Below is the sermon I prepared for a joint service with our friends at the Redeemed Christian Church of God (who normally meeting in one of our parish buildings). The actual sermon was delivered 'off the cuff' - but the broad strokes of what I said are included here.
Deut. 30.9-14, Col 1.1-14 and Luke 10.25-37
Ever since we realised that we were going to need to move our worship into the hall, this Sunday, I’ve been so excited. I’m excited because it finally gives us the opportunity to do a couple of really important things…
First, I’m delighted that the congregation of the Redeemed Christian Church of God are able to be with us today. For about a year now, Pastor David and his team have been leading worship, Sunday by Sunday, in the Upper Room over in Church House. It’s an absolute delight that worship is taking place there, and, I detect, really exciting to see congregation growing in numbers and confidence.
Secondly, being here gives us an opportunity to reflect on all the fantastic work that goes on here in the Pallant Centre. Last night, Clare and I attended the latest concert by our friends from the Havant Orchestra. Fantastic, high quality music from an orchestra who we give rehearsal space to every week.
Next week, I hope all of us are going to buy tickets for the Dynamo production of the Roses of Eyam. There is no better way of encouraging our young people than to turn up to see their efforts. Watching some of the rehearsals this week, I just know that you are going to be bowled over by them.
And that’s just the tip of the Pallant Centre iceburg. We have the Solent Male Voice Choir, rehearsing every week. We have the Hayling and Havant Bowmen, honing their skills throughout the winter months. We have the St Faith’s art group, every Tuesday. We have a Mumbaba group. We have the fantastic Brownies and Rainbows, who provide high quality learning experiences for young people. We have a whole host of self-help groups – including Alcoholics Anonymous, Al Anon, Gamblers Anonymous and our latest new group, Narcotics Anonymous. We provide a hope to SSAFA, the armed forces charity – supporting any serviceman or woman – or their families - who has served for as little as one day for their country.
Thirdly, I’m delighted that it gives the St Faith’s congregation a chance to see the work in progress here in the Pallant Centre. I hope that while you are here, you’ll take the chance to wander around the building and see the changes that have taken place. Much of the change is currently ongoing. In many ways, the whole place feels like a building site at the moment. But, it is impossible to make an omelette without breaking a few eggs…and over the next few months, some really radical changes are going to be taking place. Work is now well underway on the new toilets for the hall. In the old Nursery rooms, we will be opening a Family Café in September. That’s going to be a place where parents and children can gather in an atmosphere of creativity and fun – using the courtyard garden as well. It’s going to become the place in Havant for young families to be.
There are still some big challenges that we have to overcome. In the garden, over by Church House, you will undoubtedly have noticed that we are installing new drains…that’s to stop all the rainwater from the car park and from the roof of church house from soaking into the brickwork. We have a structural challenge to overcome in the small Nursery room – where a warped support beam has to be held up with steel girders. We still need to install a fire escape from the Upper Room, and we are installing a central heating system for church house in the next few weeks. There’s certainly plenty to do!
And that is not all that we are seeking to achieve through our Big Build Campaign. Over in the church itself, there’s going to be a whole lot going on in the next few months. New wiring and lighting will be installed. The clock faces and weathervane are being overhauled – and our heritage pipe organ is about to be completely restored.
The question that often hovers on lips is ‘why’? Who would we do all this work? Why not just sell all these buildings – even our crumbling old church – and just meet for singing and worship in a school hall somewhere. Life would be an awful lot simpler if we did! Why not let someone else have all the worry and the challenge?
Well, to get close to an answer to that question, let me take you back to Jesus’ summary of the law at the beginning of today’s gospel reading. A lawyer asks Jesus what he needs to do to inherit eternal life…and Jesus tells him to do just two things…Love God, and love your neighbour as yourself. This summary of the law was actually something that other teachers of Jesus’ time were using as well.
There’s an old story about a Jewish Rabbi called Hillel, who was challenged to stand on one leg, and recite all the law. So Hillel lifted up one foot off the ground and said: “The whole law of God is this: Love God, and Love your neighbour as yourself. All the rest is commentary”
In other words – as Jesus would have concurred, I’m sure, Rabbi Hillel was teaching that all the little laws about what we should eat, and when we should pray, and when we should rest, and how we should treat strangers, the fact that we shouldn’t murder people, or steal from them, or covet their possessions – all of this was just commentary on the central teachings of the faith: Love God, and love your neighbour as yourself.
So why are we embarked on our Big Build Campaign? – because by improving our church, we show our Love for God, by making the house of worship as precious and beautiful as we can. By improving this Pallant Centre, we show our love for our neighbours – by making it as comfortable and useful to the whole community as we can. It’s as simple as that really.
There’s one more thing I want to say – to everyone here. And that’s to underline how delighted I am to welcome the Redeemed Church to our worship today. The Redeemed Church has its roots in West Africa – and as a result, many of its members are not from the UK by birth. Right now, after the Referendum, there’s a danger that some of our African friends here today might fear that the whole country is against them. Well, I want to say, on behalf of the whole St Faith’s community – that’s not the case for us. You are welcome here. We are delighted that you are here. You bring new ways of worshipping, new ways of thinking. You bring skills and talents…and today you bring food to share as well! Please believe me when I say that we are glad to have you as our neighbours – and we hope that this last year of sharing this building with you will be the first of many, many years together!
To quote, finally, St Paul’s words to the Colossians: “May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully giving thanks to the Father!”
Amen!
Monday, July 11, 2016
Saturday, July 2, 2016
Sermon on the Arrival of Vickie and David Morgan
Readings: Galatians 6.1-16 & Luke 10.1-11, 16-20
Once again, the Lectionary speaks uncannily into a very present situation. Luke 10, verse 1: ‘After this, the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go.’
It is such a pleasure to be able to finally welcome David and Vickie formally into their new ministries among us. They come to us as a pair, sent by God, just as Jesus sent out those seventy disciples in pairs.
What is it about pairs? What is the significance of Jesus sending out his disciples like that – two by two. not one by one? I find my mind taken right back to God’s assessment of Adam’s circumstances at the beginning of Genesis. Then, he said “it is not good for the man to be alone”.
I know that my own Clare would agree wholeheartedly with that statement. We are closing in fast on our 30th wedding anniversary…and I have no doubt that she often says to herself “It is not good for that man to be alone”! Left to my own devices, I would undoubtedly eat chocolate for breakfast, and chips for dinner every day. My clothes would never be ironed, and I would be late for every meeting! Clare – as the opposite side to my ‘pair’ – provides balance. She helps with the tasks I need help with. She reminds me of what I need to do and where I need to be. She nudges me towards good choices about food…never nags, just nudges!
The fact is that when Jesus calls us, he calls us into a series of relationships – first with God, and then with one another. We are called out of ourselves, out of our mistaken belief that we don’t need anyone else to help us function.
