The parable of the weeds amongst the wheat. After Jesus has told us the parable, ten verses on we see his disciples asking him to explain the parable to them. Which he does.

His explanation is quite straight forward really, and one that speaks of the harvesting of souls at the end of time. I like this parable as it is very clear and very relevant.

As Christians we need to take heed of the words that are written and to mull them over, also to pray because this parable applies to each and every one of us and the way in which we choose to live our lives.

Obviously, as Jesus states the good seeds are the children of the Kingdom, Gods’ children, and the field is the world in which we live. The weeds also inhabit this world and grow and flourish with the rest. We all grow together, and sometimes it would be very hard to tell apart the wheat from the weeds, the good from the bad, or not so good. That is why it will be God with his angels who will bring in the harvest, on that final day of reckoning.

Have you noticed that most news that reaches us through the media is bad news? Bad news sells, to such an extent in fact that in some cases we can become almost immune to the sheer horror of it. Watching for example the famine taking hold in the third world countries while we are still eating our evening meal. Or following the trial of the Soham murders while shouting at our own children.

Are there so many different shades of grey? Do we judge by one standard and administer justice by another? We see war and killing as common place and yet harbour grudges against others. We are not above reproach, we should remember that while we are living among weeds we are not immune to their touch.

We are called to live in this world as children of God and to make a stand for his Kingdom and for his values of justice, peace and of truth. Our task is a very hard one, it is not easy to remain unaffected by the evil that surrounds us.

For the past eleven years I have always tried to be true to the gospel truth, to never preach anything but the word of God and not to use the pulpit as a soapbox for my own ideas but to remain relevant in my expounding. In the light of this passage and of recent world events I believe we need to ask ourselves some very important questions and to do some serious soul searching.

Questions like: Was it really appropriate to remove Saddam Hussein by force, evil though his regime was?

Or questions that affect us even more directly and the way in which we choose to live our lives. Should an openly practising homosexual be ordained bishop? Should this action be allowed to split the Anglican Communion? Where do we stand?

Only you can answer this question for yourselves, but I would urge you, read your scriptures, pray, pray and pray again. This subject has and does severely test me and I’m continuing to pray.

Ask yourselves What price inclusivity?

What price liberalism?

Sitting on the fence is not a spiritual option we are told in Revelation Chapter 3 verse 15 If you are neither hot nor cold I will spew you out of my mouth. One of my favourite verses as I can often blow very hot or cold depending on the circumstances. But to remain neutral is to be ineffectual, and indesicive and to become vulnerable to the wind of change where ever it blows for good or for ill.

We must take spiritual responsibility for ourselves, for our salvation, and decide in all good conscience what we believe. There will be no firm confirmation of our answer this side of eternity but at least we are doing our best for God, as we see it.

We are in this world to grow, as Christians, to spread the good news, to extend God’s kingdom. Let us put our energy into doing just that because we don’t know when the harvest will be, or who will be gathered into the Kingdom. God is the God of surprises, the God of love, and we his children are called to follow him, in love and in truth.

Jan.

***

28th January 2007. Candlemas at St Chad's.

Today we celebrate another special festival in the Church's year; it's the Feast of the Presentation of Christ, or Candlemas. It's the last of the feasts for Christmas and Epiphany, and as we heard in our Gospel reading, it commemorates the visit of the Holy Family to the temple in Jerusalem forty days after the birth of Jesus.

In this story Mary and Joseph were doing what was required of them as devout Jews. According to the ancient Mosaic Law, women were considered unclean after they had given birth, and were not allowed into the Temple to worship. It was therefore the custom to bring the new mother to the Temple for ritual purification, 40 days after she'd had a male child, and 80 days after she'd had a daughter. (Girls, of course, being much more dubious then boys!) Only then was the woman thought to be pure enough to go to religious services again, and generally go out in public.

It might seem strange to us, but old customs die hard, and it isn't all that long since women in England were kept indoors after having a baby until they had been 'churched'. You can still find the service in old prayer books, though we have replaced it now-a-days with a service of thanksgiving.

