed. As Ignatius wrote to the church in Ephesus:“The age-old empire of evil was overthrown, for God was now appearing in human form to bring in a new order, even life without end. Now that which had been perfected in Divine counsels began its work; and all creation was thrown into a ferment over this plan for the utter destruction of death.” Ignatius, Epistle to the EphesiansAnd not only this. After his ascension, the Apostles and their companions were left alone, waiting for the promised gift of the Holy Spirit – not that they understood what this meant of course. A small band of seemingly inconsequential people, without power, without resources, fearful about what might happen to them. But then what came to pass? The gift of the Holy Spirit, the fire of Pentecost, the conversion and baptism of thousands and the birth of the Christian Church.Again, as Chrysologus says:“The man Christ received the mustard seed which represents the kingdom of God…He sowed it in his garden, that is in his bride the Church. The Church is a garden extending over the whole world, tilled by the plough of the gospel…fragrant and lovely with perennial flowers; virgins’ lilies, martyrs’ roses set amid the pleasant verdure of all who bear witness to Christ and the tender plants of all who have faith in him.” Chrysologus, Ibid.We might hear that and wonder why God chooses to act in this way. Why the small beginnings? Why the hidden action? It is surely that we might learn the lesson, which is that God delights to show his power by using the weak, the worthless, the small, the despised and the forgotten things of this world. He does not need our resources. He does not need our earthly wisdom. He does not need our strength but makes a strength out of our weakness.As the Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1: “God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God” (1 Cor. 1:27-29)And so here is a call to humility before God: do we desire to see the kingdom and to live it? In which case we must recognise that the kingdom is not found in the things that the world considers precious. The kingdom is not found in a new government. The kingdom was not found at the FIFA World Cup. The kingdom will never be found in the schemes of men (and, dare I say it, it is not found either in the bureaucracy of the institutional church). The kingdom is found through humility, repentance and acts of love in Christ.The kingdom is given in ways that appear to be small. When we come in the silence and privacy of the confessional and lay our sins in humility before God, asking that we might be changed and healed, the kingdom is present there. When we act with integrity and love in small actions that the world does not see, the kingdom is surely present there. When we take the time to pray, even in solitude when we have no one to pray with, the kingdom is also present there. When we visit the sick and the housebound, when we care for the orphan and the widow, when we shun the centre stage and instead choose to be in the background then the kingdom is present in and through us.Friends, let us pursue the kingdom together in this beautiful humility. And let us be confident also in God’s power. It is very easy to despair sometimes and to look at our seeming lack of resources and lack of power and to wonder how anything good can happen. Consider our parish church, for example. We do have wonderful resources but I have no stipend and therefore have less time than other clergy to carry out my duties. We worship in a style that is often considered old fashioned and unattractive to the younger generations. We are part of a national church that is in decline and we see that decline in the falling congregational numbers of the churches around us. And yet, even given these apparent disadvantages and this apparently difficult context, God is clearly at work in this place. Our congregation has grown modestly yet consistently, like a great mustard tree, year-on-year for at least five years now. And I believe that, by the grace of God and by his hidden power, we will continue to grow. And I believe this for the reason that God delights to show his power in our apparent weakness and obscurity if only we will entrust ourselves to him and keep acting in faithfulness. We are not building an empire like those that man builds. But by the grace of God we are participating in a movement of the Holy Spirit that is catching people’s hearts for Christ and for the Gospel. And God be praised for this!Joy and BaptismI have said almost everything. But I want to finish with this:“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy, he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.”Today, we see the truth of Christ’s words enacted in the Sacramental ritual of baptism. When we turn to Christ, at any age, we do so because we realise that the things for which we were spending our time and labour cannot compare with the treasure that is offered to us in him. We realise that we have been looking for peace and contentment in all the wrong places. We realise that the schemes and philosophies of the world are meaningless without the One in whom all things are held together. In short, we realised that our true and lasting joy is found in him.And so we come to Christ, knowing that in him everything that we have been searching for is here. Like John Newton said, after he had spent his life engaged in the terrible business of slave trading, “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see.”Or again, as the great Charles Wesley wrote, “My chains fell off; my heart was free. I rose, went forth and followed thee”.Friends, for those of us here today who have come to Christ through the Sacrament of Baptism, we have truly been set free from the powers of sin and death. And, more than this, we have recognised the futility of a life without God. Today, we celebrate Daniel’s baptism and we pledge to pray for him and to support him in his new life in Christ. But we also repledge ourselves to God through these baptismal vows, remembering that we too have been brought from death to life, and once again renew our love and our commitment to obey his calling.Let us then live our baptisms and understand that in all of these things we have found the treasure hidden in the field and the pearl of great price and that there is nothing that is not worth selling that to obtain them.In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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How should we think about hell?

Tue, 21 Jul 2026 08:54:52 +0000

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Removing the Obstacles to Growth

Mon, 13 Jul 2026 10:53:40 +0000

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“Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves” - Citizens without Fear

Thu, 25 Jun 2026 09:16:46 +0000

Last week I was speaking about the proclamation given by Christ to his disciples, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” And I said that Christ did not come to start a religion called “Christianity” but that he came to found a new kingdom here upon earth: the Kingdom of God.I spoke a little about what it means to be part of that kingdom: namely, that it is to be formed into a people who have God for their king, who are obedient to God, and who call others to be gathered in to this kingdom.I’d like to continue with this theme of what it means to be citizens of the kingdom of heaven. Our gospel reading is simply a continuation of Christ’s charge to the twelve apostles.Persecution will comeSadly the lectionary misses out an important section with a memorable line. Christ warns his disciples, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves.” This changes the picture from labourers sent out into the harvest field. The world we are sent into is not passive or ambivalent about the message of the kingdom. It is often hostile to it, even intensely so. And this makes sense because the world outside of the kingdom has other loyalties, other standards, or, as St Augustine would put it, other loves.Notice the words of Christ, “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master…If they have called the master of the household Beelzebub, how much more will they malign those of his household.”Translation: they called Jesus the Devil. He is the master and we are his servants. If they called him the devil (and, indeed, if they crucified him) what will they do to us?Again, Christ says, “Do not fear those who kill the body…” Meaning, of course, that they may kill the body. And the history of the Christian Church is soaked red with the blood of the martyrs. Christ spoke truly.Christ also says, “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth.” Christ does not mean that he has not come to bring his followers peace. He has promised to us the peace of God, which is a peace that the world cannot give. This saying is given specifically in the context of hostile relationships: son against father, daughter against mother, daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.And the crisis point is Christ himself: “whoever loves father or mother or son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” He speaks here of ultimate loyalty: there must be nothing above loyalty to Christ, even the loyalty we owe to members of our own family.We must here confront an error that creeps into the public witness of the church from time to time. Some of you may have heard the following statement from a high-profile Christian figure: “Conflict is always a sign of failure.” Now, of course, there was a context to that remark, but it is an absolute statement. And, as an absolute statement, it cannot be reconciled with the words of Christ or with the witness of Christian history: “Do not think that I have come to bring peace on earth.” Again, Christ says elsewhere, “I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.”“So have no fear of them…”Persecution will come, but have no fear of them, says Christ. And why not? There are several reasons given by the Master:Firstly, there is coming a time when all the secrets of human history will be revealed. No injustice will remain hidden. No lie will not be exposed. The tyrants and persecutors of this age will face the judgement of God. “What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops.”I take this to mean that Christians, as citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven where nothing is covered or hidden, are to expose the darkness and wickedness of this age now through candid speech and righteous action. As the Apostle Paul says elsewhere, “Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.” (Eph. 5:11)Secondly, there is only so much that can be taken from us by persecution. Already quoted: “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.” The most that our persecutors can take from us is our lives in this world.“Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both body and soul in hell.”And this is the key point: it is not that our lives in this world are nothing, but that there is something of far more value: our eternal soul.Man has the power to take away our earthly lives. God has the power to take them too, but he also has the power to destroy both soul and body in hell.And this is why Christ tells us to fear God. We might remember the famous Proverb: ‘The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom’.Fear in this context is about the recognition of God’s power. It is entirely rational and logical to fear God more than man – because God is infinitely more powerful than any human being.I mentioned last week, the martyrdom of Polycarp. Polycarp was a second century bishop of Smyrna who was martyred for the faith when he was an old man. In the account of his martyrdom, he is threatened by the secular power first that he might be torn apart by wild beasts and then, when that did not cause him to renounce loyalty to Christ, with being burned alive. To this, Polycarp answered,“The fire you threaten me with cannot go on burning for very long; after a while it goes out. But what you are unaware of are the flames of future judgement and everlasting torment which are in store for the ungodly.”And, in the prologue to this account, the writer makes this remark: speaking of the Christian martyrs of the second century, ‘So it was that, with all their thoughts absorbed in the grace of Christ, they made light of the cruelties of this world, and at the cost of a single hour purchased for themselves life everlasting.’“…even the hairs of your head are all numbered.”Again, Christ tells us not only that God is powerful but that he cares for us: “…even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore, you are of more value than many sparrows.” And “whoever finds his life with lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”The antidote to the fear of man is the fear and love of God. If, like Polycarp, we can set God before us, we will not fear what man may do.‘…he began to be sorrowful and troubled.’We might ask at this point if fear can be avoided entirely. Is it not a natural and human emotion? We read later on in this Gospel that Christ was sorrowful and troubled in the Garden of Gethsemane (Matt. 26:37).My answer to this question is that we must consider fear in different aspects: we cannot help but feel certain emotions sometimes, fear included. Christ faced the suffering of his passion. We face various fearful trials in this world. And sometimes we can no longer avoid them but we must look them square in the face with all of their terror. This cannot be helped.However, there is then a question of what we do with this fear. We can allow this fear to master us and cause us to change our course. In the early church of the first few centuries, intense pressure was put on Christians to commit an act of idolatry by burning a pinch of incense to Caesar. And many Christians gave in to their fear and did so.But the alternative is that we look to God and, through prayer and perseverance, face our fears in faith: that God will give us the strength and the grace to be faithful to him through whatever it is that faces us – even if that thing is torture, burning, and death. As the witness of Polycarp reminds us, it will only last so long. And that length of time is infinitely eclipsed by eternity.Citizens without FearFriends, this is how citizens of the Kingdom are in this world: we are not afraid because our King is infinitely more powerful than any of the rulers of this age. Their power is fading away – his will last forever. How could we abandon his eternal shelter for that temporary shade?Ask yourself, then: What are you afraid of? Perhaps it is a person or a situation that confronts you. Identify it honestly. As Christ did, commit it to God in prayer, and go on doing so, and act faithfully. And go on acting faithfully, each day of your time here on earth, even unto the death.In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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A New Kingdom

Mon, 15 Jun 2026 11:00:52 +0000

Fr Jamie Franklin says that Christ did not come to found a religion called “Christianity”. Instead, he founded a new and everlasting Kingdom upon earth: the Kingdom of God. And out of his compassion, he calls all of humanity to become its citizens.

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What is the nature of faith?

Mon, 08 Jun 2026 10:57:55 +0000

In this sermon from the First Sunday after Trinity, Fr Jamie Franklin speaks of faith as an inward conviction that is expressed in outward obedience. He exhorts the listener to draw near to God, confident that he will meet the needs of those who seek him.

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There Is No Ordinary Time

Tue, 02 Jun 2026 08:39:43 +0000

Isaiah 40:12-17, 27-end; 2 Corinthians 13:11-end; Matthew 28:16-end

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Come, Holy Spirit!

Fri, 29 May 2026 06:53:29 +0000

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Praying and Waiting for the Holy Spirit

Mon, 18 May 2026 09:25:02 +0000

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Christ’s Proclamation to the Spirits in Prison

Tue, 12 May 2026 09:21:25 +0000

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Let not your hearts be troubled

Tue, 05 May 2026 07:21:42 +0000

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Good and Bad Shepherds

Mon, 27 Apr 2026 10:12:40 +0000

To understand the words of Jesus in John 10, we must observe that John 10 follows immediately after John 9, the story of the man born blind. In that story, Jesus healed a man born blind. And yet the Pharisees, a group of religious rulers, did everything in their power to debunk this miracle and therefore to reject Christ as one sent from God. The blind man was eventually cast out from the Synagogue for not going along with them. At the end of that story, there is an exchange between the blind man and Jesus, overheard by some of the Pharisees in which Jesus tells them two things about themselves: firstly, that they are in fact the ones who are blind, meaning that they have no spiritual insight or understanding. And, secondly, that, although they are blind, they nevertheless say that they see, and so their guilt remains.He follows this saying with what is said in John 10: “…he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber”. In this saying he identifies the Pharisees as those who do not enter the sheepfold by the right way. We might say that he means that they approach the task of shepherding the people inappropriately.What they ought to do is to enter by the door. For, as Christ says, “…he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep and leads them out”.The door, then, is Christ. He will say twice slightly later in verses 7 and 9, “I am the door”. The shepherd represents the good spiritual leader, who enters by Christ. And he enters the sheepfold, which is the Church. The sheep are God’s people. The doorkeeper, who opens the door is surely the Holy Spirit, the one whom Christ said would lead his people into all truth (John 16:13).Some of the Church Fathers believed that the door could represent both Christ and the Scriptures and this seems a good interpretation. John Chrysostom, for example, said, “The Scriptures He calls the door. They call us to the knowledge of God, they protect the sheep, they shut out the wolves, they bar the entrance to heretics. He that useth not the Scriptures but climbeth up some other way, i.e. some self-chosen, some unlawful way, is a thief…Some other way, may refer too to the commandments and traditions of men which the Scribes taught, to the neglect of the Law” (John Chrysostom, Homilies on John).That is a very insightful observation. In Jesus’ time, there were those who shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces by teaching commandments of men that were on the surface meant to help people to live by the Scriptures. But, in fact, they lead people away from the true meaning of the Scriptures, and so separated them from the God. The greatest extent of this, of course, was when they refused to acknowledge that the Scriptures were really all about Jesus, and that they pointed towards him.But the preaching of something else other than Christ and the Scriptures can take many forms. We must heed the message of John 10: there are wolves and they do seek the lead the sheep of God astray. This is part of the reason that we have John 10 in our Bibles: it is to exhort us to listen for the true voice of Christ in the Scriptures, as preached by faithful shepherds, and to listen for and to that voice, and not to follow the voice of another.It is one of the great tragedies of the modern Church that preaching the Scriptures appears to be some kind of novelty! Friends, there is no point in preaching if we do not preach the Scriptures and if we do not preach Christ. The Holy Spirit will not bless such preaching. The sheep will not listen to it. Their hearts will not be stirred to love for God and for Jesus. They will recognise it for the emptiness that it is and they will look elsewhere and go elsewhere to find true nourishment.A quotation from the English Puritan, Richard Baxter, comes to mind: “We speak as dying men to dying men. There is no time for embroidery.”I have no time to say anything else to you – anything that proceeds from my imagination or from my opinion or from my own blessed thoughts. You may be interested to hear about these things in other contexts. But here, as I stand before you, I have only one task, one duty, one burden, which is to deliver the message to you - the message that comes from God himself. Woe to me if I stand in the way! Woe to me if I let my ego or my insecurity eclipse the glory of Christ which is revealed in the Sacred Scriptures. Friends, do not listen to my voice, but listen for the voice of the true and Good Shepherd!Again, there is quite a lot of talk at the moment of revival and a renewal of interest in Christianity. No doubt there are various boardroom meetings in centralised locations, considering how this propitious cultural moment might be seized for the benefit of the Church. Good questions to ask perhaps. But the only answer is Christ and the Scriptures. We do not need think tanks and diocesan strategies and complex vision statements to understand this. Christ tells us plainly. Preach the Gospel! Preach the Scriptures! Christ says to his shepherds: You have orders. Obey them! To the sheep: listen for his voice and follow!The sheep will hear his voice and they will follow because they will know that they will find true spiritual nourishment. So cancel the diocesan think tanks! Cancel the boardroom meetings! Cancel the complex vision statements! Cancel the political virtue-signalling. And let one notion reign supreme and entire: the Gospel, the Scriptures, Christ above all!The Chief ShepherdAnd yet all of this is incomplete without one further recognition: and that is that the true Shepherd, the chief Shepherd of all, is Christ himself. Our reading this morning is curtailed before Christ reveals this to us: “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” And this is contrasted with the previous statement: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.”God has given the gift of the pastoral ministry to the church: bishops, priests, teachers of the faith. These are essential ministries because the people need to hear the Word of God taught, explained, and proclaimed. And yet we all have to remember – people like me more than anybody else – who and what we are proclaiming. As the Apostle Paul said, ‘We preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord’ (2 Cor. 4:5). This is what it is all for: the Scriptures, the preaching, the Sacraments, the Church itself - it is all meant to point us to Jesus Christ.The Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. Yes, the pastor of the people of God must sacrifice for them and for their good. He must protect them and lead them. But ultimately, we all must follow after the Chief Shepherd, who is Christ. And we all must remember that he laid down his life for us, that we might know forgiveness and everlasting life. And it is essential to recognise this about pastors and teachers, so that we avoid the error – prevalent in the first century church as much as it is today – of celebritising and venerating the shepherds of the Church in place of Christ himself. Ultimately, you do not follow me, or another priest or pastor, or a YouTube influencer. You follow Christ, as I do also.Today, we frequently encounter what could be called “The Cult of Leadership”. I do not believe that “leadership” is a biblical word. Use it if you like, but it speaks more of a secular, bureaucratic or even political approach than true pastoral ministry. The true shepherds of the Church do not sit on top of an organisational hierarchy, issuing commands and bossing people around as apparently omnicompetent CEOs. Rather, they preach the Scriptures, sacrifice for the flock, protect them from wolves, and they always remember that they are in fact part of the same flock, the same flock that follows the true Shepherd, Jesus Christ.Abundant Life“If anyone enters by (the door),” says Jesus, “he will be saved and will go in and out and find green pasture”.This is a beautiful image, which reminds us, of course, of Psalm 23:‘The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.’And Christ’s saying here can be interpreted in different ways, but the main point is quite clear: entering through Christ the door and the Scriptures, the sheep will be led out to pasture. They will find food and rest, and they will be lead to a place of peace and restoration.One of my favourite interpretations of this passage comes from St Augustine:‘Going in must refer to inward cogitation (that is meditation; considering the Scriptures, contemplative prayer and so on); going out to outward action’. And then he quotes from Psalm 104:23, ‘Man goes out to his work and to his labour until the evening’.In Augustine’s interpretation, going in represents the spiritual practices of encountering Christ in the preaching of the Church and in meditating upon Christ in prayer and contemplation. Going out represents our daily activities: our work, our labour, our interactions with the world and with other people. In both our meditation and in our action (in prayer and in work), Christ tells us that we will find green pasture in him, that is spiritual food, fruitfulness, and the restoration of our souls.He says this in another way in v.10 of John: “I came that they might have life and have it in abundance.”Again, this can be interpreted in different ways, but the basic point is clear: Christ came to give us something wonderful that is only available in Him. Regular attenders of this Church have probably heard me say before that there are two words for “life” in the Greek New Testament: one, bios, refers to biological life, which we share with the animals and the plants. The other, which is zoe, refers to spiritual life, the life of the heart that is made aliv

Did not our hearts burn within us?

Tue, 21 Apr 2026 08:57:46 +0000

The Hopelessness of our Earthly JourneyOn the Road to Emmaus, we meet two disciples. One of them was named Cleopas, the other not named. Ancient sources suggest that it was in fact Luke himself, but we simply do not know.The risen Christ drew near to them and yet they were kept from recognising him. We are told that they were downcast and looked sad. From their words, we understand that they had lost hope. And this was because Jesus of Nazareth, a man mighty in word and deed before God, had been delivered over and crucified. And so their hope was gone.In a sense these disciples stand for all of us insofar as we do not have a vision of Christ. Many people simply do not know Christ and have never known him. For those who follow Christ also, we frequently lose sight of him. In fact, might I be so bold as to say that to maintain a vision of Christ in the tumult and difficulties of everyday life in this world is so hard.We may say, of course, that we know Christ and we may call ourselves Christians. But to truly see him, to truly know him, to be aware of his presence and to acknowledge him in all things and in every place and at all times, this is the great challenge of the spiritual life. And we should not underestimate it. It seems that our natural state, even as followers of Christ, is to lose sight of him all the time – to have our attention taken away by a million other things.From about the fourth century of the Church onwards, the Roman Empire began to be Christianised. For many followers of Christ, this presented a challenge as the Christian faith took on a more worldly form. These radical followers of Christ decided that they had to leave the world in order to hold a vision of Christ before them and so they went out into the desert, far from civilisation, to devote themselves to a life of prayer and constant watchfulness.We can still read many of the stories and sayings of the so-called Desert Fathers today. For example, a saying of Abbot Antony:Just as fish die if they remain on dry land, so monks, remaining away from their cells (that is, their individual room in which they would pray and meditate), or dwelling with men of the world, lose their determination to persevere in solitary prayer, so we must return to our cells, lest remaining outside we forget to watch over ourselves interiorly.If we do not pray as Christians, and watch over ourselves, then we are like fish out of water, dying for what truly nourishes us.The Greatest Bible StudyJesus came to these disciples out of love. He sought to change their situation from one of hopelessness and sorrow to joy and love. And he does the same for us today! The risen Christ is alive – not just in our hearts – but in heaven. For he rose from the grave and he sends his Holy Spirit upon the Church and upon the believers within the Church.We see a marvellous illustration of this in our story this morning. In fact, we see in many ways the beginning of the Christian Church and an early version of our liturgy.How does Christ bring these hopeless disciples from sorrow to joy?To begin with, he opens the Scriptures, but in a very particular way. We read from the words of the two disciples that they had misunderstood what Jesus was there to do: they thought he was a political saviour, who would overthrow the Romans. But they had failed to see that God’s plan of redemption in Christ was so much greater than this. Their expectations had to be challenged, shattered even, so that the glory of our redemption could be seen more clearly.Christ said to them: “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?”What followed was the greatest Bible study in history: ‘And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself’.So it was not just that they read the Scriptures (what we call the Old Testament) but that Christ showed them that he truly is the key to understanding what they mean.There is a famous quotation from St Augustine: ‘The New is in the Old concealed; the Old is in the New revealed’. What this means is that, in the Old Testament, Jesus was always truly present but yet unseen. The New Testament and the Gospels show us what the Old Testament was really about: Jesus Christ. And when we look at Jesus, we can understand more about him – who he truly was, what his mission was all about – if we read the Old Testament in light of his life and deeds.Now it seems that these two disciples knew about the Messiah’s glory but not his suffering. They did not understand that the cross had to come first before the resurrection, the humiliation and passion of the Christ before his exaltation and vindication.Perhaps Jesus read to them from the prophet Isaiah, chapter fifty-three, a text we considered on Good Friday: ‘…he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed’.“That was about the Christ,” he may have said. “For our sins, he was punished and wounded. And through his woundedness, we have been healed. This is what the cross was all about. Can you see it now?”Let me jump ahead in this story. Later on, once Christ had vanished from them (more on that in a moment), the disciples said to one another, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?”Friends, do we not yearn to be set on fire with love for Jesus Christ? Here, then, is one of the keys: the Scriptures, but the recognition that, within them, Jesus is truly revealed to us. Christ “opened” the Scriptures to these two disciples. The Scriptures were unlocked by the key that is Christ. He healed their vision. And they saw him. And what was the result? Their hearts burned within them.We may think again here of the great Patristic Father, St Augustine, who frequently spoke of the heart that burns with longing and love for God:‘You called and cried out loud and shattered my deafness. You were radiant and resplendent, you put to flight my blindness. You were fragrant, and I drew in my breath and now pant after you. I tasted you, and I feel but hunger and thirst for you. You have touched me, and now my hurt burns for your peace.’St Augustine, Confessions, Book XFriends, let us be satisfied with nothing less than hearts set on fire with love for God. All other loves, all other burning, pales in comparison to this.As the great Patristic Father, Origen, says to us: ‘We must not only employ the sacred literature but also pray to the Lord that (Christ), himself taking “the sealed book,” may deign to open it. For it is he who “opening the Scriptures” kindles the hearts of the disciples so that they say, “Did not our hearts burn within us whilst he opened to us the Scriptures?” (Origen, Homilies on Exodus).The Breaking of the BreadAnd there is one more main part of this story: Christ took bread, blessed it, broke it and gave it to them. And then they saw who he truly was, and he vanished from their sight.Why did he vanish? Because he was establishing the pattern that all his faithful people would follow in the age of the Church: that is, he would be bodily in Heaven but he would be present on earth every time the Eucharist is celebrated. From then on, he would be made known to the disciples in the breaking of bread. This is how he is made known to us still today.But do not buy in to the false choice between Scripture or the Eucharist – Evangelical or Catholic. A true Christianity is both. And we see this illustrated for us in this story.Remember that Christ showed through the Scriptures that the Christ should suffer and afterwards enter into glory. What then is the Holy Eucharist? It is surely the bringing into the present of all of these realities at once: the story of the Messiah written in Bread and Wine, Body and Blood. Remember the words of the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 11, ‘For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes’.In other words, we remember his passion, his death upon the cross, but we also proclaim in the Holy Eucharist that he rose again and that He will come again in glory. The Scriptures open this mystery to us, and without them, we would not understand the deep meaning of the Eucharist. Similarly, the Eucharist brings into the present the story that the Scriptures tell us. They make Christ tangibly present to us and with us in the Incarnation, in his Death, in his Resurrection.The Liturgy of the ChurchAnd to say a final word, this is why the liturgy of the Church is as it is. Christ is not made known to us in a single moment of magical consecration. Nor is he made known simply in the preaching of Scripture. He is made known to us in the entire liturgy of the Mass that we observe on days like today. Our service is in two main sections: the Liturgy of the Word, and the Liturgy of the Eucharist. We are following the pattern of the disciples on the Emmaus Road.If the preaching is any good, it will reveal Christ to the faithful and cause their hearts to burn with passion. And as the Holy Eucharist is celebrated, we take our newly-enlightened understanding with us to that holy table, that holy altar, upon which Christ is made tangibly present to us once again in the forms of bread and wine. We receive Christ through our ears as we listen to the Scriptures proclaimed; we receive Him into our very selves as we feed upon His body and drink His blood in the Sacrament of the Eucharist. This is how we recognise Him. This is how we are built up in our faith.And, from there, from here, we are sent into the world, having encountered the risen Christ. Like those two disciples on the Road to Emmaus, our vision is healed, Christ is revealed, and we make known to the world what has happened to us: we have seen the Lord. And he is rise

The Strangeness of the Resurrection

Wed, 08 Apr 2026 08:03:17 +0000

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A New Dimension

Wed, 08 Apr 2026 08:00:37 +0000

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Making Sense of the Cross

Wed, 08 Apr 2026 07:54:15 +0000

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The Upper Room

Fri, 03 Apr 2026 08:41:02 +0000

A sermon given by Fr Jamie Franklin on Maundy Thursday, 2026.

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The Week of Weeks and the Transformation of Time

Mon, 30 Mar 2026 13:45:29 +0000

The Transformation of TimeThe week of weeks begins today. But what exactly does it mean to be a Catholic Christian who observes the liturgical calendar? And what is the significance of Palm Sunday and Holy Week?To begin with, we must recognise that we have been inculcated into a certain view of time: the time of the secular. Secular time implies that all time is the same and that one event simply follows other. We are cut off from the seasons and their festive observances because of technology and advanced infrastructure and thus we experience our lives as a succession of moments that tragically lead to annihilation and death. We can fill time with pleasure or kill it with distraction, but it can hold no more meaning for us than this.But t’was not always so. The pagan world, into which Christianity was born, knew its own pattern of feasts and festivals as of course did the Jewish religion. This pattern was taken up by the Christian Church and transfigured in the light of the Gospel. We are its heirs. And we can keep the flame alive, even in the darkness of the surrounding culture.But we must recognise that there is no neutral view of time. Nor is there a neutral way to inhabit time. We are faced with a choice: secular time or Christian time.Christian time does not see things as one moment after other with the present slipping into the past and the future leading nowhere. It sees time as transfigured in the light of eternity. This is most obvious when we consider the story of the Incarnation, and of Christ’s death and resurrection. For, in these events, we see the eternal breaking into the midst of ordinary life and giving it an eternal meaning. Our everyday reality is transfigured. Nothing can be the same. Life is not just one thing after other. Rather, it is a journey with Christ through this world and, from this world, into eternity.Palm Sunday and Holy WeekPerhaps that sounds somewhat vague. So let’s consider Palm Sunday and Holy Week. The liturgy that we have already enacted together has taken us from Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem to his trial, condemnation and crucifixion. We have been part of two crowds: one shouting “Hosannah to the Son of David!” and the other demanding that a murderer be set free instead of Christ and crying out, “Let him be crucified! Let him be crucified!”This is a powerful illustration of what I’m talking about. Through the liturgy, we are inhabiting the lives and actions of these characters. We welcome Christ and we praise him. We give him thanks for his goodness to us. But, through our sin and our desire to be free from a life with God, we crucify the Son of God afresh. We would prefer Barabbas to be free than Christ. So, we cry out, “Let him be crucified instead!”As we recognise the fickleness of hearts and how our loves go astray, we are broken inside. We become like Peter who betrayed Christ and denounced him. And we are brought to deep contrition and sorrow for our sin. Our love has faded like the morning mist. How has it come to this? How could we have wandered away from Jesus in this way?Again, we do not just remember these things. We participate in them. They become a reality to us, here and now. And this is supremely true during this week of weeks. Through the liturgy of Holy Week, we stand in the places that Christ and his disciples stood. We are in the Upper Room as he washes his disciples’ feet, and our hearts are moved by his great humility. We are thrilled and perplexed at the institution of the Holy Eucharist. We are cut to the heart as we stand in the shadow of the cross. We kneel before it in sorrow and profound contrition. Our hopes are drowned in agony as Christ is buried in the tomb with death and evil appearing to have the final word.And we stand with Mary Magdalen outside the tomb, perhaps not even sure why we are there. And then we hear the resplendent and happy news (which I will not even utter at this moment). But, suffice to say, that we are made one with this joy. Our hearts are lifted and we are changed.We are changed. Time is changed. The world is changed. And, from this place of transformation, we enter back into the world with a message of a different kind, a different story, a different and better hope. This is the purpose of the liturgy.Have this mind among yourselves…I have probably said enough. I hope you will continue with us on this magnificent journey. Indeed, it is the greatest journey every taken, the greatest story ever told.Above all, let us identify with Christ, if we may be so bold. Let us seek to walk the way of the Incarnation and of the Cross. I close with a brief meditation on the words of the Apostle Paul in Philippians 2:5-11.Whilst they are in the midst of their everyday squabbles, Paul reminds the Philippians of Jesus. “Have this mind among yourselves…” he says. In other words: identify with Jesus. Not only, “Be as Jesus was”, but allow his Spirit to live in your hearts and embody that Spirit in your lives now. Be a living embodiment of Jesus Christ.And what does he remind them of specifically? That Jesus was in the form of God, but that he did not count this equality with God something to be held onto. That he emptied himself by becoming a servant to us and by becoming one of us. This “emptying” of Jesus has been the subject of much speculation. But, suffice to say here, that it does not mean that Jesus ceased to be God. Rather, he retained his Godhood and was still God when he became a man. He emptied himself by taking up a human life and suffering as we do. This suffering he did not know in Heaven, but he accepted it out of love for us.Again, we see this supremely this week, as we remember the rejection of the crowds, the mocking of the soldiers, the agonising pain of the cross, the cry of desolation, the yielding up of his spirit, the tomb. This was the fullest extent of Christ’s self-emptying. It could not have been complete than this.Additionally, this demonstrates Christ’s humility, which he displayed by becoming obedient to the will of the Father, and that to the point of death, even death on a cross.And, due to this, God has exalted him and given him the name that is above every name, that, at his name, all creatures will bow and take his name upon their lips.May you, then, be like this, says the Apostle Paul. May you be united to Christ in his humility, in his obedience, in his love, and, because of all of this, in his exaltation. For, he who humbles himself will be exalted.Friends, let us have all of this in mind, as we journey together through this Holy Week to the Upper Room, to the cross, to the tomb, and to the glory of the resurrection.In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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I am the resurrection and the life

Mon, 23 Mar 2026 10:26:08 +0000

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Spiritual Illumination

Mon, 16 Mar 2026 13:20:30 +0000

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Living Water

Mon, 09 Mar 2026 14:12:19 +0000

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Living Faith

Mon, 02 Mar 2026 10:50:33 +0000

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The Temptation of Adam and Eve

Mon, 23 Feb 2026 11:15:33 +0000

Genesis 2: 15-17; 3:1-7 ; Romans 5:12-19 ; Matthew 4:1-11The Temptation of Adam and EveAs is usually the case on the first Sunday of Lent, we are given the story of Christ’s temptation in the wilderness for our Gospel. But, in order to understand the symbolic significance of this story, we must go back to the book of Genesis and to the temptation of Adam and Eve.As the story of Genesis tells us, God created a good and glorious world and, within it, he placed a garden paradise. In that garden, he put a man and a woman, Adam and Eve. The first two people, made in his image and given dominion over all the creatures of the earth, given the commandment to be fruitful and to multiply.At the beginning of our reading, we are told that the Lord God put the man in the Garden of Eden, to work it and to tend it. God gave the man every tree of the garden, except for one, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God said to the man, “Do not eat of this tree, because, in the day that you do so, you shall surely die” (Gen. 2:15-17).We may wonder why the Lord God set up Adam and later Eve in this way: was it a trick or some cruel test of submissiveness? We speak here, of course, of deep mysteries, but it seems reasonable to say that God was seeking a response of obedience from Adam. In other words, he was looking for Adam to exercise his freedom to obey God and therefore to draw closer to him.This is an important observation because it relates to all human experience: God has given us freedom to choose. We can choose how we live. We can live righteous or unrighteous lives. We can be good or evil. Most fundamentally, we can offer our lives to God in faith and obedience or we can ignore God and live as though he were not there and as though he does not demand anything of us.Consider how profound this work of God is: our will – what we decide to do – is most truly the thing that is ours. God has truly given this into our hands. Everything else belongs to him except this. All we can say to God is that we offer ourselves to him. We have nothing else to give.…Or indeed, to withhold. And this is precisely how the story unfolds. The tree is given so that Adam and Eve might obey God. And yet, slightly further on in the story, we hear of a serpent in the Garden speaking to the woman, Eve. The serpent represents the devil, who we meet in the story of Christ in the wilderness. In the Garden of Eden, he begins by contradicting God’s words and saying that by eating of the tree the man and woman shall not die. And then he says something very interesting, “God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Gen. 3:5).The devil is crafty. He is a liar, but he mixes lies and truth together to confuse and attack Eve. For it is true that God’s purpose in creating humanity was to make us like him. And the devil repeats this truth to Eve. Likewise, to have her eyes opened and to know good and evil was, in a sense, what God intended for her.But there is a crucial difference.God’s purpose for the man and woman was to know good and evil by rejecting evil through obedience.The devil’s purpose, on the other hand, was for them to know good and evil by embracing evil through disobedience and therefore knowing through direct experience what it was to disobey and to know evil.There was, in other words, a sense in which Eve would become like God. But it was not the sense that God had in mind – quite the opposite, in fact. For disobedience – then, as now – would separate Adam and Eve from God, whereas obedience would have united them with him.The Christian life is filled with temptation. We want that which is immediately pleasurable or pleasing to us. Through the grace of God, we can often embrace what he gives us as a gift from his hand. But there are many, many times when we must say, “no” to what is placed in front of us.Observe the dynamic: We have some kind of desire in life. Perhaps it is something unfulfilled – a desire for success in one’s career, a desire marriage and family, the fulfilment of some childhood longing. It could simply be a desire for pleasure or gratification of some sort.In order to have these desires fulfilled, we are often presented with a choice: the wrong thing now or to wait until the right thing presents itself.The wrong thing will be instantly gratifying but will lead us away from God and lose the lustre with which is shone in the beginning.The right thing may be difficult but it will lead us towards God and will make us receptive to whatever he has for us in the future.Adam and Eve made the mistake of going for the first option: disobedience, gratification, followed by desolation and spiritual death.Because of their example and the power of their actions, we follow in the same way. And thus we are destined for the same end.This is a sad story but it is not the end of the story.The Obedience of ChristWe turn now to Christ’s temptation in the wilderness.Immediately, we see that it was a work of the Holy Spirit to take Christ to the wilderness to fast forty days and to be tempted by the devil. We see that this is a retelling of the story of the Garden of Eden. Like Adam and Eve, the man, Jesus Christ, was put in an uncultivated place by God to abstain from food and to be tempted by the devil.Christ, then, is re-enacting the story of Adam and Eve, but doing it in the right way. It is like he is another Adam but, instead of disobeying God by the listening to the serpent’s voice, he is obeying God by contradicting it.The Early Fathers of the Church called this concept “recapitulation”. And the point of it is that, whereas Adam and Eve disobeyed God, Jesus uniquely and perfectly obeyed the voice God, living a perfect life and offering it in sacrifice to God upon the cross. In doing so, Jesus thus opened up a new way for humanity to be united with God.In our New Testament reading, Romans 5, the Apostle Paul speaks of Christ’s righteousness which is given to us.The Greek word that lies behind the words “righteousness” and “justification” in the New Testament is vigorously debated by scholars. But the essence of this word is to say that the perfect life of Jesus – and his perfect obedience – are, in some mysterious sense, transferred to us.And thus we are brought to God through Jesus and we are given power to live in a different way. We are given power to be obedient to him and to grow into ever closer union with him.Union with ChristAnd, yet, this gift of righteousness is not simply something static, like a kind of title which means very little and makes no difference to our lives.Rather, the gift of Christ’s righteousness transforms our hearts so that we desire to grow in union with God through Christ. We understand that what is being offered to us – in comparison with the deceit of sin and evil – is true life, true joy, true peace. And so we choose that instead. And we go on choosing that as we grow closer to the one who offers it to us.This is why Lent, really, is such a joyful time – because it gives us an opportunity to make that decision (to prefer God to other things) over and over again. Lent is not just about putting away obvious sin. That is, of course, very important and Lent is a good time to focus on this.But Lent is really an intensification of the entire Christian life, which is a stretching out for God, a desire to grow closer and closer to him, with every act of sacrifice or abstinence offered in petition that this may be the case.And, as we do these things, an unworldly joy emerges within us, a stillness that does not depend on the gratification of the flesh or the lust of the eyes or the pride of life. We glimpse the ultimate reality, our peaceful destination, our true home. And we recognise that we are willing happily to do without anything to arrive there.And so friends, we give thanks for the work of Christ in rejecting the temptation of the devil. We give thanks that he lived a perfect life for us and laid it down in his death. We receive his gift of righteousness. And we stretch out to grow closer to him and to God this Lententide.In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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Make Space for God.

Mon, 16 Feb 2026 11:19:48 +0000

Exodus 24:12-end; 2 Peter 1:16-end; Matthew 17: 1-9Lent and mystical encounterIt’s hard for me to believe that Lent begins again in only three days from now. Time seems to move so quickly. Once again, the Church gives us the story of a mountaintop experience to reflect upon - that of the Transfiguration of Christ. This is paired with the story of Moses’ encounter with God on Mount Sinai.Now, if you’re anything like me, you might think about Lent with a certain amount of dread. When I mention to my children that Lent is coming up they can see no good in it. For them, it is simply a time when they can’t eat as much sweet stuff as normal.And we can so easily think about things in that way: Lent is just about giving things up and having less fun and so on. Thought about in this way, Lent is very depressing. It can even be life-denying and a kind of rejection of God’s good creation.But what if we reframe this slightly? Let’s say that Lent is not so much about giving stuff up or even doing more but about seeking an encounter with God, seeking a mystical union with the divine presence.I believe that making changes in our regular patterns of behaviour can be very beneficial. The effects can be physical, psychological or spiritual. So, if I said to you, that Lent gives you an opportunity to be united with the divine presence and so to know greater peace, love and joy, might that be a slightly more attractive picture?But the key to all of this is making the decision to prefer God to everything else. It is to recognise the futility of life without God and of pursuing ends which are less than God.To quote the mystical poet Rumi:‘God said,“The world is a play, a children’s game,and you are the children.”God speaks the truth.If you haven’t left the child’s play,how can you be an adult?Without purity of spirit,if you’re still in the middle of lust and greedand other wantings, you’re like children…The same with the fightings of mankind.It’s a squabble with play-swords.No purpose, totally futile…Don’t wait till you die to see this.’Rumi, A Children’s GameWe see something of this reality in the mystical experience of Moses and the disciples in the story of the Transfiguration.Both of these mystical encounters take place on a mountaintop, far away from the civilised world and the concerns of ordinary life. Moses is told to wait upon the mountaintop. He takes Joshua with him and delegates his great responsibilities to Aaron and Hur. The cloud of God’s glory covers the mountain, and Moses waits for six days in that silence until, on the seventh day, the voice of God calls to him out of the midst of the cloud.How does six days of nothing but silence strike you?Again, in Matthew’s account of the Transfiguration, we are told that Jesus took Peter, James and John with him up the mountain “after six days”. Six days before, Peter had confessed that Jesus was the Christ, and Jesus had told his disciples to take up their crosses and follow him.This six day wait links the story of the Transfiguration with the story of Moses on Mount Sinai. The point being that the same glory that was revealed to Moses on Mount Sinai was revealed to the disciples through Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration. Both were manifestations of the divine presence.A point I would like to emphasise is that both encounters involved solitude, quietness, and waiting. In Scripture, these things almost seem a prerequisite for an encounter with the divine presence. Perhaps we can learn from this.Lent is not about doing moreOne of the mantras of the modern world might be “more is more”. We are constantly being told that we do not have enough: money, pleasure, success, leisure. Whatever it might be.And this constant hectoring creates a sense of unrest and anxiety. We imagine that, in some state in the future, we will obtain that which we have been seeking and be at rest. But, of course, we can never get there because there is always more.It is important to see that something like this can apply to the spiritual life also. We can think all we need to do is make more effort: more church, more Bible, more prayer, more devotion. And there may be times of course during which taking up practices can be helpful.But Lent gives us an opportunity to take a kind of spiritual stock take: Is all of this activity really helping me in my search for God? Maybe I need to slow down a bit and think about what might be helpful.Let’s talk about a core discipline of Lent: fasting. There is so much to say. But consider that fasting is about not doing something for a time – not eating. What happens when you stop doing something like eating? Well, you get a bit hungry or very hungry depending on how long you do it for. And you make space and you leave time. And, in this sense, you become a little bit more like Moses on Mount Sinai and Jesus in the wilderness.We need time and space and silence to encounter God. Fasting opens up a space. It opens a space in our diaries. It opens a space in our bodies. And it opens a space in our hearts.Consider one of the other themes of Lent, which is abstinence – “giving things up”.Why might we abstain from something? We could take any example. Say some kind of food or drinks: alcohol, coffee or sweet things. One of the things we find when we decide to abstain from something is that we are quite dependent upon that thing emotionally or psychologically. The very thought of giving it up is painful. And so, when we do give it up, a kind of space opens. And we can allow ourselves to feel that little sense of need. We can take that sense of need to God in simple prayer, asking that he might meet that need, asking, in fact, that he might show us that this need is always for Him anyway. And so, when we open that space for him, he gives us the gift of himself.I would also like to suggest a practice that I am sure will be beneficial for many people, which is an “Information Fast”. I was speaking earlier about silence and quietness. The fact is that we cannot achieve quietness on the inside if we don’t have it on the outside. That goes not just for sound but also for information. I have got no idea of the physio-chemical processes that are at play in the interaction between my body and my smartphone or laptop. But I am certain that, if I have too much of this type of interaction, there is a kind of internal noise and stress which is difficult to negate. Conversely, if I switch off from all of these things – social media, the internet, messages, emails, online news, scrolling, checking things, listening to podcasts – then somehow I also switch off internally, and it’s like a peace emerges from the stillness.It is no exaggeration to say that filling up every space we have with staring at a phone has become a very common practice in our world. Do we ever stop and ask ourselves what we are doing to ourselves and, more importantly, what effect this is having on our internal, spiritual lives? It is like all of us are taking a drug that hasn’t been tested and the long-term effects of which are not known, and that we are doing this all the time.Maybe Lent could involve some radical changes. Maybe it’s no podcasts, no scrolling, no social media. Just for Lent. You can go back to it afterwards. But perhaps you won’t want to.Again, this is not about doing more. It’s about doing less. It’s about stopping and making space for God.What shall I do with this space?You might ask, “What shall I do with this space?”Firstly, please resist the urge to fill the space with more activity and more busyness. See it as an opportunity to refresh your soul. Perhaps you will do nothing but wait in silence, as Moses did on Mount Sinai. Perhaps you will use it to be more attentive to the things of God in prayer or meditation.You may use the time to walk in quietness and open yourself to the presence of the divine in the natural world.You may become aware of somebody who is near to you whose needs are known. And you may have time and energy to attend to that person’s need in some way.Whatever you do, do it calmly and with gentleness. The answer is not more. The answer (and the great challenge) is less.Holy BaptismThis morning, we have the great pleasure of baptising a new member of God’s family. In the Book of Romans, the Apostle Paul tells us that baptism is a kind of symbol of death and rebirth. This is all the more clear when we baptise an adult: it is a turning away from life lived without reference to God and a turning towards a life lived in conscious fellowship with God and obedient to his purposes.It is thus the ultimate way of making a space for God. For as we are baptised we offer God ourselves: our lives, our bodies, our souls. God has set things up so that we can offer ourselves freely – or not – to him. And this is ultimately all that we have to give.When we baptise, we also renew our own baptismal vows, remembering that we were given the gift of faith by our parents or that we were brought into God’s family, the Church, when we were slightly older. But, wherever we find ourselves on this journey, this ritual gives us an opportunity to repledge ourselves to God and to realign our hearts with him.We must always remember that joy is the purpose of God for us. (And this remembering is especially important as we enter the Lenten season.) Everything that we offer to God – our lives, our deaths, our habits bad and good, our pleasures, our pains – are given so that we might draw closer to him and so be deepened in our joy. And so, brothers and sisters, let us rejoice now and always.In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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Do Not Be Anxious

Mon, 09 Feb 2026 10:35:27 +0000

Genesis 1:1-2.3; Romans 8:18-25; Matthew 6: 25-end

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Candlemas: Seeking the Presence of the Lord

Mon, 02 Feb 2026 12:01:44 +0000

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Repentance First

Mon, 26 Jan 2026 11:05:54 +0000

Isaiah 9:1-4; 1 Corinthians 1:10-18; Matthew 4:12-23In today’s Gospel reading, we hear the essential message of Jesus’ ministry: his command that we repent and turn to God, and his call to follow after him. May you granted grace to turn to God and to know his presence as we worship together this morning.

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Guest Bishop Mountstephen

Tue, 20 Jan 2026 10:11:48 +0000

The Second Sunday of Epiphany; Isaiah 49:1-7, 1 Corinthians 1:1-9, John 1:29-42Today we are very happy to welcome as our guest preacher the Bishop of Winchester, Philip Mounstephen. Bishop Philip is an experienced pastor, teacher and leader and I’m sure that we will benefit from his wisdom and knowledge.In our Gospel reading, we are reminded of Jesus’ baptism and his calling of the first disciples. May you hear his voice this morning as we gather for worship in this place.

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God Gets His Hands Dirty

Mon, 12 Jan 2026 15:30:40 +0000

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A Divine and Unexpected Way

Mon, 22 Dec 2025 11:41:31 +0000

“Do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.”Worldly CrisisThe story of the birth of Jesus Christ begins in a rather odd way, at least from a human perspective. We can see this if we put ourselves in the shoes of Joseph, the man who was betrothed to Mary. Who knows what hopes and dreams they shared together? We know of Joseph that he was the descendent of King David and of Abraham. And we are told in the text that he is a “just man”. Mary is a young woman living in a small and obscure agricultural village in lower Galilee called Nazareth. She was a relative, likely a cousin, of Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist. But really we know very little else. Outside of the New Testament there is little – if any – information about either of them.I think it would be fair to say that both of them were quite ordinary people. They lived in a place that was far from any urban centre. There was no middle class in that time and place, so anyone outside of elite circles was either a peasant or a labourer. We are told that Joseph was a tekton, which probably means he was a carpenter. He was a skilled worker and he worked with his hands.It’s important to take note of this. We are about to see how ordinary people respond to a crisis in faith. This is for all of us, not for a spiritual, economic or aristocratic elite. There is something very simple and everyday at the heart of the Christmas story. Indeed, this is one of the central themes of the Christmas season.And so we are told that before Mary and Joseph came together, Mary was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit (Mt. 1:18). The meaning is clear: Mary and Joseph were not married and had not engaged in marital relations. And yet she became pregnant. Matthew tells us that this was a miracle, an act of God by the Holy Spirit. But, of course, Joseph knew no such thing. Put yourself in his shoes. This would have looked like a straightforward instance of adultery under the terms of Mary and Joseph’s betrothal.The implications would have been bad: although stoning for adultery was rarely if ever carried out during the Roman period, it was nevertheless the legal penalty. And there were social and personal implications, particularly in a small place like Nazareth: Mary would face public shame, disgrace, ostracism and damaged to her reputation. In modern terms, she would be damaged goods and could not expect to be married in the future.It is fair to say that this was a massive crisis for Joseph: a time of great uncertainty, confusion and sadness. We do not know what passed between him and Mary. But we can imagine that there was a period in which Mary was reassuring him of the truth: her virginity, the message from the Angel Gabriel and everything else that she knew. And yet Joseph could not bring himself to believe.And can we blame him? Who could believe such a thing? We are apt to believe that the weary world will just continue in its weary way, with all of its suffering, all of its shattered dreams, all of its disappointments.A Human SolutionAs I mentioned earlier, Mary and Joseph were betrothed to one another. This meant that they were not formally married and would not have had marital relations. But this betrothal was nevertheless a legally binding agreement. If it was true that Mary had committed adultery, as Joseph must have believed it was, then he really had two options. To continue with the marriage was impossible. Option one, therefore, was to expose Mary to public disgrace and to seek the harshest possible penalty. Joseph didn’t go for this. Instead, because he was a just man, he sought to divorce her quietly, to spare his beloved from shame.As I say, this was because he was a just and good man. But, at this point, he was only a just and good man. He had not yet been touched by supernatural grace. He was doing the best he could with the situation as he found it. He was limited by the tragic boundaries that beset us all in this world, the unhappy dilemmas in which we find ourselves, the least worst options.Again, who could blame him? To believe anything else would have been near impossible. But, to quote from the nativity story in the Gospel of Luke, Joseph was about to find out that nothing is impossible with God.A Divine and Unexpected WayAnd so, Joseph considered these things. And perhaps he was still in two minds. Perhaps he continued to be confused by it all. And, Lo, the Lord’s angel appeared in the midst of this darkness and told him the truth, “Joseph, Son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins”.God has something far greater and more wonderful than the bounded and melancholy future that you imagined for yourself. For this is a work of the Holy Spirit and you must receive it in faith and trust. Your options are not as bad as you thought. Not anywhere near.Friends, let’s pause here and consider the wonder of this message, the wonder that we anticipate as we approach the Christmas season. You thought that the world was empty and dark and hopeless and inevitable and, yet, something amazing has happened, something so unexpected and wonderful that nobody could have imagined or predicted it. You thought that things were like this but now…now God has come. And all of your categories and thought and expectations are exploded into nothingness or expanded into infinity. He is able – and willing – to do far more than anything that you could ask or imagine. He turns what looked like a crisis into the greatest adventure imaginable. He transforms the desert into springs of water. He restores the life which appeared to be broken beyond all recognition and hope.This was true for Joseph. Friends, it is true for us also. Take it into your heart. Christmas in the moment when everything changes. Christmas is the moment when God comes to save us all. This is the great and marvellous and wonderful, unexpected and divine way. It is waiting for you also. You can’t see it yet. That’s part of the point. So you have to have faith. But allow that expectation that flows from faith to well up in your heart and do not resign yourself to a sense of sad inevitability. That is not how God works.Godly ActionA further word on the message of the angel, “Do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife.”Now it’s already clear why Joseph might be afraid. Word may have got round. There are, indeed, hints later in the Gospel stories that it had. Joseph would have been risking social scandal and ostracization, perhaps worse, for himself, Mary and this child. He was also risking being made a fool by all of this. If he got it wrong, his life and Mary’s and the child’s could be in ruins.And yet the angel told him anyway: don’t be afraid. That is: don’t be afraid in your heart. But, also, don’t be afraid to take action – godly action. The fact is that God calls us to live an adventurous life in which we take action for him. Those actions involve risk and, frequently, suffering. But all to a purpose. We can allow fear to hold us back and keep us from even beginning. But the angel says – and God through him – “Do not fear”. Take action in the sight of God.My question to you: what action is God calling you to do that you are afraid of? What sacrifice are you not yet willing to make? What obstacle are you still afraid to overcome? Ask yourself and think deeply. Is there a risk that God is calling you to take for him? Is there a sacrifice? Is there an action, a task, an adventure? Friends, do not let fear hold you back.And why not allow fear to dominate? Let’s go back to the Christmas message. Have you forgotten? This child has been conceived without an earthly father through the power of the Holy Spirit. God has the power to bring life out of nothingness, without blood, without flesh, without the normal patterns of men and women. If God did that at the first Christmastide, what is he not able to do for you?The new life conceived in Mary’s womb whispers to us all: “There is no need to be afraid. God is making all things new through Jesus. Everything you need will be provided freely in the most extraordinary way. God’s provision is beyond anything you could ask or imagine.”Sins will be forgiven. Even death itself will be overcome. The miraculous life in Mary’s womb will one day be snuffed out by man’s hatred and cruelty and yet raised again through the power of God. And at the very end of the story, that life will illuminate all things in heaven and upon the earth.Such a wonderful miracle. And how unexpected all of this was and continues to be. The Christmas season, so nearly upon us, invites us to believe that that which is impossible for man is possible for God.So please consider this story today and recall the mighty power of God. Recognise that this power is at work in you today and that you too are called to act for the Lord with faith and not fear. What would you do for him if you were not afraid?May we have faith, then, in the miraculous power of God that conceived Jesus in the womb of Mary, which is at work in the hearts and lives of those who believe in him now. May we be freed from fear and strengthened to take godly action, even in the face of risk and loss, in imitation of St Joseph the just man, the husband of Mary and father to Jesus Christ.In the name of the Father of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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"Blessed is the one who is not offended by me..."

Tue, 16 Dec 2025 15:22:52 +0000

Today’s Gospel reading is fascinating. If we understand what is being said, it is devastating, addressing some of the deepest questions of life and faith. Let’s open our hearts and listen closely.John’s QuestionIt begins with John the Baptist in prison, hearing about the deeds of Christ. He sends a question through his disciples, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?”Pause for a moment and remember last week’s sermon on Matthew 3: John’s passionate invitation to prepare the way of the Lord, his stinging rebuke of the Pharisees, his terrifying prediction that the one to come would yield his winnowing fork, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning the chaff with unquenchable fire. Things seem to have changed. What is going on?Interpreters differ but I like to think that we are seeing a very human side of John – a human side that, to be honest, I recognise through my own experience of life and ministry. Life is filled with mountaintop experiences. Times when we seemed to be filled with the wind of the Holy Spirit. Times when it seems that we understand somehow what life is all about and what we are supposed to do.But then there is the other side: when all of that just seems to slip away. Sometimes it’s just because we’ve woken up on the wrong side of bed. Life seems miserable. God seems distant.And there are, of course, much worse things – the kind of things that John was facing: imprisonment and death. And life is filled with these things too: we stand around the coffins of our loved ones and say our goodbyes; we receive the call from the doctor that tells us the news is not good; the divorce papers come through the door. There are many such things in life. They change us forever. And they may not heal in this world. They may not be redeemable at all. We have to live with them.I believe that John was having one of these dark nights in prison: having once been so powerful in word and deed, now beset with a doubt or, at least a question: Was I right? Have I given my life for the right thing? Did I place my trust in the right person? Or have I made a mistake?Friends, this question reveals to us the human response to a life lived in faith. It is normal to wrestle with doubt and difficulty. In this passage, Jesus tells us that nobody greater has been born among us than John and even he doubted and was beset by challenge and trial.It is part of the life of faith in this world that we must do so too.Jesus’ ResponseLet’s look at Jesus’ response, which is quite stunning: “…the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them”.Jesus is here referencing two prophecies from the book of Isaiah, passages that were taken to describe the Messiah, the coming one and deliverer of Israel of whom John the Baptist spoke.One prophecy is Isaiah 35, our Old Testament reading this morning, which is a vision of an entirely renewed and recreated universe in which the old enemies of sin, suffering and death are done away with forever: “Behold your God will come…He will come and save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy”.The other prophecy is Isaiah 61: “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour, and the day of the vengeance of our God”.Jesus’ answer would have been straightforward if that was all there was to it. He would have been saying quite clearly, “Yes, I am the Messiah. I am the coming one who was foretold in the prophet Isaiah”. But that is not the way John would have heard these words.This is because Jesus deliberately left out part of the prophecy from Isaiah 35 and 61. He mentioned the blind receiving their sight, lepers being cleansed, the deaf hearing, the dead being raised, and good news being preached to the poor. But he stopped there. He didn’t mention liberty for the captives or the opening of the prison to those who are in chains. Nor indeed did he mention the year of the Lord’s favour or the day of the vengeance or our God. Imagine how John would have heard these words. They described what the Messiah would do, indeed what he was doing: healing, restoring, preaching the kingdom, raising the dead – miracles and proclamations. But no liberty for captives, no opening of the prison. No vengeance upon the occupying Romans who had put him there. Jesus was sending a message to John to be interpreted something like this:“Yes, I am the Messiah. And I am proving it through healing, raising the dead and proclaiming the Kingdom. But the Kingdom of God is coming in my time and in my way. And for you, John, you must follow in the way that I will walk. You must suffer and die, as I must suffer and die. There will be no liberty for you, nor any opening of the prison.”“Blessed is the one who is not offended by me…”And this is why Jesus ends his saying with the words, “Blessed is the one who is not offended by me”. It is a message to John: Don’t allow yourself to be offended by this. The word for “offended” can also be translated to mean tripped up or scandalised. In other words: you must keep faith with me through this trial. You will find true spiritual blessedness if you do.Friends, let’s stop here and consider what is being said to us. One of the things that we can draw from it is that Jesus did not come to deliver everyone from the suffering that we face in this life. If he wanted to do that, he could have done it. He certainly would have done it for the one he described as the greatest person to be born of a woman, John the Baptist. But he didn’t. And in this world, he saves none of us completely from suffering and he does not save us from death. He did not bring heaven to earth totally in his first coming. He did not end all injustice. He did not take away all diseases. He did not make wars cease. He left John in prison. And he leaves us in this world with all of our pain. We watch those around us grow frail and die. We see the healthy become sick. We stand over the graves of our parents and sometimes even our own children.But “blessed is the one who is not offended by me”. Blessed is the one who does not hold up his hands and walk away. Blessed is the one who, with faith in God, accepts this earthly state of affairs.Many people walked away from Jesus in the time of his earthly life because they could not – or would not – accept the things that he said or did. This text is a challenge to us not to do the same: he could prevent you or your loved ones from dying. He does not do so. Do you accept this? Are you willing to accept this without being scandalised by it? Such texts as this also help us to be prepared for suffering when it comes: Christian faith is no insulation from the normal pains we encounter in this world. When we suffer, no strange, unusual or unexpected thing is happening to us. This is just life. Death is a part of life. And it is a life that Jesus allowed to go on in this way.Death and Rebirth – The Pattern of the UniverseAnd yet, how are we to understand this? Why did Jesus not bring an end to all suffering, all sickness, all war, all death when he came? He could have done so. Why didn’t he?Jesus could have simply come to this earth, ended all disease, death, suffering and sin forever by a single word. And yet, instead of doing that, he healed some people and raised a limited number from the dead. But the main and central work with which his ministry climaxed was his death on the cross followed, of course, by the glorious rebirth of the resurrection. The New Testament even speaks of his being made obedient and perfect through what he suffered, as though Jesus himself was made complete in some way through these experiences.As difficult as it sounds, the answer to the question must be that our suffering is producing something in us and through us that is greater that is more important and outweighs even the present experience of pain and grief. Indeed, the Apostle Paul speaks in exactly this way in Romans chapter 8: “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us”. And in 2 Corinthians 4: “This light, momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison”.What do these passages tell us? They reveal to us something of the secret of the universe, something that we already know in a sense. We see it in so many ways: it is through the labour of the farmer or the gardener that the crops or the flowers grow; it is through the hard work of the athlete, that his muscles are made strong and his body enhanced; it is through the diligent and patient study of the scholar that his mind is made knowledge and supple; it is through the suffering of childbirth that new life is born into the world. It is death, always, death to comfort, death to self, death to inactivity and sloth, death to one’s own immediate desires, death to a life free from pain and struggle that leads to something new, that leads to life.And all of this points to one of the greatest truths of all: that our suffering in this world, when united to Christ, will lead to a life so glorious and wonderful that we cannot possibly imagine it now. All of those pictures of death and rebirth that we see in this world are but a mere foreshadowing of that great life, that great joy which is inevitably coming.The writer to the Hebrews tells us to look to Jesus, ‘who, for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross’ (Hebrews 12:2). And so there is the link between this day – Gaudete Sunday, a day of rejoicing – and our suffering. If we will unite our suffering to Chr

Change your hearts!