It is of course a complete fallacy to imagine that we can live our lives in total isolation. Some of us dream of doing so…I confess that there are very busy days when I dream of running off to live in a wooden cabin somewhere! But even then, in order to get to such a cabin, I would need to drive on a road built by others, in a car made by others, to build my cabin from tools manufactured by others. If I wanted even the most basic of amenities – running water or electricity – they would be supplied by others. If I became sick, I would need others to care for me. No, it is all but impossible for any of us to function for any length of time without the companionship of others along the way.
This has always been the case. Adam was given Eve – both created in the image of God who is himself defined by the relationship between Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Noah had his family. Abraham had Sarah. Moses had Aaron. Elijah had Elisha. Even Jesus drew companions and friends around him – not just disciples to be taught, but friends whom he could love and who he could lean on.
So Vickie and David come to us, as newly minted curates, already with that inbuilt support-structure of a family life, and their own marriage to sustain them. Our task, as their new church family, is to add to that support structure. Our task is to help them grow towards, and then into, the ordained ministries to which the church believes they have been called. And their task is to offer themselves to us – offering the gifts and talents God has built into them for the good of this community.
St Paul, writing to the Galatians in our second reading, reminds us of what the character of a Christian community should be like. To the Galatians, he says “Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfil the law of Christ”. It’s worth just pausing for a moment and thinking about that instruction. Paul tells us that to fulfil the law of Christ, the sovereign instructions of our Master and Lord, we should ‘bear each other’s burdens’.
Here then is a call out of our comfort, and into the messiness of all human life. We are to be there for each other – each supporting the whole body of Christ as best as we can, with the talents and abilities we have. For some, that means bearing the burden of leadership – such as sitting on the PCC and helping to steer the whole community into the future. For others it is the burden of caring for our buildings to be able to better serve the whole town into which we are called. For others, it is bearing the burden of visiting the sick and the lonely – those whose physical circumstances deprive them of the fellowship and companionship that every human being needs.
We do these tasks together – bearing each other’s burdens. None of us can do all the tasks that are required. I frequently find, for example, that bearing the burden of leadership leaves me precious little time for bearing the burden of someone else’s loneliness or illness. So I rely on our Pastoral Care team for that. David and Vickie will find too that there simply isn’t time to do all the things one would like to do in ministry.
But that’s ok. None of us are called to do the whole work of the people of God. If that were so, what would be the point of being the body of Christ? But each of us, ordained or licensed, lay person or Reader, we are all called to play our part…to be a hand, or a foot, or an eye, or an ear, of the body of Christ. To quote again from St Paul, writing to the Galatians: “So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all, and especially for those of the family of faith.”
Today, we joyfully celebrate the arrival of new ministers into our midst. We give thanks that they have heard and responded to God’s call on their lives – the call to enter even more deeply into the loving service into which God calls us all. Their offering of themselves can be an inspiration to each one of us. Each of us is called too…out of our individualism, and into community. What are the ways in which each of us could respond?
This is not just a calling to do more in the immediate community of the church – though more burden sharing would be greatly appreciated! It is also a calling to bear the burdens of our neighbours – those we encounter in our workplaces and social clubs, in the post office queue and the foodbank. There are a million and more ways in which our community could become more like the Kingdom of God, if the people of God would roll up their sleeves and live out the calling of God.
If there is anyone here today who would like to think through what such a call might mean for them, I encourage you to get in touch. Come and chat with me, or indeed with David, Vickie, Damon, Sandra, Mike and Bishop John – and we would be glad to think and pray with you about God’s call for your life.
In the meantime, Vickie and David, Jake and Freddie too – welcome! It is good to have you with us.
Amen.
Once again, the Lectionary speaks uncannily into a very present situation. Luke 10, verse 1: ‘After this, the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go.’
It is such a pleasure to be able to finally welcome David and Vickie formally into their new ministries among us. They come to us as a pair, sent by God, just as Jesus sent out those seventy disciples in pairs.
What is it about pairs? What is the significance of Jesus sending out his disciples like that – two by two. not one by one? I find my mind taken right back to God’s assessment of Adam’s circumstances at the beginning of Genesis. Then, he said “it is not good for the man to be alone”.
I know that my own Clare would agree wholeheartedly with that statement. We are closing in fast on our 30th wedding anniversary…and I have no doubt that she often says to herself “It is not good for that man to be alone”! Left to my own devices, I would undoubtedly eat chocolate for breakfast, and chips for dinner every day. My clothes would never be ironed, and I would be late for every meeting! Clare – as the opposite side to my ‘pair’ – provides balance. She helps with the tasks I need help with. She reminds me of what I need to do and where I need to be. She nudges me towards good choices about food…never nags, just nudges!
The fact is that when Jesus calls us, he calls us into a series of relationships – first with God, and then with one another. We are called out of ourselves, out of our mistaken belief that we don’t need anyone else to help us function.
It is of course a complete fallacy to imagine that we can live our lives in total isolation. Some of us dream of doing so…I confess that there are very busy days when I dream of running off to live in a wooden cabin somewhere! But even then, in order to get to such a cabin, I would need to drive on a road built by others, in a car made by others, to build my cabin from tools manufactured by others. If I wanted even the most basic of amenities – running water or electricity – they would be supplied by others. If I became sick, I would need others to care for me. No, it is all but impossible for any of us to function for any length of time without the companionship of others along the way.
This has always been the case. Adam was given Eve – both created in the image of God who is himself defined by the relationship between Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Noah had his family. Abraham had Sarah. Moses had Aaron. Elijah had Elisha. Even Jesus drew companions and friends around him – not just disciples to be taught, but friends whom he could love and who he could lean on.
So Vickie and David come to us, as newly minted curates, already with that inbuilt support-structure of a family life, and their own marriage to sustain them. Our task, as their new church family, is to add to that support structure. Our task is to help them grow towards, and then into, the ordained ministries to which the church believes they have been called. And their task is to offer themselves to us – offering the gifts and talents God has built into them for the good of this community.
St Paul, writing to the Galatians in our second reading, reminds us of what the character of a Christian community should be like. To the Galatians, he says “Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfil the law of Christ”. It’s worth just pausing for a moment and thinking about that instruction. Paul tells us that to fulfil the law of Christ, the sovereign instructions of our Master and Lord, we should ‘bear each other’s burdens’.
Here then is a call out of our comfort, and into the messiness of all human life. We are to be there for each other – each supporting the whole body of Christ as best as we can, with the talents and abilities we have. For some, that means bearing the burden of leadership – such as sitting on the PCC and helping to steer the whole community into the future. For others it is the burden of caring for our buildings to be able to better serve the whole town into which we are called. For others, it is bearing the burden of visiting the sick and the lonely – those whose physical circumstances deprive them of the fellowship and companionship that every human being needs.
We do these tasks together – bearing each other’s burdens. None of us can do all the tasks that are required. I frequently find, for example, that bearing the burden of leadership leaves me precious little time for bearing the burden of someone else’s loneliness or illness. So I rely on our Pastoral Care team for that. David and Vickie will find too that there simply isn’t time to do all the things one would like to do in ministry.