Another reason for Mary and Joseph to go to the Temple, was that the first-born male, whether of man or beast, was thought to be special to God and to belong to him. Animals were killed and bunt, but babies could be 'reclaimed' by the offering ofan alternative sacrifice. So Mary and Joseph travelled to Jerusalem to present their first born son to God, and to offer the appropriate sacrifice in his place.

The required sacrifice was a lamb, but those too poor to buy a lamb could make the lesser offering of birds, and this is what Mary and Joseph did. Faithful to their religious duty, they went to the great city, entered the outer-Temple precincts where women were allowed, and made their offering. So far the story is that of any devout Jewish family at the time, but then something unique happened.

Living in Jerusalem was an old man named Simeon. He was a very holy old man, and he had spent his life waiting for the coming of the expected Messiah, the one who would save Israel. It must have seemed a long, weary wait, for Israel's recent history had not been encouraging and now the whole country was chafing under the Roman occupation. Simeon knew he could not have much longer to live, but somehow he had always felt that God would not let him die until the time of liberation came, and on this day, we're told, the Holy Spirit guided him to the Temple.

The minute he saw Mary and Joseph bringing in their baby son, he knew the waiting was over and that the salvation he had yearned for all his life was finally come. He took the baby Jesus into his arms, and uttered the beautiful words which we call the Nunc Dimittis, and which we still use in our evening services:

'Lord, you now dismiss your servant in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all people, to be a light of revelation for the Gentiles, and to be the glory of your people Israel. '

With these words the whole focus of the story changes, for this child, Jesus, is no longer just being symbolically offered to God in obedience to the ancient Law ofIsrael: instead, Simeon recognises him both as the fulfilment of that Law, and as an gift to the whole world. Jesus is the promised Messiah who is to restore Israel and renew its fteedom, but he will also bring salvation for everyone, Jew and Gentile alike.

And in our Gospel reading, Simeon was not the only one to understand the importance of the child brought into the Temple by Mary and Joseph. There's another significant person present there that day, Anna, an old prophetess. Widowed for many years she, like Simeon, has spent her time praying and waiting for the coming of the Messiah. who would save the Jewish nation. When she saw the baby Jesus, she too recognised that the longed for saviour had been born, and she began to speak out loud, praising God and talking about the infant to anyone else who had come to Israel's holiest place hoping to find a sign that redemption would come.

The acceptance of Jesus by these two devout and respected old people is a key moment in the Gospel revelation of who Jesus is. In the Nativity stories the birth was marked by God in several special ways: by the Angel Gabriel's announcement to Mary of what was to happen to her; by the choir of angels who appeared to the shepherds; by the Star which led the Wise Men to Bethlehem trom their home in the East. Now Jesus is recognised by his own people as part of God's plan for salvation. He is the promised Messiah of Israel's old Covenant with God, but he is also the one who will inaugurate a new world-wide kingdom of righteousness and treedom. He will be the 'Light of the world.'

Light is such a powerful symbol for us. Without light we are aftaid of the darkness, we lose our way. More than that, our very growth becomes stunted and withered. Light is still one of the most essential elements in our lives, and for our ancestors who did not have the benefit of artificial lighting, it was even more precious. So they incorporated it into many of their religious festivals, and today's feast of Can diem as has been celebrated since the 4th century.

It became known as Candlemas because it was the day on which the year's supply of candles for the church were blessed. They still are in the Roman Catholic rite, and it is a very important and solemn celebration. Special prayers are said, anthems sung, the candles are sprinkled with holy water and surrounded by incense. A great procession winds its way in and around the church. The day becomes a feast of candles, for they are more than just practical aids to sight. The warm candlelight is a tangible reminder of that greater light which radiates trom the figure of Jesus. It shows us that Jesus is the Light ofthe World that Simeon recognised, the' light of revelation for the Gentiles,' and 'the glory of Israel.'

For us these words are an affirmation that Jesus is our salvation. God has come among us in human form to live as we live, experience life with us in all its wonder and sorrow, and lead us to a new appreciation of what it means to be truly human.

But that makes extra demands of us, for if we are to be truly human, then we must be like him. As Christ's body on earth we must show his life and his love. We must, like him, be 'The Light of the World. '

It can seem a daunting task. The world is so big, so complex, so full of needs, so full of darkness. But we must have courage. We may not be capable of great acts of mercy like the saints; our efforts may seem to be of very limited significance, but every time we allow Christ to work through us, we bring a little of his light to others.