Mon, 08 Dec 2025 14:21:14 +0000

John the BaptistOur reading today is about John the Baptist and his baptism. Let’s begin by observing that John the Baptist would not have come across as a respectable character but as a madman. We do not have time to go into it in detail but, although he was from a priestly line, he was nevertheless a marginal figure – “The voice of one crying in the wilderness” – wearing a camel’s hair garment and a leather belt, eating locusts and honey.And what was his message? “Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven has drawn near”. “Prepare the way of the Lord. Make his paths straight.”God himself is coming. Prepare your souls to receive him. Give him a straight path to your heart.Another way to translate the word for “repent”, metanoia, is “change your heart”. The Kingdom of Heaven is coming, so change your heart. Change your actions, your outlook, your priorities, all in the light of this.The baptism of John was a different baptism to the baptism we receive now as Christians. It was a baptism of water for repentance, a ritual washing related to a Jewish ritual called the mikveh. In other words, it was a personal response to this message, a personal response of a change of heart. It was like they were saying, “I intend to cleanse myself from sin, from the inside out, so that I might be prepared for the coming of the Lord.”This is the kind of change we are to consider in the season of Advent. We are to ask ourselves, “The Lord is coming and how do I want my heart to be when he arrives?”The Pharisees and SadduceesA key part of our text today concerns the Pharisees and Sadducees drawing near for baptism. These people represent the religious authorities of the day. Theological and spiritual experts. Memorisers of the Law. Preachers of sermons. And yet, they receive a stern rebuke from John, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit in line with a change of heart. And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raised up children for Abraham. Even now the axe is laid at the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire’.What was John rebuking in these people?Let’s observe several things:No repentance – Firstly, they were not repentant. Not willing to change their hearts. They wanted to join in the ritual but they were not willing to be obedient to what the ritual represented.This is religion without transformation. Friends, this is everywhere in our world and it is everywhere in the Christian Church. This is kind of empty religion that inoculates us against the real thing. Sometimes called “nominal” Christianity or something like that. It is the process of going through the motions without really meaning it from the heart.God is not interested in occasional church going or religious observances. He is interested in your heart. He wants a transformation that occurs at the very deepest part of your soul. A transformed life follows from this. That’s why John says, “Bear fruit in line with a change of heart”. The fruit is the outcome of a changed heart. We change first, deep down within, and so we give our lives to Christ.Trust in ethnic or religious status – Again, the Pharisees are rebuked for thinking that their ethnic and religious status will save them. They think, because they are children of Abraham, that they will be fine. But John lays waste to this idea, “God is able to raise up from these stones children of Abraham”.In other words, ethnic and religious descent is ineffectual and irrelevant without a change of heart, without true repentance.Do not presume to say to yourself, “I was baptised as a baby.” Do not presume to say to yourself, “We’ve been involved in this parish church for several generations.” Do not presume to say to yourself, “I give money to the church and serve on the rota”.These are all good things but they have to be accompanied by a genuine change of heart.Religious hypocrisy that leads others astray – Finally, religious hypocrisy that leads other people astray. The phrase used by John to describe the Pharisees is “brood of vipers”. Jesus uses the same phrase to describe them in Matthew 23. There he launches into a tirade against these people.Again, there isn’t time to go into all of it but here is an idea: Jesus rebukes the Pharisees for not practicing what they preach. In other words, they preach a moral life, they preach devotion and obedience to God and yet they do not practice it.Jesus tells the Pharisees that they keep the letter of the law but they neglect the deeper parts of it and so they miss the point. They tithe their spice racks but they do not practice justice, mercy and faithfulness – all of which are a reflection of a changed heart.On the outside they look good – good clothes, good hair, good religious apparel – but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence and they are filled with dead men’s bones. They are pretending to be righteous. They are acting. This is ancient cos-play.“Woe to you Pharisees and Scribes, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in.” Matthew 23:13I’m not saying this because I think anyone here in particular is a Pharisee or a Sadducee. I’m saying it because something like this is a temptation for all of us. And I’m saying this because I want to make it clear that is not true religion. It is not what it means to be a follower of Christ.Let me be emphatic and say again: to prepare the way for Christ is not to change some external feature like one’s appearance or activity. It is to change the heart. It is to change not what is outside but what is inside. It is to give one’s heart to Christ in love for him.The Baptism of JesusHaving said this, let’s look at the baptism of Jesus. This was a different baptism to that of John, a new type of baptism.What is different? Well, earlier I said John’s baptism was a sign of repentance and faith. Here, there is something more: “I baptise you with water for repentance, but he who is coming is mightier that I…He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.”Faith and repentance are a part of Christian baptism, as they were in John’s baptism. But all throughout the New Testament, we are told that Christian baptism is also linked to the gift of the Holy Spirit.One other example: after Peter’s sermon at Pentecost, those listening responded by asking him what to do, “Repent and be baptised every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38).When we are baptised into Christ, we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. This means that Christian baptism is not just something that represents our repentance but it is a sacrament through which the power of God works. Indeed, in Christian baptism, God himself comes to live within our hearts.This means something quite wonderful: it means that the power of God lives within us and that he gives us the power to change.This is why we do that strange ritual in which the priest flicks holy water at the people in the church. It is to remind ourselves that the Holy Spirit lives in us and that He was given to us at our baptisms. It reminds us that God’s power is within us and that therefore we can live the Christian life with his help.And if you have not been baptised and would like the Holy Spirit to come and live within your heart, then let nothing hold you back.Jesus came to baptise not only with water, but also with the Holy Spirit.With the Holy Spirit and FireOne further point: when John says, “He comes to baptise with the Holy Spirit and with fire”, what does the fire represent?In my view, the context of the passage makes it clear that John means here the fire of judgement. There are two other references to fire in this passage: “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire” says John. And, speaking of Christ, “His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire”.Christ will baptise with the Holy Spirit and he will baptise with the fire of judgement.To put it in plain English, John’s message is therefore something like this:“Repent of your sin and start living a life that proves that you are sorry. Be baptised into Christ and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit and this will give you power to live a new life. The alternative is the fire of judgement. No amount of religious observance will save you. Choose.”Maybe this doesn’t some like an uplifting Christmas message. If not, I’d encourage you to remember that the one who holds the winnowing fork in his hand is the one who was laid in the manger as a baby. He is the Word who became flesh and dwelt among us. He is the one who emptied himself of his glory and became obedient to the Father by dying for us. He is the one who rose again to give us the hope of everlasting life with God.And so, may we, by the mercy and the grace of God, in light of his appearing amongst us in Christ, change our hearts, bear fruit in keeping with repentance, and be empowered by the Holy Spirit to heed these words.In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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Get Ready for the Son of Man

Mon, 01 Dec 2025 12:34:33 +0000

“You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”May I speak in God’s name, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.The Coming of the Son of ManThe context for our passage today is the coming of the Son of Man, meaning the return of Christ. This is a basic part of our orthodox profession of faith: ‘He shall come again in glory to judge both the quick and the dead’, as the Nicene Creed puts it.In this passage, Christ tells us some crucial facts about what his return will look like. And if we listen to him and really take him seriously then our mindset and our lives should change. We cannot possibly hear these words and believe that Christ really spoke them and not be shaken to the core.What, then, do we learn about his return from this discourse?Nobody knows when it will beFirstly, nobody knows when the return of Christ will be: not the angels of heaven, not even the Son himself, but only the Father. The precise timing of the return of Christ is a mystery hidden deep within the Godhead. Nobody knows it. (Matt. 24:36)There have been many attempts to predict the return of Christ but such attempts are folly and lead to disaster and distraction. There is a reason that God has kept this a secret. We can speculate that the reason is because God desires us to live the kind of life that Jesus tells us to live: one of spiritual alertness and preparation. We wouldn’t do that quite so readily if we had convinced ourselves that the return of Christ would not happen for, say, ten thousand years.The fact that we do not know and that it could be now or it could be in ten thousand years means that we must always be prepared for it.It will be as in the days of NoahSecondly, the return will be as it was in the days of Noah: “…in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage…they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away” (Matt. 24:38-39).Christ could not be plainer: the ordinary course of the world will be continuing as it usually does and people will not be expecting what is to come.In those days – that is the days of Noah – people were doing all the normal things – eating, drinking, marrying and giving in marriage. In the final days, it will be the same. People will be doing those things. In our day, we might say that people will be binge-watching TV and going to work and taking their children to birthday parties and going on holidays.All of those things will be going on as normal and most people will be oblivious.Again, we might be tempted to soften what Christ is saying here. But he is speaking of Noah’s flood as a literal historical event in which the vast majority of the human race were swept away. It will be like that before I come also, says Christ. Most people will be getting on with things as per normal and they will be taken by surprise.The Greek word from which we get “flood” in this passage is very resonant: kataklusmos. This is where the modern English word “cataclysm” comes from. Kataklusmos means literally a deluge that passes over everything. Nothing is untouched by it. It affects everything in the world.As was Noah’s flood, so will it be when the Son of Man comes.“One will be taken and one left…”“Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left” (Matt. 24:40-41).What does Christ mean by this? There is a very widespread misinterpretation of this passage that has been around for about two-hundred years. That misinterpretation says that the ones who are taken are those who are “raptured” by Christ into Heaven before a period of tribulation through which the rest of the earth’s population will pass. This interpretation did not exist in the Church until about 1830 and it is a misunderstanding.The immediate context helps us to see: “…they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away.” Those who are swept away are the same ones who are taken. They are swept away or taken by the kataklusmos of the Coming of the Son of the Man. And the ones who are left are the ones who are not.The nature of this sweeping away is not entirely clear but we can speculate that it is not positive but constitutes a judgement upon the sin of the world. Like those who were caught in the flood, it is not something that we wish to face ourselves.“Stay Awake…Be Ready”Again, if we take seriously what Christ is saying then we will be shaken by these words. And we will ask ourselves what exactly can be done? Christ tells us, “Therefore, stay awake, for you do not what on what day your Lord is coming” (Matt. 24:42) And, “you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect” (Matt. 24:44).You must stay awake and be ready.Let’s go back to the story of the flood for a moment and draw out another implication: in the days of Noah a flood came and swept away most of the people. But God also provided a means of salvation: a warning and an ark. And everyone who stepped aboard that ark was saved from the coming judgement.As it was in those days, so it is now. God has provided a means for us to be saved from the coming judgment, and the means is Christ, the Gospel and the Church. As the second century Church Father Tertullian said,The ark of Noah was a type of the church, and Christ is the true Noah. Just as the ark, made of wood, carried within it those who were delivered from the flood, so the church, built upon the wood of the cross of Christ, carries safely through the waves of this world those who are washed in the baptism of Christ.Friends, the coming judgement is a hard reality to get our heads around. But I would like to emphasise again two things: firstly, these are the words of Christ and we should take them seriously. And, secondly, God has done everything he can to give us a way to be saved and that way is still available now.Elsewhere, Christ tells us, “I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved” (John 10:9). Christ is the ark of salvation and Christ is the door. The door is open still and he invites all to walk through it.How would I live in this were true?What then is spiritual this awake-ness and preparedness of which Christ speaks? It is keeping the reality of the Gospel before our eyes and living as though it were actually true.Think about this for a moment: if all of this were true – if Christ really were coming back at some point which I did not know and if a flood-like cataclysm would follow in his wake and if the Gospel and the Church were the ark of salvation – how would I live?Speaking for myself personally, I would remind myself of this reality constantly and do everything I could not to allow myself not to be sucked into the ordinary concerns of others who did not share this knowledge.I would stop sinning as much as I possibly could and I would seek to cultivate a love for God above a love for the things of this passing life.I would invest in the things of God every day and lay up my treasures in heaven – my wealth, my energy, my attention, my focus – in the expectation of an eternal reward.I would pray all the time for myself and for others and I would seek for opportunities to share this news with everyone and anyone who would listen. I would also avail myself of the other means of grace.I would turn everything I do towards this one end. I would make all of my activities serve this one purpose: to be awake, to be alert, and to be ready at all times.Let me ask you, then: What would you do, if you believed this were true? If you believed that Christ may return at any moment but that you and others around you might not be ready for such a thing? How might this change your mindset? How might this change your life?Images of Total CommitmentWhen studying this, I was put in mind of a passage from the Apostle Paul. To his young protégé Timothy, he wrote:‘No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him.‘An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules.‘It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops.’2 Timothy 2:4-6Paul uses three images in rapid succession to describe the Christian life: a soldier, an athlete, a farmer.What do all those three lifestyles have in common? Total commitment to the cause.A soldier prepares for the battle. If his preparation is not diligent, he and perhaps his friends will die at the hands of the enemy. He therefore commits himself with total focus to the mastery of his weapons and to the tactics that are most likely to secure the victory.The athlete similarly conditions his life to the greatest degree possible: his food, his drink, his sleeping, his exercise and practice. He diligently learns his craft and gives every day to its mastery. Everything is tailored to this one end: to compete and to win the prize.The farmer rises early to spend all day wracking his body to tend to his animals and his crops. The farm needs constant attention and he can rarely – if ever – leave it. It is his life’s love and his life’s commitment.Similarly, the Christian life is a calling to total commitment, thinking to yourself: What does Christ call me to do? What does Christ call me to be? How does Christ call me to think if these things are really so?Let me be somewhat confrontational (and I ask myself the same question here): Is that how you make decisions? The athlete, when offered a tempting snack, says “No” because he is training for the event. Do you have a similar mindset when you a presented with a choice? Do you think first and foremost of your commitment to Christ or do you instead simply evaluate things according to your own judgment and the spirit of this age?Friends, let’s wake up and recognise that the reality of which Christ speaks is a far greater and more lasting reality than the one we encounter in the everyday. ‘The hour has come for you to wake from sleep,’ says Paul in our New Testame

The Grace of the Crownless King

Mon, 24 Nov 2025 15:18:55 +0000

A King Without a CrownToday, we celebrate the feast of Christ the King of the Universe. Why, then, are we given the text that we have just heard? We have just listened to a story in which this supposed king is taken to a place called The Skull and crucified by the Roman Empire between two criminals. The clothes of this condemned man were stripped and divided between the soldiers: he would not need them anymore.The religious rulers scoffed at him: for all his talk and miracles, he could not save himself. He was not the Messiah, the Christ, the Chosen One of God.The secular authorities, similarly, mocked him. They had heard that he called himself a King to rival Caesar. And, yet, if he had been a king, then surely he would have had the power to save himself. Their leader, Pilate, erected a sign which was put above his head, ironically stating, “The King of the Jews”.We know from elsewhere that his closest followers had abandoned him, that the man he had chosen to lead them had denied him three times out of cowardice.Now, one of the criminals condemned to die next to him joins in the chorus of scorn: “Are you not the Christ?” he asks, “Save yourself and us!”Truly this man appeared forsaken by all the world. How could he be a king? How could he be worshipped? How could he possess any authority, when the manner of his death was thus?The One Who Saw the TruthAnd, yet, that day, there was but one who saw the truth: the other criminal crucified alongside Christ.Speaking to the first criminal who mocked Christ, he asked him, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds.” In other words, he recognised his own sin and guilt before God, and his own need for God’s mercy.“But this man has done nothing wrong,” he said. This man is sinless. This man bears no guilt as we do, but he is dying unjustly at the hands of the Jewish and Roman authorities.But it is really the final saying that ought most to astonish us: “Jesus,” he said, addressing Christ by his first name, intimately, in an act of loyalty and trust, “Remember me when you come into your kingdom.”Think for a moment what he is saying: Did this criminal believe that Jesus would escape the crucifixion and become a successful political revolutionary after all? Of course he did not. He must, therefore, have believed that Jesus was indeed the true Messiah, that he would be vindicated by God by being raised from the dead, and that he would, at some point, inaugurate the Kingdom of God in this world. And so, he asked Christ: When you become King, when your magnificent power and authority is truly revealed, remember me. Accept me as your loyal subject; have mercy upon me, even though I rightly bear the punishment for my sin here upon this cross.The Astonishing Response – Pure GraceAnd Christ’s response is no less astonishing: “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”What does Christ mean by this? Firstly, let’s observe that this is a moment of pure grace. This dying criminal did not have time to amend his life through good works, to be baptised or receive Holy Communion, to attend church or carry out religious rituals. He could not do anything but throw himself upon the mercy of God in Jesus Christ. And the response was pure grace: an acceptance of his plea, a promise that he would be where Christ was going.Before I say more, let me elaborate on this. It is true that God has given to Christians so-called “means of grace”. These are channels of God’s grace by which he strengthens our faith and blesses us as we seek to live the Christian life. Baptism is a ritual washing of sin and renewal by the Holy Spirit. Holy Communion is our spiritual food for the journey. Prayer is the means by which we commune with God spiritually. The Church is Christ’s body, through which we encounter his presence whenever we meet. And we could name many other things. These are all tools that God gives us to grow in holiness and in our relationship with him. And all are important to live the Christian life.But what we learn from the story of the penitent criminal is that, as the great Prayer of Humble Access puts it, God’s nature is always to have mercy. That is, we are acceptable to him not because we avail ourselves of the means of grace, not because we grow in holiness, or for any other such reason. We are acceptable to him because he chooses to have mercy upon us when we ask for it.Once again, consider this penitent criminal. What does he do? Number one: he acknowledges his sin: “We are receiving the due reward of our deeds”, he cries out. This is the first step towards true repentance: we acknowledge the wrong that we have done to others, to ourselves, and before God. We experience conviction of sin, and we cry out to God for mercy.Notice, again, that we do not, at this point engage in good works to make ourselves acceptable to God. Rather, we follow the pattern of this broken criminal and of others like Blind Bartimeus and the Tax Collector of Jesus’ Parable…We cry out, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of David, Have mercy upon me, a sinner!” And we say with King David, “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to your steadfast love” (Ps. 51:1).He confesses his sin. He asks for mercy. And he receives it.Friends, this is what God desires for all mankind: that we all follow this same pattern. We have all sinned and fallen short of God’s glory. God desires that we be reconciled to him and that we ask for his grace and mercy. Is this truth not supremely demonstrated in the words of Christ as he was being crucified by those who hated him? “Father, forgive them,” he prayed, “for they know not what they do”.Have you come to an end of yourself? Are you in need of God’s forgiveness and mercy? Then come to him. Do you feel spiritual cold and far away from him? Then come to him. Are you fearful or ashamed? Then come to him. Come to him and you will receive the precious ointment of his grace.The Apostle Paul puts this truth beautifully in his letter to the Ephesians, ‘For by grace you have been saved, through faith, and this is not your own doing: it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast’ (Eph. 2:8-9).All of this is embodied, of course, in the Sacrament of Holy Communion, by which we simply come to him and receive him in faith and confidence that he will make his dwelling with us. What could be a simpler act of faith than this? To approach, to believe, to kneel, to receive?The Astonishing Response – The Promise of Life with ChristAnd there is one more part to this which we must mention: “Today, you will be with me in Paradise.”This is clearly a promise that the criminal would be with Jesus, wherever he was going. But where was he going? The word “Paradise” would have been familiar at the time because it was used in a Greek translation of the Old Testament called the Septuagint. It was used specifically to describe the Garden of Eden, from which Adam and Eve were expelled by God when they disobeyed him. In that story, an angel with a flaming sword was placed at the east of the garden to guard the way to the tree of life and to prevent re-entry.Jesus is saying, quite simply, “I will take you back to the Garden of Eden – I will take you back to Paradise and you will be with me there.”Notice also that he says the word, “Today”. Now, in the original Greek, the word “Today” simply means, “Today”. In other words, Jesus is saying, “When you and I die upon these crosses today, we will be together in the Garden Paradise of God.”This is an astonishing statement and should not be passed over lightly. Christ is promising immediate translation into the presence of God upon death.This is an idea that is confirmed in various other places in Scripture. For example, the Apostle Paul said that to be away from the body is to be at home with the Lord (2 Cor. 5:8). In the letter to the Philippians, he tells us that he desires to depart from this life to be with Christ, ‘for that is far better’ (Phil. 1:23).Now, it must be said that the Bible also tells us of a future state in which the dead are raised in glorious new bodies and at which point the whole of the universe will be wonderfully recreated without sin, brokenness, pain or death.This is not the state Jesus speaks of to the condemned criminal. Rather, he speaks of a state in-between our present lives and that final, glorious and resurrected world. This in-between state is the Paradise of God. We do not know exactly the details of that place but it is surely glorious and rich and abundant. For it is a return to the Garden Paradise of Eden where we will walk with God himself in the cool of the morning.Conversely, there is very little evidence upon the lips of Christ or the Apostles that the souls of Christian believers “sleep” upon death until the resurrection. Nor is there really any Scriptural evidence for the doctrine of Purgatory, which was developed after the time of Christ and the Apostles. That doctrine says that most believers, although their sins are forgiven, must still endure a potentially long and painful period of purification before they can enter fully into the presence of God. Our passage today is a notoriously difficult one for theologians who hold this position, since it is very difficult to reconcile with that idea.I have to be honest also and say that I believe that the Doctrine of Purgatory obscures the reality of the Gospel as it was taught by Christ and the Apostles. The Gospel offers us true forgiveness and reconciliation with God now in this life, based upon our repentance and faith. Good works follow but they are not how we obtain forgiveness. And, more to the point, the Gospel tells us that we have a real and tangible hope that we will be with God in Christ as soon as we die: our sins forgiven and removed from us, our souls cleansed by the power of God. No further need for pain and purification but eternal life given to us

It's not the end of the world...yet

Mon, 17 Nov 2025 14:23:01 +0000

“Teacher, when will these things be?”At the beginning of our Gospel passage, some people speak to Jesus of the Temple, saying that it is adorned with stones and votive offerings. Jesus replies in an unexpected way: “As for these things that you see, the days will come when there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”His disciples ask him when these things will be and what signs will accompany such a monumental event. Jesus then begins a discourse in which he warns of false messiahs, international wars, tumults, earthquakes, famines, pestilences, terrors and great signs from heaven. He also predicts the persecution of his followers: arrests, trials, and ostracization from their own families.What is all this about? Most scholars and theologians have agreed that Jesus is doing two things in this discourse. Firstly, he is predicting the destruction of the Second Temple, which occurred in A.D. 70 at the hands of the Roman Empire.But this alone does not account for the imagery of the passage. In the typical style of the Jewish prophets, it seems that Christ was speaking of events both near and far. He was speaking of the destruction of Jerusalem and using that as a symbol of the very end of history. In Christian theology we call this subject “Eschatology” or we speak of it as the “End Times”.Signs of the EndI have already mentioned that Jesus describes a situation of great global instability, talking of natural disasters on an unprecedented scale: famines, pestilences, earthquakes. He speaks of international wars: kingdoms and nations turned against each other. He implies that people will, at this time, be terrified. And he tells us that many will come in his name, saying, “I am he!” and “The time is at hand!”Let’s think about this for a moment. We can observe a clear dynamic in the text.It starts with a crisis – perhaps something unprecedented - which leads people to be afraid. And, being afraid, they look for solutions that promise hope and deliverance. More than that, they look for people who promise these things.These false messiahs of whom Jesus warns are very interesting. Firstly, they are not purely secular but invoke the name of Jesus Christ, claiming to represent him and his values.Secondly, they exalt themselves: “I am he!” they say, and “The time is at hand!” Meaning, of course, that their rise to prominence is the crucial moment of history and that they will bring deliverance.There is also urgency about these statements: “It must be now. You must do what I say immediately and, if not, we will all be doomed because of your lack of compliance.”This is a psycho-spiritual dynamic that, Christ warns us, has the capacity to deceive and lead astray many. He is telling us so that we might be aware of it and so that we might not suffer this fate.But what is the relevance?You may ask, “What is the relevance of these things if we are not living either in AD 70 or in the final moments of history?”I would answer this question in two ways. The pattern Christ describes is for all of history and not just for the very end. We know this because the pattern is observable not just in AD70 but at all times.These discourses are given to us so that we might recognise the signs of the times. As strange as it might sound, we may very well be getting close to the end of history. It will come at some point and so Christ tells us these things so that we might be prepared.To elaborate on this theme, Christ appears to be describing global crises that affect the majority – if not all – of the world’s population. Indeed, this is confirmed when we look at other relevant texts in the Bible. We might look here at Revelation 13, which describes a diabolical beast given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation. “All who dwell on earth will worship it” (Rev. 13:8) we are told. Later in the chapter, a second beast rises out of the earth and is given similar authority. The beast is said to cause all, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead with the mark of the beast, which is the beast’s name and the number of its name. No one can buy or sell unless he has the mark. The number is six hundred and sixty-six (Rev. 13:11-18).One must be cautious with the symbolic imagery here, but Revelation 13 really does seem to be describing the creation of a worldwide economic system. People will be locked out of this system unless they take the mark of the beast upon themselves. Who knows whether this will be a literal mark upon the body or a mark of some other type. But what is clear is that it will apply to everyone in the world and will constitute some pledge of idolatrous loyalty to the beast who has set himself up in the place of God.I mention all of this because we now live in a world in which this sort of thing is possible for the first time. This is true of many things of which Jesus speaks in this passage: global wars, for example. These have only been possible for about a hundred years or so. Worldwide famines: these are perhaps uniquely possible now because of the interconnected global supply chain that could leave nations starving were some economic, climactic, cyber or technological catastrophe to come about.It is only now that a false messiah could arise and appear on billions of screens simultaneously the world over to proclaim his message of universal deliverance. It was not possible before. It is now.And we’ve seen previews of this dynamic: global crises arise concerning disease, the climate, war, and other things - and voices arise demanding conformity and obedience in exchange for safety and deliverance: “Entrust yourself to us completely and we will save you!” Be wary of these sorts of promises. Remember to be discerning, even in the midst of the tumults of our times.What does Jesus tell us to do?Jesus gives us some clear commandments about what we are to do – not just at the end but always. Let’s listen to him.Firstly, “Do not be led astray” and “Do not go after them” (v.8), that is, the false messiahs. I have already observed that fear may lead us to make unwise decisions. This is why Christ says to us, “Do not be terrified” (v.9). Now this doesn’t mean, “Feel no fear” because we cannot totally control what we feel. But it means, “Don’t allow fear to dominate you. Make your decisions based upon faith in Christ and not fear of disaster”.Observe here also that peer pressure plays a role in all of this. It’s very tempting to go with the crowd, especially at a time of crisis. Later on, Jesus warns us that we may even be rejected by our closest family members. Be prepared for this. It is not always the case that we must be in a minority but as followers of Christ we must be prepared to say “No” to the people who are around us because we are saying “Yes” to Jesus – not always but sometimes.How can we tell when we are being led astray? There is no simple answer to this question. But we might observe that when we are told to disobey the commandments of God - or even to worship another God in some idolatrous fashion - then we are in spiritual danger. The deception will probably be more subtle at first but it will tend in this direction.The guarantee is to know who Jesus is, to know what he says, and to be prepared to follow him come what may.I recall here the words of the Apostle Paul in the Book of Romans, ‘Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect’ (Romans 12:2). We can only know what the will of God is if we attend to the revelation of God in Jesus Christ which we learn about primarily through the Holy Scriptures. If you don’t understand the content of the faith then you will have no defence against the deception that arises from the world. That is true now and it will be increasingly true towards the end.Secondly, we must persevere. Christ warns us that persecution will come. Especially at times of global crises but at other times too, the world will place pressure on us to conform. We will be rejected by those closest to us. We will be delivered up to political authorities for Christ and we will be tried before them. Do not be afraid, Jesus tells us: I will be with you and I will give you a mouth and wisdom which your adversaries will not be able to contradict. “You will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But not a hair of your head will perish” (vv.17-18).These are the promises by which we are to hold fast. Christ tells us elsewhere, “Do not fear those who can kill the body but cannot kill the soul” (Matt. 10:28). Rather, put your trust in God who will sustain both according to his power and his steadfast faithfulness.May God give to us a spirit of discernment, that we may be able to know wisdom from error, truth from lies, and the spirit of Jesus Christ from the spirit of his enemies.In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit holytrinitywinchester.substack.com

How Blissful the Destitute!

Mon, 03 Nov 2025 15:01:10 +0000

How blissful the destitute!“Blessed are you who are poor,” says Christ in the translation we have just heard. I would like to use a slightly different one:“How blissful the destitute!”The word for “blessed” or “blissful” (makarios) has been translated various ways including “happy”, “fortunate” or “prosperous”. But in my view “blissful” is the best because the original word had connotations of divine or heavenly bliss. Our word “blissful” captures this better than the alternatives.“Blissful” also speaks of a present state. Whatever Christ is speaking of is bliss – joy, happiness, heavenly light in this life now.But it is not long before we run into a problem: “How blissful the destitute!”Again, our translation mentions “the poor”. But “the destitute” captures it much better. For destitution is utter emptiness, devastation, ruin, loss.This is not a state of material poverty but the spiritual and existential reality of one who has realised his true standing in his relationship with God.So the question is: How do bliss and spiritual destitution go together? What is Christ talking about?The answer is that it is in the recognition of our radical need for, and dependence upon, God that we encounter bliss or blessedness. For it is in this recognition that the illusion of the world passes away and we come face-to-face which that which truly is.Let’s consider the different types of destitution that we must acknowledge:Firstly, the destitution of repentance. Sin, most simply, is the wandering of a soul far away from God. Like the Prodigal Son in the far away country. Repentance is the return of the soul to God.Why do we sin? On the deepest level it is because we believe that sin can bring us deeper satisfaction than God. Therefore, repentance is the overturning of this belief and the actions that go with it. It is motivated by desire to find true life, joy and happiness in the place where it can really be found.Be encouraged, therefore, friends, if you feel the conviction of the Holy Spirit, calling you to repentance. This is simply a calling back to God, to the source of all life and hope. Yield to this conviction, knowing that God will have mercy as a Father has compassion on his children, and that he desires for you to know him again.Secondly, we speak about the destitution of soul. This is the recognition that, without God, I have nothing.The great mystical theologian Meister Eckhart put it like this: we are all created by God and exist within God. All things are held in being by God and shine with his radiance. God has given us powers – the ability to live, to breathe, to sense, to act. But, somewhere along the line, we have forgotten that these powers come from God and that, at every moment, they are sustained by him. We are alienated from God not because God is separate from us. Indeed, God cannot be separate from us because he is present everywhere and is sustaining all things continually. Rather, we have forgotten him. We have strayed from him in our minds and in our souls. We imagine that our powers and abilities are all that we are without. We are like a reflection in a mirror that has forgotten its original image.Destitution of soul, then, is the recognition of this reality. It is the recognition that we so often look to the things of this world for ultimate life, joy and peace and that, yet, the world can give us none of these things apart from God.I think here of the discipline of fasting, that is, of not eating anything. In my experience, nothing brings about this realisation more quickly and efficiently than the attempt to fast. It is not only that the body feels hungry but that the soul begins to cry out: “I must have food or I will never be satisfied. There is no happiness for me in this life without it.”And this is true of so many other things also: we tell ourselves that, unless we have this or this or this, then we can never know contentment and peace. And, yet, were we ever to obtain those things, then the joy would be passing and often trivial.Recognising this is a kind of devastation. For example, when fasting, I look at my soul and I see how radically dependent it is upon food, how it cannot be happy without it, and I am dismayed by this, particularly if I thought that I was a very spiritual person who really loved God. For I am not.So we see that the world holds no deep satisfaction for us, that we, as it were, inhabit a vast and empty wasteland with no sustenance, no life, no light, no joy. And, as we recognise this, something comes to birth within us: the desire for that which truly brings these things, the desire for God. And this desire for God leads us to seek him, to know him, to find him. And this is bliss.“Yours is the Kingdom of God”And this is why Jesus tells us that destitution leads to bliss. This is why he says, “Yours is the Kingdom of God.” Later on in this passage he will talk about future, but here he speaks of a present reality: yours is the Kingdom of God.This reminds me very much of another saying of Jesus in Luke 17: “The Kingdom (of God) does not come as something one observes, Nor will persons say, ‘Look: Here it is’ or ‘There it is’ for look: The Kingdom of God is within you.” (Luke 17:20-21)The original language makes it abundantly clear here that Jesus is not speaking of the Kingdom of God among you or in your midst, but within you. It could also be translated “inside of (you)”. Whatever you prefer, the meaning is clear: the Kingdom of God is not a visible reality out there in the world. Nor is it arriving in that way. But it is already a present reality within you. All you have to do is to recognise it.Let go of all that hinders you from realising the Kingdom of God within you and you will find it. Turn not only from sin but from the desire for things apart from, and outside of, God. Turn from the illusion that you are, or that the world is, without him, and you will see him in all things. Yours is the Kingdom of God.A Word on HeavenAnd, yet, even with all of this, one must also say that there is something greater to be realised: “How blissful those who are now hungry, for you shall feast; how blissful those now weeping, for you shall laugh; How blissful you when men hate you and when they exclude you and reproach you and reject your name as something wicked, for the Son of Man’s sake: On that day, rejoice and leap about; for look: Your reward in Heaven is great; for their fathers accordingly did the same things to the prophets.” (Luke 7:21-23)Here Christ speaks of a future reward. Again, it seems that some of these phrases should be interpreted in a spiritual sense: those who are hungry are those who hunger and thirst after the righteousness of God. Those who weep are those who mourn over their sin and their distance from God. Those who are persecuted for Christ are those who have preferred him to the things of the world. And the world has hated them for it.If then you hunger, weep and suffer, rejoice and leap about! Why? Because a great reward, an unimaginably great reward, awaits you. Imagine the world and all that is in it, transfigured by eternal glory, and that all of this, after only a short time, will be yours forever.And one final word…And one final word, since this is All Saints Day. In our reading from the book of Ephesians, the Apostle Paul tells us that the Church is the body of Christ, the fullness of the one who fills all in all. What exactly does Paul mean by this phrase?It seems that Paul is saying two things: firstly that Christ is the fullness of God and that he is everywhere present in all of the universe. But, secondly, that the Church (the gathering, the ekklesia) is the fullness of this fullness. This must mean that the Church is the place where the fullness of Christ’s presence is, at it were, fully realised, established and intensified.Think about that for a moment: this place, filled with normal people like us, with all of our brokenness, our sin, our problems, our mess, this place is the place where the fullest fullness of God is realised. This is the place where Christ is, if you like, on display. This is the place where men and women are drawn to him, to know him, to live for him and by him. What an incredible joy and privilege to be in this place.In you, in me, in us together, the Kingdom of God is present and is coming. Rejoice!In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit holytrinitywinchester.substack.com

How can a person be right with God? - The Pharisee and the Tax Collector

Mon, 27 Oct 2025 12:13:30 +0000

How can a person be right with God? This is one of the most central questions to all of human existence. It’s probably true that most religions are an attempt on some level to answer this question.When considered seriously, human beings know that it is not an easy question to answer. Most of us have some awareness of what Christians would call “sin”. That is, that we fall short of the moral standard that is required of us. And that, in some way, this distances us from God in his holiness and purity.How can be right with him? How can we have communion with him?The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector speaks to this question in such an important way. Let’s consider it.The PhariseeTo begin, Jesus spoke to “certain persons who were confident in themselves that they were righteous whilst despising everyone else”.The word for righteous relates to the question I just mentioned. It comes from a group of words that is used frequently in the New Testament, the root word of which is dikaiosune. This word relates not only to moral uprightness but to being justified in the sight of God.So these people’s answer to the question of how I can be right with God is essentially through my own personal moral goodness.In this story, the Pharisee enters the Temple with great confidence, standing upright and praying about himself. One of the things he says is, “I fast twice a week and tithe from everything whatsoever that I earn.” Now, it’s true that he thanks God for his wonderful situation but really this comes across as a religious gloss on what is essentially pride in his own religious accomplishments: “Look at how great I am.”And the way that this is made clear is in his attitude to other people: “God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of mankind – rapacious, unjust, adulterous – or even like this tax-collector.”Why compare himself to other people in this way? Simply, because it makes him feel good about himself. I am right; they are wrong. I am good; they are bad. I’m committed; they are lazy. And so on and so on.I have to say that I’ve come across a lot of this sort of thing in the Christian world. Christ obviously understood people’s hearts and could foresee this. Whole denominations of the Christian Church become obsessed with comparing themselves favourably to other Christians. “I thank you, God, that I am not like other men. I’ve got my doctrine straight. I do not compromise over moral issues. I am in the right part of the Christian Church. I am upright in every way and will not have any contact with those who are unclean in my sight.”For anyone on the receiving end, it’s a deeply unpleased and ungracious attitude. It’s amazing how easy we find it to take the teaching and example of Christ and to turn it into fractious, ugly, judgemental and without love, charity, or humility.I should say that I think this is a particularly apt word for those people who consider theological orthodoxy and the tradition of the Church to be important, indeed central, to the faith. This can quite easily turn into the kind of self-righteous Pharisaism that Jesus denounced.The Tax CollectorHaving said that, there are some things that we can do to avoid this kind of nasty religion. Let’s think about the Tax Collector. Jesus tells us that he stood some way off and wouldn’t lift his eyes to heaven and that he beat upon his breast. Even his body language spoke of his awareness of his unworthiness before God.He said, quite simply, “God, grant mercy to me, a sinner.”So, firstly, he recognised the problem: I am a sinner.This is perhaps an unfashionable observation today: we are all sinners. What does this mean? It means that there is a moral law which is grounded in the holiness and perfection of God and which is binding on every single human being alive. And it means that we often fall short of what is required of us in this regard and we frequently therefore encounter feelings of guilt and shame.For some people, that description will be more than familiar. Many people’s lives are beset by guilt and shame – for things done in the past, for habits that one can’t shake in the present. Christian or not, we know that we are falling short. We know that we’re not doing what we should be. But we can’t meet the standard for some reason. We just keep failing.For others, they may be less aware of sin. They may be like the Pharisee: self-righteous and upright in comparison with those they find contemptible. But those who have this attitude are self-deceived. They are sinners too. But they choose not to focus on the areas of their lives and character where they fall short.This is a way of testing what I am saying: think about the greatest moral failure you have in your life. It could be a habit that you can’t shake for reason. Or it could be an instinctive or emotional reaction that you have to something that you can’t seem to stop. We can come to church and get ourselves together for a couple of hours. But what about the rest of the time?As I say, this is true for everyone, including me and including all apparently religious or holy people. I, Fr Jamie Franklin, your priest, am a sinner. I don’t need to go into it all here and now but I could certainly do so. I get things wrong on a daily basis. My wife and my children know this about me. Anyone who knows me well know this about me. I want to do certain things. I want to be a certain way. But the things I want to do and the way I want to be somehow don’t come about for some reason. Perhaps I’m making some slow progress, but, on the whole, I am frequently astounded at my lack of holiness, despite my best efforts. And I am meant to be a priest. I am meant to help others in their faith. And yet I can’t do it myself. What use am I?And perhaps it’s the same for you. Perhaps you have the same voice in your mind: I can’t believe I’m still like this. I’m meant to be a Christian. I’m meant to take the name of Christ and yet still I persist in my rebellion and sin. What could I possibly do or be for God when I am like this?Let me encourage you, friends – or rather let the words of Christ encourage you – there is hope. But this hope does not come from ourselves by making more moral effort. It comes from God. It comes from Christ and the Gospel.This is clearly implied in the prayer of the Tax Collector. “God, grant mercy to me, a sinner.”The Greek word for “grant mercy” or “be merciful” is hilaskomai, which is a word that means some thing like, “expiate” or “make atonement for”.To understand this, let’s go back to that original question: How can I be right before God? One of the central answers that people have come up with in many of the world’s culture and religions is “sacrifice”: I am obviously sinful, but I can atone for my sin by making a sacrifice. That sacrifice might be of food – a libation poured out to the gods – It might be an animal, slaughtered and offered up. In many world cultures the sacrifice has even been that of human beings.The Good News that comes to us from the Gospel is that atonement has been made for our sin. A sacrifice has been offered. This sacrifice is not of food or animals or other people. But this sacrifice has been offered by God himself through Jesus Christ. Our sin is such a serious problem that it required the greatest sacrifice imaginable, which is the sacrifice of God’s own Son, given for us upon the cross.Through the cross, God has purchased our souls for himself. Through the cross, our sin has been removed from us and put upon God’s only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. Through the cross, our unrighteousness has been placed upon him and his righteousness – his rightness with God – has been given to us.So, for the Christian, the answer to the question: How can I be right with God? Is that we can be right with God through the blood of Jesus Christ. Only this great, final, complete and perfect sacrifice is sufficient to atone for the sins of the whole world.So, friends, I stand before you a miserable sinner like everyone else. You are the same as me. And, yet, we can be here together, justified by God’s grace, reconciled to God through his Son, Jesus Christ, without shame, without guilt, without fear, without the need to compare ourselves with others – whether favourably or unfavourably. Our atonement is accomplished; the sacrifice is complete. The Tax Collector returned to his house justified.The Beginning and the WayFriends, let the truth change your hearts. Refresh yourselves in the waters of God’s mercy. One of the most amazing things about the Gospel is that it not only gives you a way to begin, so to speak, a way to come into the presence of God. It gives you the desire and the means to continue striving after holiness. It changes you inside to know that God has shown his love in such a sacrificial and lavish and complete way. The only response can surely be a life laid down in love and service for him: Given all of this, how can I keep from singing his praise? How can I keep from giving my love and my life when he has already given so freely and so completely for me? The message of the Gospel is what changes us, from the inside-out.Two different religions: one of pride, self-righteousness, obsession with rules and appearances; one of humility, dependence upon God’s grace in Christ, a transformation of the deepest depths of the heart so that love may motivate, love may inspire, love may endure.“For everyone who exalts himself with be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit holytrinitywinchester.substack.com

A Humble Faith/A Worker Who Has No Need To Be Ashamed

Tue, 21 Oct 2025 14:01:28 +0000

“Behold, I know that there is no God in all the earth but in Israel…”2 Kings 5:15Naaman the SyrianI’ll start with the story of Namaan, commander of the army of Syria.This was a period of peace between historic enemies Israel and Aram. Namaan was commander of Syria’s armies but a man afflicted by leprosy or a similar skin disease. Through apparent chance, an Israelite girl knew of the prophet Elisha who could heal Naaman.So Naaman, with permission of the king goes to Syria. First taking huge gifts of gold and clothing to the king of Israel, who is powerless and melodramatic.This is contrasted with Elisha, confident in God and without fear.Naaman came to Elisha’s house with his horses and chariots but Elisha would not come out. Sending a messenger saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean.”Imagine the wounded pride of Naaman, commander of the armies of Syria, expecting first the king and then the prophet and getting only a message to demean himself by washing in a foreign river.He was angry, saying, “Behold, I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call upon the name of the LORD his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper. Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better that all the water of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and went away in a rage.In other words, “I was expecting something spectacular. Instead I’m being told to demean myself. If I wanted to a bath, I need not have left my home country.”And yet his servants demonstrated greater spiritual insight in their response to him. Our translation – the English Standard Version – falls very short at this point, giving us almost the exact opposite sense to the original Hebrew. It says that the servants said, “My father, it is a great word the prophet has spoken to you; will you not do it?”Compare this with almost any other translation and you will see the difference. Consider the Revised Standard Version, ‘“My father, if the prophet had commanded you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he says to you, “Wash, and be clean?”’This captures the point perfectly: if the prophet had said for you to do something really difficult, you would have done it. You were up for the challenge. But he’s told you to do something easy, so why not give it a try? What’s the worst that can happen? What have you got to lose? Not very much, and yet you’ve got everything to gain.As a modern paraphrase says, ‘“Master, if the prophet had asked you to do something hard and heroic, wouldn’t you have done it? So why not this simple “wash and be clean?””’Well, we know what the answer is of course: pride. I am too good for this simple answer. I am too important. There must be something exceptional I am called to because I am exceptional.And so, a moment of clarity for Naaman, who listened to sense and went and washed in the Jordan seven times and was cleansed.‘Then he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and he came and stood before him. And he said, “Behold, I know there is no God is all the earth but Israel; So accept now a present from you servant.”This humble obedience led to spiritual revelation and thanksgiving.The Story of the Ten LepersWe see a similar dynamic in the Gospel reading, the story of the ten lepers. They came to Jesus asking for healing and he gave them a simple command: “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” As they were doing it, they were healed.And yet, one came back, a Samaritan, a foreigner, to give thanks to Jesus and praise to God. “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” And Jesus said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.”A Humble FaithWhat is the point of these stories? Can we not see ourselves so clearly in the figure of Naaman the Syrian who wanted something spectacular but was in fact called to humble obedience?It is hard to accept perhaps that we are called to the same thing: to repentance, faith in Christ, and obedience to God. Much of the world is not interested in this because they are too hard of heart and proud to accept that they are just like everyone else.But this applies to those in the church also. It is very easy to imagine that the basic message of the Christian faith is too simple and easy, that there must be something more to it, that there must be some intellectual or political component that will be more engaging.Before I criticise this, let me say that Christianity is, of course, deeply intellectually robust. I do not criticise anyone for having an intellectual engagement with the faith. This is quite necessary in many contexts.Nor do I criticise anyone for thinking about the political implications of Christianity. These are important questions and, again, are necessary in certain contexts.However, it is a constant temptation for the Church and for individual Christians to become distracted by an overtly intellectual or academic version of the faith or (and to be honest I think this is a much worse temptation) a political version of it.The attitude appears to me to be something like this: Those unsophisticated Christians may speak about repentance, faith, the Scriptures, the Gospel, eternal life, heaven and hell, and things like this. But I speak about relevant political issues that will make me and my Church appear more relevant in the eyes of modern people.This is a terrible spiritual mistake and it can leads to a deadening of lively and real faith.Perhaps I can put it like this: you may have a Christian politics; you should not have a political Christianity.The cart comes before the horses: repentance, humility, faith, obedience, day-to-day walk with God in holy devotion. All of this first. Political implications a distant second and much of the time not at all.“A worker who has no need to be ashamed…”Let’s finish with some words from our reading from 2 Timothy: ‘Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.”‘A worker who has no need to be ashamed’ – This idea crops up in Paul’s letters frequently: don’t be ashamed.Why does he feel the need to keep saying this? Because the world will try to shame you. It’s one of the ways the enemy will try and dampen your faith and ultimately destroy it. If he can’t get you to walk away from the Lord. He will make you feel a bit silly, so that you’ll pipe down a bit.But you, do your best to present yourself to God as one who has no reason to be ashamed. Like Naaman, humble before yourself before God through obedience and faith and you find healing, restoration and peace. Only die to your pride so that the power of God can live in you.In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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Faith That Moves Mulberry Trees

Thu, 09 Oct 2025 09:05:10 +0000

“Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him,but the righteous shall live by faith.”Habakkuk 2:4The Faith that Moves Mulberry TreesToday I’m going to be talking on the subject of faith: a small word with immense importance.We begin with our reading from Luke’s Gospel. The context is that Jesus has just told his disciples that they must continually forgive those who sin against them.“Increase our faith!” they say. In other words: this is extremely hard. We will need more faith in order to be able to do it.Jesus’ response: “If you had faith like the grain of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea’, and it would obey you”.The point is not about moving mulberry trees but that forgiving your enemies is only the very beginning of what faith can accomplish. Think much bigger than that.The disciples will do great things for the Kingdom of God, taking the Gospel all over the world and preaching to all sorts of people. And they would die for the faith eventually.We too can accomplish great things for God if we have faith. But faith is crucial to all of it.So this request – Increase our faith! – is a good one for them and all of us.What is Faith?“What is faith?” Here I look to the words of the Apostle Paul to his young disciple Timothy:‘I am reminded of your sincere faith…For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God…’ 2 Tim. 1:6Firstly, faith is a gift of God. It does not come from us initially but is an invitation to believe. We are invited. He offers the gift and we choose to respond or not.This is important. Paul says that God ‘saved us and called us to a holy calling not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began’ 2 Tim. 1:9.The glory belongs to God because he initiates and he empowers the response. Remember that we are called by grace and not according to our own brilliance – far from it.Secondly, faith is a response to God. There are two parts to this, both reflected in the Greek word used for faith in the New Testament – pistis.Faith is believing and trusting in the promises of God. Hebrews says, ‘Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen’ (Heb. 11:1). There is an intellectual component to faith.We have faith that God is who he says he is and that he will accomplish his word. Specifically, that he will forgive us for our sins, reconcile us to himself and give us eternal life through Jesus.But “pistis” can also be translated “faithfulness”, which indicates an ongoing life of trust and commitment.When we turn from sin we are exercising faith. When we adopt godly habits and obey God’s commandments, we are exercising faith.Paul was telling Timothy: keep preaching, keep pastoring, keep ministering. This was how he exercised faith.Slightly different for each of us: keep demonstrating the love of Christ to your spouse or in your workplace, keep sharing the Gospel with others when you have the chance, keep working for the Kingdom of God. There are many ways we are called to exercise faith.But see how faith is two things: belief and commitment. Without this commitment the belief part doesn’t mean very much. Like saying, “I love my wife” but never doing anything to demonstrate that love. Our commitment is a sign of our faith.What does faith result in?Paul says, ‘God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord…but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God’ 2 Tim. 1:7The result of faith: freedom from fear. Fear of insult or rejection, loss or the future, failure and disappointment. Why? Because we look to the power of God to accomplish his purposes.Paul often mentions the resurrection in the context of faith: ‘(the power of God)…which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Saviour Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel’ 2 Tim. 1:11In other words: if God has already achieved this for us, then he can and will do everything else necessary.The result of faith: power, love, self-control, the capacity to share in suffering for the Gospel. Faith transforms us. As we look to God through Jesus, we are changed more and more into the image of Christ.An example: when we look to certain people we become like them. Think of YouTube: if we look at fitness influencers, we think about fitness more and take on their values. Same for eg gardeners, beauty stylists, or musicians etc. The thing that look at is the thing that we become like.If we look to Christ, we will become like him, having power, love, self-control and the ability to suffer in obedience to God.How do we get more faith?This leads us back to the disciples’ original request: Increase our faith! How do we get more faith to serve God and accomplish great things?The Apostle Paul uses a lovely image: ‘Fan into flame the gift of God.’ A fire inside that needs to be tended.This is an invitation to the spiritual life, which is varied in its manifestations. But the principles are the same. It begins with looking. It continues with acting. And it is further strengthened through reflection.Looking – Looking is about reflecting upon the things of God and speaking to God in prayer. We do this when we come together and alone and in smaller groups. Each time we pray, meditate on Scripture, spend time in silence, receive Holy Communion, we are looking to God, reminding ourselves of his promises, and communing with him in spirit.This is where you get the petrol in the tank. If you don’t know how, there are people and materials out there from which to learn.Acting – Simply: do what God calls you to do day-by-day in faith. For me, it’s writing sermons and other things, pastoring people, taking services, being a good husband and father, and a few other things. What is it for you? How might doing these things in faith change your perspective on them? Might not be immediately clear. Reflect upon it. Ask God to show you.Reflecting – Something Paul does all the time. Not just acting and seeing God come through, but noting his faithfulness.Later in 2 Tim, at the end of his life: ‘The Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory for ever and ever. Amen.’ 2 Tim. 4:17-18.Look back on times when you have needed to trust God. See how he has provided for you. Many times like this for me: not knowing next steps, worried about money, worried about challenges. And, yet, I’m here. I’m okay. God has provided thus far and he will do so again until the end.“Lord, increase our faith!” A wonderful prayer. By looking, acting and reflecting, let’s put it into practice.In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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War Between Michael and the Devil

Mon, 29 Sep 2025 13:18:28 +0000

Now war arose in heaven…In a departure from my normal practice, I am going to speak today on our New Testament reading which comes from the Book of Revelation, chapter 12:7-12. This passage describes a war in heaven between Michael and his angels and the Great Dragon, Satan, and his angels. Michael prevailed and the Dragon was thrown down to the earth along with his angels. A loud voice is heard, telling the author John that the authority of God’s Kingdom and of his Christ have been established because the accuser of the brethren has been thrown down to earth.“And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows his time is short!”What is all of this about? First, we have to understand that the Book of Revelation is written in the Apocalyptic genre. Apocalyptic literally means an unveiling. So this book is an unveiling of the spiritual realities that are normally hidden from our eyes. The book does this by using symbolic language and imagery. A lot of the time it is not clear whether it is speaking about an event in the past or the future or indeed if it talking about a specific event at all rather than a pattern that repeats throughout history.Here we see a cosmic battle in progress between two sets of angels. Who are these angels? Most commentators have said that this passage, only with other in Scripture, implies that Satan and his angels were created by God as loyal subjects but that, at some point, they rebelled against him and sought to overthrow his authority.The other angels with Michael their leader represent the angels who remain faithful to God. These loyal angels are spoken about throughout Scripture as those who protect God’s people, those who protect, guide and help them, those who deliver messages from God to humanity, those who strengthen and encourage, those who execute God’s judgement upon the wicked for his people’s benefit, and those who worship God alongside believers. Finally, in a Parable of Jesus, it is implied that angels escort believers into heaven when they die.In our passage, then, we see rebellious angels fighting against those who remain loyal to God, a cosmic war.The Fall of SatanSatan loses this battle and is thrown down to earth. The story implies that whatever influence Satan had in heaven is now transferred to the terrestrial realm, the world that we live in now.The symbolism tells us that the cosmic rebellion of Satan against God has decisively failed. Satan is defeated in the heavens and there is a very real sense that he is defeated in our world as well. However, he is still at large and active today.Interpreters are divided as to whether Satan’s fall is an historical event that happened once at some point in the past. But what we can say from a symbolic perspective is that Satan’s fall is ongoing every time sin and rebellion against God is overcome in this world.What is the activity of Satan now? The first thing we can say is that, due to Satan’s defeat in heaven, he is full of wrath because he knows that the time is short. He has been defeated in the cosmic realm and he has been defeated in our realm also. However, he seems to have been granted a certain amount of time to ply his mischief before his final destruction. He is aware of this and therefore is full of rage. He wants to take people with him to his final destruction.His tactics are deception and accusation. He is called here by the loud voice in heaven (which perhaps is the voice of God himself), “the deceiver of the whole world”. This does not mean that literally everybody in the world is deceived by him but that he has influence to deceive all over the world. He wants to people to believe lies in order that he might lead them away from God.He is also called “the accuser of our brethren” which indicates that his agenda is to condemn humanity. It could be that here is indicated specifically those who are Christians and part of the Church. He accuses of insincerity and failure those who are seeking to live a godly life, to discourage and deflect them from the path to God. He seeks to bring about feelings of guilt and condemnation so that we might no longer believe in God’s grace and therefore wander away from him.To the Pharisees who opposed him in John’s Gospel, chapter 8, Jesus said, “You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” In his discourse on the Good Shepherd in the same Gospel, Jesus tells us that, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.”The devil is a liar, an accuser, a thief, and a murderer. He seeks to steal, to kill, and to destroy.Why is it important to say all of this? It is because we have to recognise that we, along with the holy angels, are at war with Satan and with the powers of evil. The good news is that we have the victory in Christ (which I’ll say more about in a moment), but we have to be realistic about this. We have an enemy and our enemy has a plan.Friends, do not be deceived. You have an adversary. He will destroy your faith. He will destroy your family. He will destroy your future. He will destroy whatever witness you have for Christ. He will ultimately destroy your soul if you allow him to. Be wise to him and oppose him. As the Apostle Peter said, ‘Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith’ (1 Peter 5:8-9).They have conquered by the blood of the Lamb…And yet perhaps the most important thing of all has not yet been said: “And they have conquered (Satan) by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death”.This sentence is a guide to spiritual warfare in a nutshell. What does it tell us? Firstly, that the victory that we have over Satan, sin and death is not from our own power but it is from Christ. Specifically, it is the blood of Christ that overcomes the accusations of Satan.This is a reference to the cross of Christ. It is true that we are guilty of sin. When Satan accuses us, he may at least partially tell the truth. We are all sinners. We have sinned. We will sin. And we do sin. We will fail and fall in our Christian lives. There is no doubt of this. To that extent, Satan is correct. However, he is not correct that there is no hope and that there is no forgiveness. There is hope and there is forgiveness and it is through the cross of Jesus Christ that they are purchased for us. In the words of the beautiful hymn, Before the Throne of God Above:When Satan tempts me to despair and tells me of the guilt within;Upward I look and see him there, who made an end to all my sin.Because the sinless saviour died, my sinful soul is counted free,For God the just is satisfied to look on him and pardon me.Friends, Christ has taken our place upon the cross. He has died for us, receiving whatever penalty was due. We are free from condemnation and guilt in him. As the Apostle Paul said, ‘There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus’ (Romans 8:1). Let Satan say what he will.But, secondly, the saints conquer the devil through the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. Here we see something of what we are called to as those who have been set free by Jesus: we are to bear witness to the Gospel in all the world. We are to speak for Jesus, inviting people to believe the truth and to come to know him for themselves.Make no mistake friends, there will be a cost for speaking for Jesus. Jesus promises us this: “Blessed are you when others 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 so they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 5:11).This, paradoxically, is how we overcome: by bearing witness to the truth of the Gospel even through persecution and death.Friends, Christians do not employ the same diabolic tactics as these: we do not lie; we do not slander; we do not murder. We bear witness to the truth, even to death. We overcome not through our own righteousness but through the blood of Jesus Christ. Rejoice, friends, therefore with St Michael and the holy angels: the battle belongs to the Lord.In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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The Lost Sheep and The Lost Coin

Tue, 16 Sep 2025 10:09:49 +0000

‘To the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honour and glory forever and ever. Amen.’The Lost SheepWe begin today with a familiar scene from the life of Jesus: tax collectors and sinners drawing near whilst the Pharisees and scribes grumble.Now, the objection of the Pharisees and scribes is not elaborated but it is fairly sure to say that they were concerned about maintaining separation from those who had defiled themselves through sinning in order that they (that is, the Pharisees) might maintain ritual purity. They had a view of sin which is similar to the view that we have of infectious diseases: if you get too close, you risk contamination.But, of course, this is not what all of this is really about: what it is really about is their sense of religious pride and their hardness of heart towards the people they were supposed to love and serve in the name of God.Jesus, as ever, came to show the world a different way. And so he tells a parable about a man with a hundred sheep. He loses one and leave the ninety-nine to go and find it. And then he comes home, calling his friends and neighbours to himself, rejoicing.There is more joy, in heaven, he tells us, over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine who need no repentance.In other words, the reason that he eats with tax collectors and sinners is because God seeks those who are willing to repent and to be reconciled to him. This brings about rejoicing in heaven. And God’s seeking those who are lost is manifested in the Incarnation: Christ leaving his throne in heaven to become as we are, to enter our world, to journey far from his homeland, so that he might find us and save us.The irony of Christ’s statement about ninety-nine who need no repentance is that such people really do not exist. The Pharisees may have thought they needed no repentance, but they were wrong. With the exception of Jesus Christ, every human being who has ever walked the face of the planet must repent before Almighty God for our sins. And this is not just a one-time act, but a continuous act of self-examination and humility that accompanies us on our earthly journey.So, if you find yourself today, or any day, feeling the weight of your sin, being aware of guilt or shame, the good news of the Gospel is for you. God offers you forgiveness in Christ. And, again, this is not a one-time offer but a continual offer of mercy and grace, a continual invitation to return to the fold, to come back to God, and to know his loving and saving presence once again.“The grace of our Lord overflowed for me”I’d like to mention here the Apostle Paul, from whom we get our New Testament reading in the letter to Timothy. Paul was a high-ranking religious official and intellectual, just like some of these men. He was of the tribe of Benjamin, he was a Pharisee and he considered himself to be completely righteous under the law.What changed for him to bring him out of his religious delusion was an encounter with the risen Jesus, whose church he had been persecuting. He recognised his ignorance and his rejection of the true God who had been manifested to the world in Christ and so he said the words we read today, “The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost”.But notice how Paul had to recognise his own sin in order to receive the grace and mercy of God, even to the point of calling himself the foremost of sinners. This demonstrates the truth of a spiritual law, which is that, the more we recognise our own sinfulness, the more we recognise the grace and mercy of God for us.Another way of putting this is that, if we want to be found by Christ, we have to recognise that we are like lost sheep, that we have strayed from the right path, as Paul says, in our ignorance, in our unbelief, in our weakness, and we need Christ to come into our world and rescue us.The Woman and the Lost CoinI’d like to say something about the other story in our Gospel reading today, that of the woman who loses one of her ten coins and sweeps her house diligently until she finds it. She then calls her friends and neighbours together, rejoicing that she has found her lost coin. Again, Jesus tells us that there is joy in heaven before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.In some ways, this story is the same story as that of the lost sheep and the diligent shepherd. However, many of the Church Fathers saw in this story in particular an image of the Church. The shepherd naturally calls to our mind the image of Christ, the Good Shepherd, leaving his home in heaven to bring those who have strayed back to God. Here we see a humble woman. The details in the story imply that her house is modest and that she is therefore probably quite poor. She has ten coins which are worth about ten days’ wages. Perhaps this is all that she has in the world. It is not much. She loses one and therefore she goes about seeking for it diligently.And so we receive a beautiful image of the Church through this parable. We are engaged in the same mission as the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ. But we do not come from a place of great strength or power. Rather, we begin from a place of weakness and humility, from a place of repentance and poverty.We have not much more to give to the world than the knowledge of God and of his joy over sinners who repent. So much the better therefore when God disabuses us of pride in our natural power or our natural resources. As the Apostle Paul says elsewhere, ‘Consider your calling, brothers: not many of your were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise: God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is lower and despised in the world, even things that are not, in order to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God’ (1 Cor. 1:16-29).Where are you in these stories?I ask you to consider where you find yourself this morning? Have you to repent of your religious pride or your unwillingness to admit to God or to others where you have been wrong? Might you see your sin a bit more clearly and be more willing to identify with the sinners, the tax collectors, the lost sheep, the lost coin? The good news, as I say, is that, if you are, then you will find a doorway opened to the very presence and joy of God. For this is the reason that Christ came into the world.In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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The Ascent of Humility

Sun, 31 Aug 2025 12:45:51 +0000

The Ascent of HumilityI begin my sermon today with a quotation from the Rule of St Benedict. St Benedict said the following to the monks with whom he shared a common religious life:And so, my brothers, if we wish to reach the highest peak of humility and if we wish to attain quickly that heavenly exaltation towards which we climb by means of the humility of this life, we must set up for our ascent the ladder that Jacob saw in his dream, on which the angels appeared to him, descending and ascending. For we should surely interpret their descent and ascent as referring to the descent we make by self-exaltation and the ascent by humility. That ladder is our life in this world which God raises to heaven if we are humble in heart.“The descent we make by self-exaltation…”We find ourselves today, once again, in the midst of a story about a confrontation between Jesus and the religious leaders of the day. This time, we see Christ dining at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees. And after once again healing on the Sabbath Day (an incident which is skipped over in our reading) and observing the Pharisees taking the seats of honour, Jesus tells a parable:When you go to a wedding feast, don’t choose the places of honour because someone more important than you might show up. Then with shame you will have to occupy a lower seat.But instead choose the lower seat first, so that, if a better seat becomes available, you might be invited by your host to move up higher.Now, there is of course a truism about life here but there is also a loaded subtext. For Jesus is in fact using this parable to critique the religious establishment of the day.I spoke last week about the legalistic spirit of the religious rulers of the time. Here we see another aspect of this legalism which is spiritual pride. The Pharisees chose the places of honour, quite literally, when they dined at table. But this spoke of their more general desire for religious exaltation.What specifically were the Pharisees seeking? We can find an answer in the words of Christ elsewhere in the Gospels. In one other place in Luke, for example, he says, “Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the best seat in the synagogues and greetings in the market places.” And in the Gospel of Matthew, “They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, and they love the places of honour at feasts and the best seats in the synagogue”.Perhaps the most famous example we might give is from the Sermon on the Mount: “Beware of practicing your righteousness before others to be seen by them…when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others…when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues, and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others.”In other words, the Pharisees and hypocrites of the time were using their religious observances and statuses to be exalted in the eyes of others. They were doing what they were for a show, so that others might think highly of them and praise them.Consider also one further feature of Jesus’ parable: “When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in a place of honour, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him, and he who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this person’”.Now, this is exactly what had happened. Spiritually speaking, the Pharisees and religious rulers had arrogantly taken the highest place and when someone more distinguished arrived they were unwilling to step aside and let him take the glory that was rightfully his. That distinguished guest was of course Jesus himself, the Messiah of Israel. So arrogant and hard of heart has these Pharisees become that they had taken even the seat of the Messiah and would not yield when he arrived.Now, before we move on too quickly, let us examine our hearts. It is a very human thing to want to be seen by others, to want to be praised, to want to be exalted in the eyes of men, to consider fame, status, or notoriety attractive and desirable. We often seek such things in the church itself – to be seen as successful in ministry, to have an important and visible role – or we might desire such things in our professional, social or family lives.But Christ is telling us that this is the way that leads to spiritual death. If this is our motivation, if this is our true desire, it can only lead to spiritual blindness and humiliation. In the words of St Benedict, it leads to the descent we make by self-exaltation.The Ascent by HumilityThe good news is that there is a far better and more excellent way to be exalted – the ascent by humility. Firstly, it must be said that the aim of this ascent is different to the descent by self-exaltation. The aim of this ascent is not to be praised by men but to be exalted by God and to approach more nearly the throne of his grace.Observe how these two ends are actually opposed to one other. We cannot seek both the praise of men and the favour of God. This is why Jesus tells us to be wary of conducting our religious observances in the presence of others and says, “go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you”.So, it is not just that we are seeking the same thing by different means. It is that the pure of heart seek not the praises of men but the presence of God. This is surely a means for combatting the spiritual pride that inevitably arises in our hearts: to practice in secret, to not seek to be seen by others, to focus on our own spiritual walk and our own desire to know the presence of God in our lives. This is what it means to take the lower place. For the host will be God himself, who will say to us as we seek him in humility, “Friend, come up higher”.Within the mystery of God, this law has been most excellently illustrated in the Incarnation itself. “Have this mind among yourselves,” wrote the Apostle Paul to the Philippian church, “which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself to the point of death, even death on a cross”.By becoming obedient, Christ himself gave up the riches of heaven and his status as equal with the Godhead, and took the form of a man, becoming a servant, being made obedient to the Father to the point of death on a cross. The humility by which we are called to ascend is, therefore, a humility that partakes mysteriously of the nature of God himself. It is a participation in the life of Jesus Christ.The Apostle Paul goes on to say, “Therefore, God has highly exalted him, and has given him the name that is above every name, so that, at the name of Jesus, every knee should, bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.”After humbling himself, Christ was exalted to the right hand of the Father. We are encouraged through his teaching similarly to ascend to God, that we might know him more closely and imitate him more nearly.To put it very simply, then, we ascend to God through love: love for him and towards him, and love for our brethren expressed in acts of service. This is truly the meaning of Christ’s words when he both warns and encourages us: “Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted”.There are a legion of saints and holy people who have illustrated this principle throughout the history of the Church. Many of them, by the very nature of their humility, will be known only to God alone. They are those who have truly shut the door to the world and given their lives to secret acts of prayer and charity for the love of God.But occasionally, we have an example of an obscure and poor saint whose love for God and life of service has been chosen as an example to encourage and inspire the rest of us. You might be familiar with the short spiritual work called The Practice of the Presence of God. This work is about a man called Nicholas Herman. Herman was, according to his biographer, ‘a lowly and unlearned man’. A footman and a soldier, he eventually became a Lay Brother among the barefooted Carmelites at Paris in 1666 and was afterwards known as “Brother Lawrence”.Brother Lawrence gave himself to simple acts of love and service, done in the name of God and for the love of God. He used to note how even acts which he found boring and tedious such as washing the dishes in the monastery kitchen could be offered up to God in love for him. He became so used to the practice of the presence of God that eventually he found no difference between the established times of prayer and the hour for work or rest. For the presence was with him continually and always, as he offered each moment, each task, to God.Now, of course, nobody would ever have heard of him had not the people around noticed his otherworldly holiness and certain of them decided to make a note of it for future generations. Such was his humility that he never had it in mind to pass on what he had learned. One of his biographers says, ‘Will anyone find fault with me for ranking together the great Masters and Doctors with an obscure lay-brother, when one finds in his simple words and life the same full purity and perfection of Christian precept and practice, which the greatest lights of the Church have handed down to us, and which all alike have drawn from Jesus Christ, Who hides himself from those who in their own imaginations are wise and prudent, revealing Himself to the humble and lowly of heart?”We must imagine not. Friends, let us not seek to be exalted in the eyes of men. But, rather, let us serve others in humility

The God of Freedom

Mon, 25 Aug 2025 14:19:45 +0000

A Conflict on the Sabbath DayOur Gospel reading begins with a conflict between Jesus and the ruler of the synagogue on a particular Sabbath Day. Jesus had called a woman with a disabling spirit to himself. He had laid his hands on her and healed her. The ruler of the synagogue had taken exception to this, arguing that this counted as work and that it could have waited till one of the other days of the week.Before we look at Jesus’ response, we need to provide a little bit of background to understand what is going on here. After all, it might seem strange to us that a religious ruler would forbid supernatural healing on the grounds that it wasn’t the right day of the week to invoke it. Surely, if the healing had come from God that was reason enough to endorse it? So let’s see what is behind this objection.The Story of the SabbathThe Old TestamentWe have to go right back to the beginning of creation and remember that the Sabbath Day was instituted by God himself after he had created the world. The first six days were days of creation – days of work – and on the seventh day God rested. And he blessed the Sabbath Day and made it holy because it was a day of rest (Gen. 2:1-3).We go from there to the giving of the Ten Commandments. The people of God are told to observe the Sabbath and keep it holy, to labour on only the other six days of the week and not to do any work. Not only members of the family or the tribe should rest but even the livestock, even the male and female servants, even the sojourner who was within their gates. And the logic given is as follows:“You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath Day” (Deuteronomy 5:15).In other words, God did free the Israelites from slavery in Egypt so that they could continue their life of slavery in another location. The Sabbath Day helps them remember that they are divinely liberated from this oppression.The Intertestamental PeriodIf that all seems quite clear, think again. Human nature being what it is, the people of God began to try and work out what exactly was meant by this commandment and how it should be put into practice. In order to safeguard against breaking the Sabbath commandment, various rules were put into place by the religious leaders of the time. In the period after the writing of the Old Testament, which began about four-hundred years before the coming of Christ, the religious authorities began to place a greater emphasis upon the minutiae of the Sabbath observance. The rules were eventually written down and compiled in a work called the Mishnah. But, at the time of Jesus, they were kept by oral tradition. They were human interpretations of divine commands.So, for example, certain types of carrying were considered to violate the Sabbath commandment. In order to work out what types of carrying were acceptable, four domains were defined: private, public, semi-public, and exempt areas. It was prohibited to carry an object from a private to a public domain or to carry an object four cubits (about a metre and a half) in a public domain. So handing an object from the inside of a public house to the outside was prohibited because it constituted passing something from a private to a public domain. In addition to domains, the quantity of a carried object was significant: enough food for a family meal or an amount of ink sufficient to write two letters was prohibited.Carrying is just one example. All types of work such as sowing, ploughing, reaping, kneading, baking, writing, building, kindling fire, were prohibited. Items such as tools, expensive dishes, writing implements, stray stones and many others were not allowed to even be touched. Other activities such as doing deals, climbing trees, and shaking fruit from trees were also banned.I’m sure you get the point. There were a lot of don’ts associated with the Sabbath day before the time of Christ. And one wonders, with some justification, whether the authorities had somewhat missed the point.Missing the PointA brief word on this missing of the point. It’s very easy to do. It was easy for the religious leaders of the day. And it is easy for us as well. Let’s look at the problem before we look at the solution.One of the words we might use here to describe this situation is “legalism”. Legalism, as the name suggests, is a preoccupation with law and rules. People who are legalists are normally quite good at keeping specific rules but they neglect to observe the deeper meaning behind the rules. They keep the letter of the law but not the spirit of it.In our story today, for example, the ruler of the Synagogue is upset that Jesus has healed on the Sabbath. But Jesus reminds him of the compassion of God: “Ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath Day?” (Luke 13:16).The religious leaders knew their Scriptures, and this statement would have instantly recalled the Fourth Commandment as given in the Book of Deuteronomy. Why was the Sabbath given in the first place? Firstly, because God rested on the seventh day. But also to remind the people that God had brought them out of slavery in Egypt. He had liberated them from bondage and, on the seventh day, they were to remember this liberation and give glory to God for it.Through this emphasis upon rules and regulation they had turned an ordinance that was meant to liberate into an obligation which heaped oppression upon people and brought them into bondage.It is very easy to take the gifts that God gives us and to turn them into a burden, into bondage. We must remember this in all our observances: this is a gift from God that is meant to give you life, not take it away. As Jesus says elsewhere: “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.”In addition to defining legalism, we should also note the attitude that often goes along with it: spiritual pride and miserable religion.Spiritual pride comes from the sense that we sometimes have when we believe that we are keeping the rules and others aren’t. It gives us a warm feeling of smugness and superiority and, in its more advanced stages, we begin to believe that, if only we were in charge, we could tell other people what to do and then they would be as good as we are. It leads, in other words, to a desire to dominate and control other people.Miserable religion is the kind of joyless atmosphere that all of this creates. Here are the words of the poet and visionary William Blake:I went to the Garden of Love,And saw what I never had seen:A Chapel was built in the midst,Where I used to play on the green.And the gates of this Chapel were shut,And 'Thou shalt not' writ over the door;So I turn'd to the Garden of Love,That so many sweet flowers bore.And I saw it was filled with graves,And tomb-stones where flowers should be:And Priests in black gowns, were walking their rounds,And binding with briars, my joys & desires.William Blake, ‘The Garden of Love’Friends, let’s not only repent of our legalism but let us rejoice because the news we bear is so much greater and liberating than all of that misery.The Lord of the Sabbath DayUltimately all of this comes to who Jesus of Nazareth is. This remains the critical question of all of history. And this is really the question over which Jesus and the ruler of synagogue were arguing.In healing on the Sabbath Day, Jesus knew exactly what he was doing. He knew that it was not forbidden to do such a thing in the Scriptures but that the human authorities had pronounced it so. He did it intentionally to provoke controversy. Not only that, but he answered back to the ruler and called him a hypocrite, pointing out their inconsistency in feeding their animals on the Sabbath but not liberating those who were bound.Jesus was interpreting the Scriptures in contradiction to the religious authorities of the time. He was putting his own interpretation above theirs and therefore making himself a superior authority to them.As he says elsewhere, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath” (Luke 6:5). My authority to define the Sabbath is greater than that of any religious leader. I am the Lord of the Sabbath.We are told that, at this point at least, ‘all his adversaries were put to shame, and all the people rejoiced at all the glorious things that were done by him’ (Luke 13:17). In interpreting the Sabbath in this way, Christ had reminded everybody that the purpose of God in the giving of the Sabbath was the same purpose that God always intends in his commands: to demonstrate his compassion and love and to lead his people to greater life, light, and joy.So really all of this is not about the Sabbath – although it is, of course – but about Jesus: who he is and what he reveals about God. And it is good news. By his very presence, Jesus reveals a greater authority than that embodied in manmade rules and religion. By his teaching and action, Jesus reveals to us a God of compassion, love and liberation. If we can entrust ourselves to him without fear, if we can bear in mind at all times that the commands of God are not burdensome but are given for our liberation then we too can find life in him.Holy BaptismFriends, today we baptise and welcome a new believer into the Church. This is indeed a joyful day. Not a day of mourning and misery. Not a day even to focus on sin and repentance. But a day of liberation and rejoicing. Only shortly after our passage this morning, Christ tells the world that “there is more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance” (Luke 15:7) and that “there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents” (Luke 15:10). Notice there that it is not the joy of the angels but joy before the angels. That is, the joy of God.There is no God hidden behind Jesus Christ

"I came to cast fire on the earth..."