But that’s ok. None of us are called to do the whole work of the people of God. If that were so, what would be the point of being the body of Christ? But each of us, ordained or licensed, lay person or Reader, we are all called to play our part…to be a hand, or a foot, or an eye, or an ear, of the body of Christ. To quote again from St Paul, writing to the Galatians: “So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all, and especially for those of the family of faith.”
Today, we joyfully celebrate the arrival of new ministers into our midst. We give thanks that they have heard and responded to God’s call on their lives – the call to enter even more deeply into the loving service into which God calls us all. Their offering of themselves can be an inspiration to each one of us. Each of us is called too…out of our individualism, and into community. What are the ways in which each of us could respond?
This is not just a calling to do more in the immediate community of the church – though more burden sharing would be greatly appreciated! It is also a calling to bear the burdens of our neighbours – those we encounter in our workplaces and social clubs, in the post office queue and the foodbank. There are a million and more ways in which our community could become more like the Kingdom of God, if the people of God would roll up their sleeves and live out the calling of God.
If there is anyone here today who would like to think through what such a call might mean for them, I encourage you to get in touch. Come and chat with me, or indeed with David, Vickie, Damon, Sandra, Mike and Bishop John – and we would be glad to think and pray with you about God’s call for your life.
In the meantime, Vickie and David, Jake and Freddie too – welcome! It is good to have you with us.
Amen.
Saturday, June 25, 2016
Thoughts after the UK Votes to Leave the European Union
Key Scriptures: Psalm 60. Galatians 5, 13-25. Luke 9.51-62
Week after week, as I read the Lectionary of readings set by the church, a remarkable number of mini-miracles take place. It is astounding how often the Scriptures speak directly into a current situation.
Take, for example, the today’s set Psalm for Evening Prayer – Psalm 60 – which we will read on the Rectory lawn this afternoon after our ‘Strawberry Tea’. Bring the EU referendum to mind, think about all we have learned about the divided country we live in and the divided Europe our vote has created, and then listen to these words:
“O God, thou hast cast us out, and scattered us abroad.” (vs 1)
“Thou hast moved the land, and divided it: heal the sores thereof, for it shaketh (vs 2)
“Hast thou not cast us out, O God?” (vs 10)
“O be thou our help in trouble: for vain is the help of man” (vs 11)
It should not surprise us, of course, that God speaks to us through the Scriptures. The key question on such a weekend as this, is ‘what is God saying to us about the European referendum?’
For this, we need always to take account of those three important words that I’ve told you about before…the three words which should always be applied to any analysis of Scripture: context, context, context!
First we must ask ourselves – what is the context in which an original story was written? What was going on in history at that time?
Secondly, we need to ask ‘what was the context of the writer of that scripture?’ What did the writer understand the original story to mean? Why did they chose to include it?
And thirdly, we need to think about our own context, into which the Scripture is read. ‘What does this Scripture say to us, here today?’
So, let’s apply these three questions to the Gospel reading that we’ve just heard:
First, the context of the story itself. It takes place at that moment when Jesus turns aside from his teaching ministry, and ‘sets his face towards Jerusalem’. In doing so, he passes through a Samaritan area. The Samaritans were a sect within Judaism, made up of Jews and Genitiles – what we might call ‘foreigners’. They believed many things differently from the mainstream of Jewish belief – but suffice to say that were seen as outsiders by the people around Jesus. They were different. They were outsiders. They were, no doubt, a perceived threat to the ‘good, hard-working families’ of ‘normal decent society’.
As such, they were routinely hated and despised by many Jews - even Jesus’ own disciples. When the Samaritans fail to give Jesus a warm welcome, James and John ask Jesus whether they should call down ‘fire from heaven’ to consume them! But Jesus rebukes his disciples. They are not thinking straight. They are forgetting that Jesus himself used Samaritans to illustrate an answer to the vital question ‘ who is my neighbour?’.
As one might expect, that is entirely within consistent with the rest of Scripture – especially the teachings about how aliens and foreigners should be treated by the people of God. As far back in history as the book of Leviticus instructed the people of God as follows: “The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born”.(Lev.19.34)
Secondly, we must ask about the context of the writer of this Gospel. Tradition tells us that Luke was a follower of St Paul. He was writing at a time when the new band of Christians were beginning to feel the iron boot of Rome on their heads. They were hiding from persecution, and fearful of their status as religious strangers in a strange land. So Luke writes to those who are experiencing the poverty of being second or third class citizens in a European super-state, run not from Brussels, but Rome.
Luke encourages them, by reminding them of Jesus’ priority for the poor and the downcast, for the Samaritan and the stranger. And then, in the second part of the reading – he encourages them to be steadfast in their faith. He reminds them who have no security, no home, that Jesus himself lived in just the same way for the sake of the Kingdom. ‘Foxes have holes, and birds have their nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head’. (Lk 9.58)
Then, finally, what about our context…the context into which this Scripture is read today? Well, we find ourselves in a situation where fear of the foreigner has once again driven a nation into division. I don’t know about you, but I have been struck by how many of the ‘Brexiters’ interviewed on TV and Radio have cited an influx of foreigners as their reason for voting to leave Europe.
What we are experiencing, in front of our eyes, is the old phenomenon of xenophobia – that is ‘general fear of the foreigner’. This is different to ‘racism’ – the unreasonable hatred of someone because of their appearance or racial characteristics.
Xenophobia is of course, the oldest trick in the politician’s play-book. Persuade the gullible and uneducated that all the woes of a country can be blamed on a marginal group. Then the gullible and uneducated won’t bother to challenge the Government itself about its economic decisions, or the disproportionate wealth of the elite. Roman emperors did it – they blamed ‘the Christians’. The Ku Klux Clan, and the Apartheid Government used it to blame black people for the problems of American and South African society. Hitler used it to manipulate the German nation into the Second World War. Unfortunately, I don’t have the time to unfold all the ways in which the xenophobia of recent months is unfounded rubbish…but you are all intelligent people. You can do that for yourselves.
The other modern context into which this Scripture speaks is the culture of wealth. The UK is the fifth largest economy in the world. If you have the certainty of a decent wage or pension or benefit payment at the end of every month, you are already more wealthy than 90% of the world’s population. And yet, at every turn in the EU Referendum, politicians on both sides of the debate have consistently focused their arguments on one point: the claim that if we vote for their side, we will be better off.
Into that context, Jesus reminds us that the Son of Man had nowhere to lay his head. (Lk.9.58). And he points us to a reality that is greater and more magnificent that anything human beings can conjur…the coming reality of the Kingdom of God.
We know what the Kingdom will be like – because Jesus has told us. It will be a kingdom in which Samaritans – foreigners - are our neighbours, loved as much as we love ourselves. It’s a kingdom in which the humble and the poor will be blessed. It will be a kingdom, filled by the Spirit, in which St Paul’s fruit of the Spirit will be known: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Sadly, we have seen little enough of these things in the last few weeks. Instead, we have seen qualities from St Paul’s other list…the ‘works of the flesh’: enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions and factions.