I don't know if any of you remember a simple little hymn that you may have sung as a child:

'Jesus bids us shine with a pure, clear light,

Like a little candle, burning in the night..

In this world of darkness, so we must shine.

You in your small corner, and I in mine.'

That is what is asked of each of us, to light 'our little corner' of God's world. And we won't be acting alone.

I'm sure that many of you will know the famous painting by the nineteenth century artist Holman Hunt, called 'The Light of the World'. It shows Jesus standing outside a house and knocking on the closed door. There are thorns around his head, and in his hand he holds a lantern.

The painting was finished in 1854, and when Hunt showed the completed work to some friends, one of them pointed out that there seemed to be an omission: there was no handle on the door.

"Ah," the artist replied, "But it is we who must open to the light. The handle is on the inside. "

Christ, who is the True Light of the whole world knocks at the door of our hearts, and if we open to him then we will be so the world, out mto the lives of others.

A we celebrate this feast of Candlemas, let us pray that we, like Simeon and Anna, may recognise Christ, open our hearts to him, and shine like candles in the world, 'you in your small corner, and I in mine.'

Carol Hoare.

25th March 2007. 200^th Anniversary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade.

25^th March 1807 was a truly momentous day in human history, for on it Parliament received the Royal Assent to the bill for the Abolition of the Slave Trade. It had been a long and difficult struggle for the bill’s supporters, and it would be another 26 years before those who were already slaves would receive their freedom, but at least now the terrible trade itself was finally at an end.

What made this a particularly special day was that Parliament had finally recognised the need to listen to the demands of morality and justice, even when it meant abandoning a system that underpinned the very foundations of the British economy.

The British involvement in the Slave Trade was long established., the first recorded voyage being Sir John Hawkins's shipment of slaves to the Spanish West Indies in 1562. It was a very profitable venture and other nations soon joined in, but none was quite so successful as Britain, and by the end of the 18th century, Britain had become the largest and most accomplished slaving nation in the world.

The ‘triangular trade’, as it was called, meant that manufactured goods were shipped to Africa where they were exchanged for slaves. These were transported across the Atlantic to the Americas to be sold in return for sugar, rum, cotton and coffee. After these had been carried back to Britain, the whole business started again. The ships were never empty, and every leg of the journey made money. There’s no doubt that the commerce in slaves was highly profitable, and it affected more than just those immediately involved in it. Banks were founded and grew rich from the profits made through the Slave Trade, and it also contributed to the development of Britain as the world’s first industrial power.

As well as needing workers for the 120 sugar refineries in England, there was a huge expansion in manufacturing. Slave labour in America fuelled the unprecedented growth of the cotton industry in Lancashire, while commodities such as beads, pots and kettles, guns and other metal goods were needed to exchange for human beings in Africa. Birmingham in particular boomed, making machinery to process sugar on the plantations, and cutlasses to cut the cane, but it also fed on the demand for trade goods, including fetters, chains, padlocks, and guns. 150,000 weapons were produced each year for trade with West African rulers, and there was actually a factory making gun barrels for the Slave Trade here in Sutton Coldfield. Altogether it was a mercenary business, and indeed Birmingham became famous for cheap, very low quality goods, known derisively as Brummagem ware, made especially for the African market.

There were cultural changes too from the economic effects of the Slave Trade. Cities such as Bristol and Liverpool expanded and grew wealthy on the profits that were amassed, and money was poured into new buildings, houses, schools, museums and art galleries, including the National Gallery in London. Another very basic change for ordinary people was that sugar itself, which had once been a rare and expensive luxury, now became and everyday part of the British diet.

We are still benefiting today from the economic and social effects of the Slave Trade, but they came at a terrible price.

Slavery was nothing new, from the earliest times we have records of men and women being kept as slaves, and there are numerous references to slavery in the Bible, but the transatlantic slave trade was something different. Never before had slavery been established on such an institutionalised basis or carried out with such a callous and almost total disregard for human dignity.