Mon, 18 Aug 2025 10:18:45 +0000

“Is not my word like fire, declares, the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?” Jeremiah 23:29Fire Upon the Earth“I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled! I have a baptism to be baptised with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished!”At first glance, today’s Gospel reading might be hard to understand. It might also be hard to accept when we do indeed understand its meaning. But it teaches us such an important lesson that we must attend closely to it. So, let’s follow the flow of thought in Jesus words.What is Christ meaning when he speaks of casting fire upon the earth and being baptised with a certain baptism?The Greek word for baptism is baptizo and in means “immersion” or to be covered with something. Christ therefore refers to something that will completely overwhelm and overshadow him. Commentators agree that this refers to his passion and death upon the cross.This might be surprising for us at first since we associate the word “baptism” with the sacrament of baptism. And yet we can remember here that baptisms were and are regularly carried out by so-called full immersion in which a person is literally immersed completely in the water of a large baptismal font or pool.In comparing the sacrament of baptism to the baptism of his death, he is making a point about the comprehensiveness, the awfulness of what is going to happen to him. Like a shroud, his passion and suffering will be cast over him and will immerse him completely.And this thought leads to the second image: Christ’s casting fire upon the earth. The image of fire is used in many ways in Scripture: most notably to represent the Holy Spirit, and to speak of the word of God. But whatever image we prefer, fire here represents the powerful working of God in the world after Christ’s death, resurrection and ascension. In other words, it represents the work of the Gospel and the Church in the age in which we live now.Fire is powerful: it consumes, it burns, it creates chaos, it divides, it kindles, heats and makes alive. It is the perfect image for the Gospel.Christ tells us plainly: he is ready for this baptism and distressed before it is accomplished. He longs for the fire of the Gospel to be cast upon the earth.Peace or DivisionAnd then perhaps the hardest part of the reading: “I have not come to bring peace but rather division.”In other words: “You thought I came to bring unity and peaceful co-existence upon the earth within the human family. Not so. My identity, my ministry, and especially my death and resurrection will in fact be a source of great division and heartache.”He chooses the most intimate image of the human family to make this point: even within a household, father will be divided against son, son against father, mother against daughter, daughter against mother, and so on.Notice here that Christ is not saying that this sort of division is a positive thing and he is certainly not saying it should be sought out by his followers. Rather, it is an inevitable consequence of his ministry.Nor is this a contradiction of the fifth commandment – honour thy father and thy mother – which is upheld by Christ in various ways, not least in his rebuking of the religious leaders of the day for giving financial contributions to the Temple but not supporting their parents in their old age.The point Christ makes here – as he does at other times – is that God is to come before all. And that honouring God must come even before the highest earthly obligation which is to honour our parents.Cyril of Alexandria puts this well:“If honour is to be paid to parents, how much more to your parents’ Creator, to whom you owe gratitude for your parents!...You are not forbidden to love your parents, but you are forbidden to prefer them to God.”We might also wonder what to do with the words Christ spoke to his disciples when he appeared to them after his resurrection: “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you, not as the world gives do I give to you…” and so on.In addition, the Bible speaks in many other places of peace: the Apostle Paul, for example, speaks of the peace which passes understanding in the book of Philippians, and he identifies peace as one of the Fruits of the Holy Spirit in Galatians. There are doubtless many other examples.Friends, we must recognise that there is no contradiction here: when Christ speaks not of peace but of division, he speaks of the kind of division that occurs between his own followers and those who oppose them. When he speaks to his disciples of a peace that he gives to them – and when the Apostle Paul speaks of a similar thing – he is speaking of an internal peace that occurs between brothers and sisters in Christ and the peace of God which we carry in our hearts.This is the peace that passes understanding of which Paul speaks. By this he means that it is a peace that endures hardship while the world around cannot understand. It is a peace that endures in the midst of suffering, opposition, sorrow, persecution, and so on, because it is a miraculous work of the Holy Spirit.So we can see that both are true: in a sense Christ did come to bring peace – the greatest peace the world has ever known. Although he did not come to bring peace amongst all people but rather division over that most crucial question: Who do men say that the Son of Man is?Are you ready?I will refrain from an explanation of the final part of our readings for time’s sake. But suffice to say that he there encourages his listeners to understand the spiritual meaning of the times and not only the physical meaning of the changing of the seasons.I would like to pass from this explanation to some application, asking the question, “How does this apply to our lives?”The basic point to draw from Christ’s words is that division will inevitably arise in this world over the question of following Jesus. This is true on a matter-of-fact level: if we prioritise our walk with Christ above all else then this will not be something that we can share with those who do not know Christ and do not walk with him.But we musn’t hesitate to go further. The cost of following Jesus is to be divided in a very significant way from those who do not follow him. And it is, to a very great extent also, to be actively opposed by many of them.We are fortunate in this country not to experience severe persecution for our faith. But the history of the Christian Church – and the reality for many millions of Christians today – is one of persecution, suffering, rejection, and death.This fact is often hidden from us because of the bias of Western media but to give some recent examples: in Nigeria, Islamist group Boko Haram and Fulani militants are responsible for thousands of kidnappings and abductions of Christians. Churches and homes are burned and Christian communities face ongoing threats and violence.In the Democratic Republic of Congo, Christians face violence and murderous attacks from organisations such as the Allied Democratic Forces, who are, in fact, an Islamic militant group.In India, it is estimated that about two attacks on Christians occur every day with anti-conversion laws and arbitrary imprisonment of Christians very common.In Mozambique, ISIS and affiliated groups burn the homes and churches of Christians with reports of abductions and beheadings increasing this year.The Chinese Communist Party exercises strict control over the Christian Church, rewriting the Bible to align with state ideology. Pastors and believers face arrest, surveillance, and social credit system penalties for non-compliance. Many North Korean defectors, who escape to China from the brutal regime of persecution in North Korea, are sent back to North Korea, where the Chinese authorities know they will face torture, forced labour, imprisonment or death.When Christ speaks of division, this is the kind of thing he is talking about. This is the kind of thing he experienced himself: the division of persecution, suffering and death. He therefore poses a question to us by implication: are you willing to suffer the consequences as he did? Are you willing to suffer division from your fellow man, persecution and even death for him?Why would we be willing?You might be thinking at this point that this sounds heroic and noble, but why would anyone want to follow Jesus to the cross? Why would anyone want to suffer division and persecution? The answer can only come this morning from our second reading, Hebrews 11 and 12.In this passage, we read of the so-called ‘heroes of faith’. It starts positively: through faith, Gideon and David conquered kingdoms, stopped the mouths of lions, and so on. But then we hear these words: ‘Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated…wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth’.Why? Why would anyone suffer in this way? The answer for them is the same as the answer for us, as it was the same for Christ. What does the passage go on to say?‘Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the same, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.’ Hebrews 12:1-2Friends, that is the answer: through faith – that is trust in the promises of God, belief in the reality of that which is unseen yet nevertheless promised – we believe that, though we may die for and with Christ, nevertheless we will rise to a better life, that there is an indescribable and indestructib

Waiting for the Lord

Mon, 11 Aug 2025 14:09:17 +0000

“Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes…”The Future Shapes the PresentWhat we believe about the future shapes how we live in the present. We spoke last week about how God can set us free from slavery to the God of Mammon, from anxious toil and restlessness. Today we hear from Christ something about how we to think about what is to come.Before we look more closely at these words, it’s worth noting that, when it comes to the future, we live in a world which is profoundly lacking in hope. On an individual level, the average modern secularist thinks little about his own mortality or about what is to come on the other side of death. As a society, we tell ourselves stories about the imminent end of the world and, due to this profoundly negative narrative of eschatological despair, we struggle to see the continuance of our own species as a positive thing.It's so important, therefore, that we attend to a specifically Christian eschatology. That is, a Christian vision of the last things and the end: the end of our lives and of the end of this world.In our passage today, Christ speaks of what doctrinally is called his Second Coming. He came for the first time in the Incarnation. He lived, died, rose, and ascended into Heaven. He will come again. This will be the second time. This will be the Second Coming.We live in the middle of those two times. And we therefore wait for him to come again. We wait for the close of history which will be brought about not through any means of man or through the explosion of the Sun, but through the return of Jesus.This is what the story Christ tells us is about.The Night of this Life“Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning,” Christ tells us, “and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks.”What an evocative image to which we can all relate. It is nighttime in the house of the master. Who knows how long the servants have been waiting for his return? And yet he still has not come. They know he will come but they do not know when. They are tired. They are longing for their beds. Their eyes are drooping. They are, perhaps, wondering if he will indeed return at all that night or if he has found somewhere else to stay. Their only option is to stay awake and alert, even in the midst of all of these questions and doubts. Because the only thing they know is that he is coming at some point. But they do not know when.We’ve all been there of course, diligently trying to stay awake because we are waiting for something late at night with eager anticipation. I remember as a young child desperately trying to stay up to watch Match of the Day on a Saturday evening and somehow finding myself awake the following morning in my bed having missed the programme entirely and been put there by my mother.Christ is telling us, then, that the world and the time we live in is a little bit like that. It is the night before the coming of God. And the night is soporific. It calls to us to lie down, to sleep and to enter a world of dreams, a world in which there is, in fact, no master, a world in which the master will never return and in which therefore we have no need to stay awake at all.Our dreams are various – of the ultimate reality of the material world, of comfort, of wealth, of distraction, of entertainment, of sexual self-expression, of power, success, prestige, aesthetic pleasure. There are endless dreams. And yet the dreams don’t call us to wake up to the great reality that we will face at some point.Being ReadyHow, therefore, are we to resist the siren call of sleep? Christ gives us a picture of spiritual alertness. He speaks of being dressed and ready for action – or, more literally, of having one’s loins girded. This phrase refers to the gathering up of a long, flowing garment and the tucking of it into one’s belt. In the contemporary world, we might speak of pulling our socks up or rolling up our sleeves. He speaks also of having our lamps burning.Many historic commentators have seen in these two images a calling to both the active and contemplative life. The active and contemplative life are the two sides of the life of the Christian reality. In the contemplative life, we keep burning the lamps of our minds as we meditate upon the word of God, as we speak to him in prayer, and as we fill our minds with edifying and spiritually uplifting thoughts. Cyril of Alexandria tells us that the burning lamp represents ‘the wakefulness of the mind and intellectual cheerfulness’.‘We say that the human mind is awake when it repels any tendency to slumber off into that carelessness that often is the means of bringing it into subjection to every kind of wickedness.’ – Cyril of AlexandriaIn opposition to this, Christ says, keep your lamps burning. Fill your mind with the truth and shun thoughts of sin and wickedness the instant they occur to you. In this way, you will stay intellectually and mentally awake.What about this image of girded loins? This speaks of our readiness to respond to the calling of God with acts of service and love. In the same way that we must train our minds for godliness, so must we train our bodies.The overall picture is of a physically and intellectually alert servant, fully aware of what he must do when his master returns and capable of carrying it out. How does this speak to you? Are your loins girded? Is your lamp lit? What steps do you need to take to wake up?The Marriage FeastLet us consider one further feature of this story which is that the master is away at a marriage feast and will return from thence. When we think of the Second Coming our minds might be filled with the fear of judgment and with fiery wrath visited upon the earth. And, yet, Christ gives us here quite a different picture. When we return from a wedding feast that involved a beautiful reception and a mutual sharing in the joy of the bride and groom, with food and drinking, singing and dancing, surely we are in a fantastic mood, glowing with the overflowing happiness of the newly united couple. Will not the master in the story be of a similar disposition when he returns?Again, Cyril of Alexandria has great insight here: ‘…Christ will return as from a feast. This plainly shows that God always dwells in festivals that are fitting for him. In heaven above, there is no sadness whatsoever since nothing can occasion grief.’This is the joy that the master brings with him back from the wedding feast: the very joy of heaven itself, the Kingdom of God come to earth.The servants are willing to stay up, happy to do so, because they are anticipating the joy of their master when they open the door to his expectant knock.And, then, the most amazing thing of all: “Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them.”In other words, the master is so happy, so overflowing with joy from his beautiful evening that he doesn’t want it to end: “Let’s not go to bed yet,” he says, “But let’s have another drink and some more food. Come, you are tired, you are weary from waiting up for me. Sit down and I will prepare to continue the feast I have been enjoying, now with you, my friends.”We can paint in our minds a very austere vision of God – of an angry father, of a displeased judge, of an unmerciful slavedriver. And, yet, are these visions true to the vision that Christ consistently offers us? This is a vision of grace and joy. The sleeping servants do not enjoy this happy scene because they’ve gone to bed. That was their decision. But, for those who stayed awake, great joy remains.Wait for the LordAnd yet waiting and hoping can sometimes take its toll. It is not easy to continue always with the spiritual life. Discipline, faith, effort, resilience – all of these things are needed, sometimes more than others…especially when we are tired and weary of the fight.This is why Christ tells us this story: to encourage us to continue. I was reading this week a passage on the spiritual labours of St Anthony of Alexandria, one of the pioneering fathers of Christian monasticism. When he withdrew from the world to engage in a life of prayer and devotion, he was beset on all sides by intense and diabolical demonic attacks. He was psychologically tormented and tempted in every way, and yet he persisted through all trials and his name resounds throughout the history of the Christian Church.The great spiritual writer, Thomas Keating says this of his life:‘What was (Anthony’s) method of resistance? Faith, determination, and incessant prayer. Anthony was resolved not to give up the spiritual journey. This is his timeless message to those on the journey: never stop waiting for God, never stop trusting in God, never stop praying to God…‘To each of the temptations Anthony gave the same basic response: determination to persevere in the spiritual journey, trust that God would give him the grace to do so, and incessant prayer. Each of these three dispositions is an exercise of faith, hope, and love.’Thomas Keating, Invitation to Love: The Way of Christian ContemplationFriends, go and do likewise in your own lives. Never stop waiting for God. Never stop trusting in God. Never stop praying to God.In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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The Futility of Riches

Thu, 07 Aug 2025 14:35:28 +0000

Ecclesiastes – The Futility of LifeIf you have never read the Old Testament Book of Ecclesiastes, I really recommend it. It’s about the complete pointlessness of life. Even arch-atheist Richard Dawkins has, at points, declared his admiration for this book particularly in the King James translation.Ecclesiastes is an unflinchingly honest analysis of the problem of the human condition, namely its vanity, or its futility. Unlike pretty much every other book in the Bible, Ecclesiastes is not really about God. Rather, it is about us and specifically us as we might seem to be if we don't consider God.At the beginning of the book Solomon begins to seek for wisdom is that is done in this world. Some pursuits, such as the pursuit of knowledge might seem to be more valuable than others such as the enjoyment of laughter, feasting or riches, but ultimately they are all futile. Ultimately they are all in vain.The vanity of all of these things can be observed in different ways, but there is a common root to all of it – namely, the impermanence, the transience of this life. The fact that, whatever we have, can be taken away in a moment now and will be taken away forever when we are gone. This transience lends to life a kind of absurd quality, which disturbs us, and so we try not to think about it very much. We distract ourselves from it.In our passage today, Solomon speaks of toil and riches. Why is toil so vain? Why is wealth so futile? Because, ‘I must leave it to the man who will come after me’. And he may be a fool and do stupid things with everything I’ve earned. And, what is worse, I may not even get to enjoy that which I have. ‘Sometimes,’ Solomon writes, a person who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave everything to be enjoyed by someone who did not toil for it’. And, what is perhaps even worse, is that I have worn myself out in all my toil for wealth which I will not enjoy and which will be left to a fool after me.‘What has a man from all the toil and striving of his heart with which he toils beneath the sun? For all his days are full of sorrow, and his work is a vexation. Even in the night his heart does not rest. This also is vanity’. – Ecclesiastes 2:23In my opinion, one of the greatest films of modern times is a film that was made in 2002 called ‘Igby Goes Down’. Igby Goes Down is about a wealthy teenage boy who lives in New York and rebels against the vacuousness of his family and social milieu. Part of the film is about his relationship with a character played by Jeff Goldblum, who is called D.H. D.H. is an immensely rich real estate magnet who exudes confidence and satisfaction but who is really deeply manipulative and even wrathful beneath the surface.In a telling exchange Igby and D.H. speak of a third person who has suffered some recent trouble. “I believe that certain people in life are meant to fall by the wayside,” D.H. says, “to serve as warnings to the rest of us; signposts along the way.” “To where?” Igby says. D.H. pauses and then says, as though the answer should be obvious, “Success.”Now, of course, the problem with that answer is that success implies some other ultimate criteria, some goal or point to life that can, at least theoretically, be fulfilled. “Success”, without reference to anything else, is a meaningless word. And that, ultimately, is the point of the film: that wealth and social prestige and “success” in all of this is futile and ugly and tasteless and empty. Just like Ecclesiastes tells us, it is vanity. It is right to feel as Igby does, repelled by it, disgusted to his core. As he says in one emotional outburst towards the end of the story, “Everybody’s cold. Cold to the bone. Cold to the brain. Cold to the marrow.”“Be on your guard against all covetousness…”The reading from Ecclesiastes is well-chosen because it is echoed in the words of Christ to a disgruntled man who asks Jesus to adjudicate a dispute between him and his brother over their inheritance.“Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?” He said to the man, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”And then he goes on to tell a story that could almost be taken from Ecclesiastes: a man has some luck with his harvest and becomes rich. But he can think of nothing better to do with his crops than to pull down his old barns, build bigger ones and store them there. “And I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’”And, friends, is this not the creed of the modern age: work hard, earn wealth, retire and relax. You’ve made it.And the story continues: “But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things that you have prepared, whose will they be?”What is the mistake that this man made? Our New Testament passage tells us, the Apostle Paul writing, ‘Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry’.Covetousness, which is idolatry – in other words, when we put wealth first in our lives, we worship it as though it were a God. It might look like we just work hard and want to have a decent life, but really what we doing is giving ourselves to the promises of mammon. And these promises, as we have already seen are worthless and empty. Even if we succeed, we will not have what we truly want, which is peace, joy and happiness. And we may simply die whilst we are trying. Wealth is a terrible God. This is why Christ tells us to be on guard.The AlternativeMaybe we might say to ourselves, “Well I can see why the pursuit of wealth is so futile but is there anything better to do with our time, our energy, our talent than this?” The answer, friends, is “yes”. There is something that is much better that you can do.“So is the one,” Christ tells us, “who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich towards (or in) God.”Christ doesn’t shy away from economics. But he tells us that we are investing in the wrong thing. To invest in earthly wealth is to put our resources into stock that will crash inevitably. But if we invest in God, if we seek his first his kingdom, if we cultivate a relationship with him, then we are investing in something that will never fade away, that cannot be taken from us. As the Apostle Peter tells us, Jesus has caused us to be born again to a living hope, ‘to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded by faith’ (1 Peter 1:3-5).I love Psalm 127, particularly in the version from the Book of Common Prayer:‘It is in vain that ye rise up early and so late take rest and eat the bread of carefulness, for so he giveth his beloved sleep.’ Psalm 127:3How many of us are wearing ourselves out serving the God of Mammon, serving the God who makes us toil and sweat for an ever-diminishing return? Friends, let us put this idol away, let us grind it down and cast it aside for the powerless illusion it really is. And let us seek the true God, whose riches endure forever.The ApplicationWhat then should be done? The application will be different for us all. But the commonality will be that as we worship the true God and recognise the futility of riches, we will recognise the relative value of our wealth in our own lives – to buy food, to procure shelter, to pay for things that will give us enjoyment, to share with others, to give to the church, to leave an inheritance to our children. We will see the good that wealth can do but we will also see the terrible temptation that it puts before us.This is why Christ appears so harsh in the story. A man has been robbed of his inheritance. Surely Christ should be on the side of justice? But, no, instead he sees into the man’s heart. Just as he sees into our hearts. “Be on your guard against all covetousness." You say you trust in God and worship him alone but how much does heart cleave to the number in your bank account? How are you shaken when it is not what you had hoped? How difficult you find it to be generous because wealth has a hold upon your heart and you are really trusting it to keep you safe from all danger? How much is your mind fixed simply on procuring more and more and more?The solution, once again, and very simply, is to be rich, as rich as possible. But to be rich towards God.I will finish with the words of the Apostle John, ‘Do not love the world or the things in the world…For all that is in the world – the desires of the flesh, and the desires of the eyes and pride of life – is not from the Father…And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever’ (1 John 1:15-17).May you abide in him. May you be truly rich in him.In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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Beginning to Pray

Mon, 28 Jul 2025 10:28:41 +0000

“Lord, teach us to pray.”Our Gospel reading this morning begins with Jesus praying in a certain place. When he finishes, one of his disciples makes a request: “Lord, teach us to pray.”At these words our ears should prick up for a couple of reasons. Firstly, we may be aware that there is no comprehensive account of the spiritual practices of Jesus of Nazareth in the Gospel accounts. We are sometimes given hints as to how he cultivated his relationship with God – not least his frequent withdrawals to the so-called wilderness or deserted place – but there is no ten-step guide, no celebration of the disciplines of Christ that we may follow exactly. So passages like this are as close as we will ever get to a how-to guide from Jesus.Secondly, we may have some intuition of the notion that prayer is what we so desperately need as human beings. “God’s breath in man returning to his birth,” in the words of George Herbert, “Softness, and peace, and joy, and love, and bliss”. It is only the arid desert of late modern western secularism that we have lost all sense of prayer and of its centrality to human existence. Prayer has become an esoteric, even weird, practice that certain “religious” people enjoy but which most people see as an irrelevance to daily life and something to be called upon only at times of extremity and, even then, perhaps not.But what if we are wrong about all of this? What if prayer is really the doorway not only to a relationship with God but to an entirely new vision of reality? As William Blake said, “If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as it is, infinite.” And how, but by prayer and the cultivation of a spiritual sensibility, can the doors of perception be cleansed? How can we obtain a higher vision of reality but by prayer? I have no doubt in my mind that this, and nothing less, is what is offered to us by Christ.Let us also recognise Christ is not only teaching his disciples how to begin at prayer but how to continue in it. He is not only teaching the ABC but the A to Z of prayer. Prayer is the ultimate democratic exercise, because it is given to each one of us, not only to the spiritual elite or to the ordained. It is a calling from our Father to cultivate our relationship, so often neglected, with him.Perhaps you are new to prayer? Perhaps you did it once but do it no longer? Friends, I encourage you to listen now, not to me, but to Jesus. For he will teach you – very practically – how to begin and to begin again. And not only to begin and to begin again but also to continue on.The Lord’s PrayerLet’s think then about this most exalted prayer of all, the so-called Lord’s Prayer. In Luke, we have a simplified version to that which we find in Matthew. To my mind, this makes it all the better.To begin, let’s see to whom this prayer is addressed: a single word, “Father” – not even “Our Father” as it is in Matthew. This speaks of God’s personal relationship to us as his children. And the point here is not that God is as one of our earthly fathers in all of their flaws and weaknesses. But that the very best earthly fathers, with all of their love and compassion, are as nothing compared with our Heavenly Father.Consider this if you doubt God’s love for you. Remember the words of Psalm 103: As a Father shows compassion for his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him. Remember the story of the Prodigal Son and of the loving Father, whose eyes scanned the horizon as he awaited with a longing heart only for his child to return. Your heavenly Father waits for you also to come to him in prayer. This is the God you approach.Secondly, the content of the prayer. It is quite simple: there are five requests.The first request asks quite simply that God’s name be hallowed: that is, that in our own lives and in the lives of the people out there in the world, that God’s name would be honoured, respected and loved.The second request is like it: that God’s Kingdom would come. It is perhaps helpful here to refer to the more familiar form of the prayer found in Matthew: that the Kingdom would come and God’s will would be done in earth as it is in heaven. In heaven, God’s perfect reign is established in life, joy, love and infinite bliss. We are praying, then, that would happen here in this world now.To speak personally, this is where I often pause because it seems the apex of the prayer. It must be applied first to my soul: may thy kingdom come here, now, in love and joy and peace and goodness and all the fruit of the Holy Spirit, in me. May thy Kingdom come in my family, my acquaintances, in the church, in the nations of the earth.And let’s notice also before we come to the other requests that this is the most exalted request of all: that we experience the presence of God’s Kingdom – that foretaste of the bliss of heaven of which I spoke last week – now. This level of contemplation is the highest point of prayer because it is a direct communion with God himself, not for what he can give us but only for his presence.And yet this is more. We move to specific requests for ourselves and for this life: Give us this day our daily bread. In other words, give us that which is necessary, what is needed for us, for each day.Do not try to conceal from God your needs and your worries: he knows them already. Elsewhere in the New Testament we are told: ‘Let your requests be made known to God’ and ‘Cast your cares upon him for he cares for you’. Let him know of your needs. Christ commands us to ask.Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. This speaks for itself really and it reminds us that for us to be forgiven by God we must extend the same love, mercy and goodwill towards those who have wronged us. That is easier said than done and that is why we must pray for God’s help.And, lastly, having commended ourselves to God and asked him for everything that we need: Protect us, deliver us from evil. May we not be complacent about the fact that we face a powerful enemy who stalks around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. We must recognise that in our own strength we are vulnerable and so we need God’s protection.But how do we pray?Christ has taught us what to say – to ask for his Kingdom to Come and to ask for what we need from him – his presence, our daily bread, forgiveness and protection. But how should we pray this prayer? What does it mean?I have some suggestions, and I am here speaking in the context not of liturgical prayer – that is, the kind of prayer that we all pray together – but in your own personal moments of prayer. Again, observe just how simple this tool is that Christ gives us. Any one of us today, if we do not currently pray, can take this tool and put it to use right away.Firstly, you could simply find a quiet place, focus your mind by closing your eyes and observing a couple of moments of silence. And then you can pray the prayer straight through. It will only take a few seconds. That’s one way, and maybe that is a good place to start. If that is what you feel you can manage then do it. And maybe you might want to do it two or three times a day.And secondly, you could pause after each phrase or couple of phrases and elaborate either in words or in the silence of your heart. As an example, take the request for daily bread. Ask yourself what you need – material, physical, spiritual, emotional – and then ask God for those things. Perhaps you are struggling to offer forgiveness to someone. Name that person in the presence of God at the right moment. Perhaps you are beset by temptation or even an evil habit. Ask God to deliver you. Don’t worry if you don’t have something to say after every phrase. Rather use them as a prompt to pray about what is on your mind and your heart.However you do it I hope that it seems clear to you how to start. Jesus really does want you to begin to pray. So don’t delay.PersistenceI have almost run out of time to talk about the story that Jesus tells following on from the prayer, but just to say a couple of brief things about it. It concerns a man who is sleeping and is rudely woken up by his friend at midnight, telling him that he needs some bread to set before a guest. The sleeping man will not get up at once but, we are told, because of his friend’s impudence he will get up and give him what he needs.Now the point here is not that God is like that man who was asleep but that God is infinitely more inclined to answer our requests than he. If that man, who quite reasonably wanted to stay asleep in his home with his children, would get up when entreated, then how much more will God answer us when we come to him?The great climax of this story is when we are told of the friend’s “impudence”. The Greek word here could also be translated “persistence” or “shamelessness”. That last translation is my favourite.Christ goes on to speak of children, who ask their parents for food. Here it is eggs and fish. But in my experience it is any type of food my children like and which they think might be in the kitchen – apples, oranges, bananas, grapes, cereal, chocolate – the list is endless. They are not embarrassed about it. They feel no shame. And they know that, if they keep asking, they might get what they want eventually.Again, if they get what they want when their parents’ will and resources are limited, how much more will God with his limitless resources and love answer us?But you may ask why this is all necessary: why this shameless, impudent persistence that Christ calls us to in prayer? Why must we not only ask, seek and knock but go on asking, seeking and knocking all the days of our lives?The answer to this is simple: God is not a genie in a lamp or a slot machine that pays out. Rather, he is a Father, and he wants to have an ongoing relationship of spiritual communion with us. It is quite clear that God answers our prayer in amazing, unexpected and wonderful ways. But, when he doesn’t, or when he

Mary and Martha – Contemplation and Action

Mon, 21 Jul 2025 14:14:10 +0000

The short story of Mary and Martha occurs only once in all of the Gospels. And yet throughout the history of the Church is has attracted much attention. It has been taken to be a commentary on the interplay between the active and contemplative life, with Martha representing the active life of service and Mary representing the contemplative life of prayer and devotion.As such, the questions it poses for us in the modern world are still crucial to our personal and spiritual well-being: How are we to find true rest and happiness? Where and how are we to direct our time and energy? What role does prayer play in the midst of a busy and distracted world?The story begins with Mary sitting at the feet of the Lord listening to his teaching whilst Martha serves. After a while, Martha grows exasperated and asks Jesus to rebuke her sister for not helping, to which Jesus replies with the immortal words, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her”.We must attend closely to the words of Jesus here because, as he almost always does, he subverts our expectations in his desire to lead us to true life.Action and AnxietyIn the character of Martha and with only a few words, the author Luke describes our modern condition.We are told that she is ‘distracted with much serving’. The Greek word from which we derive “distracted”, perispao, has several meanings including distracted, pulled away, overburdened. All of this implies a centre from which Martha has been removed, something that is taking her away from where and from what she should be.Later on, Christ tells her that she is anxious and troubled about many things. The Greek here for ‘many things’ here is pollawhich indicates a multiplicity of concerns that replace the one thing that is necessary.Before we talk about that one thing that is necessary consider what is being said here: Martha is being removed, taken away from where and from what she should be by a multiplicity of things. Instead of having a singular focus, her focus is multiple. She has many thoughts swirling through her head, her imagination is filled with, in the words of St Augustine, ‘a confusing crowd of phantasms’. Her body is tense. Her nerves are raw. Her teeth are set on edge. She is, in the words of one contemporary author, trying to make ‘a millimetre of progress in a thousand different directions’.Is this not a portrait of our modern state? Encouraged by our technology to redirect our focus every two seconds, moving from email to email, from social media post to social media post, from channel to channel, desperately seeking interest, enjoyment, validation?Christ tells Martha that she is “anxious” and “troubled”. This word for “anxious”, merimnao, is used elsewhere in the Gospel sin Matthew when Christ gives the Sermon on the Mount: “Therefore I tell you: do not be anxious about your life”. Whatever else Christ wants for Martha, and therefore for us, he does not want us to be anxious, full of care and worry for the things of this world.Although it is certainly true that Martha is doing a good thing – even a very great thing – by welcoming Christ into her home and serving him, she has nevertheless allowed herself to be overcome by anxiety through activity and she has missed the one thing that is necessary.She therefore serves as a warning, a question and a calling to us. In the midst even of our good intentions, how can we find another way?The Good PortionIn contrast to her anxious service, Christ tells Martha only one thing is necessary and that, in sitting at his feet and attending to his teaching, Mary has chosen the better part or the good portion and that it will not be taken away from her. Let’s consider these words.Firstly, only one thing is necessary. In other words, what is truly necessarily is not a multiplicity of things. Nor is a particularly complicated concept to grasp. What is necessary is the presence of Christ and this alone.But this naturally raises the question: necessary for what? And the answer is necessary for whatever it is we are all looking for? What, after all, is the point of all of our activity, our busyness, our service? Surely it is a searching and a striving after life, joy and happiness. One thing is necessary for this, therefore, and that one thing is Christ.Notable thinkers throughout the Christian tradition can provide us with examples here. In his radical autobiographical work, St Augustine recounted his search for life, joy and happiness not in God but in the things that God had made. ‘I rushed upon the beautiful things you had made,’ he wrote as a prayer to God, ‘They held me far from you, those things that would not exist if they did not exist in you.’ As he continued to search for joy, he came upon the gradual realisation that the joy he was seeking for was really the same thing as a search for the Christian God. He had been hearing echoes only, seeing traces of that life, joy, beauty and goodness that is God in his creatures. And, yet, when he came to know the source of these traces, he concluded in the famous words, ‘You have made us for yourselves, O God, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in you’.The point I am trying to make here is that we are all seeking the same thing: namely, happiness, joy and life, what is good, what is true and what is beautiful. But it is the good wayfarer who understands that the source of all of these things is ultimately God himself and not the things that he has made. This is the mistake that Martha made: although God was present to her, in her home, she allowed herself to become distracted and therefore lost sight of the one thing necessary.The Final EndNotice I said earlier that Martha’s service was a good, perhaps even a great, work. This is indeed true and we must be careful to promote and not disparage works of Christian charity and love. But contemplation, love for God and the joy of his presence, is the highest and final end of mankind. Not only do we find our home in God but this home is our eternal destiny. And this surely must be the meaning of Christ’s words, when he says that Mary has chosen the better part “which will not be taken from her”.All of our works and activities will cease eventually. But what will never cease is our relationship with God, for whom and with whom we are destined to live eternally. The author of the fourteenth century mystical text, The Cloud of Unknowing, puts this especially well when he observes that Mary’s ‘perfect stirring of love that begins on this earth is of a piece with that which will last without end in the bliss of heaven, for they are one and the same’.Too Heavenly Minded?As I speak of these things, you might be reminded of a criticism that is sometimes made to the effect that a person is too heavenly minded to be of earthly use. What is meant by this is that a person is so busy thinking of God, heaven and notions of transcendence that he cannot in fact apply his mind to any practical and therefore useful considerations.And yet, nothing could be further than the truth, for in the economy of God it is precisely those who are most heavenly minded that are of most earthly use. This truth is captured particularly well by Cardinal Robert Sarah in his wonderful book The Power of Silence. He speaks of a spiritual “pedagogy”, by which he means a pattern that Jesus lays out for us:… we should always make sure to be Mary before becoming Martha. Otherwise, we run the risk of becoming literally bogged down in activism and agitation, the unpleasant consequences of which emerge in the Gospel account: panic, fear of working without help, an inattentive interior attitude, annoyance like Mary’s toward her sister, the feeling that God is leaving us alone without intervening effectively…All activity must be preceded by an intense life of prayer, contemplation, seeking and listening to God’s will…Ours is a time of continual movement which often leads to restlessness, with the risk of “doing for the sake of doing”. We must resist this temptation by trying “to be” before trying “to do”.Friends, as Christians what we have to offer the world is Christ. Above everything else this is what we have to offer. And our acts of service are ultimate to facilitate this sharing of Christ. But the fact is that we cannot share Christ if we do not know him in our lives and if, instead, we have only an interior attitude similar to that which is spoken of by Cardinal Sarah: panic, fear, inattention, annoyance, and anxiety. The world is filled with people whose restless activity inculcates such traits and it does not need more of them.Another way of saying this is that what the world really needs is holiness and holy people who radiate the grace, peace, joy and love of Christ. And this holiness cannot come about unless we first sit at the feet of Christ and are radically transformed by his presence. And it is from there and that place that we can move into the world and offer to the people in it our acts of love and service. But the fact that we have sought Christ first and before, and that we are people who continually seek the face of Christ…this will make all the difference.Come to me…Our story today tells us therefore that we are to be like Mary first and foremost and not as Martha. Mary was like one who heeded Christ’s words, “Come to me all who labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gently and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls”. This rest is necessary for our acts of love and service and it is the eternal joy to which we are invited, the joy which we can taste now, even in this passing life.In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

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God Wished to be Called Our Neighbour

Mon, 14 Jul 2025 12:48:51 +0000

In one sense, the literal meaning of the Parable of the Good Samaritan is quite clear. We could summarise it by saying that we ought to prove ourselves to be good neighbours to those around us, to those who are in need. Perhaps it is simply this that Christ’s wishes to tell us.But let’s not rush too quickly to this interpretation. Let us consider first the symbolic meaning of this story. The early church was uniform in believing that the Parable of the Good Samaritan was not teaching us simply to love other people. Rather, it is a Parable that teaches us how God has loved us in Christ. This may have been veiled from the minds of the original listeners, but it is nevertheless the truth.The shocking first detail of the story is that it was not the priest or the Levite who stopped to help the man who was in need. These are the ones who we would expect to do so. They are people like me, who wear clothes signifying their religious role. And, yet, they were too busy, preoccupied and disinclined to help a man who was truly broken.The Samaritan, on the other hand, represented an ethnic group and a religious sensibility that was resented by the Jewish people of the time. Christ’s story is subversive because it was the Samaritan and not the religious officials who stopped to help the man who had been beaten and robbed.But, there is an even deeper and more subversive aspect to this observation, which is that, in speaking about the Good Samaritan, Christ was in fact speaking of himself.Consider the words of the great Early Church theologian Origen:‘The priest is the law, the Levite is the Prophets, and the Samaritan is Christ. The wounds are disobedience. The (stable), which accepts all who wish to enter, is the church, The two denarii mean the Father and the Son. The manager of the stable is the head of the church, to whom its care has been entrusted. The fact that the Samaritan promises he will return represents the Saviour’s second coming.’Or the words of St Augustine:‘God our Lord wished to be called our neighbour. The Lord Jesus Christ meant that he was the one who gave help to the man lying half-dead on the road, beaten and left by robbers.’And, again,‘Robbers left you half-dead on the road, but you have been found lying there by the passing and kindly Samaritan. Wine and oil have been poured on you. You have received the sacrament of the only-begotten Son. You have been lifted onto his mule. You have believed that Christ became flesh. You have been brought to the inn, and you are being cured in the church.’It is so important to recognise this level of the story. Without it, the Parable of the Good Samaritan becomes simply a moralistic fable, telling us that it is not our status that makes us morally good but our actions. That message is valuable enough but this is not where God begins with us.The reason for this is because we do not begin in a place of strength and ability. Rather, we begin in a place of weakness and sin. We are like that man who fell among robbers, being stripped of our dignity, beaten and bruised by sin, both our own and that of others. We are helpless in and of ourselves and have no power to heal or save ourselves.The Samaritan represents the work of Christ and, in the deepest sense, the compassion of God for us. He then has had compassion upon us. He has bound our wounds. He has poured on them the oil and wine which cleanses and heals us. He has placed us upon his animal and taken us to a place of safety, refuge and restoration. This is all the work of Christ. And, as Origen tells us, as we are healed and restored within the ark of the Church of God, we await the return of the Son of God, who will bring to us ultimate healing and will bestow upon us everlasting life.Christ is the Samaritan. God wished to become a neighbour to us and he has done so in the coming into this world of Jesus Christ. He ‘wished to be called our neighbour’.Consider for a moment how this might apply to you: What mercy the Lord has had upon you. What forgiveness he has bestowed. What patience and love he has displayed. What providential care he has given to you. How he has brought you through every trial and then to this place. How he has given you strength and provision for each day. All of this is the work of Christ, the Good Samaritan.“You go, and do likewise.”It is from this place of profound gratitude to God and for his love for us that we proceed. And here we recall the answer of the lawyer to the question, “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?” And the response, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbour as yourself.”These two commandments summarise all of the Old Testament Law. To live by them is to fulfil that Law. And yet we must observe their connection. Loving God is not distinct from loving our neighbour. To love our neighbour, we must also love God. And to love God, we must love our neighbour.What I mean by that is that it is the love of God, living within us, that gives us the power to love of our neighbour. When we observe the goodness of God in our own lives and meditate upon it, we are (gradually, slowly) changed inside. And it is this change deep down inside of us that helps us to love those whom God has placed around us.As the Apostle John says elsewhere, ‘Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God…In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us’ (1 John 4:7,10-12).The love of God is manifested now in our love for one another. This is a love which begins with God’s love for us in Christ and is displayed in and through us.Who is my neighbour?Let’s return to this question then, “Who is my neighbour?” This is what the lawyer asked and what he meant was, “Who am I to love? How am I to tell where to place my care and affection?”Christ’s final question turns the question on its head. After telling the story of the Good Samaritan, he asked, “Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbour to the man who fell among the robbers?” The lawyer replied, “The one who showed him mercy.”In other words, the issue isn’t who we deem to be an object worthy of our love and care but on how we can prove ourselves to be a neighbour to others.Again, as Christ has drawn near to us in the Incarnation, we are to draw near to others in love and service to them.The Parable teaches us that these opportunities are often the ones that present themselves to us in the most immediate and obvious way. And, yet, they may be the ones we are least willing to take. In the story, it was “by chance” that the priest and the Levite and the Samaritan were walking upon that particular road. And, yet, we can hear the humorous irony in Christ’s statement here: nothing is “by chance” but all is by the providence of God and according to his plan.It is not then by chance that you are surrounded by the people and places that you are. It is God’s calling to you. It might not be particularly exciting to love your family members, your friends, your colleagues, whoever you find yourself immediately acquainted with, to serve those whom God has put in front of you. But, like the priest and the Levite, if you cannot or will not serve them, then what hope have you in your love and service of others?This is not to say that we ought not to find ways to love and serve that are not immediately obvious. But it is to say that it is almost always the case that there is a family member, a friend, an acquaintance, someone in church, perhaps, who could do with a visit, a kindly word, an act of service, a phone call. Are you willing to pay attention to these people and to respond to God’s calling?I recently read a short parable by Tolstoy. I don’t have time to tell the whole story but suffice to say that it is about an emperor who is trying to find out the answer to three questions:What is the best time to do each thing?Who are the most important people to work with?What is the most important thing to do at all times?His wise men and advisors prove useless in answering these questions, so he visits a hermit who lives in the mountains and asks the questions. But instead of answering them the hermit gets him first to tend his flower beds, and then to help a wild man who emerges from the woods and is wounded. This wild man turns out to be an enemy who was planning on killing the emperor. The emperor’s attendants had recognised him and wounded him on his way. But, being tended to by the emperor, he confesses and they are reconciled. At the end of the story, the hermit addresses the emperor’s initial questions:“Yesterday, if you had not taken pity on my age and given me a hand with digging these beds, you would have been attacked by that man on your way home. Then you would have deeply regretted not staying with me. Therefore the important time was the time you were digging in the beds, the most important person was myself, and the most important pursuit was to help me. Later, when the wounded man ran up here, the most important time was the time you spent dressing his wound, for if you had not cared for him he would have died and you would have lost the chance to be reconciled with him. Likewise, he was the most important person, and the most important pursuit was taking care of his wound.“Remember that there is only one important time and that is now. The present moment is the only time over which we have dominion. The most important person is always the person you are with, who is right before you, for who knows if you will have dealings with any other person in the future? The most important pursuit is making the person standing at your side happy.”And, inde

Labourers in the Harvest

Mon, 07 Jul 2025 13:32:27 +0000

In our text this morning, we witness Jesus sending out seventy-two people to various towns and places to prepare the way for his coming. He gives them encouragement and instruction which are still relevant for his followers today.“The harvest is plentiful but the labourers are few”What does Christ mean by this statement?To begin with, for those he was sending out, there was great opportunity for the message. Many folks would listen to them. The harvest is plentiful.But does this translate into our own day? Is there receptivity to the Gospel now? I would say that there is.It is certainly true that there is widespread indifference today, and this can be wearying. But we can focus instead on those who are receptive to Christ. And these people do exist.Some of you may have heard the following story:One day, a man was walking on a beach after a great storm. Thousands and thousands of star fish had been washed up on the shore. The man came upon a young boy who was picking up the star fish, one by one, and gently throwing them back in the sea. The man approached the young boy and asked him why he was doing this since there were countless thousands of star fish along the shore. “You can’t possibly make a difference,” he said.The boy picked up another star fish and threw it back in the ocean. “It made a difference to that one,” he said.It is true that we cannot save the whole world. And nor does God call us to. But we can make a difference in what God puts in front of us – to the people he calls us to love, to the tasks he calls us to complete.This leads to the second part of Christ’s statement: “The labourers are few”.I take this to mean that those who are truly willing to respond to the call of God to serve him are rare. Most are preoccupied with other things. And it is certainly easy to be so in our day and age.The question for us, then, is: Am I willing to be available to the purposes of God? To be like the prophet Isaiah, who responded to the question, “Who will go for us?” with, “Here I am, Lord. Send me.”That kind of thing is easy to say, particularly for young and enthusiastic people. But Jesus elsewhere tells us to count the cost before promising things which we are not willing to give.It sounds exciting to put ourselves in God’s service, but it involves a complete commitment: our attention, energy, relationships, finances, food, even our lives.Most profoundly, it involves our willingness to suffer, to pick up our crosses and to follow Christ wherever he calls us to go.Even given this challenge, we can still ask God sincerely, “What would you have me do? Where would you have me go?”And we can ask ourselves, “Is anything holding me back?”“Lambs in the midst of wolves”Christ continues by saying that he is sending out the seventy-two as “lambs in the midst of wolves”. And he continues by telling them, “Carry no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road.”What is referred to here is the manner of our going out. Consider the gentleness and innocence of lambs in comparison to the aggression and violence of wolves.As followers of Christ and his messengers, we are told to conduct ourselves differently to the world. The world is a very harsh place filled with aggressively ambitious people, filled with anger and violence, filled with selfishness, and, as a result, filled with pain.A lamb sent out in Christ’s name seeks not to add to all of this sin and misery but to be different. To be a source of grace. To be gentle, to be present for and to other people in love, as Christ was.And why does Christ tell his disciples not to take any provisions with them? Literally, here, to teach them to rely upon God’s power and provision. And we can learn a similar thing.It is all too easy to find confidence in the material means of our existence: our money, our intellectual capacity, our status. The established Church very much has this problem. Perhaps we have this problem in our own lives.And yet Christ sends his workers out into the world in weakness and poverty. This reminds us that we are not offering anything to the world except for Christ himself.This might be an encouragement to those who feel weak in themselves. Perhaps you feel weak: tired, unwell maybe, ill-equipped, not knowledgeable enough, not good enough. Many of us struggle with feelings and thoughts like this. But this is no bad thing because it reminds us that God manifests his power not in spite of our weakness but through it. The growth of God’s Kingdom is always a miracle, and it comes about not as a result of our strength but as a result of his power.At the end of his important book, The Benedict Option, the author Rod Dreher tells the story an earthquake that shook the region of Norcia in 2016. Norcia is, of course, the birthplace of St Benedict, who, as the founder of Western monasticism, is one of the most influential people in the history of the Western Church. After the first earthquake in 2016, the basilica of the monastery church in Norcia became too unstable for worship and the monastery buildings uninhabitable. The monks were forced to flee and to pitch their tents in the ruins of an older monastery where they continued their life of prayer. Five days after, more earthquakes shook the region with the strongest earthquake to hit Italy in thirty years coming on Sunday October 30th. This destroyed the fourteenth century Basilica of St Benedict along with every other church building in the region.Prior to the earthquakes, Dreher had been researching the Benedictine monastery in Norcia. He reflects on all of these events in this way:…when I left Norcia earlier that year, I envied the monks the security of their mountain fastness. But I was wrong. There is no place on earth entirely safe from catastrophe. When the earth moved, the Basilica of St Benedict, which had stood firm for many centuries, tumbled to the ground. Only the façade, the mere semblance of a church, remains…Now (the monks) can begin rebuilding among the ruins, their resilient Benedictine faith teaching them to receive this catastrophe as a call to deeper holiness and sacrifice. God willing, new life will one day spring forth from the rubble.The monks saw in this loss an opportunity for deeper holiness, sacrifice and humility. We learn from this story that even the most secure and established safeholds in this life can be shaken. The things that we rely upon can be removed in a single moment. And yet, when this happens, when we feel bereft, there is always a call to greater and more singular reliance upon the power of God.Ask yourself, then: What am I relying upon that is not Christ? What does Christ want to bring you to the end of? What strength? What confidence that is not him? When we let go of these things there is great freedom.“Rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”The final saying of Jesus that I would like to remark upon comes after the seventy-two return from their mission with joy, telling Christ that even the demons are subject to them in his name. Christ’s reply is quite interesting: “…do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven”.We see here a relativisation of what we might think of as ministry success: the fleeing of the demonic powers, the turning of hearts and minds to Christ. Now, of course, there is much joy in this. The great theologian Thomas Aquinas thought that preaching was an even greater joy than contemplation. He said about this that, “It is better to illuminate than merely to shine”.But Christ here wants to caution us against finding our joy primarily in what we are able to do for him. Rather the greatest joy of all – and indeed the purpose of our existence – is to know God. The knowledge of God is available to all – from the greatest evangelist to the most humble and youngest believer. It is offered to everybody.Ministry success comes and goes. Church movements are, at one time, successful and, at another, not so much. But God is always the same and our relationship with him lasts forever.Perhaps, at the end of this, you feel that you have let every opportunity pass you by. Perhaps you have regrets. If that is the case, I ask you to consider this: today is a new day and you still here listening to these words. Today is a day of grace. Today is a day for you to respond to his calling. Today is a day for you to know him.In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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Insights into Following Jesus

Thu, 03 Jul 2025 13:47:58 +0000

The Christian life is to be a follower of Jesus, which means listening to him, being like him, and doing what he did but in our own day and in our own lives.In our passage today, we receive some very deep insight into what this means. This insight is, in fact, so deep that we can only touch on it briefly.To summarise what we just heard, we begin with a Samaritan village rejecting Jesus and his message. The followers of Jesus are angry about this and they invoke the spirit of the prophet Elijah, who called down fire from heaven to consume the prophets of Baal. Jesus, however, rebuked them and led them on to another village.In some manuscripts, a further saying of Jesus is recorded. These days, scholars believe that this further saying was probably not part of the original text, but it is nevertheless interesting. After rebuking the disciples, Jesus said, “You do not know what manner of spirit you are; for the Son of Man came not to destroy people’s lives but to save them.”Then, we have three encounters. The first person says he will follow Jesus, but Jesus reminds him that “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head”. The second person is called to follow Jesus but he wants to bury his father. “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But, as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God,” says Jesus. Finally, someone else wants to follow but also wants to saw goodbye to the folks at home. “No one who puts his hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God,” Jesus responds.I think we can glean at least three insights from this text which speak powerfully to our modern predicament.Dissociate from the Love of The WorldThe first is that we must dissociate from the love of the world. That is, we must not allow the opinion of others and of our message to distract us from God’s calling upon our lives.When the disciples came to the Samaritan village, they may have been excited at the prospect of a successful evangelistic mission. Their hopes were clearly disappointed and they responded with anger, we might say murderously so.Jesus’ response is very telling: Let’s move on to another village. We noted also that a further saying was attributed to Jesus to the effect that had not come to destroy but to save life.The first principle here is that we must be prepared to be rejected and ignored as followers of Jesus. A pupil is not above his master. It’s a hard thing to recognise but God has not promised us success in evangelism or in church growth. In our world today, we experience widespread indifference to the Christian faith and rejection of it.What we are told to do is find fertile ground for the Gospel and to sow the seed when we find it. I believe that this is what is behind Jesus’ saying in the Sermon on the Mount: “Do not give to dogs what is holy, and so not throw your pearls before pigs” (or, more famously, “Do not cast your pearls before swine”). What Jesus means by this, I think, is that many simply will not receive the treasure of the kingdom and so we should expend our energy on sharing it with those who will.In the first letter of Peter it says, ‘Always be prepared to make a defence to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect’ (1 Peter 3:15). The fact that not everyone will ask such questions because many have no interest in the answers. But, for those who do ask such questions, we must have some idea of what we are going to say.Yet, whatever we do say, we must do it with gentleness and respect. That is, the way that our message is delivered must match the content of the message. We must do so with love, respect, gentleness and, very frequently, with courage.So, if you are rejected and ignored for being a Christian, pray for those who do those things and move on to the next place, to the next person who may be willing to receive the treasure of the Kingdom.Find Rest in GodThe second principle I draw from these vignettes is to find rest in God. When a man comes to Christ and says he will follow him wherever he goes, Christ challenges him by pointing out that he is, in fact, homeless, wandering from place to place, without somewhere to lay his head. The implied question is: Are you prepared to do that also? Are you prepared to go without? Are you prepared to take up your cross and follow me?These are all serious questions and it is indeed very easy to say that we are willing to commit ourselves to following Christ and yet to fail to match our words with our deeds.But the deeper point I want to draw out here relates to following Jesus on the road of discipleship. Jesus had nowhere to lay his head. To the eyes of the world he must have looked like a crazy man: poor, homeless, possibly dishevelled and unappealing to those in higher society. His value system was inverted in their eyes. He was a man with different priorities.The fact is, he prioritised the Kingdom of God and his relationship with his heavenly Father above everything else. And this gave him the peace and the joy and the rest that he needed which everybody else looks to the world to supply.It is not just that we must give things up in order to follow Christ. This is frequently true. But we mustn’t lose sight of the fact that are called to give some things up so that we might gain the greatest thing, which is the presence of God himself.Christ had no home but the home he possessed in his Father’s love. This is what we are called to also.In the Late-Modern West, it is very easy to be completely dependent upon our vast material resources. Spiritual disciplines such as fasting and generous giving, teach us to detach ourselves from these dependencies. But they are very deeply rooted in us, so it takes a lot of time.A crucial part of this process is not only to detach ourselves from the things of this world but to cleave to the presence of God. If we can find the presence of God for ourselves and know his peace and his joy in our lives, then we find that we naturally less dependent for our solace and our wholeness on the things of the world. Paradoxically, the things of the world become more enjoyable because they are placed in their proper contexts. We seek them not to make us whole in some kind of ultimate way but as gifts of God which lead us to thankfulness and further joy in him.This is what Christ was inviting this person to. This is what he invites us to also.Don’t Make Excuses…Even Good OnesFinally, we are exhorted not to make excuses, even excuses which are good. We hear two examples: Let me bury my father. Let me say goodbye.We must hold here in tension the fact that elsewhere Christ upholds the fifth commandment, which is to honour your father and your mother, in his dispute with the Pharisees (Matthew 15:4-6). He is not here preaching radical detachment from one’s family. Rather, he is seeing through the excuses that are being made to the real issue, which is truly an unwillingness to commit fully.The first man says that he would like to bury his father. Jesus’ challenging reply indicates to us that sometimes we must put following him even above our own families. Indeed, there are sometimes instances in which our families may try and prevent us from following Jesus: are we willing to prioritise him?The second man says he wants to say farewell to those at home. Christ tells him not to put his hand to the plough and look back. Again, it is very easy to look back to things in the past: our old way of life, the sinful habits that we have left (or are leaving) behind and to see in them something attractive, to feel wistful and nostalgic for what is past. We may look at past regrets, things which make us feel ashamed or guilt. But like St Paul said in the book of Philippians, to be a follower of Christ we must forget what lies behind, if it distracts or hinders us, and we must press on toward the goal of knowing Jesus Christ (Philippians 3:13-14). The fact is, friends, if you have come to know Christ and to be forgiven by him for your sin and given a new life in him, then you really don’t have to be preoccupied by the past anymore. Let it go. Allow it to become something irrelevant to you. You have a new life. You have a new mission. You have a new calling.We can always make excuses. Those excuses can be very good excuses, but excuses nonetheless.If you are rejected, move on to the next village. Find nowhere to lay your head. Let the dead bury their dead. Put your hand to the plough and don’t look back.This is something at least of what it means to follow Jesus.In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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A Legion of Demons

Wed, 25 Jun 2025 13:35:08 +0000

A Legion of DemonsIn great misery and nakedness, he wandered among the graves of the dead. He was in utter wretchedness, leading a disgraceful life. He was a proof of the cruelty of demons and a plain demonstration of their impurity.Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on LukeThese are the words of the early Church Father Cyril of Alexandria, describing the plight of the man possessed by a legion of demons in our Gospel story this morning. So we begin a journey through the Gospel of Luke on which we will be taken by our lectionary over the Sundays of ordinary time. And we begin with one of the most intense and extraordinary situations of all. For modern, apparently civilised people like us, all of this may sound very strange: a person possessed by man demons, his nakedness, madness, ravings, the chains he broke with superhuman strength, talk of the abyss, and the destruction of a herd of pigs.How do we understand then the plight of this poor man and its relationship to our lives? We can pick out a few thingsFirstly, it is quite clear that this man was living in a Gentile region, and so this would have been his first encounter with Israel’s Messiah, Jesus Christ. We can also see that his torment had lasted a long time and removed his dignity from him, removing him from civilised company and causing him to live among the tombs. So driven and controlled was he by these demonic powers that he could not be bound by a chain, but was possessed of such agitation that he broke free from all physical constraint.When Jesus approached him, the demon spoke through the man’s body. A conversation ensued in the course of which Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Legion.”The word “Legion” in context referred to a unit of the Roman army which numbered 5,000 men. How to understand this? Literally, that the man was possessed by many demons and therefore must have been opened in some way to a radical form of evil.But symbolically, we might see here something of the human condition as it is affected by sin. The great Church Father St Augustine spoke of his state before he came to know Christ by saying, “I have become a question to myself”. What he meant by this was that he was confused and tormented by the tangle on contradictory impulses that existed within his soul, desiring at one time one thing and at another time another thing. But, upon obtaining anything, his impulses and desires would shift and he would never come to know the true rest and happiness for which he was searching.We can surely understand, then, what is symbolised by the legion of demons that possesses this man because surely we are all familiar with this sense that we too are composed of many different, shifting and, at times, contradictory desires. We are, in that sense, questions to ourselves, not understanding ourselves – what we need, what we desire, what can truly make us happy and give us peace. And so we follow whichever voice within us shouts most loudly in the hope that, by following, we may find relief.And we might even go further and say that we can fully identify within this man’s torment and the beastliness of his existence. When we think of ourselves in our lowest moments – when we are truly possessed by the impulses of sin in anger, lust, or some other uncontrollable passion – we recognise that we are, in some real sense, possessed by something. We are not in our right mind but have given ourselves over to base impulses which control us and degrade us so that we are not how and what we know we should be.We are invited by our Gospel reading today, then, to step back from ourselves and to observe. What do we see? We know that there are times when we are possessed and controlled by powers that are, in some sense, outside of ourselves, of our real selves. We know that we need God’s help – Christ’s help – to deliver, heal, and restore us.An Encounter with ChristThis is the situation. What is the answer? The answer can only be the grace of God in Christ. Observe how Christ has crossed a tempestuous sea to arrive at the country of the Gerasenes where this possessed man dwells. This man did not seek him out but found him already present to him in his misery and in his death-like state.And so the good news is for us: the grace of God has been made known to us in Christ. He comes to each one of us without our asking him to. He invites each one of us to respond to him in faith. And, as we respond to him in faith – and as we continue to respond to him in faith – we are restored to the image in which humanity was made to begin with, that is, the image of God.In our story today, all of this happens in a flash: Jesus encounters the man and casts out the demons, and then man is simply healed. That is the Christian life in miniature. Jesus Christ is in heaven at present and he has sent his Holy Spirit upon the Church and upon his followers. We encounter him now in lives of prayer, through the Sacraments of the Church, particularly in the Sacrament of Holy Communion, and through the Word of God.We see the effect of all of this in a beautiful image: ‘The people went out to see what had happened, and they come to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid’ (Luke 8:35). Whereas once this man has been naked, undignified and possessed, now he was clothed and given his dignity again. He was in his right mind. The Greek word from which this comes is sofroneo, which speaks of being of sound mind, in possession of one’s faculties, of having wisdom.All of this – this peace, this wisdom, this dignity – comes from the man’s proximity to Christ and his attentiveness to his words.A word of encouragement again: for us, this is a process which takes times. Can I be honest and tell you that I am frequently disappointed with my progress in the spiritual life? Not only with my lethargy, but also with my inability to control my conflicting impulses. Friends, it is the same for all of us. Do not wallow in shame, but come to Christ and allow him to heal you and to bring you back to your right mind. It’s all here for you in the manifold grace of God which he has given to his Church.A Word on What Happens NextFinally, a word on what happens next. The man asks to accompany Jesus on his way, but Jesus will not allow it. How often we feel that we would like to remain in a state of pure spiritual contemplation but we are denied it by the clamour of the world and the demand that daily life places upon us!Here also, being healed of his demonic possession, this man is able to play a role in the Kingdom of God. This too happens to us: as we grow and mature in our faith, God is able to use us in the Church and in the world to advance his Kingdom. When we are possessed by evil, we can only think of ourselves and our own base desires and needs. No responsibility is given to us, nor should it be. But, as we grow in holiness, we are given more to do. This is the deal. It is the law of the Kingdom of God. Jesus himself says this later on in the Gospel of Luke: “Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required” (Luke 12:48).What is the job Christ gives to this man? ‘“Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.” And he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him’ (Luke 8:39).The mission is no different for us: to proclaim what Christ has done for us. But, friends, let us not be burdened by this task, as though the Church is nothing but a religious pyramid-scheme and we the miserable underlings who are called to propagate an arbitrary message to bring in the customers. It can sometimes be communicated like that and feel that way.Rather, let us observe the order: recognition of our own lostness and our need for Christ, the gracious balm of his presence, our own growth in holiness and wisdom, and then the commission: go out and let the world know all about this Jesus. Let your light so shine before men.Now, of course, life is not always so simple that things progress in such a linear order but I think there is a great truth here. In order to share Christ with the world, we must first have encountered Christ in a of tangible way. When we encounter his love and his goodness, we sense his life and his power living within us and it becomes natural for us to share him with the world. We resemble him. We look like him. Speaking of his love and goodness becomes not a burden, but a joy, flowing out from us like a river from the ocean or like a beam of light from the sun.Friends, are you tormented in your soul? Let me exhort you to come to Christ, sit at his feet, allow him to turn you around, heal you, bring you back to your right mind and to a place of peace. And then, to go out into all the world and share his goodness with those are similarly in need.In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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The Silent Peace of God

Tue, 10 Jun 2025 09:33:31 +0000

Pentecost 2025For thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel: “In returning and rest shall ye be saved, in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength.”Isaiah 30:15The Turmoil of the World and the Silence of God ContrastedIn silence, not in the turmoil and noise, God enters into the innermost depths of our being. Father Marie-Eugene de l’Enfant-Jésus was right when he wrote…“This divine law surprises us. It goes so much against our experience of the natural laws of the world. Here below, any profound transformation, any great external change produces a certain agitation and noise. The great river, for example, reaches the ocean only by the sounding onward rush of its water.”Cardinal Robert Sarah, The Power of Silence: Against the Dictatorship of NoiseHow right Cardinal Sarah and Father Marie-Eugene are in these observations: what is considered worthwhile by the world is always measured in visible, often frantic activity, and in ways that be quantified, counted, evaluated, often in financial terms. Significant achievements are things that can be pointed out: great works of physical, economic or bureaucratic infrastructure.And we almost always think of ourselves and our own lives in this way too: what is valuable about me and what I am is what I produce, what I can be seen to be doing by others, maybe also by God, maybe by myself. Every movement, every action is rushed, every step speaks of a desire to get further along a path to somewhere else. When we stop for a moment, it might seem that we struggle to be present to the place we are and to who we are.Cardinal Sarah goes on: ‘If we observe the great works, the most powerful acts, the most extraordinary and striking interior transformations that God carries out in man, we are forced to admit that he works in silence.’Indeed, when the Prophet Elijah sought the face of God, he found what he was looking for not in a great wind, not in an earthquake, not in a fire, but in a still, small voice.The Holy Spirit’s PeaceI point this out because it brings us face-to-face with the question of Pentecost: that day when God poured out his Holy Spirit upon the early believers and the Christian Church came to birth. Many things are said about the person and work of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament, but I want to focus on only one theme this morning, that which is spoken about by Jesus in our Gospel reading:“These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things…Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”In context, this saying comes after the disciple Philip has asked Jesus for reassurance and more broadly in the atmosphere of anxiety created Jesus’ talk of him leaving the disciples.Again, everyone can relate to this context in a general sense: our lives are characterised by uncertainty, agitation and anxiety. It is part of the human condition, but it is also part of the modern condition.I think of a TV programme from the nineties I used to watch. It was called ‘Stressed Eric’. It is about a man called Eric Feeble, a forty-year-old divorced father living in London. His daughter Claire is 6 and allergic to nearly everything. His son Brian is 10 and has learning difficulties and a fixation with putting everything in his mouth. His au pair Maria is an unreliable 18-year-old with a drinking problem. And his ex-wife Liz, now a Buddhist, constantly nags him. His wealthy and snobbish neighbours, the Perfect family, highlight his weaknesses. And in his workplace he has to contend with a rude and overbearing boss, Paul Power, and a useless secretary, Alison. As the events of his life grow ever more stressful, a vein throbs and pulsates on the side of his head.Imagine how much more stressful Eric’s life would have been in an age of smart-phones and ubiquitous broadband internet and email.In the modern world, we exist under the threat of constant demands upon our time and focus. Our attention can be fragmented and fractured in a hundred directions with the touch of an iPhone or the opening of a laptop. This is profoundly bad for what has come to be called our “mental health”. And it is no coincidence that, since the release of the iPhone in 2007, rates of depression, anxiety and suicide have skyrocketed amidst young people.It seems to me that, as our technology has developed, our ability to live wisely has diminished. We have the capability to contact one another from across the globe. We can access any information about anything at any time. But we are missing the one thing which is necessary, which is the ability to flourish as the people we were created to be.In contrast to all of this, Jesus offers us peace, a peace not as the world gives. “Let not your hearts be troubled,” Christ tells us. The word for troubled in Greek is tarasso, which means to be stirred up, disturbed or unsettled – again, a familiar feeling in today’s world.This peace is also a silent peace. And this is because the work of the Holy Spirit is a work that happens within us, unseen by the world.And here we might reference our reading from the New Testament for this morning: ‘For you did receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God’ (Romans 8:15-16).In other words, the Holy Spirit reassures our hearts that we are God’s children. But, again, this is not something that can be represented in a slideshow or quantified on a spreadsheet. It is the silent and interior transformation that the presence of God brings about in us.And I must stress at this point that this reality – the peaceful, silent, patient interior transformation of the Holy Spirit – is often something that the Church itself works against. This is because even in the Church we can be too busy, too rushed, too concerned with frantic activity and with the attempt to prove ourselves. We too embrace the performance mindset with a terrible effect upon our spiritual healthBut the great truth is that the work that God wants to do in us is mostly achieved not through frantic activity but by the patient opening of ourselves to God’s presence and through attentive listening to interior voice of the Holy Spirit.The Peace of ContemplationPerhaps you hear these words of Christ – “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you” – and you desire to know this deep peace. How can we receive it?We involve ourselves here in something of a paradox, described by the writer of the book of Hebrews who writes: “Let us therefore strive to enter that rest.”There is, in other words, an aspect of this search which involves slowing down, stripping back, and switching off. But there is another part of it which involves an active seeking after the presence of God.And here we can talk about the discipline of silence: silence is at once the greatest challenge and the greatest peace. It is the greatest challenge because, if we spend time in silence, we are confronted with who we really are: with our anxious thoughts, with our wayward desires, with our frantic minds. Sometimes when people begin to engage the discipline of silence they realise just how loud is the noise within their heads. It can be almost too much to bear. As Blaise Pascal said in his Pensees: ‘All of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone’.And yet, it is only in the place of silence that we can truly come to know this peace of which Christ speaks. This is not a reward for sitting still, but the result of quieting the mind and the heart, so that these frantic and demanding voices are diminished and so that the presence of God within us can be made known. I believe that this is the meaning of Jesus’ words in John 14:16 when he speaks of the Holy Spirit: “You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you”. And elsewhere when Jesus says, “The Kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21), which expresses a similar truth.That truth is that God is already present to your soul. He is already within you, which means that the Kingdom of God is within you. Why then do you not feel him? Why do you not know him? It is not because you have not found him out there somewhere in the world but because you have not noticed him dwelling in here. And you have not noticed him because the noise is just too loud and because you have not yet cultivated an inner silence.I invite you, in closing then, to the contemplative life, to the practice of silence, solitude, and prayer. If you have not practiced these things then, never fear, you can start at any time. Again, you already have everything you need to find this peace within you. You have only to begin the journey.In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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The Oneness of the Church as a Witness to the World

Wed, 04 Jun 2025 14:05:06 +0000

After the AscensionThis Sunday falls directly after the celebration of the Ascension of Christ last Thursday. We find ourselves liturgically in the in-between time after Christ’s going away and before his sending of the Holy Spirit upon the Church.The fact that Christ ascended into heaven and left the disciples without his physical and singular presence raises the question: How will God be manifested in the world now? What witness is there of the truth of the Incarnation and the Gospel after Christ has been taken up? The answer is simple, and we see it in our passage today.In this passage, we hear the prayer of Christ, of Son to the Father. He prays for ‘those who will believe in me…that (through them) the world may believe that you have sent me’.God is no longer visible to the world as he was when he walked the earth in the person of Jesus. You can no longer visit him, or feel his physical touch, or hear his audible voice…except through those who will believe in him. That is, through the Church, through you and me. We are Jesus’ body on earth now. The task is ours to witness to the world of the reality of those things we believe: that he was born, that he manifested God’s love and wisdom to the world, that he died for all, that he was raised again, that he was taken into heaven. We are God’s representatives to this truth.The Oneness as a WitnessHow will this truth be manifested to the world? Through the oneness of those who believe:“I ask…for those who believe in me…that they may all be one…so that the world may believe that you have sent me.”The conclusion we draw here is that the oneness of the Church will be a witness to the world. With the implication that division in the Church will impair the Church’s witness. So we had better have a think about this oneness – what it is and how to get it – so that we can more clearly speak of Christ.What does this Oneness consist of?Some English translations use the word “unity” here where ours uses “one”. I like “one” better. First of all, it is a direct translation of the actual Greek word “eis”. And, secondly, because it speaks more clearly of what Christ goes on to say.“Unity” may or may not speak of intimacy, of love, of the dynamism of a shared life.But “oneness” does. Think of the way we might speak of “oneness” today. How might we use that term? Perhaps the most readily available example is that of a husband and wife who have become “one flesh”, “one body”, almost one person as their lives have been brought together in a radically new way.How does Christ pray that believers should be one? We can pick out three things, which are all aspects of the same reality:Firstly, the oneness of Father and Son in their relationship with one another: “…that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us.”Secondly, a unity of glory: “The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one.”Thirdly, this idea of glory is linked to the love between Father and Son: “Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.”The fathers of the early church wrestled with passages like this and others which appear to speak of a very close identity between Jesus, God the Father and the Holy Spirit. After some time, they eventually formulated the doctrine of the Holy Trinity. This doctrine tells us that there is a oneness in God which is shared by three persons – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And theologians like St Augustine spoke of Holy Spirit as the “bond of love” between the Father and the Son, that is the way by which the Father loves the Son and the Son loves the Father.Doubtless we speak here of a reality that is far beyond our comprehension. And yet the amazing thing is that we called by God to be a manifestation of the oneness of the Holy Trinity here on earth today.Let me put it this way: the best way of understanding what the Holy Trinity is, is to look at the Church at its highest, as the love of God is manifested between those who believe in Christ.There are lots of questions that such a statement might raise in our minds. When we say the words “the Church” we often think of bishops releasing statements about political controversies or synods arguing about theological and ethical issues. Without wishing to dismiss any of these things as a complete irrelevance, let’s shift our focus to the real world and to real things. Think of the warmth and love that you have experienced through the Church, through this parish maybe, or others you have attended. Perhaps you’ve not experienced it too much, but you’ve seen it. And, even if you haven’t, I can guarantee you that it is there and that, imperfect though it is, it is unlike anything else in the world.How do we achieve this Oneness?I’ve said so far that Christ prays for the oneness of believers. I’ve said that this oneness is a manifestation of God’s love as he is in the Holy Trinity. And I’ve said that the Church can therefore teach the world about who God is through the love of believers.That’s a lot to take in, but we need to say one more thing about how we might achieve this. To begin, let me say that this is the work of a Christian lifetime. It is not done in an instant and it takes time, commitment, patience, faith. But we ought to be encouraged by the very existence of Christ’s prayer and the fact that through the Holy Spirit we have it recorded for us: the oneness of the Church is something Christ desires and which must be at least partially achievable.I want to say that there are individual and corporate aspects to this oneness. And I will here use an analogy from football.Imagine that you are part of a great football team like Barcelona or Bayern Munich or Manchester City. Experts will know that, in recent years, all three of those teams have at one point been overseen by perhaps the greatest manager of the modern age, Pep Guardiola.Now, as an individual player, how can you bring about the greatest level of oneness in a team managed by a visionary like Pep? There are two ways: firstly, you sit at Pep’s feet and study his ways. You become a follower of Pep. You become his disciple. You hang on his words. You spend as much time as you can with him. Eventually, his philosophy goes so deeply into you that you start to resemble him, not just in your playing but in your way of life.What’s the second thing? The fact that you are becoming like Pep in this sense connects with the rest of the team, who are (hopefully), all doing a similar thing. If a player is not learning from Pep and doing his own thing this will bring a lack of oneness. It will bring division. The team will not play as well. But, if all of the players are connected to Pep in this way then they will be more united, more connected to one another, and the team will be a manifestation of his footballing philosophy. It will be, in that sense, one.Forgive me for comparing (even by analogy) Pep Guardiola to the Holy Trinity. But there is something here I hope that is helpful. Individually, we are united to God in Christ and through the means of grace in our Christian lives – through prayer, study of Scripture, meditating either silently or upon God’s Word, through the sacraments, through corporate worship, through fellowship with one another, through lives of obedience and holiness. This starts with you and me, with God’s calling and our response. The Church as a whole can’t do this for us.But it is through this work of personal transformation that we contribute to the life and oneness of the Church. We are made one with other believers who are on the same journey, undergoing the same process, which is referred to in the theological literature as “sanctification”. That is, becoming holy, becoming set apart for God.Why can we not do this alone? In the case of Man City it is because they must play as a team because those are the rules of football. But here we might want to give a slightly more theological answer. As I have already said, the way that God is manifested in the world now is through the Church. And God is not a single, solitary unity, alone and unloved until he created people to love and to love him. Rather, God is a dynamic community of Father, Son and Holy Spirit in eternal union, oneness and joy. And that is why the Church must be both individual and corporate, both one and many…because that is how God is.And do we not feel something of this God-like life when we gather together? Sometimes church is hard, of course. We are feeling tired. Or something we are doing doesn’t go well. And so on. But, at its highest, is it not true that we can sense at least something of the presence of God here amongst us in our shared love of one another, in our shared love of Jesus Christ, and in our shared unity of purpose?Indeed, God is here. This is very gate of heaven. Or, at least, it is as close as we will get until we enter the reality of which this is but a shadow. In the meantime then, let us fulfil the longing of Christ’s heart: that we may be one – that we may be one with God and that we may be one with one another in holiness, purpose, and love.In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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Fr George Westhaver - How Christ Communicates His Life to Us

Tue, 27 May 2025 10:20:29 +0000

Guest preacher Fr George Westhaver, Principal of Pusey House Oxford, speaks about the way that Jesus communicates the life of God to his people.