“O be thou our help in trouble [O God]: for vain is the help of man” (Psalm 60.11)
So, finally, what is our calling in this circumstance. How are we to respond to recent events? How are we to be agents of the Kingdom in a divided a fractured nation?
Through the Scriptures, Jesus speaks to us across time: ‘No one who puts a hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the Kingdom of God’. You and I are called to keep on declaring the coming of the Kingdom. In the face of all opposition, all hatred, all xenophobia. In the face of corrupt politics and businesses.
In the face of a public dialogue that is all about what we can gain, we hold up a cross. We hold up the supreme example of a God who pours himself out in sacrifice for the good of all. We hold up a Lord who had no palace. And we continue to speak of not what we can gain, but how much we can give for the life of the world, and for the good of all humanity.
Amen.
Week after week, as I read the Lectionary of readings set by the church, a remarkable number of mini-miracles take place. It is astounding how often the Scriptures speak directly into a current situation.
Take, for example, the today’s set Psalm for Evening Prayer – Psalm 60 – which we will read on the Rectory lawn this afternoon after our ‘Strawberry Tea’. Bring the EU referendum to mind, think about all we have learned about the divided country we live in and the divided Europe our vote has created, and then listen to these words:
“O God, thou hast cast us out, and scattered us abroad.” (vs 1)
“Thou hast moved the land, and divided it: heal the sores thereof, for it shaketh (vs 2)
“Hast thou not cast us out, O God?” (vs 10)
“O be thou our help in trouble: for vain is the help of man” (vs 11)
It should not surprise us, of course, that God speaks to us through the Scriptures. The key question on such a weekend as this, is ‘what is God saying to us about the European referendum?’
For this, we need always to take account of those three important words that I’ve told you about before…the three words which should always be applied to any analysis of Scripture: context, context, context!
First we must ask ourselves – what is the context in which an original story was written? What was going on in history at that time?
Secondly, we need to ask ‘what was the context of the writer of that scripture?’ What did the writer understand the original story to mean? Why did they chose to include it?
And thirdly, we need to think about our own context, into which the Scripture is read. ‘What does this Scripture say to us, here today?’
So, let’s apply these three questions to the Gospel reading that we’ve just heard:
First, the context of the story itself. It takes place at that moment when Jesus turns aside from his teaching ministry, and ‘sets his face towards Jerusalem’. In doing so, he passes through a Samaritan area. The Samaritans were a sect within Judaism, made up of Jews and Genitiles – what we might call ‘foreigners’. They believed many things differently from the mainstream of Jewish belief – but suffice to say that were seen as outsiders by the people around Jesus. They were different. They were outsiders. They were, no doubt, a perceived threat to the ‘good, hard-working families’ of ‘normal decent society’.
As such, they were routinely hated and despised by many Jews - even Jesus’ own disciples. When the Samaritans fail to give Jesus a warm welcome, James and John ask Jesus whether they should call down ‘fire from heaven’ to consume them! But Jesus rebukes his disciples. They are not thinking straight. They are forgetting that Jesus himself used Samaritans to illustrate an answer to the vital question ‘ who is my neighbour?’.
As one might expect, that is entirely within consistent with the rest of Scripture – especially the teachings about how aliens and foreigners should be treated by the people of God. As far back in history as the book of Leviticus instructed the people of God as follows: “The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born”.(Lev.19.34)
Secondly, we must ask about the context of the writer of this Gospel. Tradition tells us that Luke was a follower of St Paul. He was writing at a time when the new band of Christians were beginning to feel the iron boot of Rome on their heads. They were hiding from persecution, and fearful of their status as religious strangers in a strange land. So Luke writes to those who are experiencing the poverty of being second or third class citizens in a European super-state, run not from Brussels, but Rome.
Luke encourages them, by reminding them of Jesus’ priority for the poor and the downcast, for the Samaritan and the stranger. And then, in the second part of the reading – he encourages them to be steadfast in their faith. He reminds them who have no security, no home, that Jesus himself lived in just the same way for the sake of the Kingdom. ‘Foxes have holes, and birds have their nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head’. (Lk 9.58)
Then, finally, what about our context…the context into which this Scripture is read today? Well, we find ourselves in a situation where fear of the foreigner has once again driven a nation into division. I don’t know about you, but I have been struck by how many of the ‘Brexiters’ interviewed on TV and Radio have cited an influx of foreigners as their reason for voting to leave Europe.
What we are experiencing, in front of our eyes, is the old phenomenon of xenophobia – that is ‘general fear of the foreigner’. This is different to ‘racism’ – the unreasonable hatred of someone because of their appearance or racial characteristics.
Xenophobia is of course, the oldest trick in the politician’s play-book. Persuade the gullible and uneducated that all the woes of a country can be blamed on a marginal group. Then the gullible and uneducated won’t bother to challenge the Government itself about its economic decisions, or the disproportionate wealth of the elite. Roman emperors did it – they blamed ‘the Christians’. The Ku Klux Clan, and the Apartheid Government used it to blame black people for the problems of American and South African society. Hitler used it to manipulate the German nation into the Second World War. Unfortunately, I don’t have the time to unfold all the ways in which the xenophobia of recent months is unfounded rubbish…but you are all intelligent people. You can do that for yourselves.
The other modern context into which this Scripture speaks is the culture of wealth. The UK is the fifth largest economy in the world. If you have the certainty of a decent wage or pension or benefit payment at the end of every month, you are already more wealthy than 90% of the world’s population. And yet, at every turn in the EU Referendum, politicians on both sides of the debate have consistently focused their arguments on one point: the claim that if we vote for their side, we will be better off.
Into that context, Jesus reminds us that the Son of Man had nowhere to lay his head. (Lk.9.58). And he points us to a reality that is greater and more magnificent that anything human beings can conjur…the coming reality of the Kingdom of God.
We know what the Kingdom will be like – because Jesus has told us. It will be a kingdom in which Samaritans – foreigners - are our neighbours, loved as much as we love ourselves. It’s a kingdom in which the humble and the poor will be blessed. It will be a kingdom, filled by the Spirit, in which St Paul’s fruit of the Spirit will be known: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Sadly, we have seen little enough of these things in the last few weeks. Instead, we have seen qualities from St Paul’s other list…the ‘works of the flesh’: enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions and factions.
“O be thou our help in trouble [O God]: for vain is the help of man” (Psalm 60.11)
So, finally, what is our calling in this circumstance. How are we to respond to recent events? How are we to be agents of the Kingdom in a divided a fractured nation?
Through the Scriptures, Jesus speaks to us across time: ‘No one who puts a hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the Kingdom of God’. You and I are called to keep on declaring the coming of the Kingdom. In the face of all opposition, all hatred, all xenophobia. In the face of corrupt politics and businesses.
In the face of a public dialogue that is all about what we can gain, we hold up a cross. We hold up the supreme example of a God who pours himself out in sacrifice for the good of all. We hold up a Lord who had no palace. And we continue to speak of not what we can gain, but how much we can give for the life of the world, and for the good of all humanity.
Amen.