Men, women and children were captured by warlords in Africa and marched down to the coast. There they were sold to slave traders who loaded them into ships, cramming as many as possible into the dark holds, and chaining them so that movement was almost impossible. Conditions were appalling: food was meagre, water polluted and sanitary arrangements almost non-existent. Diseases like dysentery were rife and many slaves simply gave up the will to live. Women were sometimes kept separately with the children, but they were always at the mercy of sailors who could rape them with impunity.

When they arrived in America or the West Indies, the slaves were cleaned up ready for sale then taken to the slave auction. There they would be examined as if they were horses or cattle, and sold to the highest bidder. The fear and the anguish they must have felt is almost unimaginable, especially when husbands and wives were split up, and children torn from their parents’ arms.

Once on the plantation they would be allocated duties according to their age and strength, but all work was hard, much was dangerous, and discipline was rigorously enforced. For any kind of rebellion slaves could be branded, chained, or forced to wear spiked collars that prevented them lying down. They could be beaten, sometimes to death, or mutilated by having hands or feet cut off. Even killing a slave, though technically murder, would be excused, because a slave was not a person, but a piece of property.

And this is the core of the evil that lay at the heart of the Slave Trade: the idea that any human being could be regarded just as a thing, a commodity, without value, dignity or basic rights. It was part of a general feeling that the white European nations were superior to any others, and that at best Africans were backward savages, and at worst, they were less than human. It was an attitude that has left a legacy in the racism which is sadly, still to be found in parts of our society today.

But it was very wide-spread, and it affected all kinds of people. Though many of the reformers who fought for the abolition of the Slave Trade were Christians, not all shared their convictions. It has to be a source of shame to us as Anglicans, that the Church of England once owned a number of plantations which were worked by slave labour; and that in 1834 the bishops in Parliament actually voted against the abolition of slavery.

And for those who supported slavery, the Bible could be used as propaganda. A text in Genesis suggests that Noah’s son Ham was cursed for misdoing, and his children – who were the ancestors of the African races - condemned to slavery by God. Many other references, especially in the Epistles were also used to prove that slavery was compatible with Christianity.

Contradictory texts, such as the story of the Exodus, where the Children of Israel were led out of bondage in Egypt, or the limitations on slavery laid down in other parts of the Old Testament, were ignored, and it was forbidden to allow slaves access to such subversive material.

But these were the very parts of the Bible that inspired those who were against the slave trade. From very early on, the Quakers believed that slavery was sinful and they used the Bible as a weapon against the trade. They sincerely believed the teachings of Jesus, that all men and women are equal in God’s sight, and they organised their lives and work according to this belief. Two of the most famous and effective abolitionists were William Wilberforce and Thomas Clarkson, both of whom devoted their lives to changing the attitudes of the wider population.

William Wilberforce, a committed Christian, was elected as an MP at just 21 years of age. He was a powerful speaker, and was soon persuaded to spearhead the abolitionist cause in Parliament. He was part of the group of evangelical Christians, men and women, who fought tirelessly for justice and freedom, and he gave his life to this work. Feelings ran very high, and Wilberforce endured attacks from the press, was physically assaulted and even received death threats, but nothing would stop him. Twenty times he presented his bill for the Abolition of the Slave Trade, before it was finally passed in 1807. Wilberforce is remembered particularly for his courage, his persistence and his passion.

Thomas Clarkson was a curate’s son from Wisbech in Cambridegeshire. While at University, he began to research into the Slave Trade and what he learnt changed his life. He met other abolitionists, including Wilberforce, and became convinced that once the British public was informed of the true horrors of the slave trade, their anger could put pressure on Parliament. To this end he collected detailed information about the actual conditions endured by slaves, and published them in books, pamphlets and on posters. One of his most famous diagrams shows the inside of a slave ship, every inch of space being filled by a human body. It’s a very shocking and powerful image. Clarkson also organized mass-meetings and petitions; helped inspire hundreds of small groups to work against the slave trade, and encouraged the boycotting of sugar and products that had been produced using slave labour. Like Wilberforce he faced great hostility, but he never faltered, and fought on until the whole system of slavery had been abolished throughout the British territories.