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Can We Bring Heaven to Earth?

Tue, 20 May 2025 15:24:43 +0000

Could this be heaven for everyone?When you were at school you may have read George Orwell’s novel Animal Farm. The story is about a hostile takeover of a farm led by two pigs called Snowball and Napoleon. The animals have come to believe that their human owner is an oppressor and that they can create a much freer and equal society by throwing off his yoke and running the farm themselves.But, of course, once they have secured control of the farm, the lofty ideas drafted by the elite porcine liberators are quickly watered down until their meanings have been changed or reversed altogether. Certain things that the pigs said were not permitted became permitted. Other things that were said to be permitted were banned. And certain slogans were produced that seemed to contradict those they went before: “Four legs good, two legs bad” became, over time, “Four legs good, two legs better”. And “All animals are equal” famously became “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others”.Animal Farm is about our seemingly innate desire to build a heaven on earth. If only we could change this or that change, implement this or that philosophy, we tell ourselves, we can do it. And, yet, every time we try, we fail, and we fail with catastrophic consequences.The reason for this is because we attempt to bring heaven to earth without the help of God as a manifestation of human pride. We attempt to use politics to do what only God can do, which is, as our passage from the Book of Revelation today tells us, to make all things new.Joseph Ratzinger, who would become Pope Benedict XVI, said, ‘Wherever politics tries to be redemptive, it is promising too much. Where it wishes to do the work of God, it becomes, not divine, but demonic.’The Heavenly CityIn Revelation 21, we see the end of the story of the whole Bible: the complete recreation of the cosmic order. Did you know that the ultimate Christian hope is not just that our souls will go to heaven when we die but that the entire universe will be recreated and that we too will be recreated? Even our bodies, which decay and die in this life, will be raised up again to live in this new world.Revelation shows us this: the old heaven and the old earth pass away and a new heaven and a new earth are created. And then we see a very strange image: the holy city, the new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. This is the literal coming together of heaven and earth. The image of a bride and her husband implies a nuptial union between this world that we live in now and the heavenly realm. We cannot possibly understand this in any detail but we do know that God promises to dwell with his people. And we are told in a great promise that in this place there will be no more tears, for God will wipe them away from every eye. There will be no more mourning, nor crying, nor pain, for the former things will have passed away.It is no coincidence that this reading is chosen for the Easter season: when Jesus stood up and walked away from the tomb, he began a project of cosmic renewal. Again, not just so that we would live forever in a spiritual realm, but so that the whole of the universe might be redeemed from the curse of sin which it came under back at the beginning of the story.And this, friends, is the answer to that human longing for heaven on earth, which is so often manifested in a prideful attempt to do it on our own. From the very beginning God has been coming down to earth: walking in the Garden of Eden and beckoning to Adam and Eve, descending to Abraham, Moses and the Prophets to call a people for his own possession, and ultimately, taking the form of man in the coming of Jesus to this world in the incarnation.The point is that we cannot lift ourselves up to God. We need God to come down to us. And this is not just for no reason. It is so that we might be lifted up to him. Another aspect of the end of the story that is often not spoken about enough is that God does not intend just to save us, but to unite us with him, making us like him, so that we might even share something of his divine nature. The Eastern Orthodox call this “theosis” or “divinisation” and it is summarised in the great church Father, Tertullian’s statement, “God become man, that man might become God.”The truth is that we can become God-like: but it is a gift, a salvation that is offered to us in Jesus, not something that we achieve without God and in our own strength.Thy Kingdom Come…You might be wondering what the practical implications of this are: Should Christians be involved in politics if we cannot really achieve our aims? Would it be better to withdraw and focus on more spiritual matters? I’ll not wade too deeply into these waters today, but one thing I will say is that, without God, our efforts are limited at best and, at worst, can be extremely destructive.This is because the greatest need that we have in the world is not a change of a societal or political structures but a change of the human heart. Think back to those pigs in Animal Farm: they intended at first to change things for the better. But the wealth and material privileges that they were confronted with tempted them and distorted their initial good intentions. Their hearts were bad, and this was a more fundamental problem that the initial oppressive conditions of the farm. They would be become tyrants and overlords on a scale much more wicked than even the original farmer.The same is true of all of us if we were put in charge. Friends, we don’t need a new system. We need a new heart. And this is something that we can all work on, regardless of whether or not we are politically engaged. Indeed, it is something we must all work on because this is what it means to follow Christ: it means to become like him and to be changed into his image from the inside-out.Think of the prayer that Jesus taught us: “Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done. In earth as it is in heaven.” It relates to the passage from Revelation. There we see the moment when that prayer is fully fulfilled.How could God fulfil it now? What does it mean when we pray that prayer? I would suggest that a good way of praying it is as a prayer for oneself: God, change my heart. May heaven begin here and now in me. May I be a manifestation of something that comes from above in this world here and now to the people who are around me.This prayer is also a prayer for the Church. For the Church at its highest is indeed a manifestation of the heavenly realm, as we join together in worship and the celebration of God’s goodness to us. It is also heaven-like when we love one another in the way that Jesus commands in our Gospel reading today: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” If we seek to fulfil that commandment, with the help of God’s grace and the power of his Holy Spirit, truly we will be manifesting something of the heavenly realm here on earth today.“Behold, I make all things new…”Just to finish, I’d like to mention this beautiful moment in the reading from Revelation as the one who is seated on the throne announces, “Behold, I am making all things new.”As I have already said, this newness in all things will only fully come at the end of history. But it has also already begun now. And, in a sense, the reason that many of us are here today is because we have already tasted of that newness, that freshness, deep down things, as the poet Gerard Manley Hopkins said. We know that the world is weary and needs to be remade. And we know that we ourselves have a similar need.I found faith for myself as a young adult at university. I’ve had to consider this story recently a few times because I’ve been asked about it and I’ve written about it. A very significant part of my journey was my first experience of going to church at that time. I’d been to churches before but the experience I had of the vibrancy of the community and the love of the Christians I met for one another and for God was not something I had ever experienced before. Almost instantly I fell in love with the church. And even though being involved in the church is often extremely painful and takes you to the point of despair, I have never stopped loving it, wherever I have found it in my life and in whatever manifestation.When one has been part of the Church for a long time, it is easy to forget what a wonderful and beautiful and special thing it is. There is nothing like it out there in the world. We are gathered together not because we are like one another but because we are called to worship Jesus together and to be signs of his love in the world. And we are empowered to do this by his very Spirit which is given to us in this worship, through his Word and in the Holy Sacraments. This is truly unique. This is truly fresh. This is truly good newsThis is my desire for myself and for you as individuals Christians. And it is also my desire for the Church, and for this church in particular: that you and I and we together might be a witness to this new thing that God is doing in Jesus. This new love which he has manifested to the world in Jesus, particularly in the laying down of his life upon the cross. And this hope to which he calls us: of a world that will one day be enveloped in his love, renewed, remade and restored.May we, friends, be a sign of this hope and an outpost of the divine in this place, putting away anger, malice, slander, hatred and rivalry, and instead taking up love and charity, forgiveness and reconciliation, service and self-giving. This, indeed, is that way that heaven can be manifested upon the earth.In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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The Prevailing Power of the Risen Jesus

Tue, 13 May 2025 13:35:09 +0000

The Raising of Dorcas to LifeThe readings that take place in the Octave of Easter are all about people coming back to life. Today’s reading from the book of Acts is an example. The story is simple enough: a disciple of the way called Tabitha dies for no apparent reason. Some other disciples hear that the Apostle Peter is nearby. Peter comes, puts out the mourners, kneels down and prays. Then he says to her, “Tabitha, arise”.‘And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up…Then, calling the saints and widows, he presented her alive.’This story, in almost all of its details is remarkably similar to a story that people told about Jesus when he walked the earth. In that story, it was a little girl, the daughter of a ruler of the synagogue named Jairus who died as Jesus was on his way. Like Peter, Jesus went into the house of the dead girl and put out those who were mourning and went in to her. Jesus took her by the hand and said, “Talitha, cumi,” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise”.‘And immediately the girl got up and began walking (for she was twelve years of age), and they were immediately overcome with amazement.’For all the similarities there is a crucial difference: in the story of Peter, Peter kneels down, interceding and beseeching God to raise this girl from the dead. In the story of Jesus, Jesus does no such thing. Unlike Peter, Jesus simply takes the dead girl’s hand and says two words, “Talitha, cumi”. This is most important because it indicates that even the great Apostle Peter never possessed the authority by himself to do what he did. Only Jesus of Nazareth, who truly was the Christ of Israel, could command the power of death with only a word and death itself would flee at his voice.This power that Jesus demonstrated is the same power that enabled him, after his bloody and awful crucifixion and after his three days lying dead in the tomb, simply to stand up and walk away. The Christian claim is that this power is still at work today in this world and that we can know this power in our own lives.A Great Multitude from Every NationWhat about our reading from the Book of Revelation? Anyone who is familiar with this book will know that it is laden with symbols that can be very confusing, even for those who have knowledge of Scripture. What we can see quite clearly here is that John, who wrote Revelation, is a having a vision of heaven:‘After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”’Now, the Lamb here is a way of talking about Jesus, who is not a literal lamb but one who was slain as a sacrifice for sin as a lamb might have been in Old Testament times.Let’s put these two readings next to each other: the story from Acts and the vision from Revelation. We might rewind slightly the story from Acts to the beginning of that book. The disciples were, at that point, a small band. They had indeed seen the risen Jesus and they were waiting for the promise of the Holy Spirit, though they did not know what this meant. They were waiting, tiny in number and alone, probably scared that they too might be targeted by the Roman authorities, certainly not a group that imagined that they would have some kind of significant impact upon the world.How is it that this tiny band of believers grew to the great multitude from every nation, tribe, people and language that the Apostle John describes in the Book of Revelation? What happened in between to make that possible?It is very easy in the secular West to dismiss Christianity as a spent force, to believe that the Church is in decline, that one day soon it will no longer be of relevance and that some other over-arching philosophy or even religion perhaps might take its place. We can have the overconfidence of a Richard Dawkins, who was famously pictured wearing a t-shirt that said, ‘Religion: Let’s end it together.’ Or we can be like the famous intellectual sceptic Voltaire, who, in 1776 said that, “One hundred years from my day, there will not be a Bible on earth except one that is looked upon by an antiquarian curiosity-seeker.” And, yet, if Voltaire had lived another fifty or so years, he would have found that his former residence in Geneva was then being used by the Evangelical Society of Geneva as a repository for Bibles and religious tracts.He may also have been surprised to find out that, in 2025, Christianity would be the largest religion in the world, with over 2.4 billion adherents, or approximately a third of the human beings alive at the time. Some other surprising facts: the growth of Christianity is particularly strong in Sub-Saharan Africa, which has grown over about a hundred years from 9 million to 734 million adherents. In Asia, over the same time period, adherents have grown from 28 million to around 460 million. In Latin America, the amount of Christians is projected to reach 686 million by 2050.What about apparently intellectually and scientifically superior Western countries like Britain? Even here the decline of Christianity and the secularisation of our nation appears to be reversing. A 2024 report by the Bible Society, ‘The Quiet Revival’, found a surprising 56% increase in church attendance across all age groups between 2018 to 2024. Among Generation Z (ages 18-24), attendance quadrupled from 4%-16%, with young men now outnumbering young women, reversing a significant historical trend.Friends, do not be discouraged. Aslan is on the move. Jesus is alive and he has not abandoned his Church. He is with us still.Knowing JesusAnd this leads me, finally, to our Gospel passage, John 10. It reminds me again of the remark of C.S. Lewis to the effect that, if we really listen to the claims of Jesus, we cannot simply say that he was a nice moral man and a good teacher. He was either a liar, making up claims about himself to garner fame and wealth; he was a lunatic, believing himself to be God; or he is truly Lord, and what he said about himself is to be believed and followed.Listen to some of his words: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all…I and the Father are one”.Jesus speaks here of a relationship that he establishes with his sheep, with those who follow him and trust him. He says that he knows them and implies that those who follow him know him also. Now he is not speaking here only of those who would follow him at the time. As he says, “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.” This is a relationship that endures, beyond Christ’s cross, tomb and resurrection. It is a relationship that endures throughout history and even beyond death. Indeed, it is a love that is stronger than death. The love of God given to us in Jesus.Unlike English, many languages have two words for knowledge. A language like French, for example, indicates that you can knows things or people in different ways. In French the two words are ‘savoir’ and ‘connaître’. ‘Savoir’ is about ideas, skills, factual knowledge. I know how to change the tyre on my car. I know how to put together a budget. Whatever it is. But ‘connaître’ means something quite different: it speaks of personal knowledge, relationship with another person, love, even intimacy. Indeed, if I may be so bold, in the Old Testament, when a couple enjoy intimacy together, they are said to know one another. This knowledge is connaître, the knowledge of personal relationship and often of love.This knowledge is the kind of knowledge of which Jesus speaks in this passage. The Pharisees were the religious experts of their day. And they accused Jesus left, right and centre. But this was because it turned out that they only had a technical and rigid knowledge of the Scriptures and of God. There was no love in their hearts. It was a knowledge that only existed in the mind. And so they did not hear the voice of God in Jesus.But when Jesus speaks of knowing him, he speaks the language of connaître, that is he invites us to hear his voice, which still speaks today; to love him and to trust his words; to follow him, like a sheep follows a shepherd. And it is this knowledge, this love, intimacy, trust, this following, that will bring us eternal life.One final distinction here: the New Testament speaks of two types of life. One is biological and is called bios. The other is spiritual, eternal life, and is called zoe. For every human being, our parents give us bios, which is natural life. But only God, and only Jesus Christ, can give us zoe, which is supernatural life, life animated by the power of God himself, the kind of life that does not perish when bios ends, but which endures forever. This is the kind of life that deep down we all long for, and this is the life that is offered to us in Jesus. This is the life that is offered to you today.Now, we hope and pray that Persephone (and all of our children) will know God in both ways – savoir and connaître – and will know not just biological but eternal life. Parents and godparents – like all Christian parents – your role is to supply Persephone with teaching, encouragement and godly example. You will be as a sign of God to her, the best you possibly can be, saying sorry to God when you get it wrong and trying to do better by his grace. But you must know that, in the end, it is only the power of God in Jesus that can make Persephone’s heart come alive to him, that can bring her to spiritual life. And, so you must, along with all of these other things, pray for the power of the Holy Spirit. For without him, you can do nothing.Imagine you are lik

The Moment That Everything Changes

Sun, 20 Apr 2025 14:45:08 +0000

The Greatest Paradigm ShiftJust over three-hundred years ago, people saw the world through Isaac Newton’s eyes. Newton described a world that was regular, clockwork, where things were entirely predictable. Gravity pulls things to the ground, objects move in straight lines, time is the same for everyone, everywhere. It was a clockwork universe.But in the beginning of the twentieth century, this view of reality was fundamentally changed by a man called Albert Einstein who developed what was to become his world-famous theory of relativity. Einstein shocked the world by demonstrating that not everything obeyed Newton’s laws. When things are moving extremely fast, for example, or when they are affected by extreme gravity. Huge things like the sun warp space, and light can bend around stars in such circumstances. Time itself can stretch or shrink depending on how fast you are moving. If a rocket zooms through space at near light speed, time moves slower than for someone standing still on Earth. In short, this theory demonstrated that our view of time, space and motion all depend on where we are and how fast we are moving. Everything is relative. Nothing is fixed.Einstein’s theory of relativity changed everything. Previously the world had been seen as a stage set on which nothing moved. Now, it was as though the stage was constantly shifting, and the sets were being changed and the props were being moved around. The map of reality was being redrawn. And it was no surprise at all to find out that many people struggled to accept it.When asked to explain the theory of relativity, Einstein said, “Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute. That's relativity.”I speak of this because I am trying to demonstrate something of the strangeness and the wonder of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. His rising from death was the moment when absolutely everything changed. The Jewish people had expected that the Messiah would be a warrior-king who would lead the sons of Israel to victory. Even when Jesus explained to his disciples time and time again that he would rise from the dead, they could not understand what he was saying. Their picture of the world simply couldn’t fit that fact in.What was needed was an entire paradigm shift, a reordering of their reality. They would need to let go of the old certainties and embrace an entirely new vision of the world. Their thinking was far too small. God’s plan, you see, was not simply to overthrow the Romans and liberate the Jews. His plan was to redeem the entire universe through the conquest of sin and death.The Preaching of the ResurrectionIn the Book of Acts, whenever the early Christians get a chance to preach their message to anyone, they always include as a central fact the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Our reading today is an example of this and a very good summary of the early Christian message. What does the Apostle Peter say to his listeners?- He begins by telling them that God wants to reach everybody in every nation.- He speaks of Jesus preaching good news of peace, being baptised and anointed with the Holy Spirit, doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil.- He tells of Jesus’ crucifixion, that he was put to death by being hung on a tree.- ‘…but God raised him on the third day and made him to appear, not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.’- He has been appointed by God to judge the living and the dead, the prophets bear witness to him and everyone who believes in him will receive forgiveness of sins through his name.Doubtless, there is lots to unpack there but let’s consider this claim that Jesus was raised from the dead. Now Peter is not saying that Jesus’ corpse was reanimated and that he was just like a normal man walking around again. Something far more incredible than that had happened. Jesus had been raised by God to a new kind of life, a life animated by the power of God himself, a life from another dimension, an indestructible life that would never be snuffed out.Pagan MelancholyIt's certainly true that the pagan world had conjured up myths about the conquest of death and had even suggested that the soul of a person may survive death and migrate to a heaven-like realm. But, in the end, the world into which Christianity was born was tinged by melancholy and despair. The great spiritual writer Robert Crouse described the picture of that world like this:We must ever keep an upward course, we must cultivate the virtues, and be discipled by suffering; but we must know that, in the end, there really is no end, no final paradise for us. That is the nature of things, the everlasting order of the universe. We can make our idols, to be sure, our eternal empires and universal panaceas; but we cannot but suspect that they have feet of clay, and when we see that, the issue is despair.Robert Crouse, Images of Pilgrimage: Paradise and Wilderness in Christian SpiritualityAs we reflect upon these things, do we not see a similar mindset in our world today? There are differences, of course, but we too make our idols and soothe ourselves on notions of goodness and morality, whilst we medicate ourselves with food, drink and modern technology, all the while knowing, somewhere deep inside, that none of these things can answer the deepest questions and provide rescue from the ultimate enemy, which is death itself, and the annihilation of all our hope and life.In one of the greatest films ever made, Clint Eastwood’s Western ‘Unforgiven’, the aged gunslinger William Munny reflects upon a recent assassination he and his younger associate the Schofield Kid have just undertaken: “It’s a hell of thing killing a man. You take away all he’s got and all he’s ever gonna have.” This is what death does to all of us. This is our caste of mind. This is our picture of the world. Unless there is something else, something more.The Implications of the ResurrectionAnd the resurrection of Christ says exactly that. In Christ’s death and burial, we see our own. We see our dying moment. We see our funerals. We see our gravestones. But, in his resurrection, we see something else also: a future hope beyond the final enemy, beyond that taking away of everything we have.Just like the theory of relativity, the resurrection completely changes our view of the world. For a start, we realise that Jesus is not dead but he is, in fact, alive. On Easter morning, we shout with joy, not, “He rose!” but “He is risen!” Present tense. Because it is still true today. Jesus is alive. He reigns in Heaven with God the Father. He is present to his Church through his Spirit and in the Holy Eucharist. He dwells with us in our love for and joy in one another.Secondly, the resurrection teaches us that we can trust Jesus. When he told people that he was Israel’s Messiah and that he would rise from the dead, that prediction proved correct.When Jesus made this prediction – the most outrageous, outlandish prediction you can possibly imagine, “I am going to be killed and rise from the dead after three days” – he got it right.If he was right about this, surely, he is right about everything else also. Surely, we can trust him with our very selves, with our very lives.And the final thing to say about this is that the resurrection of Jesus gives us hope. Hope that death is not the final word in God’s universe. In perhaps the greatest passage on the resurrection in all of Scripture, 1 Corinthians 15, the Apostle Paul tells us that Jesus’ future is bound up with our own, and that, as Jesus was raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit, so those who put their trust in him to save them from death will be raised up and given everlasting life and joy.And this, friends, is why we have as our Old Testament reading this morning, Isaiah 65, a vision of a universe completely restored, indeed a vision of this universe interpenetrated by the heavenly realm itself, a new heavens and a new earth, a heavenly Jerusalem, a vision of the life and the world that we have always longed for but perhaps never believed might just be true:“For behold, I create new heavens,and a new earth,and the former things shall not be rememberedor come to mind.But be glad and rejoice foreverin that which I create;for behold, I create Jerusalem to be a joy,and her people to be a gladness.”Isaiah 62:17-18The fact is that Jesus’ resurrection is the beginning of this new world, the beginning of the new creation, the pivotal moment at which it was proved beyond doubt that there is a power in the world stronger even than the power of death. What is that power? That power is the love of God.And, friends, this is the most wonderful thing: even today, even now, especially now upon this Easter morning when we celebrate this joyful happening, we can taste something of that power, that life, that love which would not abandon the soul of Christ to the grave but raised him victoriously in his triumph, never to die again. We taste this power in the joy of our Easter celebration.Christian, do you suffer? Do you labour? Are you losing the will to go on? Are you in pain? Are you wondering if there is any hope at all in this tired and weary world? Take heart. The tomb is empty. He is not there. He is risen. See the place where they laid him. As the great hymn says: Death is conquered! Man is free! Christ hath won the victory! Alleluia!

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Pierced for our Transgressions

Sat, 19 Apr 2025 09:18:45 +0000

“Behold, my servant shall act wisely;he shall be high and lifted up,and shall be exalted.”The Exaltation of the Suffering ServantAbout seven-hundred years before the time of Jesus, the prophet Isaiah spoke of a servant of God who would be exalted, before whom kings would shut their mouths. But when we read the text of Isaiah 52 and 53, we see no ordinary exaltation. What do we see?His appearance was marred beyond human semblance, his form beyond that of the children of mankind. He had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, as one from whom men hide their faces. He was despised, and we esteemed him not. He was oppressed and he was afflicted, like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, like a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. By oppression and judgement, he was taken away, and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living?What kind of exaltation is this?Friends, there can be only one answer to this question. It is an answer that the Apostle John knew very well and referenced frequently in his Gospel: ‘"And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.’ He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die"’ (John 12:32-34).In a word, this exaltation – so contrary to all expectations - is the exaltation of the cross of Jesus Christ. And it is fair to say that this type of exaltation was – and remains – a mystery and a great shock when we consider it.Those of us who have walked the Stations of the Cross already this morning have heard of Christ’s suffering. We see it too in the book of Isaiah and in our Passion reading. How he was betrayed, arrested, beaten, spat upon, scourged, nailed to the cross, and finally crucified, dying slowly in agony, suffocating almost to death as his legs gave way under the pressure of his own weight, and eventually pierced in the side with a Roman spear, so that blood and water flowed from the wound.What can we say to these things? How are we to make sense of them? The Song of the Suffering Servant in the Book of Isaiah helps us.We see in this passage that the suffering of this servant was not without purpose. It was not just bad luck or a cosmic accident but it had an end in mind. We find it here, in the heart of the passage. We may even call this the very heart of the Bible itself.“Surely he has borne our griefsand carried our sorrows;yet we esteemed him stricken,smitten by God and afflicted.But he was pierced for our transgressions;he was crushed for our iniquities;upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,and with his wounds we are healed.All we like sheep have gone astray;we have turned – every one – to his own way;and the LORD has laid on himthe iniquity of us all.”Isaiah 53:4-6This passage tells us about ourselves: that we are full of grief and sorrow, that we are not at peace with God, and that we are in this condition because of our iniquity and transgression. The other way of putting this is to say that our sin has separated us from God who is the source of all life and goodness. We are far away from him and we need him, yet we cannot know him as he intended because we have rejected him through our sin and lawlessness.The suffering of this servant, then, is for us, that this situation might be changed, that we might be brought to peace with God and reconciled with him. And the servant does this by carrying our sorrows, by being pierced for our transgressions, by being crushed for our iniquities, by having the iniquity of us all laid upon him by the LORD.We see here a clear vision of the cross, and we understand that the suffering of Jesus was undertaken out of love for us. He was indeed pierced by the nails that fastened him to the cross. He was crushed under his own weight as he was crucified. He did not open his mouth when he was led away, but continued in silence as his sentence unfolded. His grave was made between two robbers, and he was buried in a rich man’s tomb. The Suffering Servant is Jesus. And the death that he died upon the cross was for us, so that our sins might be removed and so that we might forgiven by God and reconciled to him.The AtonementThe theological term for this event is the atonement, when the sins of the world were atoned for by the sacrifice of Christ. In the New Testament and in later times, people have tried to make sense of this, to understand how it works and what exactly it means. There are various theories of the atonement that attempt to explain it. And you may be wondering about that yourself at this very moment. I would like to say two things in response.I start with some wise words from CS Lewis’ Mere Christianity:We are told that Christ was killed for us, that His death has washed out our sins, and that by dying He disabled death itself. That is the formula. That is Christianity. That is what has to be believed. Any theories we build up as to how Christ’s death did all this are, in my view, quite secondary: mere plans or diagrams to be left alone if they do not help us, and, even if they do help us, not to be confused with the thing itself.The point Lewis makes is a good one: not to get bogged down in the theories of how it works, but to focus on the cross itself, the act of redemption that happened there. ‘That is what has to be believed.’ We may not understand exactly how, but we trust that this is indeed the truth: Christ’s death for us has saved us if we will ask for God’s forgiveness and be reconciled to him.But there is one further point that I would like to make. All through history, human beings have offered sacrifices to the gods or to God in the hope that the divine realm will look favourably upon them. We have this instinctive sense that giving something up – sacrificing it – for God is like an offering, we might say a gift, to him. The thing we go without is the thing that is offered to God.The Mosaic Covenant – that is the Law given to Moses – told the priests and people of Israel to sacrifice many things – animals, crops, food. But we also know that none of these sacrifices were significant enough in themselves to remove the sin of the people. And this is why they would have to be renewed so often.The Cross of Christ reveals a startling truth about all of this, which is that there is only one gift, one sacrifice, one offering, that can truly remove our sins from us. There is only one thing of the most surpassing value that can be offered to God for us, to redeem us. And that thing is the life of God himself in Israel’s Messiah, Jesus Christ. Only Jesus, who was fully man and fully God, who lived a perfect, pure and spotless life, only his life was precious enough to accomplish our redemption.The great medieval theologian and Archbishop of Canterbury, St Anselm, called the atonement a gift that surpasses every debt; that, in its infinitely precious worth, it is enough to satisfy the justice of God that all sins can be forgiven, cancelled, and washed away. Anselm said, "The life of this Man [Christ] is of such surpassing worth that it is sufficient to pay the debt for the sins of the whole world, and infinitely more."Approaching with ConfidenceSo what is our response? We find something of it in our New Testament reading: ‘…since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us…’ (Hebrews 10:19).We approach God now not needing to sacrifice anything further that we might be forgiven and know his love. We approach him on the basis that the sacrifice has already been made, the battle has been won. When Christ cried out upon the cross, “Tetelestai!”, “It is finished!”, he meant that his mission had been accomplished, the atonement had been made, the gift given, the debt paid, and forgiveness and eternal life purchased forever.What is left for us to do now is simply to approach, on the basis of this grace in which we stand, entrusting ourselves to God, believing him that he will forgive us our sins on the basis of Jesus’ Cross. Not through our own righteousness, or our own goodness, or our own sacrifice, but because of him.This is why this day can truly be called “Good Friday”, because, although the worst thing in the history of the world happened on this day, yet through the mercy and the providence and the power of God, the mystery was revealed, and it turned out that all of this was for the redemption of world.Give thanks, friends. Venerate the cross with me. The glorious cross of Christ on which hung the salvation of the world.Amen.

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Cleansed by Jesus

Thu, 17 Apr 2025 19:00:00 +0000

Maundy Thursday 2025Exodus 12:1-14, 1 Corinthians 11:23-26, John 13:1-17,31(b)-35The Washing of FeetAnd so, after the long preparation of the Lenten season, we find ourselves here in the Upper Room with Jesus and his disciples, witnessing what has come to be called the Last Supper. The reading that we have just heard from the Gospel of John recounts one of the two stunning actions that Jesus carried out in these moments, the washing of his own disciples’ dirty feet.It is interesting to note that the Gospel of John does not recount the other action I refer to: that of the institution of the Holy Eucharist. That is left to Matthew, Mark and Luke. And tonight we hear it also in the words of St Paul from the First Letter to the Corinthians. Rather, John, probably writing in his old age, gives prominence to the other great moment that took place in that room, a moment that, for some reason, eclipsed in John’s mind even the institution of the Sacrament of Holy Communion: “Jesus…rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him.”Pope Benedict XVI, whose great work on Holy Week I have been considering as I have been preparing these sermons, says of this:Jesus represents the whole of his saving ministry in one symbolic act. He divests himself of his divine splendour; he, as it were, kneels down before us; he washes us and dries our soiled feet, in order to make us fit to sit at table for God’s wedding feast.Pope Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth: Holy WeekFrom time immemorial, man has asked the question: How can I be right before God? How can I move towards the divine light? Must I not do something to make myself worthy? Various solutions have been suggested: the Neo-Platonic and Gnostic solution of ridding ourselves of the impurity of the flesh and the material world and ascending towards the divine in a purely spiritual capacity.The other great solution, which, again, we see throughout all human history with the exception of the modern, secular Western world is the notion of sacrifice, in terms of food, animals, and sometimes even human beings. The idea being that, through these sacrificial offerings, God or the gods might be placated. And, tied to these offerings, systems of cultic purification may render us clean enough to stand before God, in the unblemished divinity of his presence.As I say, we in the modern West have largely lost this sense of the fearful awesomeness of the transcendent realm. We do not consider it particularly relevant to our lives and imagine that, if there is a God, he should accept us for who we are. But do we not sometimes experience something of this need and of this longing to be made right with God when we attempt something like a serious moral effort?When I say a serious moral effort, I do not mean simply doing or not doing something that comes naturally to us. I mean trying to do something – or not do something – that we find difficult. This kind of thing is sometimes called a besetting sin. And all of us have at least one, probably many. I know I do. There are many things that come quite naturally to me. I could focus on these things and feel quite good about myself. But what about the things that I find difficult? My example that I would like to share with you is that of being a parent and having small children. Nothing brings out the impatient, selfish, angry and ungenerous side of me like the demands of small children. I resolve on a daily basis to change my behaviour and my attitude. And, yet, even with these sincere resolutions, any change that might occur is almost imperceptible to me. And I am amazed at my inability to make progress.I cannot escape the confines of the flesh through spiritual or intellectual enlightenment. One misplaced and irritating word or action from one of my children is enough to convince me of this. I cannot offer a sacrifice to God that can take away this deep part of me that is overcome by sin. I cannot reach God through my own effort. I need him to come to me.And this is why, perhaps, the image of Christ as the washer of feet was so burned into the Apostle John’s imagination. It shows us some incredible about God: not only does man not have to go out from himself in a celestial or philosophical pilgrimage to find God somewhere out there in a transcendent and near-inaccessible realm, but God himself has come to where man lives and become a man too.The Apostle John writes elsewhere about this: ‘That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life – the life was made manifest, and we have seen it…’ (1 John 1:1-2).We have heard it with our earthly ears, seen it with our eyes, touched it with our hands…the word of life itself, the principle of all life, the word made flesh and living among us. This is the way that we can know God, not through purely intellectual enlightenment, not through cultic cleansing and ritual sacrifice, certainly not through moral effort, but through God coming to us all in Christ.But there is even more than this. This life, this word of life, has come not only to be heard, seen and touched, but to hear others, to see others, and to touch them. To be, in other words, a servant to all. And the washing of his disciples’ feet, up to this point, was the supreme manifestation of the humility of Jesus Christ, the one who came not to be served but to serve.“If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you…A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.”But how?We have spoken about how we can know God in Christ. But still there remains a problem, which is how we are to interpret his commands and specifically the command to wash one another’s feet and to love each other as he has loved us. Considering the fact that Jesus went to the cross for us this is quite a great demand. Again, we have to wonder whether Christ is simply asking us to make a greater moral effort? Was the purpose of Christ’s ministry simply to raise the moral stakes even higher than, say, the Ten Commandments? Is it just more ethical effort and application that is needed? And is Christ’s behaviour merely an inspirational example for us to follow?I think not. And here again we see something quite different to the philosophical, ethical, and religious systems of the world. These may be quite sincere in their desire to reach God and to live in a virtuous way, but there is no system that I am aware of that says the same thing that Christianity says at this point.The key to understanding this can be found in our New Testament text which recounts the institution of the Eucharist. Paul recounts, in what is certainly an early tradition relating to the very words of Jesus himself, the taking, breaking, and blessing of bread and the taking of the cup after supper. At this point, Christ says, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood.” This talk of the New Covenant would have recalled to the minds of his listeners the words of a great Old Testament prophecy from Jeremiah 31,“Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the LORD. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”Jeremiah 31:31-33The Lord had made a covenant once with the houses of Israel and Judah and they had broken it. Just like we all do when we try in our own strength, the people of God could not turn from sin and return the love that he had shown for them. For this reason, a new covenant was promised to them, a covenant that went beyond rules and religious effort. This was a covenant that would bring transformation in the deepest place: the human heart: I will put the law within them and write it on their hearts.Friends, we see in this moment, in the institution of the Holy Eucharist, the fulfilment and the means of this promise coming to fruition: this is how we will be transformed, this is how our hearts will be renewed, through the taking into ourselves of Jesus Christ himself and of his transformation of us from the inside-out.“You shall never wash my feet.”Let us relate these observations to our own lives through considering the actions of Simon Peter. Appalled at the Jesus’ actions, Peter said to him, “You shall never wash my feet.” What is going on here?As he often did, Peter was trying in own way to protect the dignity of his Master. But can we not see in his reaction something of our own unwillingness to come before the Lord in vulnerability and repentance? Even in our own culture, it remains the case that the exposing of one’s bare feet can be somewhat embarrassing and even inappropriate. In this moment, the Lord called his disciples to bear that embarrassment and that vulnerability so that they might cleansed by him. So too with us, the Lord already knows all our sin, our shame, our pain, our suffering, and yet he calls us to bear all of these things into his presence and to allow him to cleanse us and to renew us. Through the actions of Peter, let us ask ourselves, “Am I too proud to allow Christ to wash my feet? Do I fear to make myself vulnerable before him and perhaps others?” And yet this is the very thing we must do if we are to be cleansed, transformed

Following Jesus to the Cross

Mon, 14 Apr 2025 13:40:55 +0000

Fr Jamie Franklin encourages us to follow Jesus all the way to the cross this Holy Week, accepting suffering and sacrifice as a part of our discipleship.

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For Such a Time as This

Mon, 14 Apr 2025 09:00:00 +0000

Dear Friends. This is the final part of a series based on Randy Alcorn’s book The Treasure Principle: Unlocking the Secret of Joyful Giving. We are reading this book at Holy Trinity Winchester during the Lenten season but it is by no means essential to read it in order to benefit. The purpose of the series is to listen carefully to the teachings of Jesus on money and possessions and to learn how to use these things as his disciples.In this final episode, we think about our eternal legacy both in this world and the next; we consider how we might stir ourselves and others in the church to greater financial generosity; we answer the question of where and to whom we should be generous; and we are challenged by Randy Alcorn to commit to the “Giving Covenant” which summarises all the challenges contained in The Treasure Principle.May you be blessed in your giving and may you have a blessed Holy Week and Eastertide.

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Costly Grace and True Worship

Wed, 09 Apr 2025 14:54:25 +0000

In this sermon, Fr Jamie Franklin challenges us to imitate the example of Mary, the sister of Lazarus, and the Apostle Paul, both of whom demonstrated their love for Christ by sacrificing much to worship and follow him.

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Giving: How Do I Start?

Mon, 07 Apr 2025 10:15:35 +0000

Dear Friends. This is the fifth of a six-part series based on Randy Alcorn’s book The Treasure Principle: Unlocking the Secret of Joyful Giving. We are reading this book at Holy Trinity Winchester during the Lenten season but it is by no means essential to read it in order to benefit from this series. The purpose of the series is to listen carefully to the teachings of Jesus on money and possessions and to learn how to approach these things as his disciples.In this fifth episode, we talk about where to start in giving. How much of one’s income should be given away? What about the Old Covenant concept of “tithing” ten per cent of one’s income? How does God bless us when we give? And what is the Prosperity Gospel and its relevance to all of this?

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The Prodigal Son: Repentance or Self-Righteousness?

Tue, 01 Apr 2025 14:05:21 +0000

Fr Jamie Franklin address the Parable of the Prodigal Son, arguing that it is really a story more about the compassion and who we are in relation to him. The story presents us with a choice as to whether we are going humble ourselves in repentance or wallow in self-righteous pride.

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What Prevents Us From Being Generous?

Mon, 31 Mar 2025 10:02:54 +0000

Dear Friends. This is the fourth of a six-part series based on Randy Alcorn’s book The Treasure Principle: Unlocking the Secret of Joyful Giving. We are reading this book at Holy Trinity Winchester during the Lenten season but it is by no means essential to read it in order to benefit from this series. The purpose of the series is to listen carefully to the teachings of Jesus on money and possessions and to learn how to approach these things as his disciples.In this third session, we ask why it is that we often find it so hard to give. How might it change things if we really believed that heaven is our home? What does it mean to live for eternity and not for the present moment? And how can we overcome the tyranny of materialism in our own hearts?

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Why do bad things happen to good people?

Tue, 25 Mar 2025 14:12:18 +0000

Fr Jamie Franklin gives a Christian perspective on the suffering of the innocent and the injustice that exists in the world.

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The Eternal Rewards of Giving

Mon, 24 Mar 2025 11:25:12 +0000

Dear Friends. This is the third of a six-part series based on Randy Alcorn’s book The Treasure Principle: Unlocking the Secret of Joyful Giving. We are reading this book at Holy Trinity Winchester during the Lenten season but it is by no means essential to read it in order to benefit from this series. The purpose of the series is to listen carefully to the teachings of Jesus on money and possessions and to learn how to approach these things as his disciples.In this third session, we consider the unblushing promises of eternal rewards for financial generosity which we find on the lips of Jesus in the Gospel.

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Judgement and Compassion

Tue, 18 Mar 2025 14:56:04 +0000

Fr Jamie Franklin asks how God can judge us and love us at the same time.

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The Joy of Giving (Financially)

Mon, 17 Mar 2025 13:02:15 +0000

Dear Friends. This is the second of a six-part series based on Randy Alcorn’s book The Treasure Principle: Unlocking the Secret of Joyful Giving. We are reading this book at Holy Trinity Winchester during the Lenten season but it is by no means essential to read it in order to benefit from this series. The purpose of the series is to listen carefully to the teachings of Jesus on money and possessions and to learn how to approach these things as his disciples. In this second session, we ask the question: Was Jesus really talking about financial giving? And we look at the reasons that giving brings us personal freedom and joy in this life.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit holytrinitywinchester.substack.com

Resisting Temptation; Imitating Christ

Tue, 11 Mar 2025 09:00:00 +0000

Fr Jamie Franklin encourages us to imitate the example of Christ in resisting temptation by rejecting the lies of Satan and demonstrating godly virtue.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit holytrinitywinchester.substack.com

Godly Investment

Mon, 10 Mar 2025 10:02:09 +0000

Dear Friends. This is the first of a six-part series based on Randy Alcorn’s book The Treasure Principle: Unlocking the Secret of Joyful Giving. We are reading this book at Holy Trinity Winchester during the Lenten season but it is by no means essential to read it in order to benefit from this series. The purpose of the series is to listen carefully to the teachings of Jesus on money and possessions and to learn how to approach these things as his disciples. In this first session, we consider the words of Christ, “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field” (Matthew 13:44).

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How to Have a Happy and Holy Lent

Fri, 07 Mar 2025 11:46:25 +0000

With all of your strength…On this past Sunday, I said – to cut a long story short – that loving God with all of our strength requires an effort of the will, a conscious decision to do things that, much of the time, we might not feel like doing. And I also said that Lent gives us a wonderful opportunity to do that.But I also said in that sermon that we have to understand why we should do these things. There has to be a purpose to them otherwise we simply will not be very motivated. This is an observation made by the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 9: ‘Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable’.This leads then to a discussion of the purposes of spiritual disciplines and specifically those of the Lenten season.Approaching the Spiritual DisciplinesThe lectionary this evening helpfully gives us Christ’s teaching from the Sermon on the Mount on the so-called three pillars of Lent: Almsgiving, Prayer, and Fasting. He says, roughly speaking, the same things about each one.Take what he says about prayer as an example. Firstly, do not be like the hypocrites who make their prayer in public in order to be seen by others. Their reward is not spiritual but is whatever reaction they might produce in the people who observe their piety.So, whatever you do in Lent, try to keep it a secret. This goes double for more strenuous spiritual disciplines like fasting from physical food. About that, Christ tells us to anoint our heads and wash our faces, so that our fasting may not be seen by others. Sometimes it is not always possible to hide what we are doing, but we ought to try to keep us from the temptation to spiritual pride.Secondly, do what you do in secret. ‘Go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in heaven.’ This instruction goes with the first, but, in addition, shut out all temptations or distractions. This is particularly challenging in the modern age when we are rarely more than a foot away from a device that is connected to the internet, which is why we need to be even more intentional about switching our phones to silent and closing our laptops when we come to prayer. If you find this particularly difficult then Lent may be an excellent time to try fasting completely from social media.Thirdly, ‘your Father who sees in secret will reward you’. We do what we do in order that our heavenly Father may see and may reward us. Consider God’s compassion which is like a wonderful father for the children he loves. This is the way that God loves us and this is the confidence that we have as we approach him.The Benefits of the Three Pillars: FastingSo what is the reward of which Christ speaks?I will start with fasting. What is the point of it? To describe it first: Fasting is primarily about going without food or drink for a certain amount of time. It can involve other things such as giving up addictive certain types of food or drink, or giving up habits like scrolling through one’s social media feeds or watching TV. The practice varies significantly.More generally Lent is a period of abstinence during which we are more abstemious: some people refrain from alcohol and sweet foods, some from meat, some reduce the amount of food they eat and have smaller portions at mealtimes. Some people fast on particular days of the week, the traditional days being Wednesdays and Fridays. This might involve missing a meal or two or even fasting for the whole day.As I mentioned on Sunday, there are two obligatory fast days in the calendar of the Church of England: those are Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. And, in general, Lent is a season in which we are encouraged to consider a more sustained type of fasting of some sort.So what is the point of it? Many things have been written on fasting throughout the years, so I will mention only a few.Fasting is a reminder that we are to hunger primarily for the bread that comes from heaven and not for that which comes from earth. Even a slight feeling of hunger can remind us of this. As we deny ourselves that meal or that second helping, we train ourselves to remember that we are cultivating a desire for God and not for earthly and material things. As Christ tells us, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”Fasting shows us how addicted we are to the things of this earth. When people begin fasting from something they are dependent upon – lots of food, caffeine, TV, social media – they frequently find themselves depressed and lifeless. This tells us something about our dependencies and gives us self-knowledge.Fasting trains the will. The will is like a muscle that gets stronger with exercise. Quite simply, fasting is an exercise of will that makes it stronger so that, when it must be exercised in less strenuous circumstances, it is that much easier.Fasting is also a surrender of time. If we miss a meal then we have more time to devote ourselves to the things of God. This may involve prayer or charitable actions. So, if you miss a meal, don’t just miss it, but use at least some of that time to do something that will draw you to others or towards God.Fasting can act as a sign of repentance, a way of saying sorry to God for egregious sin. There are many examples in Scripture: the people of Ninevah fast in repentance at the preaching of the prophet Jonah and God spares them from his wrath (Jonah 3:5-10). The teacher of Israel Ezra fasts when he comes to realise that the Israelites have broken God’s law. He seeks God’s mercy and his guidance (Ezra 10:6).In the Scriptures, we also see holy men and women fasting so that God will answer their prayers. The prophet Daniel seeks God’s insights for the future of the people (Daniel 9:3-4, 20-21); Esther fasts before approaching King Xerxes, beseeching God’s help in the face of the potential destruction of her people (Esther 4:15-16); and the early church is said to have fasted and prayed for direction and help before sending Paul and Barnabas off on a missionary journey (Acts 13:2-3).There is a great mystery here, but the pattern of fasting as a sign of sincere repentance and desire for God’s guidance and help is laid down clearly. Do you lament some particular sin? Perhaps you could use Lent as a time to fast as a sign of sincere repentance. Are you seeking God’s help for a particular crisis in your life or somebody else’s? Perhaps now is the time to fast and pray.There are many more rewards of fasting. But with only these listed, we should be motivated to engage in this great spiritual practice.PrayerWe now consider prayer. In a sense, this point has already been made to some extent: prayer draws us closer to God as we surrender our time, will, and attention to him. It is the foundation of the spiritual life and, at its highest, is a foretaste of the heavenly bliss that we will enjoy in the eternity of God’s presence. In that sense, the reward of prayer is simply God: his presence, our nearness to him, the fullness of joy, the end of our being, the purpose of our existence.We have seen how prayer and fasting go together: as we give things up, we have more time and energy to focus our energy upon God. Again, there are many ways of approaching prayer during Lent. You could, for example, set aside just ten minutes at the beginning and end of each day to pray and to read Scripture or to say some form of morning and evening prayer. I do not have time to tell you how to do this now, but the information is out there for everyone to find.Let me encourage you as a minimum: if you are able (and I understand that not everybody is) make every effort to come to Mass every Sunday during Lent, and to attend the Holy Week Triduum. The latter consists of the services on Maundy Thursday evening, Good Friday, and the Saturday evening Easter vigil. These three services recall to mind the passion, death, and resurrection of Christ and are truly special moments in the church calendar. As we live through them together, we enter in Christ’s suffering and death and joyfully rise from them with him in his resurrection as we celebrate his glorious resurrection at Easter. Again, if you have never observed these services before, please mark them in your calendar now and resolve to take advantage of what this church offers to you.AlmsgivingFinally, almsgiving. Once again, this is a practice that may vary, but I make two suggestions: firstly, think about the people or causes that are needful that you could offer your help to. This may be an elderly relative or a worthy charitable cause. Lent is a time during which we can make a special effort, beyond what is ordinary. Is there someone you could help or something you could do? Make a plan.Secondly, I would once again encourage you to engage with our book for Lent, The Treasure Principle by Randy Alcorn. This book challenges and informs us about the topic of Christian stewardship and generosity. The more I learn about this subject, the more I recognise that the way we use our money and material resources is a central part of the spiritual life. Perhaps you are wondering what you can do to take your spiritual life to the next level? Look no further: a life of generosity and real trust in the providential care of God is likely the answer.Again, there is not further time to describe all the many blessings of material generosity, so perhaps I should finish simply by saying that all of these practices, in one way or another, train our hearts not to love the things of this earth so much and to love God more. It is, I think, reasonably obvious how this works when we consider food, drink, addictions, devotions, time, money, and material possessions. In essence, the answer to each is the same during Lent: give at least some of each away, and hunger for that which can truly satisfy your desire, God himself.I hope that has given you enough to think about for the time-being. May I take this opportunity then to wish you a

Time to Wake Up

Mon, 03 Mar 2025 16:06:06 +0000

SleepinessI’ve noticed that I used to have more energy when I was younger. As I have approached the end of my thirties, I’ve needed to be much more intentional about keeping my energy levels up. This has, of course, something also to do with the fact that I have four small children who, at various points, have caused sleep to be a challenge in my householdThrough the wisdom of others, I have learned that there are many things one can do to help get better sleep and to be more wakeful during the day: waiting an hour or so before drinking coffee in the morning to let the body’s cortisol levels spike naturally and then using caffeine after that to sustain alertness; not having caffeine after about 10am so that it is entirely out of the system by bedtime; regular exercise in the morning; not eating many carbs during the day to lower glucose levels and thereby avoiding energy crashes; going outside when the sun is rising to set the body’s circadian rhythm properly; having cold showers to produce adrenaline and heighten alertness; in the evening, not looking at screens after 8pm and keeping lighting low to mimic the effect of the setting sunThere are probably a couple of other things I could name here but you’re probably wondering why I’m saying all of this. The reason is that I want to make the point that, to wake up physically, it’s often the case that quite a lot of effort, thought and techniques are needed. You can’t just expect to do the same old things without thinking about it and feel full of energy. And sometimes if you change something it can have transformational effects.I am not a doctor or a scientist, so please seek out proper expert advice before following any of mine. But I am a priest, and I see significant analogies between bodily health and the health of the soul. The body is naturally sleepy and devoid of energy in all sorts of circumstances and the same is true of our souls.And we see this almost perverse sleepiness in the story of the Transfiguration. We’re told that Christ took Peter, James and John up on the mountain to pray. Consider here that shortly before this Jesus had fed five thousand people with a few loaves and fish and that Peter had confessed Jesus to be the Messiah. You would have thought they would be excited to be on the mountain praying with him, not least because he chose those three to be a kind of special inner circle. And yet, we are told that that they were heavy with sleep.Before we judge them too harshly, let’s recognise that in the disciples we often see a picture of ourselves. It is interesting when you look at the original Greek description of their sleepiness. We are told that they are weighed down by hypos, which is where we get our words “hypnotism” and “hypnotise”.We can of course be physically too tired to engage in the spiritual life, but it is also true that we can be hypnotised, meaning that we are so dazzled and distracted by the comforts and material advantages of the modern world that we simply have no inclination or desire to pray or to cultivate our own souls. We are asleep. And the sad reality is that the vast majority of people in our culture live and die like this. They may be physically awake. They may even by intellectually awake. But they are spiritually dead. And, like a still-born child, they simply never wake up to the real world.Waking UpWe are not only a physical body with an intellectual mind but we are also a soul. There is a spiritual part of us that is created and (we hope) destined for eternal union with God in Christ. Many people exercise the body; many people exercise the mind. But do we spend the same kind of energy attending to our souls, to the spiritual part of ourselves?Lent begins in three days: How do you feel about it? Are you excited? Are you dreading it? Maybe you don’t know enough about it yet? Perhaps you are indifferent and you intend simply to ignore it? I want to suggest to you that Lent gives all of us an opportunity to cultivate in an intentional way the most important part of ourselves: our souls.You will all know the saying of Jesus that we are to love God with all of our heart, our soul, our strength, and with all of our mind (Luke 10:27). The great spiritual writer Anthony Bloom says the following about this:As for loving God with all our strength, we can only do it if we cast off deliberately everything that is not God’s in us: by an effort of will we must turn ourselves constantly towards God, whether in prayer…or in action.Bloom tells us that loving God with all of our strength implies a conscious effort of the will. And here I once again draw the analogy with the discipline of the body to produce health and wakefulness. All of those things that I mentioned earlier take time to learn about and a conscious effort of the will to enact.Let me tell you a fact: nobody gets used to taking cold showers or plunging themselves into cold water. But millions of people around the world do it. The reason is because, when done safely and with understanding, the effects are unmistakeably positive. But it requires a decision: a moment when you say to yourself, “I am deciding consciously that I am going to do this because, even though I do not necessarily like it very much, it will produce an end which will I like very much indeed and that will benefit me greatly.”Let’s translate that to the spiritual life: a lot of the time we don’t feel like praying, we don’t feel like fasting, we don’t feel like giving alms, we don’t feel like going to church. Let me be even more honest: I find Lent a serious challenge. I don’t like giving things up. I don’t like fasting. I don’t like going without. So why do it? Whatever the practice is, the end or the goal is same – and this is what I exhort us all to keep in mind as we approach the Lenten season – the end is God, closer union with him as we lament our sin and waywardness, and as we more earnestly seek his face.On Wednesday evening, I will put some skin on the bones and talk a bit more specifically about Christ’s teaching on all of this, but I want to make this basic plea to you at this point: say to yourself now that you are not only going to observe certain disciplines this Lent, but that you are going to embrace them because you are going to keep the end in mind. In fact, you are going to rejoice in whatever fast or good habit you take up, even if it is unpleasant at the time, because it is producing Christ in you. And because this is what you really want.I’m sure many of you will have seen the original Rocky movie starring Sylvester Stallone. Rocky is an anonymous southpaw boxer who is given a once in a lifetime opportunity to fight the all-singing, all-dancing world champion Apollo Creed. The thing everybody always remembers from that movie (and all the other ones) are the training scenes. At first, Rocky crawls out of bed, breaks five or six raw eggs into a glass, drinks them and then stumbles out into the cold morning night for a slow and painful jog. But he gradually builds himself up through hard work and perseverance until he finds himself in peak condition, skipping, punching, jumping, and running at an unbelievable rate until, finally, he is ready for the ultimate confrontation.I don’t know where you find yourself on that spectrum. Maybe all you can do at this stage is crawl out of bed and run a few paces. Friend, if that’s what you can do, then do it. You have to start somewhere. And, just as any athlete makes progress through discipline and commitment in the physical realm, so you will make progress in the spiritual.Until Next TimeI’ve run out of time today, so I will finish there. But I very much want to emphasise that this is part one of two and that you’ll have to come back on Ash Wednesday to hear the rest. Suffice to say that I will be speaking in more detail there about Christ’s teaching in the Sermon on the Mount on what have come to be thought of as the three pillars of Lent: almsgiving, fasting, and prayer. Let me exhort you, then, as a first step, and especially if you don’t know what to do or how to engage in Lenten disciplines: the Church of England calendar really has only two days in the year when some kind of fast is expected. You can fast at other times, of course, but those two days are Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. Let me encourage you to get Lent off to a good start by observing Ash Wednesday as a day of fasting.As a caveat, I must warn you to be very careful about fasting if you have a health condition or if you are pregnant. Consult a medical doctor if you are in any doubt.But everyone can do something. If you are completely new to fasting, you may want simply to skip one meal on Ash Wednesday. Those who are more experienced may want to not eat for the entire day. You may want to give up something else on this day or for the whole season such as sweet foods, alcohol, watching TV or social media. You may want to use the time you gain to pray or to engage in another act of devotion. But start on Wednesday. And we will talk more then about where to go from there.For now though please remember that Lent is a gift given to us by God our Father and the Church our Mother. Let us therefore keep this holy and solemn season with great joy, faith, and enthusiasm. And, as the disciples departed from their slumber and became fully awake to the presence of Christ’s glory, so too may our souls come alive to God through this holy time.In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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The Call of God

Mon, 24 Feb 2025 14:30:18 +0000

God’s Calling in ExistenceOur Gospel text today, it seems to me, is highly appropriate for a day on which we celebrate the sacrament of Holy Baptism. For it speaks to us of God’s faithfulness in his calling and constant presence in our lives.The drama of the story, of course, is the storm that threatens to envelop the disciples’ boat and their panicked cry as they wake their Master to inform him of the danger. But consider the beginning of this story: ‘One day he got into a boat with his disciples, and he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side of the lake”’.The initiative was Jesus’s. He called the disciples to get into that boat and go, knowing full well the danger that they would face. The same is true of us and of our lives.The fact that we are called by God is true whether or not we are aware of it. The twentieth-century German philosopher Martin Heidegger spoke about the way that human beings are “thrown” into the world without having chosen anything about their lives: the time and place they are born, the social context – rich or poor, and even the condition of existence itself. We do not choose to exist. We simply find ourselves in this world – both existing and existing in a certain condition.So if we are indeed thrown into the world then we might infer that there is someone who throws us into it. Or we might say that there is someone who calls us into existence. Why does God do this? The answer is simple: so that we might love him and respond to him: there’s a hymn that captures this idea nicely. It says that God ‘calls us out of nothingness to find in him a resting place’.God’s Calling in ActionSo we might say that God calls us to be. And in our story we also see that he calls us to do. He calls us to act. As Jesus calls the disciples to get into the boat and go to the other side, so we are to respond in this life to God’s calling to us. How it works out precisely is different for each one of us, but the basic call from God to humanity finds its most potent symbol in the cross of Jesus Christ: there we see the sinfulness of humanity atoned for by the once-for-all sacrifice of the Son of God and this so that we might be brought back into relationship with God, our transgressions having been forever put away and the demonic powers that held sway over us decisively banished.But the calling to each one of us is also different and personal: to me it is to be a priest, a father, a husband. But the point is to listen for that call and to respond. As we baptise today, it is a good time to remind ourselves of this and to ask: “Lord, what are you calling me to?” and “Am I trying at least to fulfil that purpose with my life?”God’s Calling and the StormWhen the storm threatens to overwhelm the ship, we see that disciples are still in an early period of spiritual formation. This is because they don’t understand the calling of God. They don’t recognise the power of Jesus Christ, who is so unconcerned about the storm that he falls asleep in the stern of the boat.Why does he fall asleep? Why does he give the impression that he is absent and that he will not be able or willing to help? The reason can only be that he is seeking a response: the response of faith. This spiritual lesson is articulated in many ways in Scripture. For example, in the Book of James 1:2-4:Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.The testing of your faith – this is what the disciples faced as their ship filled up with water and threatened to be overturned. What was this for? That it might produce in them steadfastness. In the King James Version of Scripture the word for steadfastness here is “patience” and it can be defined as ‘the characteristic of a man who is not swerved from his deliberate purpose and his loyalty to faith and piety by even the greatest trials and sufferings’. In modern day language, we might say that this quality can be described as “grit”, “determination”, “endurance”.But how does the testing of our faith produce steadfastness? Because it gives us an opportunity to practice entrusting ourselves to God and to turn our minds to him, to his power, and to his faithfulness. And, after a time, this becomes habitual.So here the disciples fail the test. We all do sometimes. They panic and their words speak of the unbelief for which Christ rebukes them later, “Master, master, we are perishing!” How easy it is to panic. How easy it is to give in to unbelief. But what might a different response have looked like?For a start, it would have involved the recognition that Jesus got them into this situation in the first place. He called them out to go to the other side of the lake. He wanted them there. Was this not for a purpose? Would he not demonstrate his power, his faithfulness, his wisdom in providing exactly what they needed when faced with this deadly squall?So too for us when we find ourselves in the storms of the spiritual life: when we are beset by anxiety, misery or discouragement. Let us not panic and fear, but let us call to mind the promises of God: ‘And I am sure of this’, wrote the Apostle Paul to the Philippian believers, ‘that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ’ (Phil. 1:6).There is a notorious building in Pyongyang in North Korea called the Ryugyong Hotel. This hotel is an enormous, pyramid-shaped structure which was intended for several uses alongside its principle function. Construction began in 1987, was halted in 1992, resumed in 2008 and was halted again in 2011. It was meant to open partially in 2013 but this too was cancelled. Now the Ryugyong Hotel is the world’s tallest, unoccupied building and it is used principally to display North Korean propaganda via an LCD display which has been installed on one its sides.I mention this in order to make the point that God’s calling to us in this life is very different to the construction of the Ryugyong Hotel. He will not leave his purposes for us unfulfilled but he will bring them to their completion. And we know this because he calls us and therefore he will provide for us. Again, as the Apostle Paul says to the Thessalonians, ‘The one who calls you is faithful. And he will do it’ (1 Thess. 5:24).When we find ourselves confronted by challenges, obstacles, hardships, sufferings; when we are tempted to panic and to doubt that we will ever find a way to the shores of peace, let us remember that is not we who brought ourselves here – either into this world or into the life of faith – but it was and is from God.The Fear of the LordI want to pick up on one final thing, which is the response of the disciples to Christ’s stilling of the storm: ‘He awoke and rebuked the wind and the raging waves, and they ceased, and there was a calm. He said to them, “Where is your faith?” And they were afraid, and they marvelled, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that he commands even winds and water, and they obey him?”There is a Proverb that says ‘The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom’ (Proverbs 9:10) and we see something of that wisdom dawning upon the disciples in this moment.They had been afraid of the wind and the raging waves. But then they recognised that asleep in the stern of their boat had been one who had a greater power still, a power to silence the forces of nature with only a word. And being made afraid, they marvelled.This text demonstrates the truth that we all fear something in this world. That is, we all recognise that there are powers that can destroy us all in a moment. For fisherman such as James, John and Simon Peter, their respect for the power of nature would have been paramount. They knew, when they encountered this power, that they were utterly outmatched. But in this moment their fear was transferred from the power of nature to the power of God dwelling in Christ who was in their midst.Let’s translate this to our own situation: the fear of the Lord is to not allow the circumstances or discouragements that we face dominate or destroy us. Why? Because we know that the ultimate power belongs to God and not to our enemies. And we fear to walk away from him and we fear that his power might not be used in our defence and deliverance. That is the fear of the Lord.And so this is a salutary word to those who have been walking with the Lord for many years and to those who are joining the Church this very day: Fear the Lord. Fear not that he will destroy you but what it would mean if his power were not deployed in your service as a friend and as a father. Fear to entrust yourself to a lesser god – to your own strength or to the powers of fate or chance or material causation. Recognise that the ultimate power belongs to him and that he is indeed on your side.So friends, as we both baptise and renew our baptismal vows today, let us once again pledge ourselves to the service of God. Let us remember that he has called us to follow him in faithfulness. Let us remember the specific callings that he has placed upon our lives and entrust ourselves to him, beseeching him for his provision and help. And let us fear the Lord all the days of our life until the day he brings us to the peaceful shores on the other side of the sea.In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit holytrinitywinchester.substack.com