Thursday, June 2, 2016
Sermon Series: “Marks of an Authentic Church” - Sermon One (Introduction)
Sermon Series: “Marks of an Authentic Church”
Sermon One: Introduction: “What Kind of Christian Are You?”
There are many kinds of Christ-ians, throughout the world. There are, of course, the main divisions of the church - Catholic, Reformed, Orthodox, and all the sub-sects of these - Charismatics, Pentecostals, Evangelicals, Traditionalists, Baptists, House-churches, and all the rest. Even within each sub-set there are Christ-ians who focus on different aspects of Jesus. For some, it is his work as 'Redeemer' which is paramount - he is, for them, the one who pays the price for human sin. For others, it’s the kind of Kingdom that he wants to establish. For them, Jesus is the one who leads them to build a new kind of world order. For others, it’s Jesus the 'High Priest' who is the primary focus of attention - the one who leads them personally to a relationship with the living God.
This got me thinking. What kind of Christian am I? What kind of Christian are you? Of all the different emphases that are open to us, which aspect of Jesus is the one which calls most deeply to us?
It shouldn’t worry us too much that there are so many different emphases. God is infinite - and infinitely able to work with us messy humans in the widest possible ways. He is more than capable of drawing some people to work with him on one project (say, building the Kingdom) while encouraging others to work on another (say, building relationships with God). But along the way, I would argue, there are some churches which have managed to get the balance between these issues a little out of kilter. There are some churches, frankly, which I personally struggle to recognise as Christ-ian at all. Churches, for example, where a single theological idea has become such a driving thought that it blocks out the full range of experience of God that is available to them. Take for example the ‘Snake’ churches of the Southern USA – where the handling of venomous snakes is a regular part of their worship. They do that because of a single line in the New Testament, where true believers are promised that they will be able to handle snakes without fear of death.
So, I want to begin a sermon series today, as we enter this new year. Over the next several weeks, I want to explore with you what I believe to be the 'Marks of an Authentic Church'. There will be gaps along the way - not least when other colleagues are preaching. But, over the coming weeks, through ‘Ordinary Time’ I want to explore what it means, or what it would mean, for us to be an authentic Church.
What do I mean by 'authentic'? Well, I guess I'm saying that if our church, and our parish, shows these marks of authenticity, then I'll be content that we are at least 'Christ-ian'. All I'm going to do today is give you a list - a list of what I think are reasonable and accurate marks of an Authentic Church. I've currently got ten headings on that list (though - I warn you - it is possible that the list may grow!). As each week passes, I'm going to invite you to think about each one in some depth. My hope, and prayer, is that as we explore these ten 'marks' of an authentic church we will be prompted to think about how we personally, and together, measure up to them. Are we people who can claim with confidence to truly be Christ-ians? Are we authentic? Does our faith - and our practice of faith - measure up?
Here then, are the ten headings I currently have in mind. For me, an Authentic Church, should:
1) Reflect Jesus' priority for the poor and the sick. Jesus clearly cared for the poor and the sick. Do we measure up to his example?
2) Have a wide and generous understanding of God's grace - Jesus poured out grace and forgiveness to everyone he met. Are we the same?
3) Understand Sin as the absence of Love - How should we understand Sin? Breaking Rules? Who decides what is sin anyway?
4) Encourage Christ-ians to be producers, not consumers - We live in a consumer society. Is there a danger that some of us are ‘consumers’ of Christianity?
5) Have an intelligent understanding of Scripture - How do we approach the Bible? A hand-written text from God?
6) Blend the scientific with the mystical - Was the world created in six days? How did Noah get all those animals onto the Ark?!
7) Be tolerant and open to all - How do we connect with other human beings?
8) Embrace tradition while being open to the contemporary - How can we honour the old and embrace the new?
9) Understand that forgiveness is How the World is Set Right - Is forgiveness the answer to the World’s problems?
10) Be a Eucharistic Community - How does taking Jesus into ourselves help us?
One final thought. You would be entirely right to ask me 'What kind of Christian are you?'. Every preacher brings to the task of preaching something of who he is, and of what he (or she) personally believes. So, let me lay my cards on the table. I generally tend to avoid labels, for myself or anyone else, because people often assume they understand what such a label means. But I acknowledge that labels do help us to get a sense of where someone is coming from. So, if you forced me to choose a label for myself, I would say that I am a 'liberal'. Let me break that down!
What it doesn't mean is that you could instantly pigeon-hole me as a supporter of the Liberal party! Neither, as some people assume, does it mean that I believe that 'anything goes'. I take the meaning of the word liberal from the Latin 'liberalis' - which means someone who is generous, munificent or gracious. It also has, for me, a shade of the way the French use the word 'liberte', meaning 'freedom'. In other words, by using the term 'liberal' I strive to be someone who is generous about the beliefs of others. I believe that everyone is free to pursue truth as they wish, and I will be as generous as I can in listening to their insights along the way. I believe there should be freedom to explore ideas for all, and that anyone who tries to close down discussion with a strict set of rules is probably in error. Worse, they probably end up, ultimately, closing themselves off from all the depth and complexity of Real Truth. I try to remain open, and generous-of-spirit to new ideas and new insights, from wherever they may come.
So, I invite you, over the coming months, to journey with me into my weird liberal world. More than that, I invite you to think deeply about what it means for us to be an 'authentic church' - a church which is authentically 'Christ-like', 'Christ-ian' and which honours and proclaims Christ to the world.
Amen.
Sermon One: Introduction: “What Kind of Christian Are You?”
There are many kinds of Christ-ians, throughout the world. There are, of course, the main divisions of the church - Catholic, Reformed, Orthodox, and all the sub-sects of these - Charismatics, Pentecostals, Evangelicals, Traditionalists, Baptists, House-churches, and all the rest. Even within each sub-set there are Christ-ians who focus on different aspects of Jesus. For some, it is his work as 'Redeemer' which is paramount - he is, for them, the one who pays the price for human sin. For others, it’s the kind of Kingdom that he wants to establish. For them, Jesus is the one who leads them to build a new kind of world order. For others, it’s Jesus the 'High Priest' who is the primary focus of attention - the one who leads them personally to a relationship with the living God.
This got me thinking. What kind of Christian am I? What kind of Christian are you? Of all the different emphases that are open to us, which aspect of Jesus is the one which calls most deeply to us?
It shouldn’t worry us too much that there are so many different emphases. God is infinite - and infinitely able to work with us messy humans in the widest possible ways. He is more than capable of drawing some people to work with him on one project (say, building the Kingdom) while encouraging others to work on another (say, building relationships with God). But along the way, I would argue, there are some churches which have managed to get the balance between these issues a little out of kilter. There are some churches, frankly, which I personally struggle to recognise as Christ-ian at all. Churches, for example, where a single theological idea has become such a driving thought that it blocks out the full range of experience of God that is available to them. Take for example the ‘Snake’ churches of the Southern USA – where the handling of venomous snakes is a regular part of their worship. They do that because of a single line in the New Testament, where true believers are promised that they will be able to handle snakes without fear of death.