Wilberforce, Clarkson, and others like them were brave and dedicated pioneers in the cause of racial justice, but it would be wrong to think that they were the only ones involved in the struggle. The Africans themselves fought hard for their own emancipation, and increasing resistance on the plantations helped to make the system less easy for the owners to control. One of the most influential Africans was Olaudah Equiano, an intelligent and astute man who was enslaved as a child, but managed to acquire an education, earn enough money to buy his own freedom, and then devote himself to the abolitionist cause. Settled in England he married a white woman, and in 1789 published an auto-biography that took England by storm and sold 50,000 copies in the first two months. It’s still in print today.

The example of men like Wilberforce, Clarkson, and Equiano, along with the countless other men and women who campaigned so tirelessly and for so long, stands as an inspiration to us all, but it is also a challenge, for though today we can give our heartfelt thanks that the transatlantic slave trade no longer exists, we cannot afford to be complacent. It left behind it an ongoing legacy of racism and of mistrust between people of different colours, and that is something all men and women of good will must continue to resist. We also have to remember that slavery still exists in many parts of our troubled world, so the fight goes on. We must not ignore it.

A philosopher once said: ‘ For evil to exist it is only necessary for good men to do nothing.’ The African Slave Trade flourished for so long, not only because of the active involvement of its organisers, but also because ordinary men and women closed their eyes to what was happening. There are so many forms of slavery and oppression still existing today, and it is vitally important that we join the struggle against these evils. As Christians, we have a charge: to do justly; to love mercy; and to walk humbly for all are made in the image of God. We might have no control over what happened in the past but we can control how we respond to cruelty and injustice today.

I want to finish with some words of Thomas Clarkson. Not long before the end of his life he called for everyone to: “Take courage, be not dismayed, go on, persevere to the last, ahead lies the elimination of slavery from the whole world”. May we too heed his message and answer his call, so that Christ’s Kingdom of peace and justice may come a little nearer in this generation.

Carol Hoare

***

Easter April 2007

If we’d used the psalm appointed for today, we would have heard these famous words:

The Lord is my shepherd:

therefore I shall lack nothing.

He makes me lie down in green pastures;

and leads me beside still waters.

He refreshes my soul;

and guides me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil; for you are with me,

your rod and your staff comfort me.

You prepare a table for me

in the face of those who trouble me;

you have anointed my head with oil

and my cup runs over.

Surely your goodness and mercy

will follow me all the days of my life:

and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

Psalm 23.

It’s a wonderful psalm, and one that has given comfort and hope to generations of anxious or grieving people. Though it speaks in terms of a rural idyll, far removed from most modern people’s experience, it’s still the psalm most people know, and choose to have read, especially at funerals.

Our Gospel this morning echoed the imagery of Psalm 23, for in it we heard Jesus describe himself as a shepherd, ‘My sheep hear my voice, I know them, and they follow me’, and in last week’s Gospel, we heard his charge to Peter: ‘Feed my sheep’. Jesus was talking to people 2000 years ago who lived in a pastoral setting, but isn’t it interesting how powerful that metaphor of sheep and shepherd has remained down the centuries, and how we still respond to it today? Despite the fact that most of us live in urban surroundings, and have little to do with animal husbandry, somehow it still represents for us the need we have for someone to guide us, nourish us, protect us. Throughout his ministry, the disciples and other people followed Jesus because this was exactly what they, too, needed: some were sick, some confused, some anxious, but all were searching for healing, direction and hope.

There are so many searching people in the world today, people hungering for instruction, people looking for a direction and purpose in life. We may talk of living in a secular and materialistic society, but if you go into any bookshop, you will see shelves full of books on self-help, on fringe and new-age religion, and on the supernatural and the occult. The need for meaning in life is as great as ever, and the big questions are still with us.

We still worry about our children and their futures; we still feel worthless because we have no employment; we still suffer sickness, and ultimately face death, and we still have to face the agonizing realisation, that the more we love, the greater the pain of separation and loss will be. Then there are the wider questions: how we should behave towards other people; what we should be aiming for in life and whether material things can give real happiness. Why is there suffering in the world? Is there a God, and if there is, what is he like?

Well it’s easy enough to ask questions like these, but where can people find real, lasting answers? If we’d started our Gospel reading a little earlier in the chapter, we’d have heard Jesus described himself as ‘The Good Shepherd’, the one who would lead his flock of followers into safety and righteousness. But he also warned them that they would meet with false shepherds who would seek to lead them astray. We need guidance, but how can we tell the difference between good shepherds and bad ones?