Dying for God

Mon, 17 Feb 2025 15:53:08 +0000

Introduction: The BeatitudesThere are all sorts of things that could be said about the Beatitudes by way of introduction, but I would like to note only two of them:Firstly, the Beatitudes speak to us of the countercultural nature of the Kingdom of God and therefore the life of discipleship. The first group of people – the poor, the hungry, those who weep and are persecuted – are the ones who would be thought of in our world as cursed not blessed. And the second group – the rich, the full, the praised – are those who would be considered blessed and not cursed. And yet, as far as Jesus is concerned, it is in fact the other way around. Translation: Jesus is introducing us to a completely different value system to the one we are used to.Secondly, the word translated here “blessed”, makarios, refers not only to a future state of happiness but to a present one also. Christ is saying that those who are hungry, poor, weeping and persecuted will not only be compensated in the future but are actually blessed now and therefore can rejoice now.Christ says about this, “Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven.” In other words, the blessing of the future and the hope that we have in God is enough to make us happy now. We are like wealthy heirs and heiresses, happy and secure because we know we will inherit the vast family estate. We don’t have it all now but we have some of it and we know we will have all of it soon.There’s an old Syriac translation of one of the Beatitudes that captures this, “Happy it is for the poor in spirit, that theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”Life Without God: Poor and WeepingLet’s have a look at some of the Beatitudes in Luke and see what they mean. Firstly, blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.” To cut a long story short, Jesus does not mean that people who are economically poor are blessed. That view might even promote the idea that poverty makes people happy, which it certainly does not.Jesus is not romanticised the hell of serious economic hardship. There are two keys to helping us understand what he does mean. Firstly, Isaiah 66:2, “But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is poor and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word”. We can pair this Scripture with the same Beatitude recorded in Matthew’s Gospel but in a slightly longer form: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” The poor, in other words, are not those who lack basic physical necessities, but the humble and pious who seek the presence of God and who recognise the poverty of their existence without him.Contrast this with the “rich” spoken of by Christ. They have received their consolation. Why? Because whatever it is that makes them rich in this world is all that they have. They don’t know God and their wealth or their status or their pleasures or whatever they have is all that they have. And so woe to them because they do not have the only thing that matters ultimately.A similar thing can be said of those who weep now, for they shall laugh later. There are many types of weeping. Those who weep in despair and hopelessness, those who weep in grief and physical pain and not those in view here. Rather Christ speaks of those who weep over their sin, who desire to overcome it, who are frustrated and anxious only because of their wayward hearts. As the old hymn says, ‘Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love.’ Do you feel grief over your sin? Do you wish to put it away and never to repeat it? Do you feel shame and the desire to know the presence of God in your life again? Although these feelings are not what one could call positive they actually indicate a position of spiritual blessedness. True repentance leads to forgiveness, reconciliation with God through Jesus Christ and, yes, even laughter. As the old Psalm says, ‘…weeping tarrieth for the night, but joy cometh in the morning.’In this sense those who are poor in spirit and those who grieve and mourn over sin are the same: they are those who are not content with a life without God.Hunger for God: A Desire for Righteousness“Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied.” Once again, Christ does not mean physical hunger. There is nothing blessed about being hungry and starving. As the great Middle Eastern scholar Kenneth Bailey reminds us, Christ is using “words rooted in physical needs to describe spiritual realities”. Here we can find the meaning once again by looking to the slightly longer form in Matthew’s Gospel: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” They hunger and thirst not for physical food and drink but for righteousness.Consider physical hunger or thirst. What effect does it have? Can you remember a time when you really felt it? Taken to a certain extreme it brings about a sense of total preoccupation: the stomach churns and cries out for sustenance. The mind cannot think of anything else but to obtain food or drink. And the soul grows weary at the constant sense of gnawing hunger. In other words, there is a certain single-mindedness that hunger and thirst produce in us: we must have food, we must have drink, and we must have it above all else. This is the type of hunger in the spiritual realm Christ is speaking about: we must have the presence of God, we must obtain holiness, or else we will be empty and dissatisfied. And not only once, but continually, for hunger and thirst constantly reappear throughout our lives.Those who hunger and thirst will be satisfied with a sense of God’s presence as they are continually fed by the Word of God and the Sacraments now and in the everlasting presence of God when they enter his Kingdom.Many of you will be aware that this Sunday is called Septuagesima, which is the Third Sunday Before Lent. Lent is a special time in which we voluntarily take upon ourselves disciplines that will cause some sense of hunger and thirst, some desire for something which we deny ourselves: Why? Because we are training our souls to desire God above even the good gifts that he gifts us in this world. We are saying to ourselves: I will deprive myself of that which will satisfy me in the physical realm so that I might more earnestly and with greater desire seek spiritual consolation.Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.Death for God: Persecution and HatredFinally, the middle of these Beatitudes reveal what all of this is about: loyalty to the person of Jesus Christ: “Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.”When we are persecuted and hated for Christ we enter the company of the Old Testament prophets who were persecuted for righteousness. We even see that the persecution they underwent was in some way pointing forward to the persecution that Christians would undergo as they are persecuted for following their Lord Jesus Christ.We must be prepared therefore to realise that, to live for Christ in this world, may very well entail hatred, rejection, and persecution. This may be subtle in our culture: a sense of the cold shoulder, not being promoted as quickly as we might otherwise have been, the refusal to accept certain speech codes resulting in a sense of one being on the outside, and so on. But it will nevertheless be real.But recognise that this persecution is a byproduct of faithfulness to Christ. We do not seek to be hated. Indeed we are instructed in the Scriptures in various ways to live at peace with all men to the extent that we can. When we are hated, therefore, we are hated not for wickedness and evil, not for trolling and antagonising our enemies, but for righteousness, for loyalty to Christ.And we should not forget the very real situation of our Christian brothers and sisters who are persecuted throughout the world. The great scholar I mentioned earlier makes this point emphatically:With the conversion of the Emperor Constantine to the Christian faith, ‘the age of martyrs’ officially ended. But the twentieth century saw far more Christians die for their faith than was known in earlier centuries. In Armenia, Russia, China and southern Sudan, millions in the modern age have died for their loyalty to Jesus Christ. This final Beatitude…still speaks powerfully to the global church.Kenneth Bailey, Jesus Through Middle-Eastern EyesWhen praying for the persecuted church, one thing I often ask is that we might be encouraged by the witness of the martyrs – both those who have died through the millennia for the faith and those who continue to die today – that we may be encouraged to imitate something of their example in the comparatively small challenges that we face in our world today. May something of their faith, something of their courage, something of their commitment, be born in our hearts who have it so easy by comparison. May we be willing too to die for God as they are willing.Be comforted therefore, if you are poor in spirit, if you tremble at the word of God, if you weep over your sin, if you hunger and thirst for righteousness, if you are hated on account of the Son of Man, for yours is true joy and yours in the Kingdom of HeavenIn the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

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From Toil to Rest

Mon, 10 Feb 2025 11:43:41 +0000

Introduction – The Challenge of JesusOur Gospel story today presents a radical challenge. And I want us to be able to hear it. Peter, who represents us, is confronted by a man with a completely different set of values to him, a man who appears to have found a better way to live. That man is Jesus, and he promises us that, if we follow him, we may have life to the full (John 10:10). As Jesus says elsewhere,Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.Matthew 11:28-30The Fishing LotteryIn our story, Peter and his friends have been out for the night fishing on the Sea of Galilee. This was normal practice as deep-sea fishing gave the greatest opportunity to catch large quantities of fish. Indeed, if you got lucky, you might haul in a massive catch that would change your life. When this happened it was akin to winning the fishing lottery.We don’t know specifically what was driving this economic need in Peter. He may have been in dire straits. He was married at the time and he had family members to provide for. But he may also have been ambitious to be rich.What we do know is that the night had not been successful. Somehow Peter ends up getting caught up in the latest fad: a travelling Rabbi, followed by a great crowd, who asks him if he might commandeer his boat so that he might get a better platform from which to teach. Peter obliges and puts out from the land, controlling the boat, so that Jesus can do his business.After this comes the key moment, ‘When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.”’ (Luke 5:5-6).This statement can be read in several ways. I tend to think that Peter was being somewhat sarcastic. After all, as far as he knows, Jesus is a landlubber from inland Nazareth, whereas Peter was a professional fisherman. He’s been trying all night at a time when such a catch is far more likely. And now, this man who knows apparently nothing, is telling him to try again during the day: Okay, “master”, if you think you’re so clever, watch what happens.We can here observe in Peter an apparent lack of spiritual interest. He had been hearing the Messiah speak but his body and mind were likely exhausted after being up all night. He did not have the capacity for spiritual things.So Jesus had to get his attention, and he did it by giving to him a miraculous catch of fish. At his command, and by his power, Jesus won the fishing lottery for Peter, so great was the catch that their fishing nets were breaking. This was truly a life-changing moment.And what would Peter have thought? Perhaps that he was encountering a genius, somebody who could make them all a huge amount of money. But how does the story end? A revelation of Jesus’ holiness and Jesus says to him, ‘“Do not be afraid; from now on your will be catching men.” And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him’ (Luke 5:10(b)-11).What this reveals about this Jesus – and no doubt what it revealed to Peter – is that Jesus wasn’t interested in winning the fishing lottery. Jesus was more interested in something else: “catching men”, sharing his vision of the Kingdom, preaching the so-called evangelion (or the Gospel) and beckoning people to follow him and learn from him. “You can do this too,” he tells Peter, and Peter chooses this new life in place of the old one.Fruitless ToilI believe that this story speaks very deeply to the human condition. It reminds me of the quotation of Jesus above: come to me all who labour and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. But there are several others in Scripture as well such as Isaiah 55:2Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labour for that which does not satisfy?The point of these Scriptures, and I believe our story today, is to teach us that we can spend our energy, our time, our lives upon things which do not truly satisfy. And it is so easy to do.Many people in our day and age end up with some version of the following: a desire to do well in life, perhaps a good education involving going to university or perhaps just starting work straightaway. From there a job, which might start out being exciting but turns stressful and demanding. After a while a career which must be committed to because one has responsibility – mortgage maybe, wife, children, perhaps debts and other things. And, before you know it, somehow this work has taken over. You are preoccupied by it. You think about it at night. In the evening, when you are not working, you are drinking or just watching endless Netflix, or doom-scrolling on your phone. You wake up too early in the morning because you can’t rest. There’s no peace in your body because there is no peace in your mind.All of this is driven by a sense deep within that there is simply not enough: not enough money, not enough time, not enough energy and strength to get whatever it is done. The only solution is to work, work, work. And maybe, one day, you might start to feel slightly better.You may very well identify with the words of Peter, “Master, we toiled all night, and we’ve taken nothing!”Recognising this within ourselves is the first step to healing. Lay down your nets. Don’t go back out to the Sea of Galilee tonight. Think about your life a bit: is all of this really worth it?Finding RestNow let’s assume we want the peace that Jesus offers. What can we do? I see at least three things here:Firstly, obedience. Peter obeyed Jesus’ command to put out his net. Obedience to God, surrender to his will, is a necessary part of the spiritual life. The precursor to obedience is repentance, which in Greek is metanoia, literally a change of mindset: I am no longer following what seems right to me, Lord, but I am following you now.So, if there is an area of your life which involves disobedience, change. Repent. Follow after Jesus and leave that thing behind. Easier said than done but seek a way.Secondly, consideration. And I don’t how else to put this. One of my favourite passages of Scripture is Matthew 6:25-24, from the Sermon on the Mount: some of it reads,“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?...28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.Matthew 6:25-26, 28-29Jesus says, “Look at the birds of the air.” “Consider lilies of the field.” Emblepsate, he tells us – look at, consider. Katamethete – Observe, notice.Work out the implications of the faith by paying attention to God’s provision for the birds of the air, the lilies of the field, and for you.I believe that as we do this sort of thing enough, our mindset will shift. And we will see the world not as a scary place where there is not enough, but as the theatre of God’s grace and his generous provision for us.The third thing, and perhaps the most challenging: commitment. They left everything and followed him. Now, we can’t all simply leave everything behind because we have responsibilities. But what can we do? Well, we can walk away from some of what we have by giving it away.Let’s consider the psychology for a moment: we are toiling because we think we don’t have enough – money, time, strength, energy, whatever it might be. We know that that is not true because God will provide everything we need. What therefore do we do? To prove to ourselves that God will provide and that we do and will have enough we give what we have away. And, as we do that, God provides and our trust in strengthened.Money is relevant here. Money enslaves us to itself. The more money we have the more anxious about money we get. And this is because we are worried about losing it and there’s more of it to lost. So one solution is to give lots away, to be generous, and to see how God provides for us as we are generous to others.This year we are being encouraged to consider our stewardship of the resources that God gives to us and so it’s relevant to point out that practicing some form of tithing through regular giving to the church and to other causes is a foundational spiritual discipline. We are blessed so that we might be a blessing. That is the basic point. And as we give away that which God gives us, we trust him that he will give us more and that he will, in fact, give us an abundance one way or another.But to find all of this we must turn outwards from our fear and anxiety, from our fruitless labour, toward God and others. Obedience, consideration, commitment. These three things are, I believe, keys to going from fruitless toil to blessed trust.In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit holytrinitywinchester.substack.com

Getting Ready for Death

Mon, 03 Feb 2025 15:59:47 +0000

The Problems of LifeI’d like to begin with a quotation from one of the greatest fictional characters of recent years. I won’t say who it is except that she is a much older woman giving advice to a much younger female family member. The quotation is this:“My dear, all life is a series of problems which we must try and solve. First one, then the next, and the next, until at last, we die.”As it turns out, this is actually quite a good piece of advice and it proves useful to the younger character, though she is baffled by it at first. The point her elder relative was really making is that we shouldn’t see problems and difficulties as somehow getting in the way of life but as being part of life’s essence, as being the central way that we grow as human beings, how we learn, how we change. In that sense, problems and difficulties can be seen not as unpleasant and annoying but as opportunities. As the old Stoic saying goes, the obstacle is the way.But it’s that last part that offers us the twist: until at last, we die. If we adopt this stoical attitude of simple focussing on our problems and attempting to solve them, thinking about little else, then death sneaks up on us, and all of our growth and development, wisdom and insight, simply disappears. And there is a sort of humorous absurdity about all of this.Candlemas – The Mid-Way PointToday, we celebrate the feast of Candlemas. It’s a feast day which is rich is symbolism. It occurs midway between the Winter solstice and the Spring equinox and therefore marks the time when the icy grip of Winter begins to loosen. Candlemas has been historically a time when farmers begin to anticipate the new season of planting and sowing their fields, turning this day into one of hope for fecundity and fertility. And in the Christian Church this feast commemorates the Presentation of Jesus by Mary and Joseph in the Temple. Traditionally candles are blessed and used in procession, symbolising Jesus as the light of the world. Our readings also make it clear to us that this day is all about birth, death, and resurrection. And this latter constellation of themes is what I would like to talk about today, particularly the notion of death and rebirth. I want to focus specifically on the two characters that we are introduced to in the Gospel reading, Simeon and Anna.Simeon and Anna: Prepared to DieSimeon and Anna were elderly people waiting for what is said to be in the text ‘the consolation of Israel’, by which we can probably infer that they were waiting for the Messiah, the one who would come to deliver the people of Israel, not from Roman occupation, but from sin and death. They had lived their lives in a way which was devout and holy and therefore were in a position both to recognise Jesus as the Messiah when he arrived at the Temple and to entrust themselves to him as the one who would save them.It is remarkable when you think about the words uttered by Simeon: “Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according thy word; for mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared in the presence of all people.” What does this mean but that he was ready to die because he had seen with own eyes the salvation of God and was able therefore entrust himself to him? To entrust himself to Christ, even as he saw him only as a baby of forty days old? The great scholar of the ancient Church Origen says as much about this passage commenting that Simeon knew that the hope of life to come could only be from ‘the anointed One whom he enfolded in his arms’.It was as if Simeon, through the power of the Holy Spirit, intuited the truth that is written in our New Testament reading, Hebrews chapter two: Christ partook of flesh and blood so that ‘through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery’.Simeon did not fear death. Why? Because he had lived his life in anticipation of seeing the Lord’s Christ and he knew that that Christ would bring salvation for him and for all the nations. His heart and mind were attuned to this reality. And I’m sure it was the same for Anna, who is presented in parallel to Simeon: she had been married seven years before her husband died and then spend the rest of her time serving God in the Temple, worshipping with fasting and prayer night and day.Departing in PeaceThere is relevance here for all of us because Simeon and Anna represent something what we in the modern, western world have largely lost: an understanding of our lives as heading in a particular and ultimate direction. Not, as our original quote implies, towards an absurd and intrusive cessation of our existence in the form of death, but towards God, for whom we were created, by whom we live, and to whom we are destined. Our bodies may decline as we grow older, but our souls are meant to grow in nearness to God until, one day, we depart from this world to see him face-to-face.The Apostle Paul reminded his readers of this when he was speaking about the difficulties and trials of his life and ministry: "For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day." I might be tired and failing physically and at the end of my strength, but my soul is strong and getting stronger because I am being renewed inwardly by the power of God and of the Holy Spirit day-by-day.The world that we inhabit doesn’t see this and so distracts itself from the reality of death. Death will creep up on those who hold to this view as an uninvited guest who will inevitably take everything away. But for the Christian who entrusts himself to Jesus to save him, he will find not terror in death but peace.How do we get there?A couple of points of application occur to me in all of this. If you want to end up like Simeon or Anna – and I hope that we all do – how you do it? How can you get to threshold of death and not fear but have peace and even joy in anticipating your reward in heaven with God?Firstly, do what God calls you to do now, which, in one way or another, is to invest your time, energy, talents, attention, and devotion in his Kingdom. Be righteous and devout, as we are told Simeon was. Devote yourself to worshipping God as Anna did. Invest your resources, material and spiritual, in the things of Heaven. As Christ would go on to say in the Sermon on the Mount, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matt. 6:19-21).That passage is highly relevant, particularly I think the last sentence: where your treasure is there you heart will be. I used to think that meant that what you invest in is a reflection of what you care about: I like, say golf, so I spend my time and money on playing golf. But now I see another dimension to Christ’s words: it is not just a reflection but a determination. That is what you choose to invest your time, effort, money, talents in is the thing that you will some to care about and love: the more time and money I spend on playing golf, the more devoted I am to it. If you choose to invest your resources in the things of this world – such as making money or acquiring material possessions and comfort – then that is what you will care about and that is what you will love. When death comes, therefore, your heart will be broken because you will lose all it.But, on the other hand, if you lay up treasures in heaven by investing what you have in the things of heaven, then at the point of death you will care less about leaving your material possessions and earthly goods behind and you will anticipate with greater clarity and joy the reward which you are promised by Christ in heaven.So, if you want to have peace in the face of death, be like Simeon and Anna and invest now, whatever age you are, in the things of Heaven.But the second thing to say, and in some ways this is the primary thing, is to entrust yourself to the one who can save you from death. See with the eyes of faith that which Simeon saw with the eyes of his body: Jesus Christ the Messiah of Israel and of the nations, come to save you from sin, death, and hell. Entrust yourself to him, day-by-day, and, as you practice these daily acts of trust, your life will become one act of continuously entrusting yourself into his hands, until the day comes when a final act of trust is called for.These things, as I say, are the things that this world, with all of its material and technological benefits, cannot give and will never be able to give no matter what advances are made. This can only be given by Christ, as truly now as two-thousand years ago.There is a very moving passage in Walter Ciszek’s well-known spiritual autobiography He Leadeth Me. For those who don’t know Cizsek was an American priest missionary in Soviet Russia who was captured and imprisoned, being forced to do slave labour in a brutal work camp in Siberia. When he was eventually released, he was not allowed to leave Russia and continued to live and minister as a priest there for some time. He observed the continuous atheistic propaganda of the regime and in particular the aversion to speaking of death in that society,‘Perhaps nowhere on earth is the contrast between those who believe and those who do not believe more striking than it is in the Soviet Union. Death is very nearly a taboo subject in the Communist milieu. In an ideology of atheistic materialism, death is obviously the end of everything for man. It is a special tragedy for the young, who are cut off from life just as they are beginning to live; it is tragic for those in middle age, who have reached the peak of their powers; for the old, who have lived a full life, it may come as a release, but it is no less an end t

Christ For All

Sun, 26 Jan 2025 14:39:48 +0000

Christ For All, Third Sunday After EpiphanyLuke 4:14-22A Confrontation in the SynagogueIn our reading today from Luke’s Gospel we’ve got half a story. These readings are taken from the Church’s lectionary and so we have to preach on what we’re given, but the selection today I have to say is somewhat odd and could be quite misleading. In the translation that you just heard, the English Standard Version, Jesus stands up in a synagogue in Nazareth, which was his hometown. He reads from the scroll, quoting the prophet Isaiah, chapter 61. He sits down and then tells them the Scripture, which is about the Messiah – God’s anointed one who would come to deliver his people in some way – is in fact him, Jesus. ‘And all spoke well of him and marvelled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth’.In itself this comes across as a quaint tale of Jesus coming back to the place he grew up, reading a bit of Scripture, proclaiming himself to be the Messiah, and people accepting it.In my view, this is not what happened at all. And I think we are dealing with a poor translation choice. For, verse 22, which I just quoted, tells us that the people initially accepted Jesus’ claims and were happy about them. But then they turned on him just as quickly: “Is this not Joseph’s son?” And they took offence at him. The whole conversation climaxes with their driving him to the brow of a hill and attempting to throw him down the cliff. Why the sudden change of heart?The answer is that the people did not speak well of him and marvel at his gracious words. As I say, I think this is a bad translation, and I am not alone. Without going into linguistic details, a better translation would be something like, ‘And all witnessed against him and were amazed at the words of mercy that came out of his mouth.’ This would make far more sense of the context.Then the question becomes: Why did they witness against him? Why did the people of his hometown reject him and his teaching and try and kill him?The answer comes if we look at the Scripture he read and the way he read it. For, he chose a Scripture, Isaiah 61, that may very well have been a favourite in the Synagogue at Nazareth. Nazareth was a very small town and for historical reasons would have been highly nationalistic and anti-Gentile. They were expecting the Messiah to come and to deliver them from Roman occupation. Number one. But, even more than this, they were expecting the Gentile nations to be made into their servants. And they were expecting this partly because of what it says in Isaiah 61. For it says that the Messiah would come ‘to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour and the day of vengeance of our God’. Slightly later on in Isaiah 61, it says, ‘Aliens shall feed your flocks, foreigners shall be your ploughmen and vinedressers…you shall eat the wealth of the nations (or the Gentiles) and in their riches you shall glory’.So, what’s the problem? Put quite simply, Jesus chose not to read those bits out. He intentionally left out the bits that spoke about judgment on the Gentile nations, and instead left in all the bits about God bringing liberty and healing. Now, this was not Jesus putting himself above the Scripture. It was in fact a common practice to read the Scriptures in a synagogue in a selective way, shortening texts or even bringing in other bits of Scripture to supplement the main passage that was being read. So here, Jesus specifically leaves out the words ‘the day of the vengeance of our God’ and cuts the passage short before the bit about the Gentile nations serving the Jews.The great Middle-Eastern scholar Kenneth Bailey imagines what the people in the synagogue must have been thinking:What is the matter with this boy? He has quoted one of our favorite texts, but he has omitted some of its most important verses. In the process he has turned a text of judgment into a text of mercy. This is outrageous! The messianic age is a golden age for us and a day of God’s vengeance upon them. How could this boy grow up here and not know this?Kenneth Bailey, Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes, p.162This is why the witnessed against him and were amazed at the words of mercy that he spoke: they didn’t want mercy for the Gentiles. They wanted judgment.Add to this the fact that he claimed to actually be the Messiah.Add to this the fact that he would have learned the Scriptures in that very synagogue as a child.Add to that the fact that he goes on to tell two stories about God having mercy upon two Gentile figures – the widow at Zarephath and Namaan the Syrian (sadly omitted from today’s reading).And this explains why they were so infuriated with him.One further observation: it’s completely clear from the text that Jesus did all of this on purpose. He edited the text and spoke about God’s mercy to the Gentiles specifically to put his finger on the most controversial, most sensitive point possible. He was saying the unsayable. He was intentionally confronting and infuriating his audience. What he was saying was completely inflammatory. And he was trying to get a reaction. Jesus, you might say, was a controversialist.Saying the UnsayableHaving said this, it seems to me that we should be unflinching with the application of this text. The people in the synagogue, the townspeople of Nazareth had hardened their hearts against the Gentiles nations and closed their ears to the Scriptures that spoke to the fact that Israel, that is the Jewish people, were meant to be a light to the nations. They had rejected this idea: they, and only they, were God’s people. The Gentiles would suffer God’s judgment and not his mercy.I have been thinking long and hard about the application to our world. And I think that one of the points must be that Christ is the Messiah for everyone and not just for our people, for the folks we think are acceptable and worthy. So, ask yourself, who are “the Gentiles” for us? For you? The people we think are undeserving of a place in God’s good graces. I’m going to make some suggestions. And I do this knowing that they will be controversial.I believe that the institution of the Church of England has very little concern for the working-class people of this nation and for those who might be considered conservative or traditional in their mindset. Once Hilary Clinton described the kind of people who would vote Republican as “a basket of deplorables”, and I believe that this kind of attitude is absolutely prevalent in the higher echelons of the CofE. I believe that this is a sin that should be repented of. And I also think it is foolish because, in my experience, it is exactly these kinds of people who are most interested in what Christianity might have to offer to the world in these troubled times.But, there is another side to this. It may be that those who are more traditionally-minded, conservative in nature, lack the sort of compassion that they should have for other groups: immigrant communities, aggressors to our civilisational values, Muslims. I should add here that the Gentiles in Jesus’ day were oppressors. The Jews lived under the yoke of Rome. The Romans were pagan idolators who made the lives of the Jews miserable. And yet Christ still chose to be a Messiah to all and to any who would come to him.Many, perhaps most, will continue to reject Christ and continue in error and even wickedness, but the attitude of the Church must be that the Gospel is for all and even for those who we might think are far away. At the very least this calls us to an attitude of compassion and love rather than hatred or bitterness.I’d like to be very up to date and mention an exchange I had on X this week. Speaking about the child-murderer Axel Rudakabana, somebody said to me that this man who horrifically murdered three young girls and mutilated several others in a diabolically inspired knife-attack doesn’t deserve mercy and that hell is too good for him. Believe me, I understand those feelings, and I think it only natural and right to long for justice in this agonisingly broken and sinful world. But I replied, ‘None of us deserve God’s mercy. That is why Christ died for us.’None of this is to say that Rudakabana should not be punished justly for his appalling crimes and nor is it to minimise the life-shattering grief that he has brought to so many lives. But it is to say that the Gospel calls us to remember that we are all sinful and in need of a redemption which we cannot manufacture on our own. We need God’s help. We need Christ’s precious blood. We need his sacrifice on the cross to save us. None of us deserves this. But we are all offered it. And we are to recognise our sinfulness, our brokenness, our helplessness, and the precious gift that is given to us, so that we might be able to offer it again to the world that is similarly in need.I want to finish with one further observation. It seems that many, if not most or even all, of the people in the people in the synagogue felt that they belonged there, in the midst of God’s chosen people, and that it was the world out there that was undeserving. But were there a few folks within, perhaps, who weren’t so sure? Perhaps they didn’t have such a pure Jewish heritage as others or possessed some kind of other disqualifying factor. I mention this because this can be the case for us too.We can harden our hearts towards those outside, but we can also imagine that we belong there with them. We can think that we are not good enough to come to Christ. We can think that we ought to get ourselves together first. We can think that we are the wrong class, not educated enough, not Christian enough in our origin. We can think we are from the wrong background, or that for some reason we are too far from God.If you think that, let me encourage you that the only qualification necessary to come to Christ is that you want to come to him. The Gospel is a gift which is offered to each one of us. And like any other kind of gift, it can be received freely or rejected.

Blood and Joy

Wed, 22 Jan 2025 09:44:22 +0000

Against Austerity"There was some one thing that was too great for God to show us when He walked upon our earth; and I have sometimes fancied that it was His mirth."This quote, from G.K Chesterton’s book Orthodoxy has been on my mind whilst I have been preparing this sermon. I am sure that Chesterton had a very clever and insightful meaning behind it, but I am not certain that I agree with him.My view is that the joy of our Lord Jesus is often veiled from our sight when we read the Gospels. This may be because our tired adult eyes have lost the ability to recognise it. Our imaginations are dry. We cannot see the twinkle in Jesus’ eye and we cannot hear the irony in his voice or conceive the humorous gestures he might make.This has become apparent to me recently as I have been reading the Sermon on the Mount with my children. I’ve never thought of the Sermon on the Mount as funny before but apparently they do. When Jesus talks about salt losing its taste, for example, or buying a lamp only to hide it under a basket, they laugh. Why? Because these are absurd images that Jesus chooses to illustrate how silly we can be at times. And there are many other examples of things that Jesus said and did that we, as adults, probably gloss over, not taking the time to appreciate the subtle satire of human nature or the humorous imagery because we are attempting to get at some kind of deep religious meaning that couldn’t possibly have anything to do with joy or laughter.And so I come to a basic point about today’s Gospel reading, before I get to the serious theology (and, of course, there is some very deep and very serious theology to talk about):‘On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples.’Consider this: for the first thirty years of his life, Jesus did no ministry that we know of. He probably worked with his hands as a carpenter, in the workshop of his father Joseph. After thirty years of preparation for what would be three years of the most intense, impactful, world-shaking ministry there has been, he made a start. How? By attending a wedding.And it wasn’t just that he attended. It was that he was invited with his disciples. Immediately this tells us something about Jesus: that he was not some kind of antisocial, austere, religious killjoy who was disliked by ordinary people, that he was not aloof from the ordinary life of folks around him in his social circle, in his family milieu.Just imagine a Jewish wedding feast of this sort, that goes on and on, perhaps for days: Do you think Jesus would have joined in the dancing? Do you think he sang? Do you think he drank wine? He would have done all of these things and would have had no trouble in manifesting the joy that dwelt within him.I mention all of this because I want to speak against religious austerity. That is, the notion that religion, if it is to be proper, must be serious and cannot be joyful, mirthful, or involve humour. The fact is that we are made for joy by a God who is in himself infinite joy. We see some of the fact that we were made for joy in Jesus’ decision (in obedience to the will of the Father) to perform his first sign at a social occasion, and at the kind of social occasion most associated with joy and happiness, feasting, song, and wine.All of this is not to say that we ought not to take seriously our religious obligations or that we ought not to dress smartly at church, or whatever it might be. But it is to say that we mustn’t do these things in a spirit of stuffy self-righteousness and self-importance, or, even worse, in a spirit of judgemental pharisaism that looks down on other people and maybe even other Christians because they are doing things properly. This is a deadly spiritual trap into which it is very, very easy indeed to fall. I have seen it many times. Indeed, sometimes I see it in my own heart.The Blood of the New CovenantBut there is a richness and a depth here. Let’s think about the role that wine has to play in this story. Firstly, wine is present at the wedding and aids the celebration of the guests. But an organisational disaster occurs when the wine runs out. This would have been a highly embarrassing and stressful moment for the organisers.After an exchange with his mother Jesus turns his focus to six stone water jars that were there for the Jewish rites of purification. He has the servants fill them with water and then, at some point we are not told when or how, he miraculously transforms that water into wine, which is subsequently tasted by the master of the festivities who compares it favourably to the wine which had been flowing previously: “Everyone serves the good wine first…but you have saved the best wine till now.”I mentioned earlier that John describes this as the first of Jesus “signs”. The word “sign” here has a theological meaning: it refers to a symbolic and miraculous act that tells us something about Jesus’ true identity. To use a technical term, there is Christological meaning in this sign.The water, in this context, is symbolic of the ceremonial and sacrificial system given to Moses in the Old Covenant and observed up until that time in the Jewish religion. That system prescribed the sacrifice of animals and other types of food, the washing of the body, and various other things, in order to keep the people in a state of ritual and religious cleanliness before God. This was how, in other words, they made atonement for their sins. This was how they came back into relationship with God when they were separated from him.But, even in the writings of the Old Covenant (what we call the Old Testament) there were hints that this sacrificial system was a sign that was pointing to something else.What was it pointing to? A greater and final sacrifice, a sacrifice so great that it has the power to purchase forgiveness for sin and reconciliation with God for all mankind. This is the sacrifice that Jesus would go on to make upon the cross. And this is what is symbolised by the transformation of the water of the sacrificial system into the wine touched by Christ. This is what we learn about Christ: that he would give his life, shed his blood, so that the sacrificial system might find its fulfilment in his sacrifice upon the cross.The wedding feast is, therefore, a time of joy and singing, laughter and life, but the shadow of the cross is never far away. Jesus will rejoice now, but he will sorrow later. And he will do this to bring us to God.The Eucharistic ChaliceAnd this brings me to what we are doing today: Holy Communion, the Eucharist, the Mass. For, in a sense, all the same themes are present here for us today. We rejoice in God’s goodness in our lives and in this world and in his presence to us. In this way, the Holy Eucharist foreshadows the Wedding Feast of the Lamb which we look forward to at the end of history. The moment at which all pain, suffering, evil, death, injustice, is forever banished from God’s creation. God’s people will be gathered to him in Christ and there will be joy and laughter in God’s presence forever. The Bible uses the image of a wedding feast for a reason: union, joy, newness of life, happiness, laughter, bliss. We all know what they are like if we have ever been to one or even been the bride or groom.But there is something else too: the wine that we drink not only symbolises new creation, life, laughter, and joy. But it symbolises the Blood of Christ. Indeed it is the Blood of Christ. And it poured out for you. “Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him” (John 6:54-56).The world needs the blood of Christ. You need the blood of Christ. I need the blood of Christ. Why? Because our sins have separated us from God. God desires that we know eternal joy and happiness, that we drink the wine of the Wedding Feast of the Kingdom, but first we must be reconciled to him. And God has provided the means through Jesus: the blood, the sacrifice of the cross, the suffering that Jesus endured that he might purchase forgiveness, and that our sins might be washed out. This is what is on offer to you today. Will you come to him in faith that you will be forgiven, reconciled, strengthened, made joyful even in the midst of sorrow? All of this is promised to us if we will come in faith and receive his broken body, if we will be renewed by his shed blood.Come in faith. You may not be baptised or in a situation in which you cannot receive the bread and the wine this morning. Come to the altar for a blessing and seek baptism, confirmation, absolution, or whatever it might be in the coming days. But the important thing is that you come. Come in faith that you will receive God’s love, his forgiveness, his joy.In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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When You Pass Through The Waters

Mon, 13 Jan 2025 15:49:57 +0000

The First Sunday of Epiphany/The Baptism of Christ, 2005Isaiah 43:1-7, Acts 8:14-17, Luke 3:15-17,21-22“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you.”Isaiah 43:2About three years ago, a five-year-old Moroccan boy called Rayan Oram fell through through the narrow opening of a 104 feet deep well and became trapped. Rescue efforts continued for four days and the story became global news. Hundreds gathered at the well and thousands more followed the story online and through the news. When Rayan was eventually retrieved from the well on a Saturday evening, the crowds at first greeted his emergence with cheers, until it became known that what was being retrieved was not a living boy but the body of a child who had died scared and alone in the darkness.I remember hearing about that story at the time. It has become obvious to me that stories affect us differently as we grow older and have different experiences in life. And this one got to me, not least because I thought about my own children and imagined them in a similar situation. Words cannot express the awfulness of such a thing. And it is only natural, when confronted by such events, to turn our gaze upwards and to ask why it is that a loving and powerful God would allow such horrors to occur to a child.This is a short sermon, so a full and satisfactory answer cannot be given here if it ever could. But, in my view, certain things should be ruled out, such as that this child had committed a crime that merited his death, or that God willed the tragic and lonely death of this five-year-old boy to bring about some greater purpose in his plans or (even more horrendously) to bring himself a greater measure of personal glory. Many theologians have speculated along these lines and to my mind these answers are not only contrary to the revelation of God and of Jesus Christ in Scripture but there are abhorrent and should cause us moral outrage.Again, this is just a brief reply, but there are perhaps two things of any substance to be said about this. The first is that the world that we live in is tragically separated from God as a result of a cosmic catastrophe that is aften called “The Fall”. The world that we live in is not the world as God intends it but the world that suffers as a result of the rebellion of conscious angelic and human agency. God will bring about a restored creation through the power of Jesus Christ’s cross and resurrection, but that is not the world we live in now.The second point I want to raise is the main focus for this sermon. I remember thinking about Rayan Oram at the time of his death that the only way that any sense can be made of it is to believe in a merciful God who was present to Rayan at every moment, through every second of his suffering. And, at the moment of his death, to believe that God immediately brought Rayan into his presence to be comforted and to consoled, and to rejoice with him forever.In this, I am reminded of a moving passage in Dostoyevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov. A holy man called Zosima is confronted by a mother stricken with grief over the death of her two-year-old son. She has lost the will to believe and even to live and cannot go on with the pain. She comes to the Elder Zosima seeking advice. Among other things, Zosima says to the grieving mother:"Your son is with the angels now, praising God. He is more alive than he was here with us. He has gone where there is no more suffering, no tears, only eternal joy and peace. He is happy there, and he prays for you. Do not grieve as if you have lost him forever; for he is with the Lord, and through your faith, you can feel his presence. Your love for him has not ended; it has merely changed into something eternal. Rejoice that he is now in the presence of God, where he will never know sorrow or pain again."The Continuing ProblemThe problem of pain, suffering, evil, and death is a constant theme of Scripture. This morning we have a reading from the Book of Isaiah, a book which is all about this theme: the God of Israel says to his people over and over again, “Trust me, not in the nations, not in your own strength, and I will deliver you. I will help you. Fear not, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by name, you are mine.”And there may have some legitimacy in the response of Israel at times, when the people wondered how exactly their God could be said to be faithful: he didn’t keep us from sinning against him, he allowed us to be taken into exile in a foreign land, we have suffered humiliation and grief at the hands of the Gentile nations.In their suffering and grief, we can see something of our own as Christians when things do not go as we plan and when we suffer terribly: I thought God loved me. I thought he cared about me. How could he when he has allowed me to go through all of this?The Providential and Personal Presence of GodMy answer to this, again, is the presence of God. In the Book of Isaiah, and throughout the Old Testament, we see something of what might be called the providential presence of God: God providing for his people through the events of history and making himself known through miraculous events and theophanies such as the burning bush, the pillars of cloud and fire, the cloud of glory in the Temple.This providential presence was an awesome thing and God would point to his track record and say to the people, “I have delivered you before. I will do so again.” We hear it in our reading from Isaiah today, “Fear not, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by name. You are mine.”But God has gone even further than this and, in Jesus Christ, has given to the world what we might call his personal presence: he took flesh and dwelt among us.The Baptism of Christ, which we read about today in the Gospel of Luke, illustrates this in a particularly profound way. It is not recorded in Luke’s Gospel, but elsewhere John the Baptist is perplexed at the notion that Jesus would be baptised by him. Why? Baptism is for repentance and the washing away of sin. John was clearly troubled at the notion that this might be appropriate for Jesus. And so should we be. Why then was Jesus baptised?Part of the answer to this question is certainly because through his baptism Jesus was inaugurating the Sacrament of Baptism. He was given it his stamp of approval, as it were. The Church Fathers talk about how Christ’s holiness made holy the waters of baptism so that now those waters cleanse us and make us holy when we descend into them.But there is another aspect to Christ’s baptism relevant to our theme today and that is Christ’s profound identification with us even in our sin-blighted and broken condition. In his chapter on baptism in Rowan Williams’ Being Christian, he decides to focus on this aspect, saying:In the Christian East especially, when the baptism of Jesus is shown in icons you will usually see Jesus up to his neck in the water, while below, sitting under the waves, are the river gods of the old world, representing the chaos that is being overcome.Some of you may have seen such icons. But the point is that Jesus’ descent into the waters of baptism is a powerful sign of his identification with us in the midst of our sinful, chaotic, messy, and painful circumstances. It says to us, from the very beginning of the story of the Gospels, that Jesus is willing to come into the midst of our brokenness and to get his hands dirty. God is not aloof to our suffering, to our sin, to our shame, to any of it. He is profoundly involved in Jesus.The Baptism of Christ is like a little picture of the Gospel: Christ descends into the waters of chaos, death, and hell only to rise again in glory through the power of the Holy Spirit. His baptism is, in this sense, a foreshadowing of the cross and the resurrection.And this, to return to my theme, is part, at least, of the answer to our sorrow, our suffering, our sin, our grief in this world. We may not be able to explain it all satisfactorily, but we do know that God has entered into it as deeply as he possibly could have done in Jesus Christ: he has suffered rejection, he has suffered torture, he has suffered death, he has suffered hell, just as many of us have and as many of us do.Part of my exhortation to you today then is to recognise this: that Christ is present to you in your grief and your pain. That you can know his consoling presence as you draw closer to him. And that there is hope on the other side of whatever cross it is that you bear. Christ is even close to you in the midst of your sin, and desires to bring you out of it and to give you new life. Don’t wallow in despair or self-pity or doubt. Come to Christ in the depths, and he will deliver you.A Further ChallengeBut there is one further thing to say about this. Consider the words of Joseph Ratzinger, who said of Christ’s baptism:He goes down into the role of one whose suffering-with-others is a transforming suffering that turns the underworld around, knocking down and flinging open the gates of hell.Joseph Ratzinger, Jesus of NazarethThere is undoubtedly a singular work of Christ that we trust in and by which we benefit. But there is also a further calling. For if we meet Christ in the depths of his suffering-for-others, this means that we must be willing to be where he is. What I mean is that we are to be willing to suffer for others too. If Christ puts himself in the mess, in the chaos, in the darkness, in the midst of suffering, for us, then we are to be willing to do that for other people also. If we meet him in the depths, we must be prepared to meet others there too.In this way, not only is our suffering transformed into something meaningful, but our encounters with those who suffer can be too. We are not just sitting with people who suffer hopelessly, but we are journeying with them as the presence of Christ in their lives.I invite you to think about this for a moment: what are the messy, difficult, unpleasant, unappealing situations in your life? Who are the

Fr Phil Collins - Being the Presence of Christ

Tue, 07 Jan 2025 13:58:48 +0000

Speaking on Epiphany Sunday, Fr Phil Collins encourages us to imitate the three wise men in their search for Christ and in their gifts for him, seeing him in the poor and those in need.

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Repentance: The Key to Life

Tue, 10 Dec 2024 10:35:18 +0000

Repentance: The Message of John the BaptistLast week we spoke about the opportunity that the season of Advent presents to us: we recognise the coming of Christ as Christmastide and we prepare ourselves to receive him in the best way that we can. I focussed upon the theme of devotion and love for Christ. But this week’s readings remind us that there is a fundamental work that must go alongside such devotion and indeed must precede it in many ways. And that fundamental work is repentance.John the Baptist proclaimed a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Luke the writer of the Gospel reminds us of the words of Isaiah, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord. Make his paths straight.’” How might we prepare the way of the Lord? The first thing we must do is repent.This might sound unappealing and negative at first hearing, but today I want to extol the glories of repentance. Repentance is the key to the spiritual life, the precious jewel that we carry on our journey, the doorway through which we enter more deeply into our relationship with God. Without repentance we cannot grow as Christians. But, with it, we can not only grow but we can continue to do so and to be made more and more into the image of Christ.What is repentance? It is quite simple and is captured in the image given to us by the Greek New Testament word: Metanoia. Metanoia literally means to have another mind. To change one’s mind from one way of thinking and behaving to another one. In the case of the Gospel, it means changing from our way of doing things and thinking about them to the way that God wants things to be which he has shown us through the teaching and example of Jesus Christ. This involves saying “sorry”, of course, but it is a much greater work than that: a fundamental shift of worldview.And repentance is not just something that marks the beginning of the Christian life – the way in, as it were – but it is the way on. We sin, we fail, we fall, and God brings us back time and time again through the precious gift of repentance and forgiveness. It doesn’t matter if you have been a Christian for five minutes or for fifty years: repentance remains the lifeline back to God when we have lost sight of him, as we so frequently do.The Purifying Power of RepentanceBut repentance is not for the faint-hearted and this is because it involves honesty about ourselves. And being honest about ourselves – our own failures, our downfalls, the pain we have caused and are causing – can be extremely painful. Indeed, many people never even begin. Again, if you believe you are a Christian and have not repented and do not practice repentance, think again. There is no true Christianity without repentance.In our Old Testament reading from the Book of Malachi, we hear more about the ministry of John the Baptist:“Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the Lord.”Think about those images for a moment: a refiner’s fire, fullers’ soap, like one who refines and purifies gold and silver. These images perfectly capture the dilemma of repentance: we want holiness and joy in Christ but, in order to get there, we have to be purified first. And purification involves fire. And fire burns.Let’s bring this into the realm of our lives and put it plainly: repentance hurts. Fundamentally, it hurts our pride. And this is because, when we repent, we must admit before God and before other people that we get things wrong and that we have made mistakes. And that is painful. It can be humiliating. And it is certainly very difficult.But look at what is on the other side of that process: holiness, life, joy, forgiveness, reconciliation with God through Christ. That is the deal: humility comes before exaltation. Repent and you will be forgiven and raised up.I’ve been interested to read about the principles of psychological counselling that make a similar point to this, albeit in a secular context: if you have problems in your life, you have to start by being brutally honest about the part that youare playing personally. You have to take responsibility for yourself and stop blaming other people. So the question becomes: are you willing to take a good and long look in the mirror and to really be honest about what you see there? Remember that there is life on the other side of this but recognise the challenge that is set before you.The Help God Gives: ChristAnd yet there is more here and there is a crucial point that separates what I am saying from the secular psychologists. And that crucial point is that we are not left to our own devices to do this. It is not by an effort of the human will alone that we can be honest about our failure before God and one another and be transformed. It is not only that we are called to make a way for him but that he has made a way for us.The help God has given us to find the way to him is Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the message of the Gospel: though we have sinned against God and wandered away from him, he has nevertheless sent his only begotten Son into the world to gather us back to him as to a loving Father. And he has gone so far as to give his Son up to death upon a cross to make this so.Do you feel ashamed of your sin? Do you feel unworthy before God to come to him? Look to Jesus Christ. For he has a made for you through his life, death, and resurrection to approach God in faith that you will find not an angry judge but a merciful Father.How to RepentFinally, a word on the work of repentance. How do we do it? Firstly, search your heart. Listen to your conscience. And use the time that you have during this Advent season to do it.There may be something that is very obvious to you. Sometimes we call this kind of thing a besetting sin. A besetting sin is some kind of sinful pattern or attitude to which we are particularly vulnerable. The best biblical example of besetting sin is perhaps Judas, the disciple of Christ. Though Judas lived and walked with Jesus himself, he did not conquer the besetting sin of material greed which resided secretly in his heart and caused him to betray Christ.Besetting sins often manifest themselves in the form of addictive behaviour which can take many forms that we don’t need to go into here.Besetting sins are very damaging and can often lead to our downfall as Christians. So, ask yourself: What is my besetting sin and how am I am going to fight against it through the grace of Christ?But we are all of us beset by sin, even if it doesn’t fit into this category. Think of the list of the seven deadly sins, for example: pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, and sloth. Which of us can say that we are not at times proud and contemptuous of others? Which of us has not been greedy and selfish with our time and money in recent days? Which of us has not fallen prey to lust? Which of us has not envied what another has and resented him in our hearts? Which us does not give in to anger and shout in frustration about or at others? Which of us has been as diligent as we should have been in loving God and our neighbour as we ought to have done?The fact is, friends, that, were we to spend more time examining ourselves, we would see that we really have a long way to go. And realising this is actually a really good thing because we see that repentance is in fact a call to greater levels of holiness and love. One way of seeing this is to flip those deadly sins around: Pride? Yes, well I am pursuing greater levels of humility through deeper repentance. Greed? Yes, well I have got a great opportunity to practice giving to the Church and others out of my abundance. Lust? Yes, well I can practice chastity and self-control and grow in self-mastery. Envy? I can rejoice in the opportunity to be obscure in the sight of the world but loved by God. Gluttony? I can practice abstinence. Wrath? I can practice peace. Sloth? I can grow in joyful service of God and neighbour.You see that repentance is not merely about saying “No” to sin but it is so much more than that. It is about saying “Yes” to a life of ever-greater holiness, empowered by the grace of God through the Gospel of Christ.What is it?I’d like to end with an exhortation and to ask you a simple question: What is it?I know an older man who was struggling with his live-in maid. She had replaced a previous maid with whom he got on with very well. When the previous maid left to get married, the new one came. She was younger and less experienced and there was a clash. This man was a committed Christian and struggled with the problem for many months. One day he spoke to a trusted Christian friend about it. The Christian friend said to him, “You’ve just got to love her.” This advice struck him powerfully as though given by the mouth of Christ himself. Taking that advice was enough to transform the situation and from that moment onwards his relationship with the live-in maid improved.Life is not always that simple. But sometimes it is. My question to you: Search your hearts. Ask yourself, “What is it? What is God calling me to change? What do I need to be sorry for? And how can I bring about that change in my life?” It might be a broken relationship and an apology that needs to be made. It might be a pattern of behaviour that needs to be broken off, perhaps with an appropriate level of accountability. It might be that you need to come to confession and receive the sacramental ministry of the Church for reassurance and the power of God. Whatever it is, you will know when

Realign Your Hearts To God

Sun, 01 Dec 2024 16:36:00 +0000

The First Sunday of Advent, 2024Luke 21:25-38Realign Your Hearts to GodWhat is Advent about?Friends, today we come to the first Sunday of Advent. I have to be honest and say that Advent my favourite of the liturgical seasons. To begin with, it marks the beginning of the liturgical year. In this six-month period, we start by longing for the coming of Christ amongst us and then celebrate his birth at Christmas. We see the global proliferation of the Good Tidings foreshadowed in the arrival of the Magi at Epiphanytide. At length, we come to the penitential season of Lent and the darkness of Holy Week before we celebrate Christ’s victorious bursting from the tomb, his ascension into heaven, and the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the birthday of the Church at Pentecost.But there is something about Advent that is special: the sense of longing and anticipation, conveyed in colour and hymnody, the tingling sense that, one day soon, the Lord Jesus will appear amongst us out of the darkness of the darkest night. Friends, try, by whatever means you can, to capture for yourselves some of the wonder of this Advent season.How to approach Luke 21?And this exhortation leads me to say something about the Gospel text we have just heard, Luke 21, verses 25-38. Why does the Church select this text for this Sunday - this text, which is all about apocalyptic signs in the heavens, distress among nations, people fainting with fear and foreboding and so on?Firstly, we must remember that in Advent we look forward not only to the First Coming of Christ as a babe at Bethlehem, but also to his Second Coming at the end of history.This observation helps us to understand the selection of this text. It is selected because it is taken to be about the Second Coming of Christ. I say it is “taken to be about the second coming” because this passage in context is clearly also about the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem, which would take place, in accordance with Christ’s words, in 70AD at the hands of the Romans. But it is legitimate, in my view, to see that, within Christ’s prediction about the destruction of the Temple, he is also referring to an event farther away in history, to the very end, to a vision of the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. And it is this coming, this Second Advent, that the Church bids us turn our attention today.The Meaning of HistoryI’d like then to make a couple of observation about Christ’s words. The first thing to note is that both the words of Christ and the content of the liturgical season of Advent remind us that our lives and all of history are moving in a particular direction, towards the second coming of Jesus, when he will return, as the Apostles’ Creed says, to judge the quick and the dead.As such, the Christian view does not accept that history is a random series of chance occurrences. That it is, as Macbeth says, ‘a tale, told by an idiot, signifying nothing’. Rather, we say that history has a particular shape and purpose, and that we, as individuals can find a place within that shape and purpose. And, as a result of this, our own lives can take on meaning and direction: We are going somewhere. We are for something.This contrasts with various post-modern and existentialist philosophies that say that meaning and purpose only exist insofar as we create them ourselves. That meaning and purpose do not exist in the world out there, that meaning and purpose can only come from within ourselves.To the contrary, we say that we are born into the midst of a universe laden within meaning, purpose, and real direction. Rather than rejecting these things in terror and disgust, we embrace them as a gift: How good and pleasant it is that we do not find ourselves simply thrown into the midst of a meaningless and empty universe, but that we are invited by God to play our part within the great story of history!Have No FearAnd this leads to my second observation, which is that the return of Christ is fundamentally good news. Indeed, it is great news. The best news that we will ever hear: all of the pain, suffering, evil, injustice, and death that plagues our lives is coming to an end with the Advent of the Returning King.I was distressed this week to witness events in Parliament as MPs voted to progress a bill that would legalise the killing of terminally ill patients by medical professionals. The Church has consistently condemned and opposed these measures as an affront to the dignity of human beings made in the image of God and an opening of the door to the killing of a much broader range of people than the terminally ill, including the elderly in general, those with physical disabilities, those who suffer from depression, and even those who struggle with economic hardship. In the words of Bishop Graham Tomlin, it seems that, with this development, we as a society we have taken one step closer to the abyss. It is especially important to remember the message of Advent at times like these: though the world around us may seem to be dark and getting ever darker, the light of Christ will come. His Kingdom will be an everlasting Kingdom of justice and righteousness. And the folly and sinfulness of man will finally be overruled.This is why Christ tells his disciples, when they see the signs preceding all of these things, to “straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near” (Luke 21:28).Again, we are bidden by Christ to have a fundamentally different perspective to the world that does not know him.He tells us that there will be “distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the seas and the waves, people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world” (Luke 21:25-26). There have been in every age those who predict the imminent end of the world and the same is true of our world today. Some of these concerns are quite legitimate and we can of course recall plenty of disastrous events in the past, both natural and manmade, that have wrought immense destruction to us and to our planet. But one thing that we can be sure of, if we trust the words of Christ, is that neither climate change nor nuclear war will bring about an end of the world and our total annihilation. This is because history is held in God’s hands and because He will decide when it is over.Therefore, we ought not to fear as the nations fear, but we are to lift our heads with confidence and prepare ourselves with joyful expectation for our final end which is to be with Christ.Realign Your Hearts This AdventFinally, then, a word of application. I have mentioned both the First Coming of Christ as a babe at Bethlehem, and his Second Coming at the end of history. There is yet a Third Coming, a Third Advent, that I would like to draw our attention to today, and this is the coming of Christ to us, to live within our hearts.The first question to ask you then is this: Have you made a way for him? Have you swung wide the gate of your heart that Christ may enter in? Friends, don’t delay. All are bidden by Christ to come. There may be practical steps that you need to take – baptism, confirmation, maybe something else – but don’t worry about that at this moment. Rather, resolve now that you want to know Christ and that you want him to come and dwell in your heart. He will most certainly respond.Secondly, let’s listen to the words of Christ: “But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weight down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life…But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all these things that are to take place and to stand before the Son of Man” (Luke 21:34, 36).I’m just coming back after having a week off. Living near town, I often walk in for various reasons. It seems to me that “Christmas” has come particularly early this year – even more so than usual. The world cannot wait to launch itself into an intensified cycle of consumerism and gratification. I would go so far as to say that the vast majority of people that we see out there in the street are simply unable to imagine that life could be any other way: distracted by technology, satiated by an endless supply of food and drink, sozzled by immense quantities of alcohol.This is not to say that everything that is celebrated by the secular world at Christmas is evil – far from it. But it is to say that Christ wants to redirect our focus: he cautions us against drunkenness and dissipation – that is the frivolous wasting of our resources through overindulgence in sensual pleasures. He tells us not to allow the cares of this life to weigh us down. Instead of these things, Christ says, stay awake. That is, be spiritually alert. And pray that you may be ready to stand before Christ when he comes.And so I’d like to challenge you at this point to examine yourselves and to examine your lives. The first thing to say is that you don’t have to celebrate the Advent and Christmas seasons like everyone else – in a mindless blaze of consumerism, anxious busyness, and drunken debauchery. Rather, use the Advent Season to carefully realign your hearts so that, when Christ appears at Christmastide, you may be ready to receive him.There is a really practical element here: Do you have a way of prayer? Do you have a rule of life that helps you throughout your day and throughout your week to realign yourself with God? Maybe it’s something that you need to learn for the first time. If so, there is a new world of spiritual life for you, waiting to be discovered. As Anglicans, we are uniquely blessed with a liturgical heritage that can be claimed by each one of us in the practice of saying Morning and Evening Prayer from the Book of Common Prayer. But there are countless of other ways that we can come into the presence of God on a regular basis and get to know him better: meditative silence, the contemplative study of Scripture through lectio divina, the use of wonderful prayer apps like Hallow and Ascension

Where is God?

Mon, 18 Nov 2024 09:27:37 +0000

Where is the presence of God now?13 And as he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!” 2 And Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”3 And as he sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately, 4 “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished?” 5 And Jesus began to say to them, “See that no one leads you astray. 6 Many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he!’ and they will lead many astray. 7 And when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. This must take place, but the end is not yet. 8 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. These are but the beginning of the birth pains.Mark 13:1-8Jesus and the TempleAt the beginning of our Gospel reading, one of Jesus’ disciples tries to get his opinion on the temple: “It’s a marvellous thing, isn’t it Jesus? Look at all the stones, and jewels, and little rooms, and so on.”This temple was the second one built on this same site, the first having been destroyed by the Babylonians when they invaded. About five-hundred years before the time of Jesus, the temple had been rebuilt and it had been recently enhanced by the King of Judea, Herod the Great, a client king of the Roman Empire. No doubt it was a magnificent building, but it was clearly bound up in some political and religious implications by which Jesus was less than impressed.“Do you see these great buildings?” he said, “There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”In saying this, he predicted the destruction of the Temple which was to take place in the year 70 AD at the hands of the Romans.The thing that was so special about the temple was not its architectural greatness but the fact that it housed the presence of God. That was what it was for and that is what made it important. And this fact is how we can understand Jesus’ attitude towards it.The key, I think, can be found in the second chapter of John’s Gospel. You probably know the story of Jesus’ driving out the money changers and pigeon sellers from the temple. After that happened, the Jews asked Jesus for a sign to show them that was he was doing was from God.“Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up,” Jesus said. The Jews said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” (They must have been speaking there about the recent rebuilding programme at the hands of Kind Herod.)John says about this in his narration: ‘But he was speaking about the temple of his body’ (John 3:21).And there is the point: the Temple was a place of greatness. It was a place of the presence of God even. But in Jesus something even greater than the Temple is here: God himself, come to Earth in human flesh, the divine life present in the Incarnation.Consider that for a moment: what is the holiest place in the world do you think? The holiest Christian site or building? St Peter’s in Rome? The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem? Canterbury Cathedral? (Probably not, let’s face it.) Now imagine someone stands outside one of those and says, “It’s not so impressive. In fact it will probably be pulled down soon. If you want to know the presence of God, look at me. I am the presence of God.” A pretty shocking claim, by all accounts…unless it is the truth.Where is Jesus now?What I take from these observations is that the presence of God was relocated and intensified in the person of Jesus Christ. If we want to know the presence of God, therefore, we must find it not in temples made by human hands, but in Jesus himself. Which leads to the question: Where is Jesus now?The first thing to say about this is that Jesus is everywhere, in all things that were created ‘through him and for him’ as the Apostle Paul mentiones (Colossians 1:16). And cultivating a vision of Christ everywhere present, everywhere speaking, through the things that have been made is no doubt a central part of the spiritual life.But I want to be a bit more specific. The New Testament speaks about Christ’s body in three different ways. That might sound strange but it’s true. I’ll tell you what they are:Firstly, there is Christ’s physical body which he had whilst he was here on earth. He walked around. He touched things and people. He ate and drank. He slept. He was crucified. He rose again. He ascended. All these things happened to what we might call his physical or earthly body. So that’s the first one.Secondly, there is this strange thing that he said just before he was taken to his death. The Apostle Paul tells us but it is also recorded in the Gospels: ‘…the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me”’. (1 Cor. 11:24). Whatever this body is, it is not the same as the first type of body. After all, Jesus was holding this second body (the bread) in the hands of his earthly body. So, they are different bodies, but nevertheless both still the body of Jesus.What’s going on here then? Without going into the long history of Eucharistic theology, essentially the Church has understood by this that Christ was instituting what we now call Holy Communion, the Eucharist, or the Mass. That is, the ritual which we engage in each time we meet for worship through which we receive Christ’s body as spiritual and heavenly food. Just as earthly food and drink strengthen our bodies, so this food and drink strengthens our souls. And it does this because it is the very body and blood of Jesus Christ, only it comes to us in a spiritual manner, not as his literal earthly flesh and blood.So, the first more practical answer to the question of where the body of Jesus is today is that it is found in the bread and the wine after they have been prayed for by the priest to become the body and blood of Jesus.But there is one further way that the New Testament speaks about the body of Christ. I just quoted from a letter by the Apostle Paul called 1 Corinthians. Immediately after that bit about the bread and the wine, Paul starts talking about the Church, He says that the Church is made up of many members or parts, but that it is still one body. Just as the body has bits like arms and legs and eyes and ears and noses and so on, so also the body of the Church has different parts all of which play important roles. But for Paul this isn’t just a clever metaphor. As he goes on to say, ‘Now you are the body of Christ, and individually members of it’ (1 Cor. 12:27).What does he mean by that? Well, we’ve seen that the presence of God dwelt in the man Jesus in a unique and powerful way. We’ve seen that Jesus intended us to understand that his presence would be given to us in the bread and wine set apart and consecrated to become his body and blood. And here we see that the presence of God is also to be found in the Church and specifically in the people who make up the Church. And this is what the Apostle Paul means when he talks about the Church as the body of Christ: we are the presence of God in this world now.Think about that for a short moment. Christ went to heaven, so his body is no longer present to the world in that physical sense. Christ’s body and blood are present to the folks who come to Church and are baptised, so his presence is available to members of the Church. What does that leave for the world out there? What does it leave for those who do not know the presence of Christ at all? It leaves us. We are to be the body of Christ to the world, manifesting Christ’s holiness and love to those around us, especially to those who do not know the presence of God at all. And my goodness there are a lot of people like that in our world today.So, there are three answers to the question ‘Where is Jesus now?’Jesus is in heaven with God the Father. Jesus is present in the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. And Jesus is present in the members of his Church – in you and in me. And what a great and awesome responsibility and challenge that presents to each one of us – to do our very best to know the presence of Christ in our lives and to manifest it to the world.Becoming the Body of ChristIn the early twentieth century, there was a theologian called Henri De Lubac who had a saying about the Eucharist. He said that the Eucharist makes the Church. To translate that into the language that I am using, we could say that the body and blood of Jesus in the Eucharist makes the body of Christ the Church. What does that mean? It means that the presence of Christ in the bread and wine creates the presence of Christ in us. As we are nourished and strengthened through the presence of God in the Mass, we actually become the body of Jesus in this world. The food given to us for our spiritual journey enables us to have the strength to go out there into the world and to be the very presence of Jesus.If you have ever tried fasting or dieting, you will know how weak we often feel when we have not had sufficient physical food, and how strong and rejuvenated we feel after partaking after a long stretch of hunger. So it is – or at least so it can be – when we partake of this heavenly food: we go from spiritual weakness and need to spiritual rejuvenation and strength.But let me share one final key to unlocking all of this. Here I will quote from the 39 Articles, which are the doctrinal basis for the whole of the Anglican Church. Speaking of the Mass, Article 28, says, ‘the mean whereby the Body of Christ is received and eaten…is Faith.’ What the Articles emphasise when they talk about the Mass is how we receive it. God does his miraculous work, but we must play

Be a Peacemaker

Sun, 10 Nov 2024 12:00:00 +0000

Mark 1:14-2014 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”16 Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. 17 And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” 18 And immediately they left their nets and followed him. 19 And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. 20 And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him.“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand.”I want to begin by asking you to imagine something. Imagine that you have worked all your life at just one job. You’ve done it since you were very little. It could be driving trains. It could be fixing boilers. It could be making scarves. It could be anything. But that’s all you’ve ever done and all you know how to do. You get money from doing it and that money helps you to buy food and to live. If you didn’t do this then you would not know how to earn money and you would not know what you would do to live.Now imagine that, one day, a man comes along and says to you, “Follow me”. And what he wants you to do is to stop doing that thing that you’ve always done and is the only thing you know how to do and to do something else. And that something else that he wants you to do is to walk around with him, to learn how he lives, and to do the kinds of things he does.Something like this is what happened to the people we just heard about in our Gospel reading: Simon, Andrew, James, and John. They were all fishermen. All they had ever been was fishermen. All they knew how to do was to be fisherman. And yet, one day, Jesus came along and said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers ofmen”. How very odd.And yet the story tells us that that is exactly what they did. They left their boats and their nets, and they literally walked with Jesus and became what we call his disciples, telling other people to follow him too.These days when we talk about “following” somebody or something, we don’t really mean the same thing that it meant in these days. I follow a football team (Tottenham Hotspur if you want to know), but I don’t literally walk around next to the players and go to the training ground whilst they practice. I hardly even go to any games. But what it meant to follow someone in those days was to literally follow them around, to watch them, to see how they lived, to listen to what they said and to try and put it into practice. And that is what those early disciples did with Jesus: they followedhim and they tried to be like him as much as they possibly could.In the simplest form, this is what it means to be a Christian, even today. It means to be a disciple of the same man, Jesus, who called Simon, Andrew, and all those other folk to follow him. It’s true that we often forget this, but this is really what it means.The Kingdom of GodBefore he told those fishermen to follow him, Jesus said an interesting thing: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand” (Mark 1:15). And Jesus would always talk about this so-called “kingdom of God”. In fact, it was probably the main thing he talked about to people when he was around. But he didn’t just talk about it; he also showed us what it meant through the things that he did.We might say that the kingdom of God is exactly what it sounds like: it’s the place where God is in charge. It’s the place where people do things the way that God wants them to be done. It’s the place where people love God and are interested first and foremost in what he says. Jesus showed everybody what this meant.On a day like today, we think about people who fought in wars. If I’m honest with you, because I am a disciple of Christ, I am not sure that I could fight in a war. It is a very difficult question for those who seek to follow Jesus and his ways. This is because Jesus did not ever act in a violent way towards another person. In fact, he told us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us (Matthew 5:44). He even prayed for the people who put him on the cross to kill him that God would forgive them for what they were doing (Luke 23:34). Just before he was arrested to be taken to the cross, one of his disciples, Peter, took a sharp sword and cut off the ear of one the men who was coming to take him away. Jesus told Peter to stop what he was doing and, not only that, but he touched the man and healed his ear (Luke 22:49-51). All of this makes me think that I should not be violent towards other people, even when they are being violent towards me.And yet there is another side to this. Jesus also tells us that the greatest commandment is to love God and to love our neighbour as ourselves (Matthew 22:39). That basically means that we should love other people as much as we love ourselves. And, sometimes, there are people who need to be protected. There are people who are weak and vulnerable, people who are being hurt, or even killed, by others who are much more powerful than they are. And, when this happens, it seems like it could be right for a disciple of Jesus to act violently, or even to kill.Blessed are the PeacemakersIn his most famous sermon, Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God” (Matthew 5:9). So, one of the things that we can be sure about is that the Kingdom of God is a kingdom of peace, a place where there is no warfare or violence or killing. If we can bring peace to this world - even in a small way - we will bringing something of God’s kingdom into it. That might involve simply being kind to each other. It might mean trying to make up with someone you’ve had an argument with. It might mean forgiving someone who has hurt you. It might even mean, in some circumstances, fighting to protect somebody who is vulnerable. But the person who really wants to follow Jesus should never forget this: that we should always try and be peacemakers, forgiving our enemies, blessing those who persecute us, praying for those who hurt us, and hoping that we too will be called sons of God.Amen.