So, I want to begin a sermon series today, as we enter this new year. Over the next several weeks, I want to explore with you what I believe to be the 'Marks of an Authentic Church'. There will be gaps along the way - not least when other colleagues are preaching. But, over the coming weeks, through ‘Ordinary Time’ I want to explore what it means, or what it would mean, for us to be an authentic Church.
What do I mean by 'authentic'? Well, I guess I'm saying that if our church, and our parish, shows these marks of authenticity, then I'll be content that we are at least 'Christ-ian'. All I'm going to do today is give you a list - a list of what I think are reasonable and accurate marks of an Authentic Church. I've currently got ten headings on that list (though - I warn you - it is possible that the list may grow!). As each week passes, I'm going to invite you to think about each one in some depth. My hope, and prayer, is that as we explore these ten 'marks' of an authentic church we will be prompted to think about how we personally, and together, measure up to them. Are we people who can claim with confidence to truly be Christ-ians? Are we authentic? Does our faith - and our practice of faith - measure up?
Here then, are the ten headings I currently have in mind. For me, an Authentic Church, should:
1) Reflect Jesus' priority for the poor and the sick. Jesus clearly cared for the poor and the sick. Do we measure up to his example?
2) Have a wide and generous understanding of God's grace - Jesus poured out grace and forgiveness to everyone he met. Are we the same?
3) Understand Sin as the absence of Love - How should we understand Sin? Breaking Rules? Who decides what is sin anyway?
4) Encourage Christ-ians to be producers, not consumers - We live in a consumer society. Is there a danger that some of us are ‘consumers’ of Christianity?
5) Have an intelligent understanding of Scripture - How do we approach the Bible? A hand-written text from God?
6) Blend the scientific with the mystical - Was the world created in six days? How did Noah get all those animals onto the Ark?!
7) Be tolerant and open to all - How do we connect with other human beings?
8) Embrace tradition while being open to the contemporary - How can we honour the old and embrace the new?
9) Understand that forgiveness is How the World is Set Right - Is forgiveness the answer to the World’s problems?
10) Be a Eucharistic Community - How does taking Jesus into ourselves help us?
One final thought. You would be entirely right to ask me 'What kind of Christian are you?'. Every preacher brings to the task of preaching something of who he is, and of what he (or she) personally believes. So, let me lay my cards on the table. I generally tend to avoid labels, for myself or anyone else, because people often assume they understand what such a label means. But I acknowledge that labels do help us to get a sense of where someone is coming from. So, if you forced me to choose a label for myself, I would say that I am a 'liberal'. Let me break that down!
What it doesn't mean is that you could instantly pigeon-hole me as a supporter of the Liberal party! Neither, as some people assume, does it mean that I believe that 'anything goes'. I take the meaning of the word liberal from the Latin 'liberalis' - which means someone who is generous, munificent or gracious. It also has, for me, a shade of the way the French use the word 'liberte', meaning 'freedom'. In other words, by using the term 'liberal' I strive to be someone who is generous about the beliefs of others. I believe that everyone is free to pursue truth as they wish, and I will be as generous as I can in listening to their insights along the way. I believe there should be freedom to explore ideas for all, and that anyone who tries to close down discussion with a strict set of rules is probably in error. Worse, they probably end up, ultimately, closing themselves off from all the depth and complexity of Real Truth. I try to remain open, and generous-of-spirit to new ideas and new insights, from wherever they may come.
So, I invite you, over the coming months, to journey with me into my weird liberal world. More than that, I invite you to think deeply about what it means for us to be an 'authentic church' - a church which is authentically 'Christ-like', 'Christ-ian' and which honours and proclaims Christ to the world.
Amen.
Saturday, April 30, 2016
The Ones Jesus Didn't Heal
John 5.1-9 - The Ones Jesus Didn’t
Heal
Today’s Gospel reading finds
Jesus at the Sheep Gate of Jerusalem, at a famous pool – the pool of
Beth-Zatha. This pool had a reputation throughout
the land as a place of miracles. It was
said that from time to time, an angel would stir up the still waters of the
pool, and that the first sick person to get into the water after that would be
miraculously healed. The Bible doesn’t
tell us whether or not this was true – only that this is what people
believed.
It's no surprise, therefore,
that the area around the pool was packed with sick people, each hoping for
their chance to get into the water. They
were all over the place – and Jesus went for a visit on the Sabbath.
Try to imagine the
scene. Jesus stops at the entrance to
the pool. He looks around at the sea of
blind, lame and paralysed people. And his
eye comes to rest on a man who has been there for 38 years. 38 years of hoping he would somehow manage to
be the first in the water. But for 38
years, he had had no-one to help him get into the pool.
What follows is a remarkable
story of Jesus’ compassion for this man.
He frees him from his sickness.
He frees him perhaps from his superstition too…he frees him from putting
all his hopes into a strange story of angels stirring up the water. Jesus enables this man to start his life over
again. And Jesus does all this on a Sabbath
– provoking the wrath of the law-makers of Israel.
Each of these facts would be
interesting enough reasons for a sermon.
But they are not what intrigues me most about this story. For me, the question is this…why this man,
and why not the others? The text
describes an area packed solid with the sick, the lame and the dying. Presumably Jesus would have had to step over some of the other sick people
to get to the one man whom he was about to heal. Why only one man? Why not heal everyone there?
This is a question which of
course plagues everyone who believes that God has the ability to heal. We have all heard tales of miraculous
healing. We all know that cave wall over
the healing pool at Lourdes is hung with the crutches of those who have been
healed. I wouldn’t be surprised if most
of us have a friend or a family member whose recovery from some illness or
other has seemed miraculous.
And yet, many more of us
live with sickness – our own or that of someone we love. Sickness and frailty are a part of the human
condition that God seems to purposefully not
heal – despite our fervent prayers. It
seems as though God steps over our
sickness, or that of a family member, to get to someone else. Why?
How does this make sense?
Well, to grope towards an
answer, I invite you to use your imagination again. Imagine an airplane, on which the engines
have failed in mid-flight. Aargh! The passengers and crew cry out for God to
help them, for they are about to crash.
Hearing their prayer, God’s giant hand reaches down from the clouds,
picks up the plane, and deposits it safely on the earth.
I wonder what the effect of
such an event would be. I think this is
what would happen…human beings would simply stop bothering to invent and create
well-designed airplanes. What’s the
point of implementing rigorous safety protocols, if God is going to rescue any
plane in trouble? In fact, why bother with
airplanes at all? Let’s just throw
ourselves off the nearest cliff, in the direction we want to travel…because God
will catch us and deposit us where we want to go!
The same analogy applies in
every area of human suffering. If God
intervened every time we human beings do something stupid, or thoughtless, or
selfish – how would we grow? How would
we develop as a species? How would we
learn right from wrong? Sickness – and the
other challenges of life - provide a crucible for human beings to do wonderful
things. It gives a task to the greatest
minds to seek out the cures for diseases.
It gives an opportunity for the rest of us to give sacrificially to
medical charities, or through our taxes to Government-funded research. From the act of caring for someone else with
an illness, we learn compassion and care.