We live in a complex and uncertain world; what we know and believe seems constantly challenged by new ideas and discoveries. But the disciples and other people around Jesus also lived in a time of uncertainty and transition. Their country had been occupied by an alien force, the Romans. The religion that was the basis of their state was only just tolerated, and their way of life was under frequent threat. So they came to Jesus for guidance; he taught them, and we have many examples of his teaching throughout the Gospels. But what can we find in his teaching that might help us to identify a Good Shepherd?

Well I think we can start by considering the two great commandments that Jesus gave us: love God, and love your neighbour as yourself. For Jesus, loving God meant relating to him as Father and drawing close to him. Formal religion would provide the basis for this, and Jesus often reminded people of the Judaic Law, but it must never become a straightjacket. His teaching that ‘the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath’ can be applied to all aspects of religious life, and it suggests that a Good Shepherd is one who is comfortable with God and knows him personally; one for whom loving God is about relationship rather than about rigid rules and regulations. A Good Shepherd is one whose message is life-enhancing, not life-denying.

And loving God is conditioned by loving your neighbour; as the Sermon on the Mount and the parable of the Good Samaritan show us. So it would seem, that a Good Shepherd is someone who is sincerely concerned about the well-being of others, and who reaches out to others whoever they are, without making distinctions about race or worthiness. Good Shepherds don’t pit one section of the church or community against another, stirring up conflict and driving people away. Instead they work to dismantle the walls that keep us apart, speaking words that gather us together, and bring healing, reconciliation and support, instead of distrust, separation, and abandonment..

The last words of the commandments – love your neighbour ‘as yourself’ - also suggest to me that a Good Shepherd would be someone who is at ease in themselves, not out of complacency or indifference to their own failings, but because they are secure in the knowledge that God loves us as just we are, with all our faults and inadequacies, and that if we open our hearts to him, we will, finally, be perfected.

And I think there are other aspects of Jesus’ teaching that can give us guidelines. If you look at the way Jesus spoke, you can see that a lot of the time he told parables without explanations, and, as in today’s Gospel, often avoided direct answers to questions. For Jesus wanted to challenge his hearers, to make them think for themselves; to work out their own solutions. We can’t run away from life’s dilemmas by following a neat set of rules, and so a Good Shepherd would be someone who, grounded in faith, faces up to difficult decisions, works through to their own conclusions, and then enables others to do the same.

My final thoughts today about Good Shepherds, is that, like Jesus they are people who walk with us in the dark valleys. When we are facing the most terrible things that life can offer: sickness, bereavement, the loss of hope, comfort does not come from assurances that everything will be all right or from platitudes that try to explain why everything that happens is God’s will. Comfort comes from the simple presence of companions who are willing to sit alongside us in our darkest hours, to walk through the darkness with us, and to rejoice with us when some small glimmer of light finally begins to shine. Good Shepherds share despair and danger with others, even at the risk of their own safety.

There’s a story of a tourist who was walking in the highlands of Scotland when a storm suddenly blew up. The wind howled and snow started to whirl around the frightened man. Instinctively he began to hurry down the hill, and was heading for a hollow below him, when he met a flock of sheep, guided by an old shepherd struggling up the hill past him. ‘Where are you going?’ he asked anxiously, ‘Surely the sheep would be safer down in the hollow than on the exposed hillside, and you’re too old to be going up there in this.’

‘I am their shepherd,’ replied the old man, ‘Where I lead, they will follow. But if the sheep go into the hollow, drifts will cover them, and they will die, only on the open hillside, facing the storm, with me to keep them together, will they have any chance of survival.’

Trusting in God will not guarantee us an easy path through life; it won’t save us from all dilemmas and difficulties, but it will promise us that we will never be alone. Jesus, our Good Shepherd will be with us through life’s storms, guiding us, protecting us and, in the end, bringing us through safely into his everlasting life. As we heard today in our Gospel, if we follow his way, no-one will be able to snatch us out of his hand, and like the psalmist of old, we will walk in the paths of righteousness, and lack nothing.