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Count the Cost of Grace

Sun, 27 Oct 2024 12:00:00 +0000

“Go your way; your faith has made you well.”The story of the blind beggar Bartimaeus ends with Jesus commending the man for his faith. On the surface, this story could be taken to be an exhortation to approach God in prayer in the hope and expectation that he will fulfil the requests of those who call upon him. And yet a closer look at the context of the story reveals a much more challenging picture of the call to discipleship.A little about the context to begin with. Jesus is on the road with his disciples. They have stopped at Jericho and are heading towards Jerusalem. The text we looked at last week saw Jesus reminding his disciples that he has come to give his life as a ransom for many and rebuking them for thinking about power and glory in purely worldly terms. Here, Christ illustrates this lesson by taking time to minister to a man on the very margins of society, even one who was rebuked for calling out to him.Recognition and RequestI want to begin by talking about Bartimaeus, because it is in him that we can see a picture of ourselves and of what God calls us to as we follow after Christ.To begin with, we are told that Bartimaeus is ‘a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus’. One of the great early theologians of the Church, St Augustine, was intrigued by this description and saw in it evidence that Bartimaeus was from a well-known family and that he had fallen from a great height to be blind and begging by the roadside.St Augustine said about this that Bartimaeus represents symbolically the helplessness and fallenness of humanity. What he meant by that is that, just as Bartimaeus had fallen from a great social height, so humanity has fallen from God’s original intention for us. We were created for glory and unity with the Godhead and, yet, because of our sinfulness, we have now descended to a state of spiritual blindness and life without God.And so Bartimaeus recognised his pitiful state and so, when heard that Jesus was passing by, he called out to him, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”There is a basic humility that is called for in the Christian life. We are, each of us, called to recognise that we incline towards sin and we need God to forgive us, help us, and change us by the power of his Spirit. Our wills are involved in this but it also involves a recognition of a power that comes from outside of us to help us.We see also in Bartimaeus the link between physical and spiritual poverty. The poor are much more aware of their need for God than the rich. I often think that in a city like Winchester many people are blinded to their need for God because they are so wealthy and comfortable.Many of you will have had a Bartimaeus-like period in your spiritual lives. When we experience loss of wealth or status or health; when we mourn or suffer or are cast out or criticised – these are moments of opportunity because these are the moments at which we are driven to prayer in recognition of our need for God.To give one small example, I spoke to a lady this week who told me that recently she had started each morning with prayer. She said to me that every morning it transforms her panic into peace and joy. That journey starts with a recognition of need.Cheap and Costly GraceTo return to the story, after some initial harsh opposition, Jesus calls Bartimaeus to himself and he asks him what seems a rather strange question, “What do you want me to do for you?”I remember many years ago, I spent some time with a friend who was a pastor in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Kuala Lumpur is a huge, vibrant city in the Far East. And yet it is very different to a Western city because of the relative levels of poverty and deprivation that are present. This was many years ago, but I remember quite vividly the sight of blind beggars on the roadside. Even in big cities like London, I had not seen homeless men in this condition of half-starvation and physical decrepitude. I remember that some of the beggars who sat there were not only blind but had lost their eyes somehow.I imagine Bartimaeus in a similarly desperate physical condition. It is very odd that Jesus asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” Isn’t it obvious in such a situation?Actually, no.The Middle-Eastern scholar Kenneth Bailey makes a very interesting point about the context of this story. The traditional beggar in this type of society had a particular role. Such a beggar would sit in a public place and give passers-by the opportunity to display their charity by giving alms. The beggar would receive an income of sorts and those passing by would be seen as compassionate and godly. It was a kind of mutually beneficial transaction. To be one of these traditional beggars, however, one needed a visible handicap such as a missing limb or, indeed, blindness.This was Bartimaeus’ place in the world and this was how he managed to provide for his own needs: by acting the role of the traditional Middle-Eastern beggar. When Jesus asks the question, “What do you want me to do for you?”, therefore, it is a rather serious one. Kenneth Bailey comments:‘…a blind man, such as the beggar in this story, has no education, training, employment record or marketable skills. If healed, self-support will be extremely difficult. Indeed, is it not in his interests to remain blind?’Kenneth Bailey, Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes, p. 174.If Jesus heals the man, he will receive his sight but he will also need to leave his old way of life behind: no more hand-outs, no more self-pity, no more complaining about his difficult lot in life. And he will receive much greater responsibility, which will be to find a new way of living that is not based upon his disability. Jesus is asking him if he is ready to take such responsibility upon himself?We see, of course, that he is. Not only does he ask that he recover his sight and receive healing, but we are told at the end of the story that he ‘followed Jesus on the way’. He used his newly received healing to become a disciple of Christ..This is a powerful picture of the Gospel and of the transforming power of grace. We can often think of God’s grace as God simply doing something good for us. It is certainly true that God intends to bless us and help us by showing grace but what we often miss is the calling to discipleship and transformation that comes through that grace.The great German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer got this so right when he juxtaposed “cheap grace” with “costly grace”. Bonhoeffer rightly saw that God’s grace is something that is given to us freely but is not cheap. It has an effect in our lives and will often cost us a great deal: the giving up of sinful habits, the laying down of old patterns of life that do not fit with our new calling to follow Christ, the taking up of difficult tasks that God now calls us to, the loss of friends and family relationships. Yes, we are healed, forgiven, accepted, and loved by God with a grace that is given to us at no cost, but we are also called to follow Jesus on the costly road of discipleship.Bonhoeffer spoke in the context of the rise to power of the Nazis and the challenge that this presented to the German church of the time. He was disturbed by the lack of willingness of church leaders to stand up to Hitler and to count the cost of the faith. Ultimately Bonhoeffer would illustrate the principle of costly grace by dying as a martyr at the hands of the Nazi Party.In an ancient Arabic paraphrase of this story, Bartimaeus’ request to Jesus is put in a slightly elaborated form. Instead of merely asking for his sight back, Bartimaeus says to Jesus, “Let me receive my sight that I might see you.” And this really sums up what I am trying to say. Spiritual sight is a great blessing because it enables us to see Christ, but, if we are to see him, we are not merely to gaze at him, but also to follow him wherever he leads. And we know, of course, that he will eventually lead us to the cross. The question that the story of the blind beggar Bartimaeus holds out to all of us is: Are we willing to go with him on the way? Are we willing to count the cost of grace?

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Find Glory in Suffering

Sun, 20 Oct 2024 11:00:00 +0000

Find Glory in Suffering“For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”“What is good? All that increases the feeling of power, will to power, power itself, in man.” These words were written by the nineteenth century philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. Nietzsche’s view seems to have been that the great majority of human action is motivated by a desire for greater power, for the ability to self-actualise or to enact one’s own desires.He may have been to something.In our Gospel story, we see James and John very much wanting to get their own way.For a start, they say to Jesus, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.”Put yourself in Jesus’ shoes at this point. It reminds me of what I was told about pastoral ministry: if anyone ever says to you, “I am about to tell you something, can you keep it secret?” Don’t, whatever you do, say “yes”…for obvious reasons.It’s the same thing here: Jesus can’t say yes because they haven’t revealed what it is they are going to ask. All they’ve revealed is their desire to have their own way. This is not the way to come before Christ and to learn humbly at his feet.And then the request, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.”What’s interesting here is that James and John are already part of Jesus’ tightest inner circle. That circle consisted of the two of them plus Peter. These are the three that Jesus’ took with him on the Mount of Transfiguration, for example. But that wasn’t enough for them. They wanted an even more exclusive circle that consisted only of the two of them. They believed that Jesus was going to become an earthly king, and they wanted to get their request for position in early.Bad PowerMany commentaries at this point dismiss the request of James and John as selfish and ambitious. But this is to miss the subtlety of Jesus’ teaching and example.To begin with, in the modern world we have been conditioned by various post-modern philosophies to think that any desire to have power or influence over people or things is necessarily wrong. That it is oppressive or colonialist or patriarchal.Of course, certain types of power can be awfully destructive and evil, murderous, genocidal. And Christ indeed speaks about this type of power: “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them.” Some translations say that these Gentile rulers “dominate” those over whom they have authority. Christ is here appealing to his disciples to consider what it is like to labour under the oppression of Roman rule. “Do you really want to be like that?” He asks them. “To become the thing that causes you misery? To become the thing you hate?”Have you ever laboured under an evil overseer of some sort? Have you experienced the misery and the domination that they can exercise over your life? Why would you want to become like that?Position, Power and InfluenceBut there are ways of exercising power that are better than this. This is summed up well by the modern leadership guru John Maxwell who says, “Position is a poor substitute for influence.”What he means by that is that anybody can be given a position but whether they actually have power will mostly depend upon their ability to influence people.So, here, James and John, young men both, are asking Jesus for a position, for a title, for a badge that will delineate their roles. They don’t understand that this is not the way to have true power.True PowerAnd here I must disagree with the commentaries that rebuke James and John sharply for wanting glory and power from Christ. If Jesus had wanted to, he could have said, “Why are you worrying about having glory and power and position in my government? You shouldn’t even desire these things.” But he doesn’t say that at all.Before we look at what he does say, pause for a moment and consider why he doesn’t say that. He doesn’t say that because power is not necessarily a bad thing. Power is actually necessary to bring about good, justice, peace, and life in the world.At the end of his life, King David reflected upon the nature of power – power which he had at points used well and at other points used badly. His last recorded words:“When one rules justly over men,ruling in the fear of God,he dawns on them like the morning light; like the sun shining forth on a cloudless morning,like rain that makes grass to sprout forth from the earth.”2 Samuel 23:3-4That's what a good ruler is like. That's what good exercise of power looks like.Indeed, we call God all powerful in the creeds. And we know that he exercises his power rightly and justly in the right way. And of course, Christ himself was powerful, immensely powerful, the most influential man who has ever lived.Power is not evil, therefore, and nor is the desire for it necessarily so. But we must be careful that we do not desire power simply to increase our ego or, even worse, to enjoy the feeling of dominating the lives and the wills of others.Suffering is the SolutionWhat, then, is the solution? For this, we must attend to the words and to the example of Christ. He says to James and John:“Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptised?”He speaks here of his suffering and his death upon the cross, which we are reminded of today in our Old Testament reading from the Prophet Isaiah:‘Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows;yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted.But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities;upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.’Isaiah 53:4-5And, again, Christ speaks to his disciples and to us: “…whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”Notice here that Jesus does not juxtapose suffering or service with glory or power, as if it is one of the other. The message is more subtle than that: he is telling us that if we truly desire power and glory then we must become servants to all, as he became. And there is even more: it is not only that we must become servants but that we too must suffer in the service of God and others.Getting our Hands DirtyIt is very easy in the age of social media to give the impression that we care about people and causes simply by sending out a couple of tweets or by putting up a status on Facebook. But there is also something inauthentic about doing just that. The fact is that the kind of service that Jesus talks about and demonstrates is a service that involves taking action and getting one’s hands dirty.This came home to me recently when I was watching a biopic of the modern history of the British Royal Family. This included the story of the breakdown of the marriage of Princess Diana and Prince Charles as he was then. Whatever one might make of all of that now, the fact was that Princess Diana was so incredibly popular and loved because she was willing to go to places of danger and to embrace, quite literally, those who were suffering. In 1997, for example, she walked through a recently cleared landmine field in Angola. In 1987, she opened Britain’s first AIDS ward and was photographed shaking hands with people who were HIV/AIDS positive. She visited patients with Leprosy in India, Nepal, and Zimbabwe and said at the time: “It has always been my concern to touch people with leprosy, trying to show in a simple action that they are not reviled, nor are we repulsed."This compassion that she demonstrated meant that she was a much more popular figure than Prince Charles and that she was ultimately much more powerful as a result. She may have been awkwardly related to the Royal Family and eventually detached from it. But she did not need such a position to wield global influence.So this is the test of authenticity, in life in general and specifically in the Christian life: are you willing to follow in the way of Christ and to get your hands dirty? Are you willing to suffer and sacrifice, as he did, for many other people and for God? If you are, there is certainly a place of glory and power for you, but it is through all of that and on the other side of it.Embrace the lowliest service. Follow Christ. Find glory in suffering.

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Think about Wealth Differently

Sun, 13 Oct 2024 12:00:00 +0000

Think about Wealth Differently“How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the Kingdom of God!”Each of us only has a certain amount of time and energy to spend in life.Many people experience a moment of awakening when they realise that they have ended up spending it in something they don’t like very much, that isn’t too fulfilling, like a career that doesn’t pay that well or isn’t that enjoyable. And so they have a rethink and try to reorientate themselves.In the story of the rich man who came to him asking what he had to do to inherit eternal life, Jesus is recommending a similar type of rethinking.The test for this man is: Can you walk away?And we see of course that he can’t. He wants to inherit eternal life. Maybe he even wants to follow Jesus. But the alternative is too stark: My wealth or eternal life? I suppose it’s got to be my wealth.How did Jesus view wealth?This rich man who came to Jesus, what was he hoping for? Perhaps he was hoping that Jesus would hire him as his director of charitable operations and that he could put his financial expertise to good use in Jesus’ new ministry.Instead, Jesus tells him to do three things: sell all of his possessions, give to the poor, and then come and follow him – stripped of his wealth, his status, his identity, his place in the world.“It is hard for the wealthy to enter the Kingdom of God,” he tells his astonished disciples, “Easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle.”Yes, he adds that all things are possible with God, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy…far from it. Some among them might be saved but, if they’re anything like this man, probably not many.Whatever Jesus thought about material wealth, it wasn’t that it’s a great thing that we should pursue more of.The Power of RichesThere was once a Stoic philosopher called Seneca who said of the rich people he knew, “These individuals have riches just as we say that we ‘have a fever’, when really the fever has us.”What he meant is that, when you look at rich people, they rarely seem happy. Their money has made them anxious that they will become poor again. Money has made them worry about their status in Rome. Money controls how they spend their time and the decisions they make. Money has attracted yes-men and fair-weather friends looking for a handout. Money has given them a taste for the high life so that nothing is good enough for them anymore.They have lost all perspective on what actually makes you happy and fulfilled in life.Jesus is trying to tell us something like this: You think that in riches you will find contentment, peace, security, and happiness, but actually you don’t realise that your wealth is enslaving you.That is the tragedy that we see in the case of the rich man who couldn’t leave his wealth behind.One early follower of Jesus put it like this:‘Such, O my soul, are the miseries that attend on riches. They are gained with toil and kept with fear. They are enjoyed with danger and lost with grief.’ – St AugustineOr, as one of the Biblical writers said:‘Whatever overcomes a person – to that he is enslaved.’ – 2 Peter 1:19Riches are, in fact, so powerful that Jesus went so far as to say that you cannot serve both God and mammon (meaning money).There is something about money that is powerful: getting it doesn’t just take up your time and your energy, but it takes over your heart. You begin to care only about maintaining your bank balance and increasing it wherever possible. This becomes your life’s work.Maybe you thought about attending to your soul once. Maybe you thought it might be nice to spend a bit more time in prayer and service to God. But you’ve left those thoughts far behind now. And trying to summon them again doesn’t do very much for you anymore.True RichesWhat is needed is some serious heart surgery. And there is only one prescription: get rid of it. This goes for everything, by the way, not just money: Whatever it is that is dominating your mind and your heart and leading you away from God, it must be diminished and maybe even cast aside completely.The Stoics, one of whom I mentioned earlier, counselled a similar thing: to beware of the enslaving power of money and to realise its value relative to other goods in life. But Jesus takes us a step beyond even that: not just to be free from the power money can have over our lives, not only to use money for our true benefit and the benefit of others (although he would certainly agree with that), but to find another source of wealth that far surpasses all that the world offers us.In his typically shameless way, Peter chimes in at this point, “See: We gave up all things and followed you.” He wants to know what the rich man would have got had he taken Jesus up on his offer. And Peter is not disappointed.Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is not one who has left houses or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not – along with persecutions – receive a hundredfold now in this time houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands and in the age to come eternal life.”What does that mean? What it probably doesn’t mean is that following Jesus will result in greater material wealth and prosperity. That would be a really strange thing for Jesus to say after telling a rich man to sell all his possessions.What it must mean is that a life with Jesus offers another kind of prosperity: a richer, deeper, and fuller life, not dominated by the desire for more money and possessions, more status, more fame. Jesus offers freedom from enslavement to these desires, an abundance in this time now, and, in the age to come, everlasting life with God.Jesus promises us a new family – brothers, sisters, mothers, children. He speaks here of the new family of God which we encounter primarily through the Church. Now, of course, we know that the Church frequently fails to live up to what it should be (as every family does at times) but the Church is nevertheless a miraculous thing: an entirely new gathering of men, women, and children, previously unknown to each other, who are made one through the love of Christ.Perhaps that sounds insignificant to you. Perhaps you are yet to experience the joy of God’s new family in the Church. Each of us has to decide upon the plausibility of Christ’s words. I can say that Christ’s words hold true for me: brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, houses, lands, all given to me as I have followed him. I don’t know what my life would have been like if I had pursued some other goal and ignored his calling, but I cannot imagine that it would be richer and fuller than what he has given me.And why persecutions by the way? Because people will always be threatened and annoyed by those who don’t go along with status quo. They want you to be like them so they despise you when you are not.As one American Christian said, “Where money is an idol, to be poor is a sin.” – William StringfellowJesus’ advice: Don’t worry about what people think. Accept it as evidence of your sincerity and focus on the abundant, blessed life that I am offering you instead.The ChoiceG.K. Chesterton once said: “There is no such thing as success.…That a thing is successful merely means that it is; a millionaire is successful in being a millionaire and a donkey in being a donkey.”So the question is: At what would you like to be a success?It’s not so much about the size of your bank balance but the hold that money has over your heart. If you have more of it, it’s likely to be harder. But, even so, people who are relatively poor can still be enslaved to the love of money.Jesus offers the rich man a choice. He offers the same to us: You can either continue toiling to be wealthy in the eyes of the world or you can follow me and learn what true riches are. As Chesterton reminds us, either way you can be a success, but what is actually worth succeeding at?And if you decide that you want true riches, Jesus gives us a really simple, three-step prescription:Sell all that you have. And if you can’t do that, at least think about what you don’t need and get rid of it.Give to the poor. Take your abundance and use it to serve those who are in need.And come, follow me. Freed from the idol of money, wealth, riches, status, and fame, you will be free to pursue truly that which matters: a life with Jesus.What will you choose?

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On Women And Children

Sun, 06 Oct 2024 14:38:02 +0000

A sermon from Fr Jamie Franklin on the radical dignity that Jesus bestowed upon women and children, contrary to the expectations of his culture and even of his own disciples.

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War in Heaven

Sun, 29 Sep 2024 14:12:59 +0000

7 Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. Andthe dragon and his angels fought back, 8 but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. 9 And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. 10 And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. 11 And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.12 Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!”Revelation 12:7-12The Humiliation of SatanIn our reading from the Book of Revelation, we’re given a fascinating insight into the supernatural realm. We are told of a war between Michael and his angels and one ‘who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world’ (Rev. 12:9).Michael and his angels prevailed over Satan and Satan was thrown down to the earth and his angels were thrown down with him.What is going on here? The Church Fathers seem to agree that this is referring to a primal moment in the history of God’s creation. The epic poem, Paradise Lost by John Milton, speaks of a time before the creation of our world during which Satan, the prince of the angels, led a rebellion against God which ended in failure and with the expulsion of Satan and his angels from God’s domain.The Church Fathers and modern scholarship seem to agree that Milton’s vision – although compelling and deeply spiritual – is not quite right. The biblical witness appears to tell us not of a supernatural rebellion that happened before the creation of our world but of one that happened after the creation of our world and which is still deeply intertwined with the events of human history.What all agree on is the motivation of Satan and his angels. Although Satan in his original glory clearly was given great authority by God perhaps even dominion over part of the earth, this was not enough for him. One Church Father notes that ‘Satan exalted himself against God, that is, he lifted up a stiff and insolent neck to him and devised an apostasy’ (Oecumenius, Commentary on the Apocalypse).Thus pride was the original sin of Satan and the angels that followed him. And from this we see that pride is at the root of all sin because all sin involves our rejection of God and of his authority over our lives and over this world. All sin involves our attempt to put ourselves and not God at the centre of reality and to have our will be done over the will of God.Because Satan attempted to exalt himself to the highest place, it was fitting that he was cast down to the earth along with his angels. This speaks to the spiritual reality which is repeated in various different ways in Scripture: ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble’ (Proverbs 3:34). Or, as our Lord Jesus said in the Gospel of Luke, “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 14:11). Christ knew whereof he spoke because he had seen this humiliation of the proud occur in the heavenly realm.We see also a great insight into spiritual and psychological reality in our text from Revelation: “But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!” (Rev. 12:12). We see in this passage the wounded pride of a most exalted spiritual being, one who has fallen from the very highest place in heaven and is now a castaway. What is Satan’s reaction to God’s just punishment? Wrath and anger.We observe also something of Satan’s diabolical activity: he is called a deceiver and an accuser and this, again, speaks to a deep reality. Have you ever noticed the attraction when we are tempted to sin and the desolation that follows when we give in? Satan deceives us into being attracted to sin and then, after we have succumbed, we are immediately accused and made to feel worthless and less than nothing. This is the demonic strategy for the destruction of the saints: temptation, followed by sin, followed by accusation and condemnation.The Devil is proud and wrathful. And in his wounded and angry pride, he prowls around the earth like a roaring lion, seeking to devour and destroy the saints, seeking to lure us into the same sins of pride and rebellion and then to desolate by accusation.The Righteousness of Michael and the AngelsWe are told in our Scripture not that God cast Satan down from heaven but that Michael and his angels fought against him, defeated him, and cast him out. One of the Church Fathers says about this: ‘It is probably that the holy angels, together with their chief leader, Michael, could not tolerate the pride of the devil and … threw him out of any association they had with him, since they found in him a lack of righteousness’ (Andrew of Caesarea, Commentary on the Apocalypse).There were many angels, including the Archangel Michael, who refused to join in the rebellion of Satan. In humility and obedience they stuck to the task and dominion that God had given them and so, when they were confronted with the arrogance of Satan, they fought and expelled him from their midst.We see in Archangel Michael and the holy angels therefore a pattern of godly humility, service, and obedience. The answer to the question, ‘Who are the angels and what do they do?’ is that the angels are supernatural creatures of God who are assigned tasks to complete and who worship their creator. In that sense, they are a pattern for us to follow.We are granted some insight into this supernatural reality in Scripture. In our New Testament reading from the book of Hebrews, we are told of the angels, that they are ‘ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation’ (Hebrews 1:14). They are thus God’s servants sent by him to help us. Indeed, the Greek word angelos literally means ‘sent one’ or ‘messenger’. In other words, they do not bear their own agenda in pride but they bear the message of God and they obey him in his commands.In addition to this supernatural service, the other relevant Scriptural reality that discloses itself to us is that of the worship of angels. In Hebrews chapter one, the argument of St Paul is that Jesus Christ is superior to the angels since he is not just a messenger of God but the very imprint of the nature of God himself. Indeed, God says about Jesus Christ, ‘Let all God’s angels worship him’ (Hebrews 1:6, quoting Deut. 32:43).Another great Scriptural passage which shows us something of this reality is Isaiah chapter six:In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple.2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.3 And one called to another and said:“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;the whole earth is full of his glory!”4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke.The angels give glory and honour to God and to Jesus Christ because they recognise that, even though they are supernatural, glorious, and powerful creatures, they are still inferior to the one who gave them being in the first place, to the one who sustains them in existence through his mighty power. They are thus exalted continually, not in their own pride, but through their heavenly worship.Imitate the AngelsThe lesson for us today is clear: we have a choice placed before us. In many ways, this choice is the central drama of all human existence. Will we worship God and praise him for all the many benefits he continually gives us? Will we displace our own ego and our desire to be the centre of all things and instead give him the preeminent place? Will we obey him in the tasks that he gives us to do and thus imitate the great Archangel Michael?Or will we rebel like Satan? Will the blessing and the dominion and the authority that God has given us prove to be insufficient for our insatiable pride and will we demand more from him? Will we harden our hearts and close our ears to his gentle calling and instead stiffen our necks and exalt ourselves in pride to the place of the Most High?This drama is being played out all over the world: in the cabinet rooms and conference centres of national governments and the World Economic Forum all the way down to the hidden terrain of the human heart – of your heart and mine.Friends, let us shun temptation of pride and join in the worship of heaven – in this place and in our lives day-to-day. And, as we are renewed in a moment through the blessed sacrament of the broken body and shed blood of Jesus Christ, let us repent of our egotism, our hardheartedness, our disobedience, and let us renew our resolve to worship and serve him always in the greatness of humility.Amen.

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The Transforming Power of the Cross

Sun, 15 Sep 2024 16:27:42 +0000

Jesus and NicodemusOur Gospel reading today needs context. Jesus is speaking to a high-ranking Pharisee called Nicodemus who has come to him secretly because he thinks there is something to the things Jesus has been saying but is afraid to be seen by his peers.They have a slightly odd conversation most of which isn’t in the reading we’ve just heard. But I think in the whole conversation, Jesus is making about four quite monumental points:The first is that Jesus is the only one who can speak with authority about Heaven and the Kingdom of God because he is the only one who has come from Heaven and knows about it.The second is that Jesus is telling Nicodemus about what is on offer: the Kingdom of God, new birth by the Holy Spirit, eternal life – or the life of the world to come, as it could be translated. (He is also saying that Nicodemus doesn’t understand it because he doesn’t understand the Scriptures.)The third point is that this has to be received by faith, which I’ll come back to.The fourth is something we might not expect. Jesus tells a story: once the Hebrews were wandering in the wilderness and they sinned against God. God sent fiery serpents among them who bit them and they started to die. Moses interceded for them and God gave him a brass serpent which he was to lift into the sky. When the people looked at that serpent they would be delivered from the fiery serpents who were killing them and live.Jesus says to Nicodemus, “Something like that is going to happen to the Son of Man. In the same way that the serpent was lifted up, so he will be lifted up. And, like that serpent brought salvation, so too will his being lifted up bring salvation.”Jesus and Nicodemus – RevisitedI think that we can understand why Nicodemus might be confused by this: Why is Jesus talking about the Son of Man being lifted up? How will that bring deliverance and what will it bring deliverance from?We hear about Nicodemus two more times in the Gospel of John: once when he is cautioning his colleagues not to judge Jesus without evidence, and then another time after Jesus has been crucified when Nicodemus brings a huge and expensive quantity of spices to anoint him for burial.Both appearances show us that Jesus made an impression. The second appearance tell us that Nicodemus was likely a witness of the crucifixion. As he saw Jesus crucified – or at least heard about it – was he beginning to understand the conversation our reading today?I want you to imagine that sometime later Nicodemus was sitting alone at night, pondering the things that he had seen and heard, not least the fact that rumours had reached his ears that Jesus had been seen walking around, alive and well. What were people talking about?Suddenly, Jesus himself is there with Nicodemus, standing in front of him. He sits down and begins to speak,“Do you remember those things that I told you by night? Do you understand what I meant now? The Kingdom of God, the New Birth by water and the Holy Spirit, the Life of the Age to Come, all of this is available right now through looking to me in faith.“This was all accomplished in my exaltation upon the cross. There I demonstrated my glory for all to see. The depth of my love for the world and my willingness to suffer to redeem it: that is my glory. In atoning for sin, the love of God was demonstrated and the reason for sending me was made clear. Will you now come out of this darkness and step into the light? Will you look to me with faith and trust and so be forgiven and healed or will you return to a life of fear and bondage to sin?”The Transforming Power of the CrossWe have become so familiar with the image of the cross that we have lost a sense of what it meant in its original context: it was a gruesome instrument of torture, violent oppression, and death. And, yet, when Christ spoke to Nicodemus about it, he spoke about glory, exaltation, love, and eternal life.What can these things have to do with an instrument of torture and death?There is an anonymous Old English poem called ‘The Dream of the Rood’ in which the poet recounts a dream in which he saw a beautiful tree covered in jewels, hovering in the clouds, surrounded by light, with the spirits of holy ones, people on earth and all of creation marvelling at it.He says of this tree,…I saw the tree of glorygraced with garments, joyously shining,adorned with gold. Jewels noblycovered the tree of the Lord.Yet through gold, I was able to perceivethe ancient strife of enemies, when it began to bleed for the first time,to bleed on the right hand side…I saw the shimmering signchange colour and garments: sometimes it wasdripping with wetness,drenched with the flow of blood; sometimes it wasadorned with treasure.’In the dream, the cross is seen in two ways: as glorious and magnificent, adorned with jewels and splendour, but equally as wounded, bleeding and drenched with the flow of blood.This poem helps us to understand the true nature of the cross, which is at once ugly, brutal, violent and bitter but which, through Christ’s atoning death on behalf of sin, has become glorious and wonderful: ‘a superb tree, the brightest of trees, caught up in the clouds, surrounded by light’.The cross, though a theatre of shame, was the implement by which Christ would be exalted and his glory shown to the world.The cross, though erected in hatred, became a vessel for the love of God to be made known to all people.The cross, though supremely an instrument of death, became the gateway to eternal life through all who look to Christ in faith.In short, the cross takes all that is broken and sinful in this world – our violence, our hatred, our bitterness, our egotism, our rejection of God’s presence in our lives – and it transforms all of this into life and light and peace through the saving work of Christ.Whoever believes in him…There is so much mystery here that it is not something we can take in all at once. But Christ’s dialogue with Nicodemus and our reading from Philippians 2 today remind us that we are all faced with a choice.If we want to receive this new life of which Jesus speaks, we must believe in him. We must look to him – and specifically to the cross – in the same way that those Hebrews looked to the bronze serpent for deliverance. We must have faith.But it is important to recognise that this faith is not only faith in Jesus to save us from sin and eternal death. It is faith that transforms us and our daily lives too.The cross is a once for all moment in which Jesus atoned for the sins of all mankind and by which we are offered eternal life. But the cross is also a symbol of what it means to follow Jesus in this life now.And this, finally, is what we are reminded of by the Apostle Paul in our New Testament reading. Writing to a church that was apparently torn by division, Paul told them:“Don’t be selfish and conceited but demonstrate humility in your actions and ways. Don’t just think about yourselves. Think about others first. You should do this because Jesus did it first: he was in the form of God and he could have stayed in Heaven in eternal glory and joy, but instead he left all that behind and became a man, which was sacrifice enough. But he went beyond that – far beyond it – and he became a servant to all, humbling himself before God the Father and being obedient to his will, even to the point of dying on the cross.“Since he has shown such love, such humility, such obedience, and been willing to sacrifice so much, should you too not choose the way of the cross?“Know also that this is the way to true exaltation and glory: to first become obedient, to first sacrifice, to first love even when it is difficult, and from that point, God will exalt you too, as he exalted Christ.”Friends, I don’t know how all of this speaks to you, but I hope that it does. Are you looking to the cross of Christ to save you from sin and death? Are you willing to take up the cross that God calls you to carry through Christ? What does that mean for you? Spend some time reflecting upon these things and praying that God may transform you more and more into the image of Jesus as you follow after him in the way of the cross.Amen.

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The Faith of an Unworthy Woman

Sun, 08 Sep 2024 14:39:59 +0000

Fr Jamie Franklin speaks about a Gentile woman who would not take no for an answer.

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Sin Within the Heart of Man

Sun, 01 Sep 2024 14:05:00 +0000

Why aren’t you observing our traditions?(The Pharisees) saw that some of (Jesus’) disciples ate with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed… And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” (Mark 7:2,5)- Significance of this question?Disciples not observing the tradition of the Pharisees.This tradition not part of the Law of Moses or the other Scriptures.Christ makes clear distinction between traditions of men (paradosis) and doctrines/commandments (didaskalia, entole) of God –7 in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’8 You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.”This tradition (paradosis) from man not from God.Paradosis means something handed down.Sometimes positive in Scripture, mostly negative: that which men insist upon, not something that should bind people.Question in essence, therefore, “Why aren’t you doing things our way?”A very human responsePart of human nature to take our ways and elevate them to a high status.Understandable since repeated human action makes us feel secure. But due to sin we take what is good and allow it to make us proud, defensive, angry. This can happen in a religious context or a more general context.The Pharisees have lost sight of God and their need for him and become proud and hard-hearted.The problem with the PhariseesThe tradition in question indicates central problem with the Pharisees: if we do the ritual the right way then we are pure.Very human view again: if we keep the rules then we are righteous.We saw that a lot four years ago during Covid for example.We see it in the Church: as long as the right liturgy is observed, we are righteous. As long as we wear the right vestments. As long as we do this or that.Out of the heart of manWhat does Jesus say about this?(Jesus) said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. 21 For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22 coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”Mark 7:20-23Righteousness and evil come from the heart.The heart (kardia) is the centre of the person: the control station, the reality beneath.Our actions are reflective of the heart.The heart is what God cares about: “…the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7Our liturgical observance, our vestments, our Anglo-Catholic traditions, our church observances, are an irrelevance in comparison with what is going on in our hearts.Blessed are the pure in heartLeads us to the question: how can we have pure hearts before God and one another?If we are honest, we know that are hearts are impure.Do we recognise ourselves in the words of Christ?‘For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22 coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness.’ The Pharisees consistently failed to recognise their sinfulness. If we fail to recognise it, we will not have a real relationship with Jesus Christ.So what can we do if we recognise that our hearts are impure?A saying of Jesus: “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” Mark 2:17.If you are sick and think you are not you don’t go to the doctor. If you are sick and know it you go to the doctor.We need at least two things from our heavenly physician, Jesus Christ: first, to be forgiven for our sin; second, to be given a new heart.This is what Jesus offers us: forgiveness due to the punishment he suffered upon the cross in our place; a heart renewed by the power of the Holy Spirit.Prophesied in OT: ‘…I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.’ Ez. 36:26ResponseGet human traditions in perspective: They are not divine. At best they are a means to know God and worship him. But they must be kept in perspective and not elevated to a divine status.We should focus instead on the heart: What is in the centre of your being? Anger, hatred, apathy towards God, lust, jealousy etc. That is what you should be working on from a spiritual perspective, not worrying about others and accusing them.Recognise your need for Christ: Our hearts are impure. We do need forgiveness and cleansing, not just once but continually.Ask for forgiveness and renewal and God will give it through Christ and the Gospel.Amen.

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The Devil and the Church

Sun, 25 Aug 2024 12:43:25 +0000

The Devil and the ChurchEphesians 6:10-20Final sermon on Ephesians, ‘The Devil and the Church’Spiritual WarfareIllustration – Cooperative and Antagonistic board games.Central Point – Spiritual life is not just cooperative but involve a battle again the Enemy.Therefore – we must be focussed, aware of the enemy, aware of what he does.Who is the enemy?Who is the enemy? The devil (v.11) and the rulers, authorities, cosmic powers, spiritual forces of evil (v.12).A few things to say:- The enemy is invisible but real.o The Christian worldview involves belief in the supernatural realm.- The enemy is powerful and experienced.o Words of Paul uses all indicate power. Eg kosmokratas, ‘rulers of the world’.o Bible seems to indicate that these are ancient powers created before this world with lots of “lived experience”.- The enemy is deceitful.o ‘The schemes of the devil’o Word for ‘schemes’ – ‘methodias’: method, methodical, KJV ‘wiles’o Word for ‘devil’ – ‘diabolos’: false accuser, slanderero Principal weapon of the enemy is deceit.‘The demon is a liar. He will lie to confuse us. But he will also mix lies with the truth to attack us.’ The Exorcist- Garden of Eden: straightforward lie – “You will not surely die. For God knows when you eat of (the tree of the knowledge of good and evil) your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Genesis 3:4-5- Belief in the lie and acting upon it leads to exile and death.- The Devil lies. We believe and act. We die.How do we fight against the enemy?- Temptation of Christ in Wilderness: mixing of the lie with the truth. For example:‘The devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone’ (Ps. 91:11-12).”’ (Matthew 4:5-6)Devil quotes Word of God but distorts it. Very subtle. Here playing on temptation for Jesus to make a prideful public display of his power.‘Jesus said to him, “…it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” (Matthew 4:7)General Point: wage war like Jesus – Identify the lies of the Devil. Attack them with the word of God.The Armour of God- Only offensive weapon is ‘the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God’ (Ephesians 5:17).- Other bits are largely to do with the mind: ‘belt of truth’ (believing the truth), ‘the helmet of salvation’ (protecting the mind from accusation), ‘the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one’ (protection from lies and accusations which pierce the mind and cause anxiety and suffering).What do we need to do?- Like Jesus, learn the word of God.- Apply the word of God, especially when tempted and accused.- Praying: ‘praying at all times in the Spirit’ (5:18). Very important to enlist our ally, who is God and more powerful than the Devil.- Persevere: ‘To that end, keep alert with all perseverance’ (5:18). Not easy – a daily battle to win the territory of the mind. Sometimes very hard. Keep going!Final Action- Enlist in the Army of God, the Church.- Individual soldiers easy to pick off.‘One of our great allies at present is the Church itself. Do not misunderstand me. I do not mean the Church as we see her spread but through all time and space and rooted in eternity, terrible as an army with banners. That, I confess, is a spectacle which makes I our boldest tempters uneasy. But fortunately it is quite invisible to these humans. All your patient sees is the half-finished, sham Gothic erection on the new building estate. When he goes inside, he sees the local grocer with rather an oily expression on his face bustling up to offer him one shiny little book containing a liturgy which neither of them understands, and one shabby little book containing corrupt texts of a number of religious lyrics, mostly bad, and in very small print. When he gets to his pew and looks round him he sees just that selection of his neighbours whom he has hitherto avoided…Keep everything hazy in his mind now, and you will have all eternity wherein to amuse yourself by producing in him the peculiar kind of clarity which Hell affords.’C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters- Recognise the Church for what she truly is: ‘spread out through all time and space and rooted in eternity, terrible as an army with banners’.Final exhortation: recognise Church for what she is: glorious and terrible. Join, commit, and make the Church as glorious and terrifying to our enemy as she can possibly be.Amen.

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The Church is a Place of Genuine Joy

Sun, 18 Aug 2024 12:39:11 +0000

The Church is a Place of Genuine JoyEphesians 5:15-21Worldly and Christian JoyI’m calling this sermon today ‘The Church is a Place of Genuine Happiness’ and I’ll come to what I mean by that in a moment. But I’d like to tell a story to begin with.Some years ago, as part of my training for ministry, I had to attend a particularly tragic funeral. This was of a young man who had taken his own life much to the shock of those around him, including his own family members. It remains the most grief-saturated funeral that I have experienced. Many of his friends were there and gave warm and loving tributes to him. But the service itself was beset with a sense of hopelessness and despair. It was obvious that nobody who spoke had any tangible faith in Christ or a life beyond this one. And so all that could be shared were vague hopes of reunion and happy memories.None of this is to criticise these people in any way. I felt, and continue to feel, deeply grieved myself when I consider this event.As I say, I was at the beginning of my training and I had not encountered anything like this funeral. What surprised me was what I heard the following day. The friends and family had rented out a local facility for the wake and reports from the surrounding area were of loud music, singing, laughing, and drinking that lasted into the very early hours of the morning. I discussed this with the vicar of the church and with other people and various words were used to describe it. Among the words that stand out in my memory: deep denial, torpor, and oblivion.And all of this was facilitated by the consumption of large quantities of alcohol.What does alcohol do to the human body? I’m sure you might know that it acts as a depressant. It has the physiological effect of slowing down bodily processes, thereby making people more forgetful of their sorrows and therefore reducing anxiety. In the scenario described above, the role of alcohol was to help the people (for that night) to feel slightly less grief and despair at the death of their friend and family member.But, of course, the trouble is that we always have to wake up the next morning and face reality. And this fact brings us to the central contrast in our passage today: ‘Do not get drunk with wine for that is debauchery,’ writes the Apostle Paul, ‘but be filled with the Spirit’ (Ephesians 5:11).As with all of the commands of God, this one is steeped in great wisdom and insight. Becoming drunk with wine may bring relief from anxiety or sorrow for a time, but this is only because one is escaping from reality. It produces a fleeting and superficial joy that cannot possibly be sustained.Would you believe me if I told you that a much greater joy and more lasting joy is offered to us through knowing Jesus Christ and experiencing his presence and guidance in our lives?This Christian joy is quite different to that offered by the consumption of alcohol. Firstly, it is far more challenging. This is because it is a joy that is not rooted in escape from life’s problems but in honesty as to what those problems are. I’ve heard it said that, when a person becomes a Christian, he or she becomes simultaneously more happy and more sad. How can this be? Because becoming a Christian entails living as far as we possibly can in the real world: we have to be honest about ourselves, about our own sin, our own shortcomings, our own failure. And we have to be honest about how things really are: the state of our families, of our nations, of the Church, of the world. We are not to hide from reality but we are to confront it in the knowledge of God’s love for us and in his promises. These things can give us a joy that endures even the most terrible sorrow.How are we to find this genuine joy?How are we to find this joy? The Apostle Paul has already given us the answer: ‘Be filled with the Spirit’ – that is the Holy Spirit.Before I go any further let me just say that this is not a flippant answer. This is an ongoing process within the formation of the Christian soul. And it must be fought for every day of our lives. Even though redeemed by Christ and lifted to him through the Gospel and the ministry of the Church, we remain earthbound, broken, sinful, weak, and subject to the sentence of decay and death. The process of spiritual formation in Christ is a daily battle.Verse 18, which I have already quoted, is part of a sentence which continues in the following way: ‘Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ’.Paul mentions here addressing one another in psalms and hymns and songs, singing, and giving thanks. The relationship between these things and being filled with the Spirit is not entirely clear. Are they the result or the cause? I want to suggest that they are both, that the way to be filled with the Spirit is to engage in these activities and that the way to engage in these activities is to be filled with the Spirit. Let me explain: sometimes – a lot of the time – we may not feel like speaking to one another of God’s goodness, of singing praise to God, of giving thanks to him, and things of this sort. But have you ever noticed that, when you make a conscious decision to do these things, it very often makes a big difference to the way you are feeling? Sometimes the singing of a hymn can lift the heart and bring about a joy and a peace that simply wasn’t there before. Notice that you are not in direct control of your feelings through willingthem to change, but you can do things which might affect them and frequently do.I think this lifting of the heart to God is what Paul means by being filled with the Holy Spirit. Consider our English words ‘inspiration’ and ‘enthusiasm’. These literally mean the same thing – to be billed with the spirit – and are undoubtedly positive qualities.In this sense, doing what Paul says – speaking of God, singing to God, and giving thanks to God – results in being filled with the Holy Spirit. We are made more joyful, more thankful, more enthusiastic than we were before.On the other hand then, when we are filled with the Spirit, we more naturally and easily (we might say almost automatically) praise and thank God for his goodness towards us. It is as though a melody appears in our hearts, and thankfulness rests upon the tips of our tongues – not in a fake way, but in a way which issues naturally from somewhere deep within. We are inspired and made joyful and, therefore, we praise and give thanks.Two things about this before I finish: firstly, to be filled with the Spirit, therefore, involves a decision of the will. More than that, it requires a daily decision and perhaps even more: I will give thanks, I will praise, I will speak of God’s goodness. The fact that we have to tell ourselves to do these things is normal and to be expected. If you know the Psalms, you’ll know this because the writers of the Psalms are always speaking to themselves:‘Why are you cast down, O my soul,and why are you in turmoil within me?Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,my salvation and my God.’Psalm 42:5-6A lot of the time we have to speak to our own souls and make a conscious and willing decision to praise God and to be thankful.So that’s the first thing: We are involved. We have to decide to seek the fullness of God’s presence in the Holy Spirit. But let’s not miss here the corporate dimension. Yes, this is an individual decision, but Paul also puts this in the context of the Church: ‘addressing one another in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs’. It is not entirely clear to me exactly what he meant by this: Did he mean literally singing songs at one another?Perhaps we might find again some guidance in the Psalms. The Psalms are filled with what we might call corporations exhortations to praise. One could pick almost any Psalm and find an example of this, but here’s a bit from Psalm 150:‘O praise God in his holiness :praise him in the firmament of his power.Praise him in his noble acts :praise him according to his excellent greatness.’Psalm 150:1-2Who is the Psalmist talking to here? In a sense he is talking to God, but in another sense, he is talking to all the faithful and exhorting: ‘Come and praise God with me! God is so great; he is worthy of our praise!’This is a reality in many hymns also: ‘All people that on earth do dwell, sing to the Lord with cheerful voice.’ ‘Lift up your hearts; we lift them Lord to thee!’And one could go on, but you get the point: our worship and praise rendered to God somehow isn’t quite complete unless we can share it with others and invite them to praise God with us.As he often is, C.S. Lewis is quite insightful here:‘I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation.’C.S. Lewis, Reflections on the PsalmsLewis goes on to speak of how frustrating it is to discover a new author who is so great but who nobody else has heard of. How frustrating not to be able to praise him to others and so complete one’s enjoyment of his work!So too is it with God: there is something fulfilling and natural about praising God not only directly but in exhorting others to praise him also and speaking of all his greatness towards us.And this, friends, is one of the reasons we need the Church, because it is here in this place that we take the individual praise of our hearts and we express it in concert with God’s people. A new humanity exists in this place, a humanity that renders unto God that which he truly deserves, which is worship and joyful obedience. And our praise and our exhortations to one another are all part of it.The Church is the place of true and genuine joy. And that joy is found in praising God, in singing to him, in speaking of his greatness, and in

Fit Us For Heaven

Thu, 15 Aug 2024 18:00:00 +0000

The Assumption of MaryThursday 15th August, 2024Some Initial ObjectionsThe Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is the belief that Mary the mother of Jesus, having completed her earthly life was assumed, body and soul, into heavenly glory to be with her Son.More will be said about that in a moment, but how do we make sense of this belief as Anglicans? The Reformation anxiety about such beliefs is that there is no clear Scriptural foundation for it. Additionally, there is not even a clear tradition of the Assumption for the first four or five centuries of the Christian Church. You would think that, if Mary had not died, but had been taken up into heaven in a similar way to Christ at his Ascension, then somebody would have made a note of it somewhere in the first half Millenium of Christianity.So should we be celebrating the Feast of the Assumption at all? Shouldn’t we rather do as our Church of England would have us and call this day simply the Blessed Virgin Mary?An Anglican Case for the AssumptionPerhaps, although I want to make a case for the Assumption, even if one understands it as a purely symbolic reality. It might be helpful to ask ourselves why the Church ever thought that such a belief was edifying or necessary.I want to say two things about this: firstly, that the Assumption teaches us about the purpose of human life, and, secondly, that the Assumption teaches us about how to fit ourselves for that end.The Purpose of Human Life and the AssumptionTo begin with, theologians have speculated that God’s original intention for his human creatures was that they would progress towards him and be taken up into heaven when their life on this earth was completed. Imagine that Adam and Eve had never sinned and broken fellowship with God. If that had happened, so this view says, then, one day, after a period of joyful fellowship with God and obedience towards him on this earth, they would be taken up, as it were, to a different dimension of heavenly glory to be with him forever.(Anyone familiar with C.S. Lewis science-fiction novel Out of the Silent Planet will see this view embodied in that story.)This view does indeed appear to have biblical precedent: consider, for example, Enoch in Genesis 5:24: ‘Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him’. And a similar thing happened to Elijah in the book of 2 Kings.The Assumption of Mary, therefore, sees Mary in that sort of category: a human person whose life was so intertwined with that of God through Christ that she truly fulfilled the end or telos of humanity: which is to be united with God forever – in a spiritual sense in this life and in heavenly glory thereafter.The Fittingness of the AssumptionBecause Mary fulfilled this human purpose so eminently, therefore, there is a kind of fittingness to her fellowship with Christ not being broken by bodily death. Here I will quote from the Roman teaching document on the subject, Munificentissimus Deus, which says this:‘It seems impossible that she who conceived Christ, bore him, fed him with her milk, held him in her arms and pressed him to her bosom, should after this earthly life be separated from him in either body or soul.’Whatever you think about this, try and consider the point that is being made. The Anglican theologian John MacQuarrie puts it this way: ‘The closeness of Jesus and Mary, it is being asserted, could not be broken by the end of their companionship on earth’. Why is this? Because Mary bore Jesus in her womb, because she fed him of her own body, because she was the first to know him in his Incarnation, because she loved him as her Son and as her Saviour, because she followed him as a disciple, because she accompanied him to his death upon the cross, because she was a witness of his joyful resurrection, because she knew Jesus in the most intimate way it is possible to know another person. Therefore, so the thinking goes, when the time came for her earthly life to finish, she was simply translated into his presence. It is fitting that this was so.A Glorious TransformationHow to apply this to our lives then?Firstly, let’s think about this word “glory” that accompanies the title of this feast sometimes: “The Glorious Assumption”. Again, John MacQuarrie helps us here:‘An assumption could not be anything other than glorious, for it means a taking up from the drabness and ordinariness of earthly life into what we call ‘heaven’, the unimaginable glory of the divine presence in its immediacy; on the other hand, there could be no greater glory manifested in any human person than that he or she should be so taken up.’John MacQuarrie, Mary for All ChristiansLet me be very British and talk about the weather for a moment. We have had the strangest, most unpleasant Spring and Summer that I’ve ever lived through – by far: cloud, rain, coldness, in relentless proportions. The sun emerges briefly and is stifled once again by a blanket of greyness. What is going on?Friends, when our hearts are weighed down by the weather or by any other earthly weight, the Assumption reminds us that we are made for so much more than this. Like fish out of water, we are not really made for this world and we only fit it to some extent at best. We are made for glory: eternal sunshine, endless wonder, heavenly bliss.And here we must speak about Christ. To avoid idolatry, we must always remind ourselves that Mariology is Christology properly understood: meaning that all reflection upon Mary must lead us to reflection upon Christ. We must remind ourselves that Mary was redeemed from sin through Christ as we are redeemed from sin through Christ. We must remind ourselves that Mary was saved from eternal death in the same way that we are saved from eternal death.Consider our New Testament reading this evening:‘For as by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.’1 Corinthians 15:21-221 Corinthians 15 is one of the very mountain peaks of Scripture, giving us a glimpse into the nature of the final resurrection of humanity at the end of time, when those who have died in Christ will be raised with him and given glorious, imperishable, immortal bodies, never to die again:‘Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.’1 Corinthians 15:51-53It is Christ who has transformed the final enemy, death, into a friend which ushers into the glorious presence of Christ. As the collect from Compline says, through resting in the sepulchre, Christ ‘didst thereby sanctify the grave to be a bed of hope to thy people’.A glorious transformation has occurred: death has been turned into life, sin into forgiveness and reconciliation, despair into hope, sorrow into joy. And it has been wrought through Christ’s bursting forth from the tomb in his destruction of sin and death.Fit us for HeavenSuch reflections ennoble us and remind us to fit ourselves for heaven as Mary was fitted for heaven. As the Apostle Paul tells us: ‘If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God’ (Colossians 3:1-3).And here I would like to issue a challenge: the evangelical writer Dallas Willard, in his book Renovation of the Heart, reminds us that every human being on earth is being spiritually formed in some way – for good or bad. The process of spiritual formation is under way in each one of us.My challenge to you this evening is to consider the end or purpose of that process for you: are you becoming the kind of person who is fitted for heaven, such that, were the Lord Jesus to call you this night to be with him, you would be prepared or that, at the least, you are in the process of being prepared for this glorious reality? Is your heart free of attachment to earthly things? Have you truly repented of all the sin that would separate you from God and are you daily putting to death sin in your life so that it does not reemerge? Does your soul thrill at the thought of being with God and in the presence of Christ forever? Do you know him now as a foretaste of that blissful eternity which is to come?And if these things are not the case, then what can you do to make it so? The Lord has given us all time. How will we use it? Do not settle for spiritual mediocrity, but remember that you were created for unimaginable glory. Seek the glory that is above and settle for nothing less. Believe me when I say that there is so much more for every single one of us. The Lord is waiting to pour out the abundance of his blessing upon us, but we are so often unaware of it, indifferent to it, distracted by all the blinking lights and obnoxious noises of this age.We must fight, friends, to be spiritual formed such that we are fitted for heaven.There was a famous evangelical American pastor called Tim Keller who was diagnosed with cancer in 2021 and was 72 when he died last year. When he was diagnosed, he announced it publicly and said: ‘It is endlessly comforting to have a God who is both infinitely more wise and more loving than I am. He has plenty of good reasons for everything He does and allows that I cannot know, and therein is my hope and strength’.In a tweet, his son Michael described his last moments. His wife Kathy kissed him on the forehead and then he took his last breath.His final words were, ‘There is no downside for me leaving, not in the slightest’.He was ready to be with the Lord. He had so prepared his heart that it was fitting for him to leave and he was aware of at least something of what that meant.Friends, may it be so with all of us. May it be said of us that, when our time has come, ot

The Church is a Picture of the Gospel

Sun, 11 Aug 2024 13:20:23 +0000

The Church is a Picture of the GospelEphesians 4:25-5:2Introduction – The Most Important Thing About the ChurchContinuing with this series of homilies on the book of Ephesians and the Church, I’d like to start with the end of our New Testament reading and work my way back to the beginning.This is because the end of this passage tells us maybe the most important thing about the Church, that which is most foundational to her identity and mission. Listen closely:‘Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.‘Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.’Ephesians 4:32-5:2Paul tells the Ephesians there to do four things to one another: be kind, be tenderhearted, forgive, and walk in love. But what’s the motivation? ‘Forgive one another, as God in Christ forgave you’… ‘Be imitators of God…walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us.’Those verses tell us that Christianity is different to moralism or legalism.Moralism says, ‘I will make myself good through an effort of my own will’.Legalism says, ‘I will keep the rules so that I might be superior to other people who can’t’.Christianity says something altogether different: ‘You are a sinner just like the rest of the world. That is the truth and you must face up to it. But God loved you so much that he sent his Son Jesus Christ to die on the cross for you. He has given his most precious and beloved son to suffer and die for you. Now, the only appropriate response is to be transformed by that love and to become an imitator of God.’Can I give you a silly comparison to show you how this works in the human heart? When I was a teenager, one of my friends introduced me to a certain heavy metal band. Hard to imagine, I know, but I was hooked from the moment I first heard one of their songs. I spent the next few years working in a fish restaurant to afford to buy their albums. I bought an electric guitar and started playing it day and night. And I tried to start a heavy metal band of my own.What was going on there? Well, my heart had been captivated by this music. I loved it. And so my desires, my actions, and my will were transformed. And I wanted to become like those guys. I wanted to imitate them.Notice I wasn’t trying to imitate them for any other reason: I didn’t want, for example, to fit in with others with liked Metallica, and I wasn’t doing it to bring myself some kind of material advantage. No, my young heart simply loved the music and loved them for making it. I was transformed and became an imitator of the love that had transformed me.Do you see what I’m saying about the Gospel? When we contemplate the love of God in sending Jesus Christ to save us from our sins by dying for us, when we hold that before our eyes and we are captivated by it, we begin to love God for his goodness towards us. That love can’t help but transform us, and so we become imitators of him.One of my favourite films is called ‘Of Gods and Men’, a true story of French monks living in Algeria amongst Muslims in the midst of a brewing civil war. They are a truly Christlike, gentle presence in the midst of a turbulent and dangerous world. In an early scene, one of the brothers, an aging doctor called Luc has a conversation with a young Muslim girl who asks him what it is like to fall in love. He gives a beautiful description and says, ‘Something inside you comes alive, but you’re in turmoil, especially the first time’. She responds that she’s not felt that love and doesn’t feel it for the boy her parents want her to marry. She asks Luc if he’s ever been love and he answers, yes, several times, ‘But then I experienced an even greater love and I answered that call. Sixty years ago’.That is what I am talking: the experience of a love so great, so wide and deep and vast and holy, that is changes you from the inside out. Once you’ve experienced such a love, the idea that you would obey out of slavish morality or legalism is not something to contemplate. You obey because you want to imitate the object of your love. You obey because you want to draw closer and to know the warmth of that love. Anything that would separate you from that love grieves your heart, just as a young lover is grieved when he is separated from the object of his affections.So, the most important thing about the Church, most concisely put, is the Gospel: God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him might not perish but have eternal life.The Church is a response to this message and to the command, repeated in various different ways: ‘Now, go and do likewise’. Imitate God in his love for you: give, forgive, act with kindness and gentleness, walk in the light.Some Practical Examples from the Rest of the Passage – Honesty, Forgiveness, Truthful SpeechVery quickly, then, here are some practical examples from the rest of the passage:Firstly, live honestly: ‘Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labour, doing honest work with his own hands’ (Ephesians 4:28).What does that mean: to do honest work? It means not to steal. To do a good job. To not deceive the one you are working for. In other words, it is a command to live your life in the light. The biblical writer John is especially fond of this metaphor: ‘God is light’ (John 1:5). So we live in the light because God is light and he dwells in the light.Secondly, forgiveness. Why forgive? Very simple: because God in Christ has forgiven you. This one is easy to illustrate: Matthew 18:21-35. Jesus tells a story in answer to the question, ‘How many times should I forgive?’ He says there was a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. One owed him an absolutely huge, unpayable amount, and so the king ordered him, his wife and children, and all that he had to be sold. He begged the king to forgive him. And forgive he did. But then this servant found another servant who owed him a lot less and the first servant refused and put him in prison till he paid the debt. Then the king found out about this and wasn’t best pleased. So, he said, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. And should you not have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ And then he puts him in prison and reinstates the debt.That one speaks for itself really, but the point is that the unforgiving servant should have been transformed by that event such that he too became a forgiving man. He should have sympathised and understood the horror of being in debt and the joy of forgiveness. But he hardened his heart instead and how ill-fitting.So forgive. Why? Not just because, but because God has forgiven you and loved you so much in doing so.And then, thirdly, this emphasis upon truthful speech: ‘Having put away all falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbour, for we are members one of another. Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil’ (Eph. 4:25-27) and it continues in that way. Translation: if you are angry with someone, try not to sin, but speak to them…quickly, before the Devil gets an opportunity and starts to cause havoc in the church.There’s a verse in the reading from last week that I didn’t mention then but it’s relevant now. There, the Apostle Paul tells the Ephesians to speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15). In other words, be honest with people but do so in a loving way. Don’t use difficult truths to tear others down, but speak truthfully with love so as to deliver that person from some folly or to help them to improve or grow or for some other good reason. Similarly, just loving someone but speaking falsehood or omitting difficult truths isn’t enough either: if you really love, you won’t avoid telling the truth out of cowardice or a misplaced sense of compassion. You will tell the truth because you love the person.How does that relate to what I’ve been saying? I said that we obey and act in a righteous way because we are captivated by God’s love and we want to imitate his love in sending Jesus to the cross for us. Well it seems to me that the message of the cross is the perfect embodiment of this phrase, ‘speak the truth in love’.The cross reveals the truth about us: we are sinners, so sinful in fact that this bloody, sacrificial death of the righteous and holy Son of God was necessary for us. And if we’re honest with ourselves it’s not actually that hard to believe that this was necessary.But is this word of criticism spoken out of anger or malice? Of course not. It is the supremely loving action of God to sacrifice his own Son in order to save wretched human beings from their sin. The Apostle Paul puts it like this: ‘He who did not spare his only Son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give him all things?’ (Romans 8:32). Translation: the most costly, the most precious, the most beautiful thing that God could have given to the world was his Son, Jesus. And he did it. And so now we can be confident that he'll give us everything else we need because everything else is far less than that.The cross is judgement and criticism, yes, but it is also love.This is what it meant for God to speak the truth in love to us. And now we are called to do the same for one another: to live true, honest lives, and to speak, when necessary, words which are difficult precisely because we love one another and we do not want our brothers and sisters to persist in folly and darkness. Again, just as God has done for us.ConclusionFriends, when we approach things in this way, the Church becomes a picture of the Gospel. This is what God desires of us. Go and do likewise.Amen.

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The Dark Powers Are on Notice

Tue, 06 Aug 2024 18:00:00 +0000

The TransfigurationLuke 9:28-36Just over a hundred years ago, many elite Christian professors and intellectuals came up with the idea that the supernatural elements of Christianity were unpalatable to modern tastes and so they decided to get rid of them. The most famous name here is that of Rudolf Bultmann who is associated with the project of ‘demythologising’ Scripture.This project and others like it has massively affected the Church all throughout the Western World. The issues have changed a bit: nowadays the issues are largely around contemporary standards of sexual morality and marriage, but the logic is still exactly the same: let’s change to make ourselves acceptable and attractive.How’s that going? I could spend all evening going through statistics which demonstrate emphatically that this approach produces exactly the opposite of the intended effect. But let me give you just one: did you know that there are more Anglican Christians in Nigeria than there are in the whole of England and the United States combined? In fact, it’s not even close: the US has 1.6 million, England has around .7 million. The Nigerian Church has 18 million…Anglican Christians in a country of 190 million people – just under 1 in ten people. In our country the equivalent would be something like 7 million Anglican Christians.What are they doing that is different to us? Simply put, they are not employing this kind of logic.Let’s apply it to the specific issue of the supernatural: some of you might have heard of the writer Michael Heiser. Don’t worry if not but he wrote a book called The Invisible Realm. Heiser was an expert on the Old Testament and his thesis in that book was that modern, Western people are so conditioned by a scientific, Enlightenment worldview that we often miss the supernatural elements of Scripture, even when we think we’re not. There are many passages in Scripture, Heiser said, that comes across to us as just too weird and so we skip over them.One of those passages is Genesis 6. Perhaps you know it: the bit where the ‘sons of God’ mate with the ‘daughters of Eve’ and produce a race of gigantic offspring known as the ‘Nephilim’. How many of you know that story? There’s not enough time to go into it now but essentially Heiser argues (and I agree with him) that the sons of God in this passage are not referring to humans but to angelic beings who engage in rebellion against God by mating with human women. The women then produce this gigantic race of half-angelic, half-human beings called the Nephilim who show up all the way the through the historical narrative of the Old Testament causing all sorts of problems. Goliath is but one example.It's fascinating stuff but there’s a direct relevance to our text tonight. A little before the Transfiguration, in Luke 9:18-20, Peter makes his famous confession in response to Jesus’ asking the question, “Who do you say that I am?”: “The Christ of God,” Peter says. Heiser makes the claim (and he is by no means alone) that both this confession of Peter’s and the Transfiguration itself take place in the same location, upon the same mountain, Mount Hermon.Cut a long story short and essentially Mount Hermon is the place where, according to Jewish literature such as 1 Enoch, the sons of God descended to earth and launched their rebellion against Yahweh. In the ancient world, Mount Hermon became a site of cultic devotion with dozens of temples which would have been used for Canaanite and Phoenician worship. In Old Testament times, Mount Hermon was considered to be the gates of hell and the gateway to the realm of the dead.This is the place that Jesus chooses to reveal both his identity to Peter and his glory to the three. Why? Heiser says, it was a provocation to the powers of darkness. This moment, specifically the moment of Transfiguration, marks a turning point in all of the Gospels. Jesus’ identity has been revealed, not just to his disciples, but to Satan and the demonic powers themselves. And from this moment on Jesus is put on the pathway towards the cross.This is why the Transfiguration is so important. Heiser tells us that the “message” of the Transfiguration is simply this: ‘I’m putting the hostile powers of the unseen world on notice. I’ve come to earth to take back what is mine. The kingdom of God is at hand.’He chooses the most provocative place possible to say this: the Gates of Hell, specifically so that the hostile powers will attack him and kill him at the cross. Why? I’ll quote Heiser again:‘Jesus has baited them into action, and act they will. He has given them the rope, and they will eagerly hang themselves with it. Jesus will go to Jerusalem to drink from the cup that the Father has planned for him. But the instrument of death will be the catalyst that launches the kingdom of God in its full force.’Michael Heiser, ‘The Unseen Realm’Why am I telling you this?To answer that question, let me tell you about Rocky III. If you know the Rocky films, you’ll know that the first two are about Rocky coming up against Apollo Creed and eventually defeating him. Rocky becomes rich and famous and starts living the high life, still boxing but knocking out chumps who are hand-picked for him. In the third film, Rocky is challenged by a scary looking man called Clubber Lang. Rocky goes to his old coach, Mickey, and asks Mickey to train him. Mickey says no. Rocky asks why and Mickey says, “You can’t beat him.” Rocky objects to this and he asks again why not. Mickey says, “Ya got civilised.”Now, that, in my view, is exactly what has happened to Christianity in the Western World: we got civilised. We cared too much – far too much – about what the culture thinks of us. We have compromised one thing after another in a bid to be relevant and only seen Christianity shrink to the miniscule force it has become in our day. We have abandoned the supernatural elements of the faith and replaced them with a vague sense that we have a friend in the sky who wants to make us feel better about ourselves.The Transfiguration – and particularly Heiser’s reading of it – reminds us of something of the truth: we have supernatural enemies and we need a supernatural saviour. And not only us, but the whole world too.This is succinctly summarised in one of the most controversial verses in all of Scripture, Romans 5:12: ‘Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned…’ It’s an incomplete sentence when put like that but here’s the point: through Adam’s sin, death entered into the world. The way that the Apostle Paul talks about these two things – sin and death – is like they have a kind of existence all of their own: they are dark powers that rule over our world and dominate our lives. We labour under these powers, knowing that we are guilty before a holy God and knowing that we will one day succumb to the power of death whilst we labour under effects on this earth. This is the covering that is cast over all mankind (Isaiah 25:7).This is the supernatural predicament we find ourselves in, and part of the message of the Transfiguration is that Christ has come and he has put those dark powers on notice.It’s interesting to note the subject matter of Christ’s conversation with Moses and Elijah: they are said to talk about Christ’s departure, which is literally his ‘exodus’, ‘which he was to accomplish at Jerusalem’ (Luke 9:30). They are talking here ultimately about the cross.The disciples don’t understand any of this, of course, so later on in the story when a cloud overshadows them they are terrified. Why? Because they would have known from the scene at Mount Sinai that the cloud is a sign of the presence of God. And what happens when you are overshadowed by the presence of God? You die. Quite simple. Sinful man cannot come into contact with a holy God and live. So they thought they were doomed.But they don’t die. Why not? The same reason we are now able to come into God’s presence without making sacrifice. The same reason the veil of the Temple was rent in two from top to bottom. The same reason the Apostle Paul says that we have been granted ‘access by faith into the grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God’ (Romans 5:2). That reason is what Christ and Moses and Elijah spoke of: Christ’s exodus, out of the world and out of this life through the cross. His blood which, being shed, atoned for the sins of all mankind. His glorious resurrection, for which the Transfiguration acts as a precursor.Friends, we have supernatural problems: the twin enemies of sin and death. Christ, through his ‘accomplishment at Jerusalem’ has destroyed them both.And so now, instead of death, a voice comes out of that cloud, which is not just for them, but for us also: “This is my Son, my chosen one. Listen to him!”A little earlier in the story, we are told: ‘Now Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep, but when they became fully awake they saw his glory’ (Luke 9:32).Friends, it’s time to shake off the dullness of our slumber. It’s time to cast respectability to the wind. It’s time to evoke the full-fat message of the cross and the resurrection in response to the powers of darkness. And it’s time to look the glory of Christ full-on in the face and to be changed into his image, from one degree of glory to another.Amen.