From our own illness, whenever we suffer it, we learn humility from
realising that we are not, in fact, invincible.
We learn, instead, that we need others to help us function. We need the care of medical workers –
including Junior Doctors! We need the
care of our family and our friends. We learn
that it is in relationship with each other that we are at our best…that we
reach our fullest potential.
This was true for the man at
Beth-Zatha. His problem was not a lack
of faith. For 38 years he had believed
in his cure. His problem was that he had
no-one who could carry him down into the water.
He was alone. It was only when
Jesus came along, and created a relationship with the man, that he was able to
find the healing he needed.
This story then is a model
for all humanity. God can and does heal
our sicknesses…there is simply too much evidence to deny the reality of
miraculous healing, and it is why we pray for it for our ourselves and our
loved ones. But, until the new Jerusalem
of this morning’s reading from Revelation is established, God permits sickness
to be a part of the world in which we must live. He wants us to learn from it, to grow through
it. He wants us to learn the value of
charity to others, and the humility of
receiving charity from others. He wants us to embrace the concept of living
in community – for, to quote Shakespeare on his 400th anniversary – “no
man is an island”. Just as God finds
Godself in the relationship and community of being three in one, Father Son and
Spirit – he yearns for us too to discover the beauty and the growth of living
in community with one another, and with him.
Amen.
Saturday, April 16, 2016
Setting out for the Future Together
Setting out
for the Future Together
A Statement from the Rector
to the Annual Parochial Church Meeting 2016
The trouble
with thanking people, as every leader knows, is that there is always someone who
gets forgotten. There is almost bound to
be someone sitting here today who is quietly seething because I have obviously
not noticed their personal act of self-sacrifice…the way they came in that day
and quietly made tea for visitors in the church, or the day they put that extra
donation in my hand for the Big Build Campaign, or the day they organised some
work to be done on the church’s behalf.
The one
thing that has consistently impressed me about St Faith’s is the sheer number
of you who do volunteer your time in one way or another. It seems that almost every one of you is
involved in some way – for the good of the whole parish. Cleaners, flower arrangers, bell ringers,
choir members, servers, pastoral visitors, welcomers, sidespeople,
musicians. Then there’s the vast array
of committees that we run – there’s the Communications Team, and the Pallant
Buildings Development Team. There’s the Finance
Committee and the Capital Campaign Group.
There’s a Buildings Management Committee, and a weekly Site Team
meeting. There’s a Churchyard
Development Group, and the Church Electronics Team. And many more besides.
And this is
of course precisely the way it should be.
As we are often reminded, before sharing the Peace, that ‘We are the
body of Christ’. That’s an incredibly
profound thought. Just ponder it for a
moment. With the wave of holy hand, God
could surely do everything that needs
doing without our help. We believe in an
‘Almighty’ God, for whom nothing is impossible.
And yet, he invites us to be his serving hands in this community. He invites us – you and me – to co-operate
with him in his mission to redeem Havant and the whole world. What a privilege we have been given…to be God’s
loving hands to a dying world!
I thank God
every day for the service you all give.
I thank God that Father Peter, Father David and even Father Brown of
blessed memory have faithfully preached this most fundamental message of the
Christian faith. We are a body. Without each other, without each other’s
service to one another, we would achieve precisely nothing. We stand, or fall, as the people of God in
this place entirely on how much we are willing to give up our own desires, and
serve the common good.
As we set
out for the future together, I find myself joyfully optimistic about what we
can and will achieve together, by the grace of God. Our
Mission Development Plan has given us a firm foundation on which to build…a
direction in which to travel. There are
many challenges ahead…and there will be many sacrifices to be made along the
way.
It is, of course,
the very idea of Sacrifice that stands at the heart of the Christian
Faith. With Good Friday only a few weeks
behind us, we have once again reflected on the sacrifice of our Lord – and on
how his pouring out of himself led to so much creative energy, that he
ultimately burst out of his own tomb.
Just this week, I was at Bosmere School, taking an Assembly and chatting
to the children. A couple of them came
up to me and asked “Why is Good Friday called ‘good’”? The standard answer, of course, is that it
was good that Jesus died for the world.
But the deeper meaning is that personal sacrifice, of any description,
is ultimately the greatest good that any of us can do. Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross is an icon, a
grand metaphor, a prime example, of what can be achieved through sacrifice.
So, as we
set out for the future together, don’t be surprised if, from time to time, I
ask even greater sacrifice of you. I’ll
ask you to sacrifice the time you normally give to your TV, to come and be part
of this community – in worship as well as in fun and fellowship. I’ll ask you to sacrifice the money you
normally save up for that cruise or exotic holiday – so that we can achieve the
costly work of maintaining these buildings as signs of the Kingdom. I’ll ask you to sacrifice the comfort of your
sofa, for the distinct pleasure of a plastic chair in the church hall, or a
paint-brush, or the sometimes frustrating work of a Committee. And I will do so unashamedly, and without
reserve…because of Christ.
We call
Christ our Lord. And by his own sacrificial
death, Christ calls us into sacrifice and service. He does this for the good of the Kingdom, and
also for our own good. He calls us to
sacrifice, because sacrifice is good for
us. It takes us out of ourselves and
our own tiny self-obsessions. It expands
our consciousness, and enlarges our heart.
It strengthens our character, and shapes us to be more like Christ. I preached last year on the way that Orthodox
Christians believe that our destiny in Christ is to become ‘deified’ – to become,
‘gods’ with a small ‘g’ – people who are so like God the Father that people see
God’s own face in ours. All of that
becomes possible when we offer ourselves, body, mind, heart and soul, to be ‘living
sacrifices’ for God.
So, thank
you all. Thank you for the sacrifices
you have already made. And thank you for
the sacrifices that you will yet make.
We are the body of Christ, setting out for the future together, to build
our designated corner of the Kingdom of God here in Havant. Looking to the Ultimate Sacrifice of our Lord
Jesus as our model, let continuing sacrifice
be our watchword, our inspiration, and our path to salvation.
Amen
Saturday, April 2, 2016
Never say 'Never': Doubting Thomas
John 20. 19-31
Back in 1983, Hollywood was stunned when Sean Connery decided to reprise
his role as James Bond. By that time he was decidedly middle aged - and had not
played Bond since 1971. Movie-legend has it that after he finished filming for
'Diamonds are Forever' he said to his wife "never again". But she was
horrified, and replied "no - never say 'never again'!"
The title of the 1983 movie was a bit of a joke at Connery's own expense. It was a way of him recognising that he had been a bit rash in his original statement.
And that's something I think we've probably all done at one time or another, isn't it? I know I have.
As a young evangelical, I know that I said I would never ever be seen dressed up in clerical robes….look at me now.
The title of the 1983 movie was a bit of a joke at Connery's own expense. It was a way of him recognising that he had been a bit rash in his original statement.
And that's something I think we've probably all done at one time or another, isn't it? I know I have.
As a young evangelical, I know that I said I would never ever be seen dressed up in clerical robes….look at me now.