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The Church is a Place of Growth and Unity

Sun, 04 Aug 2024 12:21:01 +0000

The Church is a Place of Growth and UnityEphesians 4:1-16The Holy Trinity and the New BirthIn our reading from the Book of Ephesians there is quite a remarkable passage which describes the church:‘There is one body and one Spirit – just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call – one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through and in all.’Ephesians 4:4-6Let me translate that for you: God is inside of every believer in the Christian Church.But Paul’s language is more specific. He says that the Holy Trinity is inside every believer: ‘one Spirit’, ‘one Lord’ – that is kyrios, the word Paul uses for Jesus – ‘one God and Father of all’. In the Holy Trinity, we share together ‘one body’, ‘one hope’, ‘one faith’, ‘one baptism’.That is quite an amazing thought: God the Holy Trinity is in each believer in the Christian Church and we share all of these things together.The very next verse, however, introduces something new. ‘But’, Paul says, ‘grace was given to each one of us…’ (v.7) What follows is a typically complex series of interlocking thoughts that takes a while to arrive at its conclusion. But skipping a few bits out, Paul eventually gets to the point: The grace that was given to each - what is it for? ‘…until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood…so that we may no longer be children’ (vv.13-14).In other words, Paul is saying that, although we have the Holy Trinity inside us, when we become believers and join the Christian Church, we do so as babies. We starting a new life, and starting a new life always involves infancy.Let’s be clear about this: this new life that we are called to is a great miracle, a work of new creation, which we celebrate and in which we rejoice but, just as we rejoice when a new baby is born in the world, we would not be right to want infancy and childhood to last forever. Physical human life as well as spiritual human life involves a process of growth from infancy to childhood to mature adulthood.From Childishness to MaturityLet’s think about what this involves. Paul puts it negatively to begin with: ‘…so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning in deceitful schemes’ (v.14). We can observe several things about spiritual childishness here.Firstly, the type of spiritual immaturity of which Paul speaks involves emotional and psychological instability. Somebody who is like this is very driven by their emotions. They lack self-control. They find it difficult to follow through with anything because they are constantly being led by their feelings. They are always being ‘tossed to and fro by every wind’, every little thing, event, or comment. They are oversensitive and take offence very easily.Secondly, children have a very short attention span. They can only concentrate on something for a few seconds at a time. In the spiritual realm this means being credulous due to a lack of knowledge and discernment: every new idea that presents itself to the spiritually immature believer gets a hearing and has the potential for great influence which may harm the believer. In our day, I would suggest that that involves allows the prevailing ideology of the culture, as purveyed by mainstream media outlets such as the BBC, to take precedence over the Christian worldview that is held out in Scripture and the teaching of the Church.Sometimes I have a joke with my children and tell them something that is obviously not true. The other day I told them that the goats in a TV programme I had been watching about a real-life farm had their own sheds in which they were developing nuclear weapons. Now, I had to tell my kids that this was a joke and they got it because children have a great sense of humour, but there was a sense in which they really believed me for a time. Why? Because they have little knowledge of the world and not very much discernment. That’s like us when we don’t know very much about God, we don’t read the Scriptures and learn about his ways, we don’t spend time in prayer getting to know him. Our heads are empty as far as the knowledge of God is concerned and therefore we can be hijacked by ‘every wind of doctrine’ that blows past our way (v.14).The other thing about children which Paul doesn’t say here but which he, like everyone else in the world, surely knew is that children are extremely selfish. Again, this is totally normal and, at first, necessary…vital even. But it is something that children are supposed to grow out of. Being around young children is extremely tiring for this reason perhaps above any other: they think about nobody else except for themselves. It takes years for them even to be able to contemplate the feelings of their own parents and siblings. And that is exhausting.Spiritually immature people are like that: they think that everything in the universe, including the Church and God himself, are ultimately orientated around themselves. They think nothing of other people but only care about their own feelings and their own needs. They are, in that sense, like very small children who have not learned to consider others.But let’s flip this around and make it more positive. What is the opposite of this list of childish attributes?Firstly, stability. Not taking offence at the slightest thing, not being tossed to and fro by one’s emotions or by the events that befall one, but having conviction that a certain way is right and sticking to is day-by-day, even if one doesn’t feel like it. The author Eugene Peterson called this ‘a long obedience in the same direction’.Secondly, knowledge and discernment that grows over time and is applied effectively: understanding Scripture, deepening one’s life of prayer and spiritual communion with God, growing in knowledge of the faith through regular reading and engaging with helpful teaching resources, and so on.Thirdly, being centred not on oneself but on God and others. Thinking about other people, praying for them regularly, seeking to assist them. Instead of being a drain on the energy and emotions of others, seeking to give grace to them and to encourage them through positive words and wise counsel.Where Unity Comes InAnd this is where the other great theme of the passage comes in: unity. Paul speaks about the church as a body that grows up together in proportion to the growth of each of its parts, as does a human body.Now, the things that I’ve been described in terms of spiritual maturity, do you see how almost all of this is impossible to do alone? How do you practice not taking offence and being oversensitive alone? How can you centre your spiritual life not upon yourself but upon other people? It is not easy to grow in one’s knowledge and understanding without wise teachers and mature believers around to help and encourage one. Similarly, a life of prayer without the mutual warmth and support of communal worship is very difficult.God has given us the church so that we might grow in unity and maturity together. The Church, in other words, is the place where we practice maturity, if I can put it that way: where we bear with one another’s differences in love, where we forgive one another for our sins, where we encourage one another and serve each other, where we pray together and share mutual fellowship and encouragement. The Church is the place where we come out from our ourselves and our individual, isolated, egotistical, little frames of existence and where we grow into the type of people God desires us to be.To return to the theological theme and the broader picture: the Church therefore becomes a sign of God himself. Do you remember the Trinitarian language I spoke about earlier? Well, the Trinity is the ultimate image of unity and difference: one God but three persons. Similarly, the Church, though composed of different people (who are sometimes very different), nevertheless becomes one in the Lord. And this is why churches that are working well are such happy and joyful places: there are a reflection of the joyful life of God himself in the Holy Trinity.ApplicationBut, all of this requires growth and increasing maturity. Immaturity and sin brings discord, disharmony, brokenness, and disunity. So, a couple of brief words of application.Firstly, be involved. The kind of picture Paul is drawing here involves more than simply dropping in to church every now and then. It involves a commitment that recognises the church as one new humanity which is gradually growing together into the image of God himself. How can we grow together into this humanity if we do not talk to each other, if we do not spend time together, if we do not serve together?One of the points from this passage that I haven’t even mentioned comes from v.12 which says that the point of the gifts of leadership in the church is ‘to equip the saints for the work of ministry’. So, it’s not just about me doing all the work but each one of you. Each of you has a gift given to you by God. Each one has a ministry, at least potentially. Ask yourself: What is my ministry? What is God calling me to do to serve the church? Ask God too. If you really ask and sit there and think about it for a while, you might be surprised at what comes to you.Secondly, be growing. Are you growing in maturity or are you acting like a spoilt, untutored child? Are you reading Scripture? Are you praying regularly? Are you learning through devotional and theological books? Are you worshipping at least every Sunday with the saints and taking taking every opportunity to join together in prayer and mutual learning and encouragement? Are you allowing the ministry of the church to make you grow in holiness or are you simply using the church like a consumer uses a local supermarket? Are you looking to the church to meet your social or emotional needs without seeking either to grow spiritually or to edify others?Resolv

The Church Is The Place Where The Love Of Christ Is Known

Sun, 28 Jul 2024 15:09:17 +0000

The Church is the Place where the Love of Christ is KnownEphesians 3:14-21Today I’d like to speak once again on the New Testament reading from the Book of Ephesians 3:14-21 and to concentrate on what we learn from it about the Church. I’m calling this sermon ‘The Church is the Place where the Love of Christ is Known’.Let’s begin with some observations about the prayer of the Apostle Paul which begins at verse 14. Paul is praying for the Ephesian Christians, and we get to listen in. If we listen closely, we may be surprised and challenged by what he prays for these people.He prays that God ‘may grant you to be strengthened with power in your inner being’ (v.16). ‘Power’ here is taken from the Greek word ‘dunamis’ which is clearly where the English derivative dynamite comes from. But think about that phrase for a moment – ‘strengthened with power in your inner being’. He is not talking about a merely theoretical apprehension of facts, but about an interior experience.What else? ‘That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith’ (v.17). Again, the verb for ‘dwell’ there is taken from the Greek ‘katoikeysia’. Those of you who know your Greek will spot the word ‘oikos’ within that verb. ‘Oikos’ means ‘home’. In other words, Paul is praying that Christ may make his home in the hearts of believers, and that this might happen through ‘faith’.What else? That they ‘may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge’ (v.18-19). Again, the verb ‘comprehend’ sounds very dry to English ears, like when we are forced to do comprehension at school. In the Greek, the word ‘katalambano’ can be translated in various ways: to seize, grasp, attain. And it has a far more violent connotation, as when a wrestler seizes his opponent in an athletic contest. That you may seize the love of Christ.Finally, that ‘you may be filled with the fullness of God’ (v.19). And that is the way the prayer ends, that you might be filled with God’s fullness, whatever we are to make of that.My point here can be drawn out by observing a seeming contradiction in what Paul says: he wants the Ephesian Christians to ‘know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge’ (v.19). Both the words ‘know’ and ‘knowledge’ derive from ‘gnosis’. They are the same. The question is therefre: How can you know something that surpasses knowledge?The answer is that there are different types of knowledge. We might call them ‘theoretical’ and ‘experiential’. Paul is praying that the Ephesian Christian would not only know something about God and about the Gospel and about Jesus Christ, but that they would experience these things deeply in their hearts.Last week, I said that evangelism is a normal and central aspect of the Christian Church and that since the earliest days of the Church and throughout Church history this has been so. The same is true for what I am saying now: Christianity is not merely a set of theoretical beliefs but it is about an experiential relationship with the living God. I will take two examples from across the spectrum of Western Christianity to illustrate this.The first is from the seventeenth century mathematician, philosopher, and polymath, Blaise Pascal, who happened to be a Roman Catholic. When Pascal died, it was discovered that he had an account of an experience of God sewn into the lining of his jacket. The vision of God took place on November 23rd, 1654. He recorded it as follows:‘The year of grace 1654,Monday, 23 November, feast of St. Clement, pope and martyr, and others in the martyrology.Vigil of St. Chrysogonus, martyr, and others.From about half past ten at night until about half past midnight,FIRE.GOD of Abraham, GOD of Isaac, GOD of Jacobnot of the philosophers and of the learned.Certitude. Certitude. Feeling. Joy. Peace.GOD of Jesus Christ.My God and your God.Your GOD will be my God.Forgetfulness of the world and of everything, except GOD.He is only found by the ways taught in the Gospel.Grandeur of the human soul.Righteous Father, the world has not known you, but I have known you.Joy, joy, joy, tears of joy.I have departed from him:They have forsaken me, the fount of living water.My God, will you leave me?Let me not be separated from him forever.This is eternal life, that they know you, the one true God, and the one that you sent, Jesus Christ.Jesus Christ.Jesus Christ.I left him; I fled him, renounced, crucified.Let me never be separated from him.He is only kept securely by the ways taught in the Gospel:Renunciation, total and sweet.Complete submission to Jesus Christ and to my director.Eternally in joy for a day’s exercise on the earth.May I not forget your words. Amen.’Notice the distinction he makes there: ‘Fire. God of Abraham. God of Isaac. God of Jacob. Not the God of the philosophers and of the learned’. This was not an experience of mere belief in propositions, but an encounter with the living God.The second example is taken from a different place: England in the eighteenth century and the brothers Charles and John Wesley, who both became convinced that their Christian faith was dry and lacked authenticity. This happened particularly when they accompanied some missionaries on a trip to Georgia in the USA. John Wesley wrote in his journal of that experience, ‘I went to America to convert the Indians, but, oh, who will convert me?’What happened next was that both had an experience of genuine faith which affected them profoundly and changed the rest of their lives. A note in John Wesley’s journal describes his experience. On May 24th, 1738, he wrote: ‘In the evening I went very unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate Street, where one was reading Luther’s preface to the Epistle to the Romans. About a quarter before nine, while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed.’Three days earlier, Charles had been similarly impacted on the day of Pentecost, writing in his journal that the Spirit of God ‘chased away the darkness of my unbelief’. He would later go on to pen the immortal words of the hymn ‘And Can it Be?’, part of which describes his conversion to living and genuine faith:‘Long my imprisoned spirit lay,Fast bound in sin and nature’s night,Thine eye diffused a quickening ray,I woke, the dungeon flamed with light.My chains fell off, my heart went free,I rose, went forth, and followed thee.’Fire, warmth, light, power, freedom. All of these occur where the Spirit of God moves in power in the life of a believer. And that, the Apostle Paul is saying, is what he is praying for for the Ephesians Church‘Theoretical’ Christians are those who believe in theory in the faith. This was the experience of John and Charles Wesley. They believed it, they knew on some level, that is was true. But they had not ‘known the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge’. The American pastor and theologian Jonathan Edwards once preached a sermon on Psalm 34 and the verse which says ‘taste and see that the Lord is good’. He commented that it is one thing to know theoretically that honey is sweet and another to actually taste the sweetness of honey. The Wesleys, and theoretical Christians, lack that latter experience.You may know that honey tastes sweet. But have you ever tasted it? Similarly, you may know that God is good, but have you tasted his love? Do you know it in your inner being? Has Christ taken up residence in your heart? Has he given you strength to seize his love? And do you know the love of Christ that surpasses merely theoretical knowledge?A word for the family and godparents of young Sofia who will be baptised today: it is your responsibility not only to teach Sofia about the love of God but to pray that the fire of God would take up residence in her soul, so that she may not only know about him as she grows but that she may taste his goodness also. And if you do not taste this goodness – or if you cease to taste it – then you are responsible not only for yourselves but also for her now to seek it.But I can’t leave the sermon there. I hope you desire to know Christ in the way I describe. A word on this. Jesus put it very simply: ‘Ask and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened to you’ (Matt. 7:7). There is much more to say than this, of course, but that is a good place to start.Finally, the briefest of words on applying this to the Church: the Church is always a mix of people. But Paul is praying for the presence and power of God to become evident among the Ephesian Christian. This is my hope and my desire also, that in this place we might not only acknowledge with our minds some vague truth about Christianity but that each one of us would know, deep within our inner being, the reality and presence of the living God. That we, as Paul says, ‘may have strength to comprehend with all the saints…the love of Christ’ (v.18-19).As we seek and find this fire for ourselves, the gathering of believers becomes a supernova of God’s presence. The warmth and light of Christ becomes an existential reality. Last week I spoke about reaching out with the love of God to a world of emptiness and darkness. In order to do that, we ourselves need to have something offer. And all that we have to offer ultimately is Christ and his presence. So we seek him not only for ourselves and for the abundance of blessing that we find in him, but so that we, as a community of believers, might have a great flame of fire to share with all the world.Let it be, friends, a reality to us all. Let each one of us seek not the dry theoretical knowledge of the God of the Philosophers but the fire of the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob, the God of Jesus Christ.Amen.

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The Church Exists For Outsiders

Mon, 22 Jul 2024 10:31:33 +0000

The Church Exists for OutsidersEphesians 2:11-22Friends, we find ourselves in the middle of the Sundays after Trinity and the lectionary provides us with an opportunity to speak about the nature of the Church. It does this because, for the next few weeks, the New Testament readings are taken from the book of Ephesians. And the book of Ephesians is all about the Church: what it is and what it should be. So let’s begin with our reading today, Ephesians 2:11-22.This passage is so rich that we can’t possibly comment on everything. So I’d like to talk about the two groups of people it mentions, paying particular attention to what we can learn about the Church.To begin with, the Apostle Paul speaks about ‘Gentiles in the flesh’ (Eph. 2:11). A Gentile is simply someone who is not ethnically or religiously Jewish. To the Jewish mind, the world was divided into two in this sense: Jew and Gentile. So, when you read the word ‘Gentile’ in the Scriptures, this is what it means.Paul is asking those Gentiles who have joined the Church to remember their position before they came into it: they were ‘separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenant of promise, having no hope and without God in the world’ (Eph. 2:11-12). And that final phrase is really the key, the summary of everything that went before: outside of the Church, the Gentiles have no hope and are without God in the world.Now that might seem like a strong statement: who is the Apostle Paul to say that people have no hope? Surely people can find their hope in all sorts of things and don’t need religion or the Church to do so. But I would like to argue that the Apostle Paul may be on to something.Consider the situation of probably the majority of people in modern, twenty-first century Britain. Although there are many beliefs and outlooks in our society, surely the dominant paradigm is that of secular materialism. The reigning ideology of our age considers religion (by which we mean ultimate questions of God and the purpose of human destiny) to be secondary to other concerns such as material prosperity and societal flourishing. Let me give a small but I think telling example: I subscribe to a particular newspaper app (I won’t say which one). When I look at this app on my phone, at the top of the screen various topics are presented to me for my perusal: News, Sports, Business, Travel, International, Food, and so on. But there is no button for Religion, the Church, or Christianity. So unimportant are these things deemed to be that they seem a minority interest with no mainstream appeal.It is doubtless the case that material prosperity, health, comfort, security and societal flourishing are great and important blessings. But have we traded something of ultimate value for our emphasis upon these things? Are we not like the citizens of Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World who, whenever they are troubled by any social, political or philosophical anxiety simply medicate themselves with a drug called Soma which makes them feel calm and happy? Isn’t watching NetFlix, or flicking through the Twitter feed on our iPhone, or working incessantly for greater financial gain, the equivalent to this? Aren’t these things ultimately a distraction from the nagging sense that there might be more to life than this?I met a middle-aged man the other day who has come to Christian faith in the past couple of years. He is a wealthy, successful man, who no doubt lives in a nice house and drives a nice car. But he said to me that he always had a sense that there was more to life than work, that he had in fact been serving his work as though his work were a slave master. He recalled to me the words of Morpheus to Neo in the film The Matrix: that there was always something wrong, but that he was only dimly aware of it, and yet it was there, nagging at him, like a splinter in his mind.I think many people have a splinter in their minds: they know that there is more to life than financial security, physical comfort, material wealth, entertainment by technology, and all of the benefits that are offered to us in our late modern culture. But they find it very difficult to understand what that nagging feeling is or how to act upon it.You might ask: if so many people feel like this, why don’t more people consider the religious question and become Christians? Why aren’t the churches full of people? There are many things to say about this, but let me make a single point: we live in an age in which we have unprecedent technological and economic power and resources. We live at the far end of a conceptual revolution in thought that has conditioned us to believe that the material world is the only thing that is real. The success of science and technology has given us the impression that this is the case, but it is not necessarily so. The great modern philosopher Iain McGilchrist makes the perceptive point that the things that we attend to are the things that come to us to seem real. This is no doubt true of societies as well as individuals: we have attended so closely and for so long to the mechanics of the material world that we have conditioned ourselves to believe that the material world is the only thing that is really there. But what might happen if, as individuals or as a collective, we began instead to attend to the spiritual realm? Might we discover that it is not such a fiction after all and that we have indeed become blind to its reality?This all makes perfect sense, as far as I can see. It matches the biblical view of the world, which tells us that people do know – deep down – that there is a God behind the existence of the world and that, ultimately, he has a plan for all human life (Romans 1:19-21). But we, as a society, have, broadly-speaking, suppressed this knowledge of God such that we have almost convinced ourselves that he is not there.But that word ‘almost’ is really the key here. The reality is that, in the words of the Christian philosopher Francis Schaeffer, ‘He is there, and He is not silent’.To return to the point, most people are not without any kind of hope whatsoever, but many (particularly in our society) are without the ultimate hope that is offered by Christ and (ideally) by the Christian Church: that is, the ultimate hope that we can be forgiven by God for sinning against him, ignoring him and living as though he doesn’t exist, and that we can live with him forever as he has always intended us to do. Because of this, the secular world that we live in – even in the midst of the material comfort and the technological power that we enjoy – is tinged with a tragic sadness, the sadness that, in the end, none of this will last, and that we and all that we have ever known will slip into the darkness of oblivion.That, says the Apostle Paul, is the situation that we were in before we knew Christ. It might be that many of you were brought into the Church by your parents and have not experienced that alienation from God in any obvious way. That’s a good thing. In that case, it means that this is the situation you would have been in had you not had such godly parents.I know what it is to live a life without God, to base my identity and my hope in something that is not ultimate but is passing, uncertain, and transitory. I am glad that others shared the faith with me, that I was able to read Scripture for myself, and come to know Christ.And this observation leads to me to what I think we can learn about the Church here, which is this: that the Church exists not only for its own members, but for those who are outside, those without hope, those without God. The one-time Archbishop of Canterbury, William Temple said, ‘The Church is the only organisation that exists for the benefit of its non-members’. And that is the truth.Paul is asking us to remember that, but for the grace of God, we would be outside of the Church. If our parents hadn’t brought us to the baptismal font, if our friends hadn’t shared the Gospel with us, if we hadn’t been so fortunate somehow to come in, we too would be outside and without hope.But there’s even more. Consider the words of Paul: ‘But now, in Christ Jesus, you who were once far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ’ (Eph. 2:13).What makes us Christians ultimately? Not our culture, not socio-economic status, not our race, not our postal address, but the fact of God’s grace in Christ. To give a bit more context to the passage, there was a great deal of racial tension between Jew and Gentile at the time, and all of this is very human. We take some aspect of our identity, which could be our race but it could also be all sorts of other things too, and we elevate it to something ultimate. And then we look down on other people who don’t share it. In its most extreme form, we call this things like ‘prejudice’ and ‘racism’ but we all do it in some form.Paul is telling us that there is to be nothing of that in the Church. Why? Because, before God, none of us has merited a place here. We are all here by the grace of God given to us in Jesus Christ. Not because we are wise, not because we are good, not because we are of a certain race or socio-economic group, but because of his mercy towards us.Here I feel that I must be blunt. This church does not belong to you. It doesn’t belong to me. Being a member of this church does not make you superior to the people out there. Being a Christian should not make you look down on other people. But, rather, you should remember that, if you truly know Christ, it is only by his grace that you do. And you should remember that this gift is given to you not so that you can keep it to yourself but so that you can share it with the world.Finally, then, some application. Firstly, give humble thanks to God for calling you into the Church, even though you, like everyone else, have sinned against him and do not merit a place in his family. But, more than that, recognise that we now have a mission, wh

Offended by Jesus

Mon, 08 Jul 2024 09:29:37 +0000

- Story of Jesus’ rejection at Nazareth and sending out the twelve to preach and to work miracles.- Three basic points: Jesus causes offence. Prepare to be offended by Jesus. Prepare to offend and to be rejected.1) Jesus causes offence- Jesus preaches well. Instead of positive reaction, suspicion: “Where did he get these things?” And insult: “Isn’t this the son of Mary?” Not Joseph, ie a b*****d.- And they took offence at him: skandalizo.- Particular offence: Jesus from ordinary place, familiar figure, scandal of birth.- General offence: Christ subverts expectations and sensibilities.2) Prepare to be offended by Jesus- Detail in story: ‘He could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick peopleand healed them’ (Mark 6:5).- Humility before Christ calls forth blessing.- What do you find difficult/offensive? “Blessed is the one who is not offended by me.” Matt. 11:63) Prepare to offend and to be rejectedFaithfulness to Christ may be an offence.- Avoid obnoxiousness.- Offence a byproduct of faithfulness. Christ committed to goodness and truth. Not everyone is.Rejected with Christ. Accepted by the Father.- Rejection can be terrible- The cross of Christ: ‘He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief’ (Isaiah 53:3).- Christ found identity in love of the Father: “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased” (Mark 1:11).- We are children of the Father too: ‘See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now…’ (1 John 3:1-2).- Christ instructed disciples: “If any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, shake off the dust from your feet as a testimony against them” (Mark 6:11).- Not in anger, but resolution to care fundamentally about what God wants.Basic Idea:- Allow yourself to be offended by Christ.- Don’t worry about offending others for his sake.- Find your identity in the love of God and your status as his child.

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Jesus Exceeds Expectations

Mon, 01 Jul 2024 12:16:36 +0000

Scenario- Gospel reading a story within a story. We can learn much from it.- Jairus: lay-ruler of synagogue. Demonstrates faith and humility:‘(Jairus) fell at his feet, and implored him earnestly, saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well and live.”’Mark 4:23- All is well. Jesus, the crowd, Jairus go.- Unknown to Jairus, a woman with ‘an issue of blood for twelve years’ touches Jesus.‘And Jesus…turned about in the crown and said, “Who touched my garments?” And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, ‘Who touched me?’”’ Mark 4:30-31- In any reasonable scenario, this delay is incomprehensible.- Critical issue of little girl dying. Time is running out. Compared to chronic problem faced by older woman, who has been healed anyway (5:29). Issue of triage, intensive care, etc. Not standard medical practice.- Imagine unbearable anxiety and tension in Jairus. What is Jesus doing? Is he ever going to come? Is he sincere? My daughter could be on the threshold of death right now.More than expected- Why did Jesus stop? Jesus is always doing more than expected of him.- We laugh at disciples and others always trying to rush him, tell him what to do.- Woman was made to come to him in public and to confess what had happened.‘But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”’- She wanted to touch him and leave. He had other ideas. More on that in a minute.- Whilst conversing with the woman, Jairus receives the news: his daughter is dead.- Jesus’ response, “Do not fear; only believe.” 5:36- Cynicism of those around:‘Jesus saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. And when he had entered, he said to them, “Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him.’ Mark 5:39-40- Jesus goes into the girl’s room with mother, father, and three disciples, takes the girl by the hand and says, “Talitha, cumi”, “Little girl, I say to you arise.” 5:41- “Talitha, cumi” – intimate expression: little lady, sweetheart.- The rest is history.Two Lessons(At least) two great spiritual lessons here:1) God is always doing many things at once.- We cannot possibly understand because we do not have Godlike perspective.- What did Christ want to teach Jairus? Patience and deeper faith.- Any future delays would bring about a very different perspective:- Maybe there’s a situation like that for you now. Can you learn patience?- Take advantage of future delays to say: “Okay, Lord. I don’t understand this delay. But it’s about your plan, your timing.” Imagine standing by the Lord as he delays and say these words to him.2) God wants to do more than we imagine, ask, or expect.- The woman wants healing, she gets a public confrontation.- The man wants healing, he gets a revival from death.‘Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us…’ Ephesians 3:20- Beautiful verse, but are we prepared for that?- “I can imagine quite a bit.” Hans Solo, Star Wars. But can you imagine that delay, tension, suffering, can be a part of God’s purposes for you?- What did Christ show the woman? Great love and compassion.- Woman was ritually unclean according to Law (Lev. 15:25), an outcast. Nobody had time for her. But Christ did.- Christ wanted to give the woman not just healing but himself.A Severe Mercy- One of my favourite books: A Severe Mercy by Sheldon Vanauken.- Not necessarily about delays but about God wanting us to know him above all things.- Severe mercy = what God must do to turn our hearts towards him. Sometimes a hard thing: delay, pain, suffering, tension, anxiety.- Are you waiting, hoping, suffering, looking to the end of something? Don’t waste it. Use it to let God give you himself.Amen.

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Finding Purpose and Peace in the Storm

Mon, 24 Jun 2024 09:05:27 +0000

Introduction- Series of miracles in Mark’s Gospel starts here.- Miracles not arbitrary but demonstration of Christ’s power in and over all things.- Here power over nature: “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” (Mark 4:41).StormsFrom Capernaum, Christ suggests they cross the sea of Galilee: “Let us go across to the other side” (v.35)…‘And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling.’ (v.37).God permits storms, sometimes leads us into them.Not only does Christ lead them into this storm, he falls asleep and leaves them without his presence.Not saying that God approves of things which cause storms, but he at least allows us to find ourselves in them, and sometimes he leads us into them.He therefore has a purpose in them. To the world, a storm is a problem that may be futile or fearful. To the Christian it is meaningful.The Purpose of Storms: From Fear to FaithWhat is God’s purpose in storms? To move us from fear to faith.Observe disciples’ panic: “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” (v.38)And Christ’s rebuke: “Why are you so afraid (deilos – cowardly, timid)? Have you still no faith (pistis)?” (v.40)Panic and fear default reactions to storms: understandable if we look to ourselves and our immediate surroundings: life is fearful, we are weak and vulnerable.Yet, faith can transform our perceptions and emotions. Faith can transform even our fear.A Comparison: Paul in Acts 27:13-44- Another storm in Scripture, Acts 27 and Paul’s reaction.- This storm much worse: lasted several days, jettisoning cargo, neither sun nor stars appeared, no food, ‘all our hope of being saved was at last abandoned’ (Acts 27:20).- Paul’s response: says to crew, no loss of life, God appeared to me and told me, “So take heart, men, for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told” (vv.22-25).- Paul encouraged the men, gave guidance and support, eventually helping to save their lives.- Observe that in the story of Paul, the storm does not cease but God gave Paul the courage and strength to endure the storm.The Disciples and Paul- Two stories illustrate two responses: One blind panic and terror. One courage based on faith in God.- Which one would you rather possess?- Timidity and panic produce nothing good. Godly courage brings fruit and is infectious.How then? Godly Practices- The practice of faith shares analogies with life: think of footballers practicing together for the challenge of the match.- So Christians do not become godly, peaceful, faithful, without practicing faith.- Prayer, reading/meditating upon Scripture, coming to Mass, seeking out godly encouragement, reading spiritual books, etc.- Practice for the storm. Storm the time to exercise the faith we have been practicing.Awaken the Sleeping ChristSt Augustine encourages us to awaken the sleeping Christ:‘So when the winds blow and the waves mount high, the boat is in danger, your heart is imperilled, your heart is taking a battering…Why is this? Because Christ is asleep in you. What do I mean? You have forgotten his presence. Rouse him, then; remember him, let him keep watch within you, pay heed to him…A temptation arises: it is the wind. It disturbs you: it is the surging of the sea. This is the moment to awaken Christ and let him remind you of those words: ‘Who can this be? Even the winds and the sea obey him.’ Augustine, Sermons 63.1-3Two ways of seeing this:1) Awaken Christ to still the storm out there.2) Awaken Christ to still the storm in here.‘Sometimes he saves us from trouble;Sometimes he saves us in trouble.’Either way, we need to wake him up.

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Seeds of the Kingdom

Mon, 17 Jun 2024 08:37:17 +0000

Following on from the teaching of Christ, Fr Jamie Franklin encourages us to labour for God’s Kingdom whilst remembering that the power to see growth in any meaningful way ultimately comes from God.

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The Spirit of the Law Applied to the Anger of Man

Fri, 14 Jun 2024 11:10:28 +0000

Fr Jamie Franklin comments on Christ’s teaching from the Sermon on the Mount:20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.21 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ 22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire. 23 So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. 25 Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison.26 Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.Matthew 5:20-26

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Fr Dominik Chmielewski - The Wisdom to Remain Silent

Mon, 10 Jun 2024 10:58:44 +0000

Special Guest preacher Fr Dominik Chmielewski, Master of the Hospital of St Cross, Winchester, and vicar of St Faith’s, Winchester, challenges us not to allow our apparent knowledge and experience stand in the way of hearing God’s voice.

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How To Escape From Bad Religion

Mon, 03 Jun 2024 09:09:35 +0000

The ConflictIn the Gospels, you’ve probably noticed that certain groups of characters come up multiple times. They are called things Pharisees, Sadducees, Scribes, Lawyers.In our passage today, we see a typical example of the conflict between these groups and Jesus. To put it quite simply, we observe that there are two spirits at work that oppose one another. And this opposition is present throughout the Gospels.As our Old Testament passage shows us, God commanded his people to observe the Sabbath Day, to keep it holy, and to do no work. The Pharisees had decided what this meant and had put all sorts of rules in place to make sure that people observed the Sabbath Day in a way that they considered to be correct.When Jesus came with his disciples and plucked heads of grain from the cornfield, the Pharisees said to them, “Why are you doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” (Mark 2:24) Meaning, of course, what is not lawful according to their rules.Again, in the following story from chapter 3, the Pharisees were incandescent with rage because Jesus healed somebody on the Sabbath Day. They had decided that healing was work and therefore was a violation.The Issue at Hand: The Sabbath DayThe heart of this conflict can be seen in the words of Christ, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27).Jesus meant by that the Sabbath is a good gift from God for the benefit of humanity. It is a break from toil, precisely to remind God’s children that they were liberated from slavery in Egypt (Deut. 5:15). They don’t have to work every day now. One day a week will be a rest from toil to worship God and enjoy his good gifts. The Sabbath was made for man.What the Pharisees had done was to turn this good gift of God into an instrument of joyless control. Worse than that, they had actually turned it into a vehicle of oppression, a slave-driver: further rules, meticulously policed, hedged about with threats of ostracization and punishment. ‘And they watched Jesus,’ we are told, ‘to see whether he would heal…on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him’ (Mark 3:2).Their attitude was one of criticism and accusation. Christ was angry with them for their hardness of heart, their lack of compassion for those who were suffering (Mark 3:5).There is a particularly telling verse in this story: ‘The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him’ (Mark 3:6). It is not entirely clear who the Herodians are as this is the only time they are mentioned in the Gospels. But it seems that they were probably a secular political organisation. The Pharisees were allying themselves with anyone they could in order to procure enough power to destroy Jesus.Remember that this was immediately after Jesus had miraculously healed a man with a withered hand.They were not interested in the question of whether he was doing the work of God or not. Even though these people were the religious officials of their day, they were uninterested in the only question that they should have been interested in: Is this of God and how can we be obedient to his purposes? How can we respond to him?Instead, they saw Jesus as a threat to their power and position, and sought to destroy him.The Psychology of the Pharisees: Bad ReligionPart of the reason that these characters are so compelling is that the psychology attitude is easily recognisable to us today.Why did they behave like this? Elsewhere we see Christ’s analysis. He says that they ‘like to walk around in long robes, and love greetings in the marketplaces and the best seats in the synagogues and the place of honour at feasts, who devour widows’ houses and for a pretence make long prayers’ (Luke 2:46-47).They love to be thought pious and godly. They love to have control over people’s lives. They love to be put in a position of superiority. They use their position to enrich themselves financially. And the religious observances that they do make are not genuine acts of piety, but ‘a pretence’, a show in order to give the impression that they are religious.They maintain this status through criticising other people and pointing out their own superiority.This is a mirthless religion, framed by negativity. The only people who are doing the right things are the Pharisees. Everyone else is sub-par. Nobody is observing the religion correctly. Look at all these people sinning, whereas I am completely perfect.Again, the reason it is so compelling is because it is true. We take the gift of God and we turn it into a manifestation of our own sinful desires for control, power, and superiority. It becomes an instrument of our pride, of our egotism. And we totally lose sight of what God is trying to give us through his Word and in the Gospel.And the worst of all is that we become not only blind to the work of God amongst us but we hate it because it threatens our religious power.The Gospel: Good ReligionWhat is the difference between the bad religion of the Pharisees and the good religion of the Gospels?Firstly, the Gospel tells us that we are all fellow sinners and that we need to be forgiven by God on the basis of Christ’s death on our behalf. Therefore, everyone should recognise his own sin, repent, and be humble before God and other people. Examine the log in your own eye before you seek to remove the speck from your brother’s.The first step towards slaying religious pride is continual self-examination and recognition of one’s own sin.Secondly, the Gospel speaks to us of a God who loves us and wants to set us free from bondage. God’s law is not an instrument of oppression but liberation. It is given to us to bless us and set us free from the bondage of sin. The Psalms are especially good at this: ‘Lord, how I love thy law; it is my meditation all the day’ (Psalm 119:97).Finally, the invitation of the Gospel is not to be enslaved to a joyless religion but to come into relationship with the God who loves us. This is an outgoing, overflowing love. It is a gift which must be shared with others.And this leads us to a place of compassion for a sin sick and suffering world. We are no better than the world out there. We have simply received the gracious gift of God in Christ. We have tasted the heavenly medicine and now we offer the same to those we meet from day to day. We kneel before the cross of Christ and share the message that there is room here in this place.Friends, let us understand the liberating power of the Gospel and let us therefore share it with the world around.Amen.

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The Happiness of God

Sun, 26 May 2024 17:53:50 +0000

We often start in the wrong place with the doctrine of the Holy Trinity. The immediate problem presents itself: How can God be one and yet, at the same time, also three? And then we invent comparisons which we are subsequently told involve us in some kind of ancient heresy – God is like an egg with shell, yoke, and the white part. God is like water that is variously ice, water, and steam. God is like a shamrock with three leaves. And so on.But what if, instead of trying to work out an answer to the mathematical question, we start somewhere else? What if we start with Jesus and what he shows us about the nature of God?Consider the baptism of Christ. When Christ came out of the water, the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove descended from heaven and rested upon him. A voice came from heaven, the voice of the Father, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased” (Mark 1:10-11). We see here that the Father loves the Son and takes delight in him. We see the Holy Spirit sent from the Father as a sign of this love like a visible representation of the Father’s word of affirmation and approval.There are many other moments in the New Testament in which something of the mutual delight, joy, and love of the Holy Trinity is revealed to some degree. Another can be found in the words of Christ’s High Priestly Prayer in John 17: “And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed” (John 17:5). “Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world” (John 17:24).Consider the implications of Christ’s words: there was a time when the world did not exist. God was not the Creator then. But he was Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He was a Trinity of love, delight, and mutual affection.The Holy Trinity is not, therefore, best thought of as a mathematical conundrum that must be solved. The American Puritan theologian Jonathan Edwards said that God is in fact best thought of as ‘a society or a family’. And that God’s joy consists in ‘love and society’.Just ponder that for a moment: outside of his creation, God is not solitary, or lonely, or in need. But he is infinite delight, joy, love, and harmony. The most vibrant, welcoming, love-filled family home that you have ever entered is but a pale reflection, a small echo, of the love of God in the Holy Trinity through all eternity.A very simple way of putting this – and please forgive me if the language here seems childish and unsophisticated – is that God is happy. Or, we could even say, that God is happiness itself.The Happiness of God in CreationWhy then did the Holy Trinity create the world? There was mutual delight, joy, abundance in God already. What was the point? It cannot have been that God needed creation to do something for him. He did not need slaves to serve him. He did not need creatures to meet some need in him. It can only have been because creation is itself an extension, a going-forth, of the very life and love of God as he is in himself. The English Puritan writer, Richard Sibbes, put it like this:If God had not a communicative, spreading goodness, he would never have created the world. The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost were happy in themselves and enjoyed one another before the world was. Apart from the fact that God delights to communicate and spread his goodness, there had never been a creation or redemption.God had a communicative, spreading goodness, and he delighted to shed abroad that goodness in creating the world. Sibbes and many other theologians have compared God’s joy in creation to a fountain that overflows because it is in nature to do so.Perhaps some images here may help. Consider the decision that human beings make to marry and have children. Why do we do such a thing? In a sense, we could say that there is a biological imperative to do so. However, we know that there are ways of avoiding this, especially in the modern day, so, why do we do it? Why does anyone do it given the expense, inconvenience, difficulty, and pain of doing so? And why do we keep doing it, even though we might have done it once, twice, three, four, five times? Surely it is because the love of husband and wife overflows in having children. We desire not only to be two – or even three, or four, or five – but to be more, to extend our love, our life, our happiness, in the children, and the family that surrounds us. This, I would suggest, is a good picture of the love of the Holy Trinity: God is perfectly sufficient in himself and yet he delights in giving birth to the world and to the many creatures within it.Or consider the human propensity to create beautiful things, to create culture and art. In the nineteenth century in France and England there was a popular phrase, “Art for art’s sake”. What was meant by this was that the purpose of art was not to teach people things about morality or to score political points or for any reason at all. The point of art was the art itself. It needs no further justification. That might come across as somewhat narrow but there is certainly a deep truth there: human beings create beautiful and interesting and wonderful things in art and culture, and a lot of the time these are extravagant and completely unnecessary. Sometimes even worse than unnecessary: there are extremely expensive, time-consuming, and inconvenient. And, yet, we do it anyway. Why? Because we delight in the beauty of it. It is, in a sense, totally pointless, and yet that is what makes it so glorious.The creation of the world is like that: unnecessary, a totally extravagant expenditure of energy on God’s part, adding nothing to him whatsoever because he didn’t need it in the first place. And that is what makes the creation what it is: glorious, extravagant, wonderful, and completely pointless. Or, we might say, that the only purpose for which the world exists is delight.C.S. Lewis, in writing to his friend Owen Barfield, said the following:Talking of beasts and birds, have you ever noticed this contrast: when you read a scientific account of any animal’s life you get an impression of laborious, incessant, almost rational economic activity…but when you study any animal you know – what at once strikes you is their cheerful fatuity, the pointlessness of nearly all they do. Say what you like, Barfield, the world is sillier and better fun than they make out.In other words, the world and the creatures in it are not purely utilitarian, rational, economic, but there is, in the words of the poet Gerard Manley Hopkins, ‘the dearest freshness deep down things’: joy, cheerfulness, fatuity, silliness, fun even.I am aware that I have not yet said anything about the passages for this Sunday, so let me now quote from the song of the Cherubim in Isaiah 6:“Holy, holy, holy in the Lord of hosts;The whole earth is full of his glory.”Think of glory not as an austere and serious thing. Think of it as the radiance of God’s joy, love, life, laughter, and goodness. Like the rays of the sun that warm the earth.Finally on this, I would like to quote the great English mystic, poet, and author Thomas Traherne.Traherne was an ordinary rural vicar in the seventeenth century in a small village called Credenhill. He was a scholar and author who was published in his lifetime, but his works were lost for about two hundred years after his death. It was only due to the discovery of two of his manuscripts on a street bookstall in London by a scholar called W.T. Brooke that he memory was revived. One of those manuscripts was the visionary work Centuries of Meditations which seems to have been written for a friend who had given Traherne a blank notebook to write them in. In an introduction to that work it is said that ‘The keynote of Traherne’s work is ecstatic rejoicing in the glory of God’s creation, and thanksgiving for it.’ And, indeed, if one reads this work, one sees, over and over again, the exhortation to, first, observe, and, secondly, to rejoice in the manifold abundance of God’s creative goodness and love.Your enjoyment of the world is never right, till every morning you awake in Heaven; see yourself in your Father’s Palace; and look upon the skies, the earth, and the air as Celestial Joys: having such a reverend esteem of all, as if you were among her Angels. The bride of a monarch, in her husband’s chamber, hath no such causes of delight as you.You never enjoy the world aright, till the Sea itself overfloweth in your veins, till you are clothed with the heavens, and crowned with the stars: and perceive yourself to be the sole heir of the whole world, and more than so, because men are in it who are every one sole heirs as well as you. Till you can sing and rejoice and delight in God, as misers do in gold, and Kings in sceptres, you never enjoy the world.Thomas Traherne, Centuries of Meditations, I.28-29The Widening Circle of God’s HappinessI have used all my time in speaking of God’s joy in himself and in his creation. The story is incomplete because we know that men have refused to enter into the joy of God’s love and life and have turned instead to inwardness, sin, and self-obsession. And yet God has responded even to this with a joyful invitation to his children. He has done this through sending his Son into a far country to show us his love and joy, even to die for us upon the cross and so to remove our sin, and to invite us to return with him to the Father’s house. This too is but another picture of the overflowing love of the Holy Trinity.Besides rejoicing in God’s goodness in creating, redeeming, and restoring us to his house and to his family, what do we do? We do the same thing that God does: we go out, we extend ourselves in love for the world. The circle of God’s happiness expands as we offer the world around us the invitation of God’s generous love and joy. In the same way that God’s love is spread abroad, in the same w

How does the Holy Spirit work today?

Mon, 20 May 2024 13:37:56 +0000

If you would like to watch this sermon, please visit our YouTube channel.The Need for a Helper: Story of Brian Clough and Peter TaylorActs 2: Birthday of ChurchFulfilment of “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Acts 1:9Miraculous events: “A mighty rushing wind”, “divided tongues as of fire”, speaking in different languages, Peter’s sermon with 3,000 baptised (Acts:2:41).Relevant for us today?Yes. Because same Holy Spirit is at work today.God is present and active within the world.This is the Holy Spirit.Three Things about the Holy Spirit (from our readings)1. The Holy Spirit brings life out of death. (Ezekiel 37)‘…he brought me out in the Spirit of the LORD and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones…there were very many on the surface, and behold, they were very dry.’ Ez. 37:1-2.Dry bones a picture of spiritual death.Recognising our deadness is prerequisite to spiritual life.Thank God if you feel weak and unable, buffeted and storm-tossed. These help you to come to him.“I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live.” Ez. 37:14So, we pray: “Come, Holy Spirit. Bring life out of death!”2. The Holy Spirit displays God’s miraculous power. (Acts 2)Amazing miracles in Acts 2 and though NT.Do miracles continue to happen?Yes! All through church history. EG Gregory the Great’s Life of St Benedict, Athanasius of Alexandria’s Life of Antony, Bede’s History of the English Church and People, replete with miracles. So many other places in history of Church.Today?Yes! Often it seems in subtle ways.Tom Holland example: historian, sympathetic to influence of Christianity, but sceptical of truth. Diagnosed with bowel cancer. At Christmas 2021, attended St Bartholomew the Great, stood on spot where Blessed Virgin said to have appeared, said, “Come on. Please.” Now, free of bowel cancer. Other things going right. Was it miraculous? Holland says, “Possibly.”“Sacramental” power: holy oils, relics, especially consecrated bread and wine – transformed by a miracle, imbued with miraculous power.So, we pray: “Come, Holy Spirit. Send your miraculous power!’3. The Holy Spirit helps us. (John 15-16)Christ promises the parakletos – the helper, advocate, counsellor.Humility needed to recognise our need of a helper. Clough example again: needed help, needed to put away pride.Two ways the Holy Spirit helps us:1. Makes us holy.Galatians 5:22-23: Fruit of the Holy Spirit. Presence of Jesus makes us more like Jesus. Not automatically, but by faithful, patient engagement.2. Bears witness to Christ.John 15:26, 16:8-11: The Helper “will bear witness about me”, “When he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgement.”This has happened. Enormous success of Christian Church, as a small mustard seed sown in a garden (Mark 4:26-29).Again, Christ promised power of Holy Spirit to make his disciples witnesses (Acts 1:8).Have faith when faced with hardness of heart, weakness of one’s own ability. It is God who works in men’s hearts.So, we pray: “Come, Holy Spirit, make me holy like Jesus!” “Come, Holy Spirit, make me a witness to Christ!”Therefore…What do you bring? Recognising need for help, what will you ask Him for? Spiritual life, miraculous power, holiness, conviction? Ask. Watch for his working in and through you. Amen.

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How to be a disciple in the world

Mon, 13 May 2024 13:21:50 +0000

A Hidden LifeStory of Franz Jägerstätter, Austrian farmer, refused to swear allegiance to Hitler, “The Antichrist”, arrested and put to death. Terence Malick film depicts agonising journey from idyllic hillside village and life with wife and three daughters, to arrest, imprisonment, and death. Jägerstätter’s stand Christian in nature. Recognised as a martyr and beatified in 2007.At one point in film, he is told, “Sign and you will go free.” He answers, “I am free already.” Free from participation in evil, free in his spirit to be united with Christ in his death.A Dramatic Moment- Gospel reading introduces a dramatic moment: Christ entrusts his disciples into the care of the Father.- We overhear his prayer:o “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world…I have given them the words you gave me…I kept them in your name…I have guarded them.”o But now: “I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you.” John 17:11o And so: “I am praying for them.” John 17:9- Reflect upon Christ’s love for his disciples.o Moment of great sorrow and anxiety as when a child leaves home.o Christ too experiences something of that sorrow and concern.- What does Christ pray for his disciples?o “Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one even as we are one.” John 17:11o “I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.” John 17:15o “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.” John 17:17- Christ’s description of predicament of disciples:- Left in the world, but not of the world: “They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.” John 17:14- But sent to the world: “As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.” John 17:18- Concisely: they will be in (but not of) the world and sent to the world in love.- This is the attitude of Christians towards the world: in it, not of it, sent to it, in love for it.In (but not of) the WorldDisciples are physically in the world, but we have a different value system to the world. Therefore the world may hate and reject us.“I have given them your word, and the world has hated them.” John 17:14The “word” of the Father a sign of ultimate authority in Christian life. Not the spirit of the age. Not the political powers, but God.The world may hate this because it undermines the worldly and spiritual powers.Franz Jägerstätter incurred wrath of the world because he refused allegiance to its authority.ExamplesA Hidden life an extreme example. What about our world? What makes us different? An accessible example:What we do on Sunday. Sunday a special day of rest and worship, the Sabbath Day. Not a day for work or consumerism. A creation ordinance, linked to God’s rest on seventh day of creation, given in the Ten Commandments: “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labour, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work.” Exodus 20:8-10 and following. Sabbath Day in Christian dispensation transferred to the day of Resurrection: Sunday.A quaint notion? Yet observed even in this nation seriously till The Sunday Trading Act of 1993, allowing widespread trading.Principle depicted in Chariots of Fire (1981): Eric Liddell, refused to run 100m heat on Sunday after years of training for the 1924 Olympics..Now Sunday just another day for the world: business, trade, activities, ignoring of worship of God.What ought we to do? Be different. Be distinct. Resist conformity to the world.Many other examples could be given.Challenge: “Do not be conformed (suskematizo) to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind.” Romans 12:2To the World in loveComplexity to situation:“As you sent me into the world, so I send them into the world.” John 17:18Though we are of a different spirit, we are nevertheless sent to the world.Why? Because God loves the world (John 3:16) and intends to save it through Christ.Christ came to call his disciples out of the world (John 17:6). His disciples are sent into the world to do the same.Example of angry man. Judgement and anger can give way to humility and love in imitation of Christ.Challenge:Humility – We were saved out of the world by Christ. Not better than the world.Salvation a gift of God, that nobody may boast.Love – Called not to hate the world or consider ourselves superior, but to love the world and desire it to know salvation in Christ.Offer the gift you have been given.Central Question:Getting balance right: not conformed to the world, but also not hating the world. Different to the world and yet still loving the people in it.Think about it: Which are you more tempted towards?Do you conform to the world? Adopting its ways to the detriment of the Word of God.Perhaps not. Maybe you are angry with the world, tired of it, apathetic towards it? Do you love the world and people in it? Your friends, family, who do not know Christ. Invite them. Offer them again the gift you have been given.Friends, keep yourselves from the illegitimate powers that arrogate God’s authority. Keep yourself in his word and under his authority. But continue to love the world and offer it salvation through Christ.Amen.

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Why God Makes Us Wait

Thu, 09 May 2024 14:45:13 +0000

A short sermon for the Ascension by Fr Jamie Franklin from Holy Trinity Winchester.

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The Greatest Friend

Mon, 06 May 2024 08:35:05 +0000

“If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love…’John 15:10Introduction- Last week focus on individual soul abiding in Christ. This week, corporate dimension.- Christ not only present to us ‘inwardly’, but also in the Church.- The Church is a sacramentum, a sign that participates in the reality. We can know Christ in it.Consider the words of Christ;“If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.” John 15:10What commandment is spoken of here?“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” John 15:12Therefore, to abide in Christ’s love, we must love one another as Christ has loved us.Two questions arise: 1) How has Christ loved us? and 2) How does this apply?How has Christ loved us?As a friend.“Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:13The Oasis of FriendshipFriendship a particularised love: selects someone because that person has qualities and presence which the other enjoys. Therefore a certain vulnerability in offering friendship to another.Aelred of Rievaulx: Love something we must offer to our enemies but friendship restricted to a select few: “By the law of charity we are ordered to welcome into the bosom of love not only our friends but also our enemies. But we call friends only those to whom we have no qualm about entrusting our heart and all its contents.” Aelred of Rievaulx, Spiritual Friendship“The joy and peace that friendship gives make us long for more, because friendship functions like an oasis within the desert; friendship longs for the entire desert to be transformed into an oasis. In our experience, we encounter deserts all over the place, while friendships are fragile and weak. The limitations and particularities of love and friendship cause tension in our lives.” Hans Boersma, Pierced by Love: Divine Reading with the Christian TraditionWe’d spend all our time with our friends if we could, but obligations and law of charity prevent this. Friendship, therefore, outshines love in our experience because our friends are not “a burden and a bore” (Aelred, Spiritual Friendship).Example of tribute from memorial service: man spoke of long lunches over many courses and different beverages. Last one before his friend died “lasted six hours”. He said it was “their best lunch ever”.Friendship like an oasis in the desert of this world. Give thanks to God for good friends.God’s FriendshipTold throughout Scriptures that God too has friends: Abraham (Isaiah 41:8), Moses (Exodus 33:11), Lazarus Christ’s friend (John 11:11), John described as the beloved disciple (John 13:23).Here, “I have called you friends” (John 15:15).How does Christ express his friendship? By laying down his life for his friends (John 15:13).Cross, therefore, a sign of Christ’s friendship to his disciples. This is a true friend: willing to suffer, to sacrifice for his friends.Christ is our friend who loves us for the particular people we are, who makes known to us all that Father has made known to him (John 15:15), who (dare we say it?) likes us – even if we feel others don’t, even if we don’t like ourselves.He calls us friends and he does so first.How does this apply?“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love (agapEn) has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends (philOn).” John 15:12Two different types of love spoken of here linked together: divine love (agape) and friendship (philia).Suggestion that these two loves are interchangeable in context of the Church: divine love, human friendship.Therefore, the Church itself can become a sacramentum – a sign that communicates the reality of the thing it signifies.In this case, through the friendship of believers, expressed in the Church, the divine love of God may be manifested. This, in at least two ways:1) As we show filial love to others, we abide in Christ’s love and know fullness of joy: “If you keep my commandments (ie to love one another) you will abide in my love…These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” (John 15:10,11)Motivation to show friendship to others: to find Christ’s love joy in the demonstration of love. Not mercenary – for something other than friendship – but because within that love is the presence of Christ.2) To others who encounter the love and friendship of God in the Church: “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35)The Church exists to demonstrate the love of God through a community of human beings. It exists for no other purpose. Not a corporate hierarchy pronouncing on abstract topics, but a tangible set of relationships in a particular place, with real people who share fellowship and mutual responsibility for one another.Both of these things drew me to Christ as a young man: through reading John’s Gospel, but I also experienced his love through visiting a church: vibrancy, life, joy, friendship. I didn’t know it, but I was being invited in to the heart of God.Let us discover this communal aspect of abiding in God’s love together. Let it characterise how we are and what we do. We come here not only for a high-church ‘fix’ but to share our lives together as disciples. Sociality, friendship, a central part of the Christian life. Without it we abide only as individuals but miss that corporate aspect that is so powerful and rich.Take opportunities for fellowship offered throughout the week. Create your own opportunities: show hospitality to those in the Church. Offer your friendship to others, particularly if you suspect they might be lonely or struggling. Think of Christ’s friendliness to those around him and seek to imitate it.As we become the sign of Christ’s friendship, we participate in the reality of God’s love. Our hearts are ‘strangely warmed’. We realise that we are truly abiding in Him.Amen.

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Abiding for Spiritual Life

Sun, 28 Apr 2024 16:05:56 +0000

Abide in Me“Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:5Introduction – The Vine and the Branches- Christ tells us that he is the true vine, his Father is the vinedresser, and we are the branches.- Consider the image: the vine is the source of the life of the branches. If branches are not connected to the vine, they wither up and die.- Relationship of Christians to Christ like that. Unless we are connected to Christ, we will die spiritually. We will not have a supernatural life.- We may have a natural life, sustained by food, sleep, and sunlight. But do we have a spiritual and supernatural life?- How do we connect ourselves to Christ? Abide in him.- ‘Abiding’ rare word in modern day. Not waiting, sticking around, remaining, but implies quality of presence.- Whether or not we abide in Christ will make every difference.The Withered SoulConsider, first, the withered soul“If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are thrown into the fire and burned.” John 15:6- Several things about the soul not abiding:o Does not bear fruit.o Is thrown away, withers, and is burned (John 15:6)o Withered soul: dry, thirsty, shrivelled.- Clearly want to avoid this, so want to abide. But abiding involves focus, time, and presence.- There have always been diabolical schemes to mitigate against this, but we live in a particularly challenging time.- Words of Screwtape more relevant than ever:‘Music and silence — how I detest them both! How thankful we should be that ever since our Father entered Hell — though longer ago than humans, reckoning in light years, could express — no square inch of infernal space and no moment of infernal time has been surrendered to either of those abominable forces, but all has been occupied by Noise — Noise, the grand dynamism, the audible expression of all that is exultant, ruthless, and virile — Noise which alone defends us from silly qualms, despairing scruples, and impossible desires. We will make the whole universe a noise in the end. We have already made great strides in this direction as regards the Earth. The melodies and silences of Heaven will be shouted down in the end. But I admit we are not yet loud enough, or anything like it. Research is in progress.’C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters, XIIPresence and Focus – “Stolen” by iPhones, social media, Netflix etc. All designed to distract. Internet a ‘distraction machine’. Limit the attention-span. Serious problem because pre-requisite to spiritual life is attention.Time – Rush, hurry, busyness ubiquitous. John Maynard Keynes (100 years ago): my grandchildren will work 15 hours a week. They are not. Technology alleviates some work but creates infinite options for consumption and labour. Has become a slave-driver rather than a servant.Problem of ‘Instrumentalism’:Iain McGilchrist speaks of ‘left-brained’ thinking – utilitarian approach, everything for something else, nothing valuable for its own sake, nothing to be abided with for any length of time: art, music, friends, family, God.Therefore, ‘right brains’ are inactive – creativity stifled, souls ‘cramped’, sense that the world is small, narrow, imagination limited, ability to perceive and feel meaning limited.Does any of this sound familiar?The Fruitful SoulChrist offers us something very different. A truly human existence.The one who abides in Jesus and in whom Jesus’ words abide:- Bears much fruit (John 15:5)- Prays and is answered by God (John 15:7)- Glorifies the Father and proves to be Christ’s disciple (John 15:8).All good. How to abide? Nothing revolutionary:- Abide in Christ’s words.- Abide in prayer.- Abide in life of the Church, especially in sacrament of Holy Communion.But all possible to engage in without truly abiding. Body present but mind absent. Both must be present to abide.Three suggestions to practice: Slow down and take the time. Focus. Be present.Firstly, though, recognise that Christ is already present, that God’s grace abides, that we come to him not in order to prove ourselves worthy or to put God in our debt, but as a response to what he has already done and is already doing for us.1) Slow down and take the time.Time often seen as a commodity. ‘Time is money’.Instead, imagine time as a gift of God’s grace: the time he has given you to know him and to carry out his work in the world.Spiritual life also involves timelessness, loss of awareness of time in God’s presence.Models of ‘abiding in timelessness’:Young children – No conception of time at all until five or six years old.Friends and lovers – Time is forgotten in presence of those we love.Paradox – Sufficient time must be set aside to achieve timeless feeling. Otherwise rushing and hurry set in.First step to abiding: Slow down. Take the time.2) FocusPrayer impossible when distracted. Put aside anything that would fragment your attention. This is why early morning so good for abiding.Do not connect your phone to the internet or open your laptop first thing in the morning or during times of prayer.Learn to banish distracting thoughts: I must do this or that. Imagine them like paper boats placed gently on a river.Second step to abiding: Focus.3) Be present.Abiding means ‘non-instrumental’ presence: ie there not for another purpose. Not a business meeting. Not there simply to tick prayer off the list. There to rest in God. To find your joy in him. Transcendental end.Third step to abiding: Be present.Slow down and take the time. Focus. Be present.Finally, a paradox…Abiding in Christ recommended for its own sake. Why does Christ say certain things will happen if you abide? Ie you will bear much fruit, pray and be heard etc.My answer: when we abide in Christ for the sake of knowing him it inevitably follows that we bear fruit in the spiritual life: Sense of Christ’s joy in our lives. Sense of God’s presence in the world. Alignment with the will of God in prayer so that what we ask he will grant to us.We bear fruit because we love him. And we love him because we know his presence.Friends, seek to abide in Christ. Seek his presence and his love. And you will not be able to help but bear spiritual fruit in your life.Amen.

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I am the Good Shepherd

Sun, 21 Apr 2024 13:03:17 +0000

Introduction- Jesus claims to be ‘the good shepherd’ and implies that he is worth trusting and following.- Contrasts himself with the one who is ‘a hired hand’.- Let’s look at that comparison.Firstly though…- What does the imagery of sheep and shepherd mean?- Christ talking about the way we orientate our lives and what influences our outlook.- Many unaware that their outlook is shaped by exterior factors.- In secular modern world, myth is that we create our own views, but we are in fact conditioned just like everyone else.- Traditional forms of conditioning: parents, schools, the Church, guilds of association.- Contemporary forms: government messaging/propaganda, media (esp. eg. the BBC), social media: eg ‘influencers’ – popular figures who set ideological and social trends.- If we do not understand where our influence is coming from, we will never be able to evaluate it.- If Christian, we may allow ungodly and/or damaging influences to affect us. These must be submitted to the Christian outlook.Hired Hands and the Good Shepherd1) Hired Hands‘He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd…’ John 10:12‘Hired hand’ implies person in it for other reasons than care for the flock.- Here, money. Willing to work and receive pay but true concern for welfare of flock does not extend beyond this.- Context here could refer to ‘certain religious leaders who perform their duty well enough in normal times, always provided they are paid, but who never display personal care for the sheep’ (D.A. Carson, John, p.387).- Religious and political leaders often motivated by things other than money: fame, glory, acceptance by the Establishment, a place at the table.o Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius (to himself), “Take care that you are not stained with the purple; for such things do come about” (Meditations Book VI.30). “Stained with the purple” = corrupted by power to care more about one’s own glory/fame/riches over one’s duty and cultivation of one’s own soul.- Question is, then: does this person really care or is he just in it for his own gain?(The hired hand) sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees…He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.” John 10:13- When danger comes, the shepherd flees, leaving the sheep to suffer.- Ultimate sign of hireling heart: unwilling to risk, to suffer.- Some religious leaders today: Does what they say cost them? Easy to talk about things that will be celebrated by others. Harder to speak truly prophetically about post-Christian elements of Western culture and trajectories.2) The Good ShepherdHow is Jesus different? Why should you trust him and allow him to shape your outlook?Christ cares for his own sheep. “I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me” (John 10:14).- The good shepherd cares for each individually. He is concerned with you personally.- Contrast with misery caused by political collectivisms that see individuals as only part of group and therefore expendable in cause of utopian dream of perfect society. “You have to break eggs in order to make an omelette!” – Vladimir Lenin- Christ cares for the individual soul. Care for each person cannot be thrust aside for collective vision.- This is why we, in the Church, care for each person, regardless of situation, age, abilities, etc. “No passengers” is not a godly outlook.Christ is transparent and honest. “I know my own and my own know me” (John 10:14).- Contrast with ‘Yes, Minister’ style politicking.- Christ has revealed himself to us openly and honestly: “No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you” (John 15:15).- No hidden agenda, no ulterior motive. Christ is who he says he is. What you see is what you get.- We should be like this too: what you see is what you get.Christ laid down his life for the sheep. “…I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord” (John 10:17-18).- Ultimate test of shepherd’s credentials: will he put himself in harm’s way? Will he suffer loss for the sheep?- Christ not an unwilling victim, but chose to give his life in sacrifice to save his sheep.Finally, the resurrection…- Death of Christ alone not much use for sheep. Christ took up his life again and so guides and protects the flock.Therefore…- Poses question of who are we going to trust in this world? I would suggest a healthy degree of scepticism regarding political philosophies and ideologies, media agendas, the government, internet influencers, things of this sort.- Trust Christ. He cares for each one of you. He tells you the truth. He was willing to suffer and die for you. Listen to the voice of the good shepherd.

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How To Live in the Real World

Sun, 14 Apr 2024 12:40:47 +0000

IntroductionSuggestion that Christianity is key to living in real world may sound outlandish. This is what I will argue here.Different Ways of Viewing the Resurrection1) In spiritual, metaphorical, symbolic, or exemplary terms.2) As a unique, historical, objective fact.Spiritual Resurrection- First tendency of disciples: ‘they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit’ (Luke 24:37).- Spiritualisation of resurrection quite common. John Dominic Crossan (slight paraphrase): ‘(The resurrection) never happened. (The resurrection) always happens’.- The resurrection did not happened as a historical event but occurs through the empowering of Jesus’ followers.- Jesus may be ‘alive’ in a non-historical sense: through his teaching, his example. Not literally alive.Suggested Implications- Christ’s soul may be in heaven with God. His body is not.- Therefore physical redemption not part of God’s plan for Christ, presumably not for us either, or the world around.- Our hope may therefore be to escape the corruption and unreality of our bodies and of this world.A word on this:- Desire to escape world, often associated with term ‘Gnosticism’.- Gnosticism: religious beliefs at time of NT.- Focus on interior light within, freedom through knowledge (gnosis – knowledge)- Corruption and unreality of this world and escape to a purer realm of thought.- Gnosticism endures today.- Modern emphasis upon the “real me”: feelings, psychological states are who I am, more real than the world out there.- Physical world is evil and arbitrary.Difference between ancient and modern Gnosticism. Author and journalist Mary Harrington:‘Unlike the ancient Gnostics…the modern variety seeks to transcend the physical not through spiritual knowledge but through technology.’Harrington: This is “bio-libertarianism”…it amounts to ‘waging war on the idea of “nature”’…it ‘views any moral or legal effort to restrict the tech-enabled control of our biology with horror and dismay’.Mary Harrington, Feminism Against Progress, p.141- Emphasis upon real me leads to emotional and psychological burdens: feelings change frequently. Cannot be basis for entire view of reality.- Promotes view that the world needs to change, rather than me. Leads to inability to self-reflect.- Clearly a major problem amongst younger generations.The Objective Fact of the Resurrection- Contrast to this radical subjectivism, Christianity rooted in historical claims, such as the resurrection of Christ.- NT Wright on Luke 24: ‘The whole point of this story is that it is about an event which (Luke) understands, not as an “example” of the kind of “spiritual experience” which people may still have as they ponder strange happenings, meditate on the scriptures and break bread together, but as a shock, a one-off unique moment. Luke presents Jesus’ resurrection as a surprise to…the disciples in the upper room. And the explanation given is…that it was the single event through which the world, and Israel, were changed forever’ (N.T. Wright, The Resurrection of the Son of God, p.657).- Point not to belittle our spiritual experiences, but to emphasise historicity. The resurrection really happened. Jesus really appeared.- Christ’s body not a ghost but same body that was put in tomb. Yet changed: (Luke 24:31). NT Wright: “transphysicality”: the same human body but transformed, given special abilities, apparently to appear and disappear at will.- Christ says, “See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have” (Luke 24:39).- Asks for food and eats a piece of broiled fish (Luke 24:41-43). To prove his physicality but also to demonstrate continued friendship beyond death and resurrection.Problems ConfrontedSuggest two significant helps given us by belief in historical resurrection.1) Reality not reliant primarily upon my spiritual experiences, feelings, or psychological states but upon history and objective truth.Reality comes from out there, given as a gift from God. Do I accept it or insist that reality must be bent to my preferences?Challenge modern attitudes that stresses primacy of feelings and psychological states. Reality is not something invented but received.2) More specifically: the resurrection demonstrates God’s concern with physical creation, including human body.God made the body and will redeem it.The body is not a shell that can be manipulated by technology to suit an interior preference, but a good gift given by God. It matters what we do with it: accept it, care for it, use it for righteous living.‘…the Church recalls that human life in all its dimensions, both physical and spiritual, is a gift from God. This gift is to be accepted with gratitude and placed at the service of the good. Desiring a personal self-determination…apart from this fundamental truth that human life is a gift, amounts to a concession to the age-old temptation to make oneself God, entering into competition with the true God of love revealed to us in the Gospel.’ Pope Francis, Dignitas InfinitaThereforeIt really matters whether we see Christ’s resurrection as the appearance of a spirit or as the reappearance of the real man Jesus Christ, whose body was no longer in the tomb. The former belief can lead us almost anywhere, but the latter leads us to a confrontation with historical questions and to an encounter with the real world. If we accept it, it will give us hope that, one day, we too – body and soul – will be completely redeemed from the power of death. Once again: dost thou believe this?

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Different Approaches to Doubt

Sun, 07 Apr 2024 16:25:52 +0000

Doubting Thomas“Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.” John 20:25Two ways of seeing Thomas’ doubts:1) As cynical, a type of unbelief.2) As genuine, faith seeking understanding.Thomas the Cynic- Thomas sometimes understood this way: closed to Christ, contemptuous of childish belief of others.- Relatable worldly-wise cynicism. Charles Taylor: in Modernity, we tell ourselves that we have grown out of childishness of “religious” past and “faith”.- Again, cynics may say faith is wish-fulfilment. But lack of faith may also be desirable: cynicism protects us from looking foolish, frees us to live as we want.- Downside: cynicism may cut us off from God.Thomas the Seeker- Thomas’ doubts are genuine. Principled desire to know the truth, currently lacking understanding.- Anselm of Canterbury: fides quaerens intellectum – faith seeking understanding. A very positive thing.- Many atheists have started in this position. Boon of Richard Dawkins and New Atheists: led many to investigate Christian faith. Example of my friend.- Interesting Dawkins himself this week extolled virtues of “cultural Christianity”. Perhaps even he will find the truth.- Spiritual law. Repeated in Gospels in many ways. Eg “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened” (Matthew 7:7-8).What do I do?- Take Christ’s advice: ask, seek, knock.- In slightly different order:o Knock: Be willing to find out the truth. Are you? Would God be too much of an inconvenience? Are you afraid of looking stupid? Example of ‘Risen’. Put these things aside if you would truly know.o Ask: Pray. Come to Church. Act as though there might be a God. If he is real, he will surely answer. Like Thomas, he will give you what you need to believe. This may not be in the way you expect.o Seek: Look for what you need. Intellectual difficulties: Christianity oldest intellectual tradition in Western World. Great legacy of historic and contemporary apologetics: reasoned defence of the faith. My reading of eg CS Lewis as a teenager.FinallyCynicism may protect us. But it closest off possibilities in life. The possibility of God being real and the Gospel being true probably greatest possibility of all. Be open. Ask, seek, knock. You may find the door opening for you.