I grew up on a diet of good old fashioned English food…and I remember a
time when I was being taken out to dinner by friends to an Indian restaurant. “I could never
eat that stuff”, I said. “I’ll only go
with you if they also serve egg and chips”.
But when we were there…someone persuaded me to have just a little taste….and
I was hooked!
When Peter and the other disciples told Thomas that they had seen Jesus
raised from the dead, his response was pretty unambiguous, wasn't it?
"Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger
in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe".
In other words -"never - I'll never
believe what you tell me...unless I see it with my own eyes". (John 20: 25)
Just imagine the embarrassment that Thomas felt when Jesus appeared to him in that upper room! He must have felt like an absolute idiot! "Why did I say I would never believe?! What a fool I was?! Why didn't I believe my friends?!"
You see, the thing about Jesus is that he has a way of over-turning all our expectations. His whole life-story is one of apparent contradictions to the way that others expected he should act. He was born in a stable, not a palace. He ate and drank with sinners, not the religious leaders. He taught about love and forgiveness - even towards the Roman occupiers. He rode into town on a baby donkey, not a gleaming white war horse. He allowed himself to be murdered by the state, instead of calling down legions of angels to protect him. He stubbornly refused to stay dead...and rose up from the grave.
Jesus overturns our expectations - just as he overturned Thomas' expectations. Thomas expected that he could cling to the notion of empirical evidence - that he could depend only on his eyes and his own sense of touch in order to establish what was true. And that is the fundamental mistake that is made by so many people today...people like the now infamous Richard Dawkins, and other prominent secular atheists.
God is separate from all that God has made. Above it. Beyond it. Outside of it. We should not be surprised that God cannot be found in a test tube or at the end of a microscope or telescope. God doesn't want to be found in a test tube. Instead, God wants us to connect with him through our souls, through our spirits - through the essential essence of what it means to be God's own creation. God wants us, like Thomas, to discover God with the eyes of faith, and the hands of trust.
Why should that be? Why should Jesus say to Thomas that it is those who believe without seeing who are blessed? Wouldn't it be easier for God to make himself touchable, scientifically prove-able?
Well, perhaps it would...initially. But the problem is that in order to be the dynamic, ever-changing world that we experience, the world needs to be constantly on the move. To quote that wonderful old hymn; "Change and decay in all around I see...Thou changest not, O Lord, Abide with Me."
If God could somehow be scientifically reduced down to a substance that could be seen in a test tube - it would not be God. God is as far above such reductionism as the sun is above the earth. God is far more than anything which can been seen or touched.
So what does this mean for us - in our daily lives, and in our life as a church?
For our life as a church it means that we must 'never say never again'! Rowan Williams has famously said that all our language about God must be provisional...it must always be open to being shaped and changed by the God who is outside of all human methods of proof. That means never saying that we could never do things differently. It means never saying that we could never change our view about what God is like. It means accepting that the way we worship, the way we pray, the way we use our time and our money in the service of God must always remain open to the reality of God.
In our daily lives, it means growing in our attentiveness to God in all aspects of our life. God is not tied down by our decisions, or even by our circumstances. God has the capacity to break-through even the hardest of situations that life has thrown at us. He can heal, because he is beyond all human capacity to heal. He can comfort, because he is beyond human systems of support. He can challenge, because he is greater than all human challenges. He can change our minds about priorities, life-style choices, jobs and political allegiances - because he is beyond all such limitations.
God can neither be touched, nor seen...and yet God is present with us in every circumstance of life. God cannot be boxed or sold - and yet he is the ultimate manufacturer. God cannot be seen, and yet he is the light. He cannot be touched, and yet he is the ultimate ground of all being.
At the end of the day, we can, and should, do no more and no less than our brother Thomas the Twin - fall on our knees as cry out, "My Lord and My God". Amen.
Just imagine the embarrassment that Thomas felt when Jesus appeared to him in that upper room! He must have felt like an absolute idiot! "Why did I say I would never believe?! What a fool I was?! Why didn't I believe my friends?!"
You see, the thing about Jesus is that he has a way of over-turning all our expectations. His whole life-story is one of apparent contradictions to the way that others expected he should act. He was born in a stable, not a palace. He ate and drank with sinners, not the religious leaders. He taught about love and forgiveness - even towards the Roman occupiers. He rode into town on a baby donkey, not a gleaming white war horse. He allowed himself to be murdered by the state, instead of calling down legions of angels to protect him. He stubbornly refused to stay dead...and rose up from the grave.
Jesus overturns our expectations - just as he overturned Thomas' expectations. Thomas expected that he could cling to the notion of empirical evidence - that he could depend only on his eyes and his own sense of touch in order to establish what was true. And that is the fundamental mistake that is made by so many people today...people like the now infamous Richard Dawkins, and other prominent secular atheists.
God is separate from all that God has made. Above it. Beyond it. Outside of it. We should not be surprised that God cannot be found in a test tube or at the end of a microscope or telescope. God doesn't want to be found in a test tube. Instead, God wants us to connect with him through our souls, through our spirits - through the essential essence of what it means to be God's own creation. God wants us, like Thomas, to discover God with the eyes of faith, and the hands of trust.
Why should that be? Why should Jesus say to Thomas that it is those who believe without seeing who are blessed? Wouldn't it be easier for God to make himself touchable, scientifically prove-able?
Well, perhaps it would...initially. But the problem is that in order to be the dynamic, ever-changing world that we experience, the world needs to be constantly on the move. To quote that wonderful old hymn; "Change and decay in all around I see...Thou changest not, O Lord, Abide with Me."
If God could somehow be scientifically reduced down to a substance that could be seen in a test tube - it would not be God. God is as far above such reductionism as the sun is above the earth. God is far more than anything which can been seen or touched.
So what does this mean for us - in our daily lives, and in our life as a church?
For our life as a church it means that we must 'never say never again'! Rowan Williams has famously said that all our language about God must be provisional...it must always be open to being shaped and changed by the God who is outside of all human methods of proof. That means never saying that we could never do things differently. It means never saying that we could never change our view about what God is like. It means accepting that the way we worship, the way we pray, the way we use our time and our money in the service of God must always remain open to the reality of God.
In our daily lives, it means growing in our attentiveness to God in all aspects of our life. God is not tied down by our decisions, or even by our circumstances. God has the capacity to break-through even the hardest of situations that life has thrown at us. He can heal, because he is beyond all human capacity to heal. He can comfort, because he is beyond human systems of support. He can challenge, because he is greater than all human challenges. He can change our minds about priorities, life-style choices, jobs and political allegiances - because he is beyond all such limitations.
God can neither be touched, nor seen...and yet God is present with us in every circumstance of life. God cannot be boxed or sold - and yet he is the ultimate manufacturer. God cannot be seen, and yet he is the light. He cannot be touched, and yet he is the ultimate ground of all being.
At the end of the day, we can, and should, do no more and no less than our brother Thomas the Twin - fall on our knees as cry out, "My Lord and My God". Amen.
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