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"Woman, why are you weeping?"

Sun, 31 Mar 2024 14:57:44 +0000

“Why are you weeping?”During my adult life, I have often sought a change of scenery during the working day and gone instead to coffee shops. In one coffee shop that I went to many times, I observed the behaviour of a rather eccentric man, who seemed to mutter ecstatically to himself, smiling and laughing. At points, he would grow so excited that he would rise from his seat and, as it were, begin proclaiming his message to the entire room with arms outstretched. Sometimes, he would even take the street outside, doing a similar thing, stopping passers-by to tell them whatever it was he had to say. I confess I couldn’t work it out. One day, I noticed what he had written on the laptop which he often left open in front of him: Christian writings, Scriptures, prayers. I can’t remember what exactly. But I recognised at this moment that, whatever it was he was happy about, had to do with that subject matter. And it occurred to me that I had thought him mad, and that probably everyone else did too. But I want to suggest this morning that, in the light of Easter, of Christ’s resurrection from the tomb, perhaps he is the sanest one of us all…“Why are you weeping?” asked the risen Christ to Mary Magdalen (John 20:15). (Though she, of course, did not know the bearer of the question.) On the face of it, there were all sorts of reasons to weep. Christ had been the victim of a brutal, judicial murder, a crucifixion. Without anything else to the story, Jesus’ message of God’s love, of the possibility of forgiveness and reconciliation, of eternal life, and all the other things he said and promised (even though dimly understood) was fatally undermined.Moreover, his very presence had gone from the world. He was more than a bearer of good tidings to Mary. He was her friend, her comforter, her saviour, one who brought joy into the life of an otherwise lost and broken soul. And he was gone, taken from her by the inevitably harsh contours of human action and history.What Christ’s death had shown was only that real life is harsh and vicious: that life is a natural economy of existence followed by death, of competing forces violently cancelling one another out, of recrimination, hatred, bitterness, mutual accusation, of the ultimately meaningless struggle for power and survival. All Christ’s was was an affirmation of the immanent order of things with all of its tiring and dull predictability: nothing new. We had thought it might be. But, it’s just the same old thing. The same old disappointment. The same old suffering. The same old death. The same old world.The end has become the middleSo, how does the fact that it was Jesus himself who asked this question to Mary change things? In a word, it changes everything. The question changes from a request for an understandable answer to a rhetorical question with no answer: “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary” (John 20:15-16). At this she recognised who is was who spoke to her and recognised that there was no further need for tears, at least, not at that moment.There is a living theologian who coined a phrase to describe the significance of Jesus’ resurrection: In Jesus’ resurrection, the end has become the middle. It was true that certain Jewish believers had as part of their theology the belief that, at the end of history, God would raise the dead and judge the world in righteousness. This was a great hope that they clung to and would perhaps have sustained them under the occupation of the Romans, believing that the Empire under which they laboured was a temporary arrangement, one day to be eclipsed by the true empire: The Kingdom of God. That was what the end looked like.Nobody was expecting the resurrection to occur before that. And yet, in Jesus’ resurrection, it has. In Jesus’ resurrection, what was expected at the end of history, occurred in the middle of history, as people went about their everyday business, as the world turned as it usually did. This was the greatest surprise of all.So what does it mean, that the end has become the middle in Jesus? It means that, in the resurrection, we see, quite literally, how the story will end: with the victory of the life of God over the power of death, with the vindication of God’s righteous servant over the unjust powers of the world, with the ultimation affirmation of the truth over life, with hope over despair, with the infinite over the tragically bound and limited. How the story ends changes everything, and we see this in Christ.And it changes everything for us too: not necessarily at this precise moment, but eternally and forever. We know that, in Christ, all the sufferings and pain and sorrow and loss and grief that we encounter in our lives, all the heavy burdens that we carry, all the roads that we travel, will be met at the last with the happiest of all endings. In the words of Samwise Gamgee in The Lord of the Rings: everything sad will come untrue. We might even go further and say that this happy ending will transfigure our sufferings in this world, as the sun rises upon a darkened landscape, and reveal them for the fleeting sense of unreality that they truly possess. A new reality, a deeper and more real and more lasting one, will reveal itself at last, and this world will seem almost as a dream that is past in an instant.Moreover, the resurrection reveals that the power that raised Jesus from the dead is at work in the world today: in the lives of those who believe and in the ministry of Christ’s Church. This is, in the words of the Apostle Paul, ‘the immeasurable greatness of his power towards us who believe, according to the working of his great might, that he worked in Christ when he raised him the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places’ (Eph. 1:19-20).When we feel weak, let us remember this. How great must God’s power be to raise a man who had been dead for three days? That is the same power that is at work in his, strengthening us to have hope in dark circumstances, steeling us to persevere through suffering and grief, enabling us to forgive those who have wronged us and to seek reconciliation, cheering us to rejoice in every circumstance. God is working that same power in and towards us.The Greatest QuestionWhat is the greatest question of all? It might be fair to say that the Apostle Paul thought it was to do with the resurrection of Jesus: Did this really happen? Is this the truth or is it merely a nice story? Was the resurrection, in other words and, as one notoriously controversial bishop once said, a conjuring trick with bones.If that were true, then, at best, Christianity can be seen as a helpful fiction that has stayed the natural and brutal instincts of humanity and inspired us sophisticated apes to aim slightly higher than we would have done otherwise. The Church is a civic institution, a cultural central, which can assist in alleviating loneliness and providing community, which perhaps can support the amelioration of unsatisfactory situations in society. The Apostle Paul thought less: ‘…if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise…If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied’ (1 Cor. 15:15, 19). For Paul, we are suffering for nothing and wasting our lives believing a fantasy: let’s go and do something else with our time. We only live once, after all.But, if Christ has been raised from the dead, then this surely changes everything: the old order is overturned; the lives of those who trust in him can radiant Jesus’ life, joy, love, life, forgiveness, hope; the Church can be a place characterised by the very presence of the risen Christ; the message that she carries, proclaimed across the world and believed on in every nation is the truth. The Empty Tomb stands at the centre of all history. The gates of death have been shattered by the one who simply stood up and walked away from it. And so, we wait in expectant hope for the very end, when the Risen Christ returns and makes all things new. In that day, as the Apostle Paul tells us, even death will be swallowed up in victory: O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting? (1 Cor. 15:55).So maybe the man I used to see in the coffee shop wasn’t that crazy after all: maybe he just believed that he too, like Mary Magdalene, had met the Risen Christ, and maybe this had changed everything, turning his sorrow into joy.Friends, let us, with him, with Mary Magdalene, Mary the Mother, with Peter and the Apostles, with God’s Holy Church upon the Earth, and with all the saints in heaven, therefore, rejoice. For this one reality has changed everything: Christ the Lord is risen today. He is risen indeed. Alleluia!

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Having the Mind of Christ

Sun, 24 Mar 2024 16:14:15 +0000

IntroPhil. 2 gives theological and spiritual window onto Christ’s passion. Asks us not only to be part of the crowd that hails him but to stand with him in his loneliness, humility, obedience.Context of Phil. 2- Paul seeks unity and healing of division. How best to achieve? Consider example of Christ.- v. 5 ‘Have this mind among yourselves…’ – (phroneite), think in this way, have this attitude, ponder upon this.- What is my attitude like? Is it submitted to Christ?- ‘…which is yours in Christ Jesus.’ Theological comparison. This is God’s grace. Can you be gracious too?o Economic metaphor. Someone makes you rich. Can you be generous with your riches?What is God’s grace like?: The Incarnation and Passion- Incarnation: from God to God and man. ‘…though he was in the form of God, he did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, and being found in the likeness of men…’ (2:6-7)- God took flesh in Christ. Entered the experience of humanity.- How did Christ empty himself? Not of divinity but rightful privilege and honour.- Impossible to conceive. But imagine divine love in taking pain of human life.- Passion: ‘And being found in human form he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross’. (2:8)- Obedience and humility linked: Why? Obedience humbles pride, displacement of my rights, acceptance of God’s way. Christ knew this.- Easier to understand. Mark 15:1-39. What did Christ’s obedience mean? Total humiliation: to be bound, accused, charged, misrepresented, rejected by the same crowd which had hailed, victimised, mocked, struck, spat upon, stripped, crucified, forsaken.- Paul: consider this and apply to the Church, to your life.o Disagreements in the church between Euodia and Syntyche (Phil. 4:2). ‘Agree in the Lord’. Are you in broken fellowship with another Christian in this church or another? Do not go through this Holy Week without making amends and seeking reconciliation.o Are you holding back forgiveness from someone, friend, family member, member of the Church? Humility is needed to be obedient. Offer forgiveness during this holy time.o Are you facing temptation to compromise and be disobedient to God’s way? Perhaps obedience may mean disadvantage or rejection. Reject the braying crowd and join Christ in his humility, suffer loss for him. This too will take humility.- Obedience of Christ a mountain, yours a foothill. Look what he endured in obedience to God and love for you. Can you not respond to God’s calling also?Finally…- We will get to easter, to the glory that comes after humility: ‘Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name’ (Phil. 2:9). But let’s stay with Christ in his passion for a time.- Crowd offers appearance of safety, but later shame. Christ offers humility now and glory afterwards.- As we enter Holy Week, let us embody its message in our attitude and actions in life.Amen.

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Seeing Jesus: Death, Trouble, and Judgment

Sun, 17 Mar 2024 15:20:13 +0000

“Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”- Passiontide begins. We come to Jerusalem and begin the approach to the cross.Greeks at the Feast- After Christ’s Triumphal entry to Jerusalem (John 12:12-19), Greeks at feast, wish to see Jesus.- Nations coming to Jesus, contast to eg. Pharisees (John 12:19).- Promise to Abraham: “…in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed” (Gen. 22:18).- We wish to see Jesus. Good request. Are they prepared for response?- Jesus response: climax of his mission, our discipleship.The implications of wanting to see Jesus- What are the implications of wanting to see Jesus?1. Death“The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” John 12:23-24- Immediate response: the cross, glorification.- Dying seed: death is condition for generation of life.o In natureo In human realm: sacrifice to grow/achieve etco In spiritual realm: obedience, denial of oneself, forgiveness, literal suffering and death (the cross)“Whoever loves his life loses it, but whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” John 12:25- “Loving” life: Not enjoying but refusing “death”.o Refusing obedience to God and suffering.o Refusing transitory nature of things here.- “Hating” life: Not being miserable but accepting “death”.o Accepting obedience, sacrifice, suffering, as Christ.o Recognising we seek a lasting city (Heb. 13:14). Cultivating eternal things.2. Trouble“Now is my soul troubled.” John 12:27(a)- “Trouble”: horror, revulsion, anxiety, fear…at the cross.- Obedience leads to these things: will we follow Christ there?“And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour.” John 12:27(b)- The cross brought salvation of the world.- Suffering brings greater fruitfulness in us and the world.3. Judgment- A voice came from heaven. ‘The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Other said, “An angel has spoken to him.” Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not mine. Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of the world be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”’ John 12:29-32- Incomprehension, unbelief, viciousness, and violence of the world. Its judgment (krisis).- Are we willing to receive it with Christ?- “All people to myself” – all nations, not all individuals. Not all willing to embrace the cross.“If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will be my servant also.” (John 12:26).- “Where I am” – the cross.- Do not be misled. Christians called to walk a hard road but with Christ.- Passiontide begins. Think carefully if you want to continue the journey because it leads to the cross. Do you still want to see Jesus?- If you do, embrace the coming days in faith and solemn obedience, knowing that true life, the life embodied in Christ’s resurrection, is on the other side of the cross and the tomb.Amen.

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The Serpent in the Wilderness

Sun, 10 Mar 2024 16:30:47 +0000

The Bad News: Fiery Serpents‘From Mount Hor they set out by way of the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom. And the people became impatient on the way. And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.”’ Numbers 21:4-5- With everything God had done for them, they still moaned, grumbled and questioned.- So like us: forgetfulness of God’s faithfulness and provision. Anger at present challenges and difficulties.- Numbers - this is what the ‘fiery serpents’ represent: the consequences of sin, destruction and ultimately death. (Numbers 21:6)- Sin alienates us from God and destroys our relationships. From Eve, Adam, Cain onwards, spreading into world.Deeper Truth: Sin not just what we do but the condition we are in‘For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.’ John 3:17-18- Christ comes not to condemn but to save. Why? Because he loves us.- But, if we refuse this offer, we are ‘condemned already’. Why? The destructive power of sin that lives within us.The Light is not easy to come to…- Perceptiveness of Christ’s comment: ‘the light (Christ) has come into the world, and people loved the darkness more than the light.’ Why? ‘Because their works were evil’ John 3:19.- “Light” an obviously positive image? Except that it exposes sin and leaves us vulnerable. We have to face up to what we truly are, and have done. Are you doing that? Are there parts of your life which are in darkness? Be honest.- Challenge of being a Christian: Honesty, humility.- The Darkness is easy: no challenge to hide and continue in sin.- Christianity not a crutch but a great challenge. A challenge to overcome ourselves.The Good News: The Bronze Serpent- Story of the Bronze Serpent: the people repented. “We have sinned because we have spoken against God and against you” (Numbers 21:7).- This is the second step to the Christian life: repentance. Sorrow for sin. Contrition. Desire to put sin away and live life with God. Not just private whisper but confession and restitution where appropriate.- The Lord provided a bronze serpent set upon a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live (Numbers 21:8).- Imagery hard to understand: why a serpent, why upon a pole?- Christ’s words help us to understand: ‘As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life’ (John 3:14-15).- Bronze serpent was a sign of Christ lifted up on the cross for sin. We must look/believe in Christ. Trust Christ to atone for sin, to heal us, to save us.- Why a serpent. Christ became sin (2 Cor. 5:21). A sign of the curse of sin.Eternal Life: Living in the Truth- Eternal life (aionios) – not pie in the sky but a new life, beginning now: holiness, light, free from bondage of sin, living in the real world, foretaste of eternity, knowledge and love of God. This is what is offered. Come to the light.For God so loved the world…- Haven’t mentioned John 3:16. Often misunderstood. Not God loved so much but God loved in this way: in the way that he provided the Bronze Serpent, in the way that he gave his only begotten Son. He has given of his best, the greatest gift, the greatest sacrifice. This is how he loves us. This is the love that we are called to. Receive it.Exhortation

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Be Zealous. Not Angry.

Sun, 03 Mar 2024 15:46:01 +0000

Lent 3, ReadingsEx. 20:1-7, 1 Cor. 1 18-25, John 2:13-22‘And making a whip from cords, he drove them all out of the temple…’- It is easy to forget about this and focus on meekness of Christ.- Suggest that this passage is not a justification for outbursts of anger and the cultivation of an angry outlook.- New Testament unilaterally negative about anger: ranging from caution to outright condemnation.‘The anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.’ James 1:20‘“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment.’” Matthew 5:21-22(b)- Do not deceive yourselves: most anger is sinful and the effects that follow from it are destructive.Why is anger so dangerous?- Anger causes unhappiness, destroying friendships, marriages, relationships between parents and children.- Anger, as Christ shows us, leads to further sin against others. First anger, then harsh and insulting words, then action to wound and hurt, then murder. Better not to start out on this path.- Anger enslaves us to itself. In most extreme form, anger takes over our lives and dictates our actions, distorting our souls and even our physical appearances.o ‘Whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved.’ 2 Peter 2:19. Anger, perhaps only on a par with lust, has the power to take us over and make us do things we wouldn’t normally do. Anything that removes self-control from us is to be rigorously contended with until we achieve mastery over it.o The wisdom of Marcus Aurelius: ‘No longer allow your passions to pull you around like a puppet.’ Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, Book 7.29.- Anger prohibits our forgiving others, as we are commanded to by Christ. Anger removes interior peace, which we are called to by Christ. Anger prevents spiritual growth.- Anger is often rooted in other sin such as pride and impatience. Ever caught yourself thinking, “Who does that person think he is speaking to me like that?” If we were more humble, we’d find it easier not to grow angry when slighted.What’s going on in John 2?- A rare event. Not something happening every five minutes.- Christ is upset not about the trading itself, which was congruent with God’s Law, but with the locationof it: the temple of God.- The location of the trading indicated lack of love for God, lack of respect and reverence towards him: ‘Instead of solemn dignity and the murmur of prayer there is the bellowing of cattle and the bleating of sheep. Instead of brokenness and contrition, holy adoration and prolonged petition, there is noisy commerce’. Carson, John, p.179.- The way we worship God demonstrates our attitude towards him.- We must admit that Christ is certainly not meek and mild in this passage. These are aggressive, if not violent, actions.Difference between anger and zeal‘His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me”.’ John 2:17- Jesus was zealous, not angry. What’s the difference?- Firstly, Christ’s actions are fully under his own control, the control of his will and rational faculties. He is not being overcome with emotion.o Gentleness is restrained strength.- The object of Christ’s action: Not sin such as pride or impatience but passion for the glory of God and for the purity of his house.Implications- There are matters that ought to upset us. We are not advocating Stoic detachment from all emotion. Indeed, this, taken to extreme, is also sin, the sin of indifference. Blasphemy against God and desecration of holy places ought to upset up. Seems apposite given spate of “silent discos” and other inappropriate events in churches here and abroad with the explicit object of trade.- We ought also to be upset at terrible crimes against the vulnerable and the innocent: women and children murdered in war, the taking of the lives of the weakest and most vulnerable amongst us, the mistreatment and neglect of the elderly. All things commonplace in our world and to which we are often so indifferent.- We ought also to be upset with ourselves and our own sin. The Apostle Paul reminds us that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:19). Do we allow (as it were) money-changers and traders to enter the temples of our own souls? Are we sufficiently zealous to drive out sinful impulses and their consequences? Are we seeking to glorify God with the temples of our own bodies? Should we not be upset with ourselves when we fall short of this?- Additionally, there are times when we ought to be content with upsetting or offending other people. We should not seek this but our faith, consistently lived out, will at times be offensive to others.Then the disciples came and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?” He answered, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up. Let them alone; they are blind guides. And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.” Mark 15:12-14- What is the alternative? Cowardice in the face of conflict. Lack of faithfulness to the truth. Trying to please everyone when this is impossible. Saying, “Peace, peace” where there is no peace (Jer. 6:14).- Following Christ is not about being nice and/or inoffensive but about faithfulness and love for God and neighbour. Sometimes real love involves telling uncomfortable or even offensive truths.However- All of this must operate within a sanctified framework of humility, self-control, and accountability to the will of God. We must be cautious not to let anger creep in.- Are you a slave to anger? Repent, and seek to control yourself. There is nothing strong or respectable about being like this and it will destroy you.- Are you indifferent to the things that God cares about? Resolve to care more. Perhaps some Lenten observance that might help you.- Finally, be more upset with your own sin than that of other people. Your body is a temple of the Lord. Drive far from it the money changers and the merchants who would defile it. Resolve to put away sin far from you and to reverence the Lord in your thoughts, words, and actions.

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Faith Changes Everything

Sun, 25 Feb 2024 15:58:16 +0000

Lent 2, 2024Gen. 17:1-7, 15-16; Romans 4:13-end; Mark 8:31-endThe Faith of AbrahamThe Situation- Situation faced by Abraham: God promised him offspring and that ‘he would be heir of the world’ (Romans 4:13).- By 99 and 100 years-old respectively, Abraham and Sarai had no offspring together. His body was ‘as good as dead’. Sarah’s womb was barren. (Romans 4:19).- What was going on?Consider this:- What was Abraham thinking about the promise of God? Must have thought: Why is God so slow? My time has passed; what is he thinking? Surely it would have been better to fulfil this promise whilst I and Sarai were in our prime?- So for us: Why is God so slow to answer prayer? Can’t he see that I could have used an answer earlier? Why is he not blessing me? Why does he not give me what I ask for? Why has this problem or illness not cleared up? Why are my relationships such a mess? Why do I not seem to be making progress in the spiritual life?Why does everything seem so stuck, so stagnant, so the same?Why does God make us wait?- Consider the faith of Abraham: ‘He did not weaken in faith when he considered his body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. No unbelief made him waver concerning the promises of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that he was able to do what he had promised (Romans 4:19-21).‘He grew strong in his faith’- God was more interested in Abraham’s heart than his material circumstances.o Let us recognise that about our own lives: God can take care of everything in an instant if he wants to. He doesn’t. Why? He has got plans for your soul.- God wants us to have faith…enough to make us wait, enough to let us suffer.“Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of – throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.” C. S. Lewis, Mere ChristianityWhat is faith?- Faith is a disposition of the heart and mind. Consider Abraham: could have looked at material circumstances and panicked: How is this ever going to happen? Look at this mess!- Consider Peter in our Gospel story: Far be it from you, Lord, to suffer and to die. This must never be! (Mark 8:32). Christ’s reply: “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man” (Mark 8:33).- Easy for us to look at our material circumstances and think, “I cannot possibly imagine x,y, and z.” And to conclude, “It can’t happen”.- But, have we factored in the reality of God? What difference would that make?- Exercise/Muscle analogy.“Souls are like athletes”- Example of Thomas Merton’s father, Owen, an artist.. Not lived a particularly pious life but had some faith. Struck down with mortal illness that impeded his speech. As a boy Merton witnessed his decline:“One day I found his bed covered with little sheets of blue note-paper on which he had been drawing. And the drawings were real drawings. But they were unlike anything he had ever done before – picture of little, irate Byzantine-looking saints with beards and great halos.“Of us all, Father was the only one who really had any kind of a faith. And I do not doubt that he had very much of it, and that behind the walls of his isolation, his intelligence and will, unimpaired, and not hampered in any essential way by the partial obstruction of some of his senses, were turned to God, and communed with God.“Souls are like athletes, that need opponents worthy of them, if they are to be tried and extended and pushed to the full use of their powers, and rewarded according to their capacity. And my father was in a fight with this tumor, and none of us understood the battle. We thought he was done for, but it was making him great. And I think God was already weighing out to him the weight of reality that was to be his reward.”Thomas Merton, The Seven Storey Mountain, pp.91-92- To all the world, you may seem done for. But, if you have faith, you are being made great and prepared for your reward.Faith transforms everything- Gospel reading: ultimate act of faith to commend our souls to God in death.- Bonhoeffer: “Death is not wild and terrible, if only we can be still and hold fast to God’s Word. Death is not bitter, if we have not become bitter ourselves. Death is grace, the greatest gift of grace that God gives to people who believe in him. Death is mild, death is sweet and gentle; it beckons to us with heavenly power, if only we realize that it is the gateway to our homeland, the tabernacle of joy, the everlasting kingdom of peace… Death is hell and night and cold, if it is not transformed by our faith. But that is just what is so marvellous, that we can transform death.”

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Spiritual Warfare in the Wilderness

Sun, 18 Feb 2024 15:44:55 +0000

Lent 1, 2024Mark 1:9-15“Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the Gospel.”Mark 1:24-25Reading helps us focus today upon Christ as Saviour, Example, and Master.Christ as Saviour- Christ tempted in wilderness 40 days. Fasting acc. to Matthew 4:2.- Why? Christ reverses pattern of Adam, fulfils vocation of Israel.Adam was cast out of Paradise into the desert…the second Adam returned from the desert to Paradise…Adam brought death through the tree. Christ brought life through the cross…Christ lived in the desert, for he knew where he could find the lost. With their error cancelled, he could recall them to Paradise.St. Ambrose, Exposition of the Gospel of Luke- Adam expelled from Garden into wilderness. Israel wandered in wilderness 40 years and showed disobedience.- Christ ventures into wilderness to demonstrate perfect obedience and call his people back to Paradise.- Patristic idea of “Recapitulation”. Christ fulfilling callings of God’s people in OT, that he might lead us back to God.- To remember during Lent: Christ enters the wilderness to find us and save us. We are saved through his perfect obedience and through putting our faith in him. Our observances must be seen in this light.Christ as Example- Christ baptised, anointed by Holy Spirit in form of a dove, said to be beloved Son of the Father. Then “immediately” (εὐθὺς) driven (ἐκβάλλει – or “thrown”) into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit.- Extraordinary verse: no time to revel in baptismal glory. Violently driven into great spiritual challenge by the Holy Spirit.- When we become Christians, we are thrown into the midst of a spiritual battle.- Christ in midst of wild beasts and angels. We are in the midst of angels and demonic principalities.“The conscious Orthodox Christian lives in a world that is clearly fallen, both the earth below and the stars above, all being equally far from the lost paradise for which he is striving. He is part of a suffering mankind all descended from the one Adam, the first man, and all alike in need of the redemption offered freely by the Son of God by his saving Sacrifice on the Cross…he knows well that there are “advanced intelligences” in the universe besides himself; these are of two kinds, and he strives to live so as to dwell with those who serve God (the angels) and avoid contact with the others who have rejected God and strive in their envy and malice to draw men into their misfortune.”Fr Seraphim Rose, Orthodoxy and the Religion of the Future, pp.137-138For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.Eph. 6:12- Christ demonstrates this in spiritual warfare in wilderness.- Baptism and reception of HS demonstrate importance of sacraments – Baptism for anointing with HS, confirmation for strengthening, Holy Communion for renewing, Confession for liberation.- Second reason for Christ’s fast: Example to us.- Christ teaches and exemplifies discipline of fasting: “When you fast…” (Mt. 6:16).- Not specified how but that his disciples will fast. Church provides different times of year at which fasting is recommended/appropriate: eg Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, Lent more generally.- Why? To turn our wills towards God. When we might rather eat, instead we pray. This changes the direction of our hearts.Christ as Master- Only thing Christ told us to do which he himself did not do: Repent.- “The time is fulfilled and the Kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the Gospel.” Mark 1:15- Just after arrest of John the Baptist: indicative of fulfilment of OT era, purpose of which to prepare for Christ’s coming.- Hence, “The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand/has come near.” The time - ὁ καιρὸς: not chronos (time generally) but kairos (appointed time): special moment, full of significance. Here: the coming of Christ to preach the Gospel.- This time is still now. God gives us a chance and waits because he is patient. But he tells us to repent.- To Repent (μετανοέω) lit. to change one’s mind, think again. Radical change of heart and mind.- In Lent, we are called to focus on repentance. How? Putting away obvious sin.- What if no obvious, egregious sin? Is there habitual or besetting sin? Bursts of anger, judgemental criticism of others, gluttony and over-indulgence?- Deepening of repentance also involves sorrow over indifference to God.o Spiritual life not just about avoidance of wrong but pursuit of what is good. Sorrow over our lack of desire for the good is an appropriate form of repentance.- Attitude and action go together. Action:o Going to confession – to receive tangible reassurance of God’s forgiveness and love. Please consider availing yourself of confession during Lent, perhaps once, perhaps for the first time. A powerful sacramental tool in the spiritual life. Available by appointment with me.Summary- We receive a renewed call from Christ to the Sacraments of the Church, to fasting and prayer, to deepening our repentance and humility before God. Let us continue in this attitude as we meet him in the wilderness of Lent.

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Hearts Must Be Broken

Thu, 15 Feb 2024 10:14:51 +0000

Hearts Must Be Broken - Ash Wednesday, 2024Joel 2:1-2, 12-17; 2 Cor. 5:20(b)-6:10; Matt. 6:1-6, 16-21“The day of the LORD is coming; it is near…”- Context of reading from Joel- National and religious calamity: locusts, drought, possible invasion. Locusts: no wine and grain, therefore no offerings in Temple.- National and religious calamity linked. National and religious poverty.- Why? Not huge detail in Joel but implication is national apostasy, lack of care for things of God.Awake, you drunkards, and weep,and wail, all you drinkers of wine,because of the sweet wine,for it is cut off from your mouth.Joel 1:5“Put on sackcloth and lament, O priests;wail, O ministers of the altar.Go in, pass the night in sackcloth, O ministers of my God!Because grain offering and drink offeringare withheld from the house of your God.”Joel 1:13- Implication: priests not taking their role seriously. Nation, not receiving spiritual leadership, gets drunk and revels.- Notice corporate dimension: This is happening together. We are connected to one another, socially, economically, and spiritually. Do not forget this corporate dimension during Lent: seeking individual and corporate renewal.What corporate renewal are we seeking?- Parallels between ancient Judah and the present day.- Let judgement begin with the household of God (1 Peter 4:17). The Church must take responsibility.- CofE institutional crisis. Church Commissioners with billions of pounds in central funds, dioceses haemorrhaging money. Churches closed and amalgamated. Numbers of worshippers declining rapidly. Rev’d Marcus Walker: “doom spiral” - reduced numbers, less money, fewer clergy, reducing numbers etc.- Walker also: continuing controversy over child abuse scandal, lack of transparency in process.- As we approached the season of Lent, considerable controversy caused by Canterbury Cathedral’s “90s silent disco”. Drinking, singing, dancing in thousand year-old church, place of martyrdom of Thomas Beckett.- Parallel between Joel and our day? Lack of devotion to God. Drunkenness and revelling. National and spiritual decline.- Grain and wine cut off for worship in Judah and Jerusalem. Bread and wine lacking in our churches due to lack of money and clergy.- “The day of the LORD”: God’s judgment for sin and indifference.“Return to me with all your hearts…”- “The day” is one of hope. Why?“Return to the LORD your God,for he is gracious and merciful,slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love;and he relents over disaster.”Joel 2:13- God accepts sincere repentance, longs to be reunited with us, as individuals, as a Church, as a nation.“Who knows whether he will not turn and relent,and leave a blessing behind him,a grain offering and a drink offeringfor the LORD you God?”Joel 2:14- Why God leaving blessing of grain and drink?- Relenting of locust attack, new crops to make grain and wine, therefore religious renewal in Temple.- Not a certain promise but could be for CofE too: renewal of religious life due to God’s blessing. Bread and wine offered in sincere worship up and down the nation.- From doom spiral to virtuous circle: devotion to Christ, to God’s blessing, to more resources for the church, to greater devotion to Christ.- But this must start with us, even if only a few.How do we return?“‘Yet even now,’ declares the Lord,‘Return to me with all your heart,with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;and rend your hearts and not your garments.’” Joel 2:12- God seeks hearts, not outward display for him or others.- Warned by Christ in Sermon on the Mount:“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven…“But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”Matthew 6:1, 17-18- “Rend your hearts and not your garments” - more important that hearts are broken than garments torn, than religious symbols taken on.- Religious observance signs of deep repentance and desire for God in our hearts.- Take the ash, but do so in sincerity of heart. Approach Lent in same way.- Let our hearts be broken for our own sin, for our nation’s, and for our Church’s. Let us die to sin in the hope that we will once again live before Him.Amen.

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Ascending the High Mountain of Lent

Sun, 11 Feb 2024 13:33:50 +0000

2 Kings 2:1-12, 2 Cor. 4:3-6, Mark 9:2-9‘And he led them to a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them.’Introduction- Ash Wednesday approaches, the beginning of Lent.- Lent period of penitence and devotion, preparation for joy of Easter.o Liturgical calendar helps focus on aspects of Christian life.o In culture, time is homogenous. All the same. No difference between seasons. Example: all food available all the time, no seasonality. No appreciate of waiting for things (eg asparagus in spring) and therefore enjoying it more.o So with liturgical calendar. We abstain now, for more joy later.- Lent requires preparation.- Let us consider our readings and their relevance, particularly the Transfiguration which can act as a type of the Lenten journey.The High Mountain- First, disciples ascend a high mountain. Speaks of the ascent of the soul to God, particularly during Lent.- The mountain is high. Difficulty, challenge. True of life but especially of Christian journey.o Lent is long and traditionally requires sacrifice: fasting, almsgiving, prayer. Could water it down, but to receive benefits challenge must be embraced.o General rule: if we take Lent seriously, we will find greater joy in Easter. Contrast greater.- Mountain means we must ascend. No ascent is easy. Gravity pulls us down.o Those who ascend can find joy in so doing. Example of “free soloing”. Why do people do this? Risk, challenge, exhilaration, possibility of great achievement. So too the Christian journey: failure a possibility but also spiritual progress.o Ascent means sacrifice: ropes, boots, gear, essential food, but other things left on earth. In Lent, our tools are prayer, fasting, repentance, almsgiving, greater devotion to Christ: requires sacrifice: food, time, energy, other resources.o Ultimate goal is summit. Disciples saw a new vision of Christ in Transfiguration. Elisha saw Elijah taken up to heaven, received a double portion of his spirit. In Lent, the Easter vigil, renewed relationship with Christ, Easter joy. Christ is the summit.o Remember: Lent is “dark” but the light will come. Symbolised by transfiguration.Jesus led them…- Disciples led up mountain by Christ. Christ is the summit, Christ is the way.- Motivation of our hearts: not from guilt or duty but love. We follow Christ because we want to be with him, to know him more.- Elisha followed Elijah though he had three chances to turn back. He had to persevere. Why did he? Love for his master, desire for a portion of his spirit.o Our perseverance founded in love for Christ, desire for his presence.By themselves…- Three disciples went with Jesus. They went “by themselves”. Elisha followed Elijah alone, though he was told to turn back. NT reading: Gospel is veiled to unbelievers, minds are blinded by “the God of this world” (2 Cor. 4:3-4).- Speaks of hostile environment. World carries on as normal, ignoring Lent. No desire for Christ, no faith. Scorn for those who do. Can feel lonely, even pointless.o To observe Lent, expectations of world must be scorned. Could mean being left out or abstaining from certain things. Necessary sacrifice.AffectionsWhat may prevent us?- Unwillingness and Fear. Physical difficulty, psychological/emotional pain.o Health must be taken into account when eg fasting.o Consider Daniel’s fast in Babylon: refused King’s meat and wine, had vegetables and water for 10 days. Daniel more healthy than those who had meat and wine. Implication: Daniel blessed by God for abstaining, even physically (Daniel 1:8-16).o Have faith like Daniel. God will bless your abstinence. Consider him during this season.- Lack of Desire. Sometimes hard to bring ourselves to do something, even though part of us wants to.o Helpful quotation from recent film: “Don’t think. Just do.” Not no thinking at all, but, once resolved and planned, just go for it.o Biblical principle: “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Our hearts follow our actions.

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The Example of the Holy Family

Sun, 04 Feb 2024 13:58:14 +0000

Candlemas, 2024Luke 2:22-40The Holy FamilySome Context- We find ourselves forty days after the birth of Christ.- Law of Moses required mother of male child to offer a purification sacrifice, could only be done at this point at the Temple in Jerusalem (Lev. 12:1-8). One lamb and turtledove/pigeon or two turtledoves/pigeons.- Ritual sacrifice of an animal in place of sinner to make atonement for transgression before God.Hence, verse 22, ‘…when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord.’- The sacrifice of the Law was for the mother only and the son did not need to be present.- Perhaps an echo here of Hannah offering Samuel to the Lord for a special service to God.Verse 23 indicates a second sacrifice, “Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord.”- Relates to Exodus 13. All firstborn male creatures are to be sacrificed to the Lord. All firstborn male sons are to redeemed – ie parents to pay five shekels for the child when a month old.- This was a reminder of the Lord’s redeeming Israel from Egypt and saving firstborn from a similar fate.Finally, verse 24 indicates that the Holy Family gave a sacrifice permitted to poor families.- In Leviticus 12, two sacrifices are required, one a lamb a year old for a burnt offering, and a pigeon or turtledove for a sin offering (12:6). If this is unaffordable, two turtledoves or two pigeons are required (12:8).- Luke implies that the latter is what is offered by Mary.Several things that we can learn from example of Mary and the Holy Family1) Obedience to the Law in all its details- Mary and Joseph knew that something very special was happening with their son Jesus: messages of angels to Mary and Joseph, the Virgin birth, events with Elizabeth and her child John (the Baptist), visit of Magi, and many other things.- Yet, we see them diligently observing the details of the Law and making the journey to Jerusalem to offer right sacrifices.- Humility not to count themselves exceptional, even though they were chosen for great things.- We learn that there are no exceptions in the Church and the Christian life.- Those who are chosen for “greater” things – public roles, roles with great levels of responsibility – or given more obvious gifts should be more diligent in demonstrating humility and obedience and not less.- These responsibilities and gifts are given for the service of God, not for glorification of man.- Sadly, terrible examples are often set by ministers in the Church who lose sight of the example of Mary and the Holy Family: clerics who abuse their positions and even their own flock because they consider themselves above the law of God.- Let us humble ourselves and offer right sacrifices like the Holy Family.2) Consecration of next generation to God.- As said above, it seems Mary made a special offering of Christ to the Lord in the Temple at Jerusalem.- We learn from this from Exodus 13 to pass on accounts of the Lord’s faithfulness to next generation.- “And when in time to come your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ you shall to him, ‘By a strong hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt, from the house of slavery. For when Pharoah stubbornly refused to let us go, the LORD killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of animals.” (Exodus 13:14-15).- Our faith is something that is passed on in families. It is the responsibility of parents to see to this as diligently as possible.- The Church plays an important role.- Perhaps you have no children or your children are grown up. Ask yourself: what can I do for the next generation? Can you offer skills or ability to assist with eg Sunday School?3) Poverty of spirit.- The Holy Family offered a lesser sacrifice to God because that was all they could afford.- We learn that, even if we are of modest means, we can still give what we are able to.- Remember the widow who gave two small copper coins to the treasury and was commended by Jesus for giving out of her poverty. Because she did this, she gave more than those who were rich. (Mark 12:41-44)- Ultimately these actions reveal the disposition of our hearts towards God. If we love God, we will give freely and generously. If we do not, we will find this harder. But we must remember that it is in giving that our hearts follow.- St Ambrose, “For this is the true sacrifice of Christ: chastity of body and grace of the spirit.” Ambrose, The Six Days of Creation. Whatever is given or not is ultimately given from the heart.- Ask yourself, in the presence of God, “What am I being called to give to the Lord?” Think creatively about what he might be calling you to, especially in the Church.The Poverty of Christ- The poverty of the Holy Family was no accident. Christ was born into modest circumstances for a reason.- 2 Corinthians 8:9: ‘For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.’- Christ divested himself of the riches of heaven to become materially poor.- Regardless of circumstances, all people are spiritually poor without presence of God.- Christ became materially poor to raise us up to status of spiritual richness. Culminating in ultimate poverty of his crucifixion and death.- As we approach the memorial of his sacrifice in this Holy Communion, let us acknowledge our spiritual poverty and our need to be redeemed by the cross of Christ. Let us offer ourselves, as Mary and the Holy Family did, with empty hands and willing hearts, and with faith that the Lord with bless with great spiritual richness both in our lives and in the Church.Amen.

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The Woman and the Dragon

Sun, 28 Jan 2024 14:43:06 +0000

Fourth Sunday after Epiphany, 2024Rev. 12:1-6Introduction- Comments on New Testament reading. Revelation, often perceived as a “hard” book.- Genre is apocalyptic, literally means “unveiling”. Related to season of Epiphany in which something is revealed in a dramatic way.- Apocalyptic takes us behind curtain of normal appearances to the spiritual realities that underlie them.- Apocalypse helps us to confront important spiritual realities.- This often done through “symbols”, “signs” “portents”. Pictorial images of literal realities that have to be interpreted and applied. I will do my best.Two Signs- Passage begins with two signs.1) ‘…a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.’ (Rev. 12:1)- This sign probably means more than one thing: the Old covenant people of Israel or Mary the mother of Christ are two meanings.- Church Fathers often took it to mean the Church.- Hippolytus, for example, ‘By the “woman clothed with the sun,” he meant most manifestly the church, endued with the Father’s Word, whose brightness is above the sun. And by “the moon under her feet,” he referred to [the church] being adorned, like the moon, with heavenly glory. And the words “upon her head a crown of twelve stars” refer to the twelve apostles by whom the church was founded.’ Hippolytus, On the Antichrist.- Consider then the spiritual luminosity of the Church.- Without the sun no life, no light. Dare we understand the Church in the same way. Difficult to imagine perhaps but is this not because we have simply lost confidence in the luminosity of God’s Word as revealed in Scripture, in Church’s proclamation and in the sacraments?‘She was pregnant, and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth’ (Rev. 12:2)- As Mary travailed in birth pains, so the Church labours to bear Christ in the world.- Giving birth a good metaphor for Christian life and ministry. We bear the weight of abstinence, of responsibility, of prayer, and it feels heavy. But when we are delivered of it through victory over sin or faithfully discharging tasks given to us we experience freedom and joy. 2) Second sign shows us that what besets us is not only loss of confidence and fear of suffering but tangible enemy.‘Another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his head seven diadems’ (Rev 12: 3)- ‘A great red dragon’ is Satan, ‘that ancient serpent…the deceiver of the whole world…the accuser of the brethren’ (Rev. 12:9,10). Red indicating blood, anger, murder, oppression. John 8:44, “He was a murderer from the beginning”. A dragon because fierce and beast-like.- ‘Seven heads and ten horns’ – Heads means influence; seven symbolically represents a huge amount. Horns means power; ten a similar thing. In other words, Satan has huge influence and power over world events, even though unseen by men.‘His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to earth…’ (Rev. 12:4)- Sometimes taken to mean a third of the angels in heaven tempted to apostatise and war against God as in eg Paradise Lost. Here more likely reference to Satan successfully deceiving saints so that they fall from relationship with God to sin, heresy, and apostasy.‘The dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child he might devour it.’ (Rev. 12:4)- Reminds us of the diabolical nature of Herod’s decree to murder infant children in pursuit of Christ.- Relates more broadly to Satan’s desire to cut off purposes of God at their root, to destroy God’s work in its making, at the beginning if possible.- Contrast here calling of the church to labour sacrificially for Christ’s presence in the world and the beast-like violence and deceit of Satan. Let us remember the weapons of our warfare: not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit says the Lord (Zech. 4:6).Two Further Images- Final verses tell us something about Christ and something about his Church.‘She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne.’ (Rev. 12:5)- Despite Herod and Satan’s efforts, Christ lived, proclaimed the Gospel, performed miracles, was killed, rose again, and ascended to the throne-room of God.- We are reminded that Satan’s efforts will ultimately be defeated.‘…and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for 1,260 days.’ (Rev. 12:6)- Image of Mary in Egypt, yes, but also the Church in this age.- We are in the wilderness: a place of spiritual barrenness and hostility.- But we have “a place” here, prepared by God, in which we are to be nourished.o Refers to the place God has for us to live, the tasks he calls us to do.o But more specifically the Church: the place we are nourished through prayer, worship, the word of God faithfully proclaimed and the sacraments.So…In light of these spiritual realities:Recognise the nature of the spiritual battle we face. Remember the words of The Usual Suspects, “The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was to convince the world he didn’t exist.” He does exist, and we mustn’t be ignorant of his schemes (Ephesians 6:11).Refresh yourselves with the God-given nourishment of the ministry of the Church: our fellowship, prayer, worship, the Word of God and the sacraments. This is how we feed and arm ourselves in this spiritual battle. Come to mass, morning prayer, catechesis, confession regularly. Like a soldier in training for battle, practicing his aim, exercising his body, etc.Resolve not to allow Satan to sweep you down to earth, but to persevere in the faith, accepting the suffering of childbirth as a sign of the life that is to come. In the wilderness, do not give up or give in, but endure to the end when we will be where Christ has gone before.Amen.

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The Transforming Power of Christ's Presence

Sun, 21 Jan 2024 19:46:59 +0000

Epiphany 2, 2024John 2:1-11The Story- Story about a crisis at a wedding: the wine has run out. Serious crisis in literal terms. Symbolically represents barrenness of Jewish religion at the time. More broadly, represents lack of joy, loss of conviviality, running down of resources.- Until Christ’s mother petitions him and he performs ‘the first of his signs…and manifested his glory’ (v.12), turning six large stone jars of water into fine wine, finer wine than was had before.- Story really about the transforming presence and power of Christ in human life and society more broadly.Consider the words of bridegroom, when given water become wine by master of the feast, “Every man serves the good wine first and when they are drunk the lesser; but you have saved the good wine until now” (v.10).- Christ reverses the normal order of things.1) Normally, good wine first and, being drunk, the lesser.- A picture of life without God. Times of abundance in life – financially, socially, physically – which inevitably run out as strength wanes and death approaches. Example of plane coming in to land having been in flight for some time.- No God, no hope of life after death, no belief in anything but nature eventually leads to emptiness, barrenness, loneliness etc.- Spoke last week about the consequences of shunning God from the Church: decline, lack of interest and commitment, death.- In society same pattern. Culture has changed in my lifetime: growing up, I was surrounded by partygoing, Friday-night lifestyle. Lots of drinking, drugs, underage sex, teenage pregnancies, etc. New generation affected by social media and internet usage much more solitary.“Today’s adolescents spend far less time in person with their friends - up to an hour less per day - than did members of Gen X. And dear God, they are lonely. They report greater loneliness than any generation on record.” Abigail Shrier, Irreversible Damage, p.3- Instead of being out with friends, kids are at home alone on their phones, looking at social media, comparing their inadequacies with curated, unrealistic images of perfection.- From US stats, but reasonable to assume similar in UK, Shrier reports between 2009-17, increase of high schoolers contemplating suicide rose 25%, between 2005-14 teens diagnosed with depression rose 37% with worst hit being teenage girls. Additionally, since 2009 self-harming increased 62 per cent. Among preteen girls aged 10-14, self-harm rates up 189% compared to 2010.- Teenage pregnancy and sex as low as has been for decades, whilst rates of depression, anxiety, suicide, and self-harm massively up. As though younger generation is running out of life.- Or, to put it another way, the good wine has been drunk, and only the bad wine of bitter and negative consequences remains.2) “You have saved the good wine until now.”- Difference at the wedding was the presence of Christ, who took what nature would give and transformed it by his supernatural power.- Image of Christ’s presence in our lives and the Church: his presence and power is the difference. The water of our spiritual emptiness transformed into the wine of God’s peace and joy. Once we have developed a taste, we cannot return.- Glasses analogy: once you discover you can’t see very well and obtain appropriate glasses, everything looks blurry when you’re not looking through them. You realise how blind you were.- Wedding feast is a picture of the church at its highest: rejoicing and happiness, conviviality, lit. “life together”. Don’t believe the propaganda, the church can and should be the happiest place on earth.- Part of why we need the Church: we need one another, we need warmth of human community.- The Church is a place of family and companionship for those who are lonely and outcast. Put beautifully by Catechism of Roman Catholic Church:‘Many remain without a human family…The doors of homes, the “domestic churches,” and of the great family which is the Church must be open to all of them. “No one is without a family in this world: the Church is a home and family for everyone, especially those who labour and are heavy laden.’”Catechism of the Roman Catholic Church, citing Familiaris consorto, no. 85, and Matt. 11:28- A great lie: Christians are passionless. Stats I’ve mentioned show passion running dry in the world. Christians are people of desire: those who want to know the creator of the universe and to walk with him, those who desire greater levels of peace and joy than normal life offers, those who cannot bear the thought of death as the final word, those who reach out for eternal bliss and everlasting fecundity. We want so much more and will not be satisfied unless we obtain it. We desire far more not less.- Let us recognise also the centrality of the supernatural in our faith. Christ’s signs were miracles, this is how he “manifested his glory”.- We are not a membership group. We are not here to ameliorate problems in society. We are here to be part of the supernatural manifestation of the glory of Jesus Christ in this world.- When we forget this, we get co-opted into an atheistic project of the divinisation of man and the worship of nature.- Taylor Marshall puts this well: when we deny the supernatural, we ‘deny the unique Incarnation of Jesus Christ and reject the idea of sin and the need for Christ to die and rise again for human salvation. Consequently, there is no grace, no sacraments, and no Church – human nature alone is sufficient for humanity’s happiness’. Taylor Marshall, Infiltration, p,18.- Except, as we have seen, it is not. Neither is there prayer, or somebody to call on beyond this world.- A supernatural faith says that nature is not the final reality but that it points towards something far greater and fundamental: the supernatural realm where God and Christ are.So…- Allow the presence of Christ to transform your water into wine.- Perhaps you don’t believe: asks him to turn your unbelief into faith. “I do believe. Lord, help thou my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24)- Perhaps you are sad or suffering from depression or anxiety. Ask him to give you the wine of his presence and to bring joy to your life.- Perhaps you need a miracle: healing, deliverance, power, provision. Ask him for these things and look for a response from him.- An opportunity today to be anointed in faith. Often when we take a step, sometimes a physical step, we find that something changes.- In general, ask God to change your outlook, to help you to see that life, marriage, family, friendship, relationships can all be transformed by the presence of Jesus Christ. Don’t believe the propaganda. God in Jesus Christ calls us to rejoice!Amen.

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"Too heavenly-minded to be of earthly use?" - Saint Antony the Great

Thu, 18 Jan 2024 14:54:40 +0000

Antony of Egypt – 18th January, 2024- Antony a man who withdrew into the Egyptian desert to live solitary life of prayer (251-356)- Major biography written by Athanasius of Alexandria, The Life of Antony: ‘…simply to remember Antony is a great profit and assistance.’- Why is it profitable to think about a man who lived by himself among tombs and in mountains in the Egyptian desert over a thousand years ago?Antony one of the earliest Christian monks: paradigmatic and influential in several ways.1) A life of prayer: “He prayed constantly, since he learned that it is necessary to pray unceasingly in private.”2) He worked with his hands so as not to burden anybody. Ora et Labora (Prayer and Work)3) He practiced rigorous asceticism: fasting, long hours of prayer, limited sleeping, wearing hair-shirts, etc.4) He fought constantly with Satan and Demons: Demons tempted Antony to break his fasts, give up his life of prayer, indulge in lustful thoughts etc. Demons also appeared in the form of wild beasts and monsters to frighten him. Speaking of Satan: ‘When the enemy could stand it no longer – for he was apprehensive that Antony might before long fill the desert with the discipline – approaching one night with a multitude of demons he whipped him with such force that he lay on the earth, speechless from the tortures’.Pretty strange. So was Antony so heavenly minded that he was of no earthly use?- Antony’s life not just withdrawal but withdrawal and return. For example: ‘Nearly twenty years he spent in this manner (withdrawal for prayer) pursuing the ascetic life by himself, not venturing out and only occasionally being seen by anyone. After this, when many possessed the desire and will to emulate his asceticism, and some of his friends came and tore down and forcefully removed the fortress door, Antony came forth as though from some shrine, having been led into the mysteries and inspired by God’.- Antony became hugely influential upon entire movement of monasticism in early church and beyond. Renowned for his wisdom given to ordinary people, in debate with highly educated Greek philosophers, even towards Roman emperors Constantine the Great and Constantius. Crowds came to be healed of their afflictions and converted to Christ. Accounts of mass conversions and healing reminiscent of the Gospels and the book of Acts.- He was ‘famous everywhere and marvelled at by everyone’: ‘Neither from writings, nor from pagan wisdom, nor from some craft was Antony acclaimed, but on account of religion alone. That this was something given by God no one would deny. For how is it that he was heard of, though concealed and sitting in a mountain, in Spain and Gaul, and in Rome and Africa, unless it was the God who everywhere makes his men known who also promised this to Antony in the beginning? For even though they themselves act in secret, and may want to be forgotten, nevertheless the Lord shows them like lamps to everyone, so that those who hear may know that the commandments have power for amendment of life, and may gain zeal for the way of virtue’.For us?- Great desire to manage ourselves to spiritual fruitfulness and progress. Managerialism will not work.- Spiritual fruit comes from the Lord, who must be sought in periodic withdrawal from the world followed by faithful engagement with it. The former is absolutely vital to the latter. If we try to engage in our own strength and in the power of worldly wisdom we will tire ourselves out and fail. But, if we seek the Lord and his strength, the Lord will bring about spiritual fruit in and through us, often in ways we could not previously have imagined.Final words of Antony: “Now the Greeks leave home and traverse the sea in order to gain an education, but there is no need for us to go abroad on account of the Kingdom of heaven, nor to cross the sea for virtue. For the Lord has told us before, the Kingdom of God is within you. All virtue needs, then, is our willing, since it is in us, and arises from us…If the task depended on something external that must be procured, it would be truly difficult, but since the matter centres in us, let us protect ourselves from sordid ideas, and, since we have received it as a trust, let us preserve the soul for the Lord.”Amen.

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Samuel and the Sons of Eli

Sun, 14 Jan 2024 14:08:30 +0000

Samuel and the Sons of EliEpiphany 2, 20241 Samuel 3:1-20A Well-Known Story- Story of boy Samuel, called by God in temple, very well-known, yet wider context give us a deeper understanding.Context of Religious Decline- Story of 1 Samuel about two priesthoods, one represented by Eli and his sons Hophni and Phineas, and one represented by Samuel, which would bring about the kingship of David.- The word of the LORD was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision… (1 Samuel 3:1)- This at the time of Eli. Eli not a wicked man but father to two wicked sons, rebuked by the Lord, “because his sons were blaspheming God, and he did not restrain them” (1 Samuel 3:13).- Eli was old and soon to be replaced by these two, who treated the sacrificial offerings given to God with contempt and lay with women who were serving in religious ceremonies. We are told of them that they were “worthless men” and that ‘They did not know the LORD’ (1 Samuel 2:12).- The priesthood was falling into disrepute. The priests had no regard for the honour of the Lord.- If the Lord had not intervened, a bleak future remained for his people due to the failure of the priestly class.Yet…‘The lamp of God had not yet gone out’ (1 Samuel 3:3)- Yet, the Lord intended to bless his people through a renewed priesthood, stemming from the faithfulness of Hannah and Elkanah, mediated through their son, Samuel.- Samuel’s calling illustrated in our story: to stand in the presence of God and to hear his voice, to communicate it faithfully, even when message unwelcome.- Word of the Lord was rare, no frequent vision, priesthood falling into disrepute, yet, ‘The lamp of God had not yet gone out in the temple of the Lord, (1 Samuel 3:3)Relevance for us today…- What is the relevance for us?- The lamp of God is dim and flickering but has not gone out. Context of pervasive secularism and increasing antipathy/hostility towards Christianity. And yet, faith in Jesus Christ persists and will do so.- The question is: Who will we be in this story?- Some home truths: Church of England statistics for mission for 2022 just released. Do not make good reading. Decline from about 1.2 million Sunday attendance in early 90s to just under a million at turn of Millennium, to 680,000 in 2019. In 2022, to 549,000. A decline of about 130,000 worshippers in last four years. With another four more periods of similar decline, the CofE will be dead and gone.- This is not happening everywhere. Many evangelical churches and traditional catholic churches are holding steady and increasing in number. I am happy to say that we have seen God’s blessings at HTW in the last six months and I am confident that we will continue to do so.- But we have to observe the wider context and ask why this is happening? And, more importantly, what is God saying to us through this decline? We cannot possibly interpret this as a blessing from God but must realise that people are turning away from the Church because we, like the priestly line of Eli, Hophni and Phineas, are failing to communicate God’s purposes to the world, and are, in many ways, falling short of the most basic standards of faith and practice.- We learn from this story that God will not bless a priesthood and a church that despises his law and has no regard for his glory. He will not allow the worship of his name to die out but will replace those who take the names of priest and church with faithful ministers and a faithful people.How can we be faithful?- How can we be faithful? In a sense, the answer is easy. Eli got it right in the end: “…if he calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak, LORD, for your servant hears.’” (1 Sam. 3:9).- Are we willing to listen to God’s voice? To discern what he has to say and to speak it, even when it is hard? Samuel as a child had to prophesy against the wickedness of the priesthood, again Eli’s own sons. What message might we be given? And are we willing to tell the truth even if it is uncomfortable, even if we will suffer loss for it?- This is not an easy task. There are enemies from without and from within. The world will mock us to scorn and treat us like fools. Those within the Church who are more interested in position, status, and the love of the world will oppose us as they seek to court its favour.- But, ultimately, there is only one thing necessary. There is only one thing that can protect us from disaster, and that is the favour of God.- In the previous chapter to our reading, the LORD spoke to Eli through a man of God, saying, “‘I promised that your house and the house of your father should go in and out before me forever,’ but now the LORD declares: ‘Far be it from me, for those who honour me I will honour, and those who despise me shall be lightly esteemed.’” (1 Samuel 2:30).- Regardless of how it might look in earthly terms, the LORD will honour those who honour him. Those who despise him will be put to shame, maybe not immediately but eventually and inevitably. Friends, decide now to honour him with your whole hearts, come what may. For the lamp of God is growing dim in these days, and the hour approaches when we must all make a choice.Amen.

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Fr Jamie Franklin - The Greatness of Mary

Sun, 24 Dec 2023 18:35:21 +0000

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Fr Jamie Franklin - On Not Being the Christ

Mon, 18 Dec 2023 09:54:04 +0000

Advent III, 2023Isaiah 61:1-4,8-11; 1 Thess. 5:16-24; John 1:6-8, 19-28John the Baptist- Amazing things said of John the Baptist.o Born in miraculous circumstances. Elizabeth advanced in years, unable to bear. Message from an angel of the Lord to Zechariah, Elizabeth will bear a son and ‘“he will be great before the Lord”’ (Luke 1:15).o Jesus said of him, ‘“I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John”’ (Luke 7:28)- What made him so great?- Passage from John gives us an idea. Strong emphasis on negation:o ‘There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light’ (John 1:6-8).o Priests and Levites asked John, “Who are you?” ‘He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ”’ (John 1:20). Are you Elijah? No. Are you the Prophet foretold by Moses? No. Who are you then?o ‘“I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”’ (John 1:23)- He confessed that he was not the Christ and that his role was to prepare people for the true Christ.- I spoke in Advent I about the Antichrist. The one who is another Christ, a false Christ. John is the Anti-Antichrist. He will not receive worship. He will not consider himself to be the solution but points to Jesus.- He says, ‘“He must increase, but I must decrease”’ (John 3:30) and therefore his joy is complete (John 3:29).How can we heed his words?- Realise the truth of this statement, “I am not the Christ” (John 1:20)- In one way or another, we are all tempted to try and be God, if not then Godlike: everywhere at once, able to fix everything, knowing everything, and being able to help everyone. It is hard to acknowledge our limitations.- Let us be human. In this there is great joy and peace:o “I am not the Christ.”- What was great about John was that he knew what God had given him to do and he did it faithfully, never confusing himself with the true Christ, to whom he pointed.What happens when we confuse ourselves, or something else, with the Christ?- Expressive Individualism – Common notion that finding the “true me”, deep inside, and following that intuition will bring happiness. “Be yourself” the mantra of the modern west.- Yet, what does this lead to? Pressure to find within shifting mixture of feelings, intuition and desire the meaning of life. Inevitably unfulfilling. Too great a weight to bear. Brings great anxiety, exacerbated now by internet and social media. Depression, misery.o Current “mental health crisis”: though greatest life expectancy, incredible technology, yet unhappiness has never been greater. Eg. 1/3rd of young women in the UK reporting anxiety and depression and increasing suicide rates among young people and children.- We must recognise that we are not the star of the show. We are one part of a great story. The story is all about Jesus.- Recognising that we are part of this story brings freedom from anxiety (I do not have be the Christ for myself or others), joy at his glory (“Behold, the Lamb of God”), wisdom and direction. We can know who we really are.- Institutional Idolatry – The Church or this church is the most important thing. It is an end in itself and everything must be sacrificed for it.- This leads to empire-building and the exaltation of church leaders. Can lead to compromise, as we put maintaining unity above being faithful to God.- If the institution collapses, our faith is devastated because it was not anchored in Jesus.- Placement student asked me once, “In the midst of institutional crisis, how do you keep passion alive?” Can’t remember how I answered, but I would answer now, “Remembering that it is all about Jesus, his story, his glory, not my own, not the glory of the institution.” ‘Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but to your name give the glory’ (Psalm 115:1)A word on John’s message –‘“‘Make straight the way of the Lord’, as the prophet Isaiah said.”’ John 1:23- Imagery from Isaiah 40:3 – levelling of hills and valleys to make Jewish return from exile possible. Here applied to Jesus: make a path available to him.- A call to repentance and faith. Are there hills of pride in your heart? Humble yourself before the Lord. Are there valleys of sin, actions which degrade you and others around you? Repent and be restored to your true humanity.Gaudete Sunday – “Rejoice!”- Finally, third Sunday of Advent is Gaudete Sunday, meaning “rejoice!”- We wear rose coloured vestments as a sign of the joy that is present even in penitential seasons such as Advent.- John the Baptist is a reminder that true joy, true life, comes from knowing the true Christ and rejoicing in his presence.

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Fr Jamie Franklin - After the Darkness Lifts

Thu, 14 Dec 2023 14:39:30 +0000

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Fr Jamie Franklin - What's So Hard About Advent?

Thu, 07 Dec 2023 10:32:57 +0000

In this sermon, Fr Jamie Franklin asks us to consider what it is about the soul of modern man that he cannot bear to observe the season of Advent but must always rush on to Christmas. Have we lost the ability to face the difficult challenges and significant questions of life? And what hope does the Christian faith really offer in the midst of a chaotic and turbulent world?

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Fr Jamie Franklin - How to Identify the Antichrist

Mon, 04 Dec 2023 10:06:21 +0000

Advent 1, 2023Isaiah 64:19; 1 Cor. 13:9; Mark 13:24-37Advent- Season of Advent preparation for two comings of Christ: birth and second coming and final judgment. Therefore a penitential season: hence purple.- Our Gospel reading clearly about the end of history, what it will be like.- But it gives us great insight into how to live the Christian life today.“Be on guard, keep awake.”- Story at end of reading:“(The final hour) is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake. Therefore stay awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning— lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake.” Mark 13:32-36- Makes sense by itself: Christ is coming back at a time you do not know therefore keep awake and be on your guard.- But wider context of Mark 13 crucial. Our Sunday lectionary reading gives us only half of it.- This section is not just a generic exhortation to wait for Christ but a call for spiritual discernment. Critical to the Christian life.- Much Christianity doesn’t show signs of this: easy to simply accept anything that presents itself as good. But Christ shows us that the world is full of deception and that Satan desires to deceive even committed Christians.Mark 13 – Wider Context- Before speaking about this passage, an exhortation not to switch off. These are the words of Christ and so as important as anything else he said. He tells us this specifically so that we will be prepared: “But be on guard: I have told you all things beforehand” (Mark 13:23). Pay attention!- In Mark 13, Jesus speaks to his disciples about the course of world history. And he divides history up into two parts: the world as it is now, and the world as it will be at the very end.- The point of this discourse is that Jesus is warning his disciples (including us) not to misread the signs of the times, to misunderstand the stage we are in.The Present- What does Jesus say about the present?o Wars and rumours of wars. Mark 13:7o Earthquakes and famines. Mark 13:8o Persecution of Christians. Mark 13:9-10o The proclamation of the Gospel to all nations. Mark 13:10- These things happen now and they are emphatically not signs of the end of history.o E.G. “And you will hear of wars and rumours of wars, but do not be alarmed. The end is not yet.” Mark 13:7. “There will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. These are but the beginning of the birth pains.” Mark 13:8The End- What does Jesus say about the end?o The beginning of the end will be marked by “the abomination of desolation standing where he ought not to be” (Mark 13:14). More on that in a moment.o (Seemingly linked to this) Unprecedent tribulation (seemingly for all the earth). “For in those days there will be such tribulation as has not been from the beginning of the creation that God created until now, and never will be” (Mark 13:19).o “After that tribulation”, cosmic signs: “The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling down from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken” (Mark 13:24-25).o Only then, will Jesus Christ return: “And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. And then he will send out his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven” (Mark 13:26-27).§ This will be completely clear to all of humanity. No ambiguity.o Excepting the Father, nobody knows when we will move from the present to the end, not even Jesus Christ (in his humanity). “But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” (Mark 13:32).§ We will know when we are going from the present period to the end period because of the signs Jesus tells us about: the abomination of desolation, unprecedented tribulation, cosmic signs.§ Contrary to much speculation, it is not the end of the world, until God says so!Why does Jesus tell us all of this? The Antichrist- The answer is so that we are not deceived by the spirit of the Antichrist.- Forget The Omen etc, look at the words of Jesus and the wider context of Scripture.- In Mark 13, we see the spirit of the antichrist is going to manifest itself in the present age and at the beginning of the end.- The Antichrist is both a spirit that manifests itself in multiple ways in the present and a figure who appears at the end of history.- 1 John 2:18: “Children, it is the last hour, and you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come.”What does the Antichrist do?- In a general sense, pretend to be the real Christ (“antichrist” means literally “another Christ”) and lead people astray.o “See that no one leads you astray. Many will come in my name, saying ‘I am he!’ and they will lead many astray.” Mark 13:5-6o “And then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘Look, there he is!’ do not believe it.” Mark 13:21§ Do not believe it because Christ’s true advent will be unmistakeable.- ‘Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.’ 2 Cor. 11:14. Just because something looks positive does not mean it is really good or from God. Counterfeits are more plausible than obvious frauds.- The delusion of the Antichrist is strong: “They will lead many astray” (Mark 13:6). They come, “to lead astray, if possible, the elect” (Mark 13:22). Christians and non-Christians are the target.- Antichrists perform counterfeit signs and wonders (Mark 13:22). May be false miracles, dark magic. But may be secular political “miracles”. EG Antichrist in Michael D. O’Brien novels who brings world peace, including peace in the Middle East.- Antichrists in history: promise total resolution of seemingly unsolvable problems if worship is given to political ideology and to god-like leader. Communism promises hardly any work, solution to all economic, social and class difficulties. Nazi fascism promised solution to Germany economic and social problems but ideology rooted in worship of Third Reich and the Fuhrer.- Christ and the rest of Scripture speaks of the final Antichrist: the Abomination of Desolation. He will fulfil the work of all other antichrists. What will he do?- He stands where he ought not to be (Mark 13:14). Where is that? God’s temple. Also in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4, The “man of lawlessness” ‘takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God’.- Some think that means literally rebuilt Temple in Jerusalem. Others as a false leader in the Church.- Key point: He ‘opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship…proclaiming himself to be God’. (2 Thess. 2:4).- Whatever else the Antichrist does, he will not honour God or the name of Jesus Christ.Summary – Both now and at the very end, the Antichrist will:- Pretend to be the Christ, to be a messenger of God.- Perform counterfeit signs and wonders.- Promise solutions to unsolvable problems: eg world hunger, war, climate disaster, epidemics, disease etc in exchange for worship.- Exalt himself and draw attention away from the true God and Jesus Christ.Why would anyone believe the Antichrist?- He offers quick and easy solutions.- Jesus exhorts us to wait and watch with diligence. This is difficult and real as opposed to easy and false. Words of Dumbledore very Christian: “Dark and difficult times lie ahead. Soon we must all face the choice between what is right and what is easy.”- We don’t want to wait, suffer, be persecuted and die.- And yet this is what Jesus calls us to if we are to be faithful.Therefore, “Be on Guard; keep awake.”- The Antichrist may approach the household of which Christ speaks and attempt to obtain entry. Will you be discerning enough and faithful enough not to admit him? Will you hold out and wait for the true salvation that is offered to us in Jesus Christ and in no other?- “Keep awake”. If you are asleep, then wake up. Many antichrists are abroad in the world already. And the man of lawlessness approaches.- Not my words, but the words of Scripture and the words of Christ, “Be on guard; I have told you all things beforehand.” (Mark 13:23). “What I say to you, I say to all: Stay awake.” (Mark 13:37)- May you be willing to wait for the true Christ and not to accept false substitutes. May you be willing to take the hard and right path and to reject that which is easy and false. May you take up the cross and follow after Jesus, scorning the rejection and hatred of the world. May you endure to the end and so find salvation at the last.- Stay awake. Keep watch. Be on your guard. And have a truly blessed Advent.Amen.

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Fr Jamie Franklin - The Zeal of a Convert

Thu, 30 Nov 2023 16:06:49 +0000

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Fr Jamie Franklin - The Final Judgement

Mon, 27 Nov 2023 16:26:28 +0000

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Fr Jamie Franklin - The Parable of the Talents

Sun, 19 Nov 2023 19:40:00 +0000

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