Amen.

Carol Hoare.

***

2 September 2007. Accepting a Subordinate Role. John 3 V 22 – 36.

How do you feel when the ''new kid on the block" steals your thunder, steals your limelight? Or when something you've worked long and hard for is taken away and given to someone else? Or perhaps the client-base that you've spent so long building up starts to go elsewhere, and your customers find an alternative source of supply? Or perhaps your flock leave to follow another path?

It can feel like a personal insult, a kick in the teeth, you feel you have a right to be hurt, offended, and you begin to question yourself. What have I done wrong? What could I have done differently? Am I no longer good enough and if not, why? It is hard not to take rejection personally, not to feel hurt, betrayed or let down.

In our passage from John's gospel this evening, John is baptising people. Jesus also is baptising close by, and we are told all are going to him. John is being deserted by many as they turn to Jesus. John does not take this as a personal insult or as a slight against his own baptism. He replies "I am not the messiah but 1 have been sent ahead of him."

This passage demonstrates the loveliness of the total humility of John the Baptist. Men were leaving John for Jesus and John's disciples were worried, they did not like to see their master take second place. They didn't like to see him abandoned while the crowds flocked to hear and see the new teacher instead. In answer to their complaints it would have been easy for John to feel injured, neglected and unjustly forgotten. Sometimes a friend's sympathy can be the worst possible thing for us. It can make us feel sorry for ourselves and encourage us to think that we have not had a fair deal. This is not however John's attitude to the situation. He told his disciples three things.

Firstly: he tells them that he had never expected anything else. Instead he reaffirms the fact that his position was not the leading place but that he was merely sent as the forerunner and the preparer for someone greater who was to come. He is merely the indicator pointing the way. Life would be much easier if more people were willing to play a more subordinate role, to support others rather than compete with them. Many people seek the greatness for themselves, but John was not like that. He knew the role that God had given him and he was happy fulfilling that role, and part of that role was to point the way to and prepare the way for Jesus; to prepare hearts and minds to receive the messiah. Preparation is the key to so many things. Perhaps it would save a lot of resentment and heartbreak if we could realise that there are certain things which are just not for us and instead accept with all our hearts the role that God has given us to play and to do it well, for God's sake. To do any task for God, even if perceived a small insignificant or subordinate role is to be great in the eyes of God.

Secondly: John says that no man could receive more than God gave him. If a new teacher was winning more followers it was not because God was stealing them from John but because he was giving them to Jesus. God will move hearts and minds of men to receive him and if that meant turning from John then so be it. Perhaps it was time to move on. And we too need to recognise when it is time to move on, to follow Jesus more closely than previously, to perhaps leave the comfort of the past behind and to move onto fresh pastures, to new and greater things. We need to be open to the prompting of the Spirit, and the ways of the Lord. We need to recognise the signs and to follow them.

Finally: John uses a vivid picture recognisable to all Jews. He calls Jesus the Bridegroom and refers to himself as the mend of the Bridegroom. One of the great pictures of the Old Testament is of Israel as the bride of God and God as the bridegroom of Israel. The union between God and Israel was so close it was likened to a wedding. The New Testament also uses this analogy when it speaks of the church as the bride of Christ. And it is this picture that John portrays. Jesus had come from God; he was the Son of God, Israel his bride. The one place that John claims for himself is that of the mend of the bridegroom.

The mend of the Bridegroom has a unique and an important place at a Jewish wedding. He acted as a liaison between the bride and the bridegroom, he sent out the invitations and he prepared the way for the wedding.

John's task was to bring Israel and Jesus together. His job complete, he would be happy to fade into the background. He, like us, is one of God's servants, with a specific but valuable task to perform. He was happy and honoured to do his bit for God. We too have our tasks to perform, however menial they may appear to us. We should be both happy and honoured to perform them for the glory of God and for the furtherance of his Kingdom.

Jan.

***

Sermon for Sunday 19^th October 2008. Matthew 22: 15-22.

Give to God what belongs to God.

Money was no easy matter in Jesus’s day. Different kinds of currency were in circulation at this time. The Roman currency was the denarius with the head of Tiberius the then Roman Emperor; it seems that Jerusalem had its own commercial Shekel - a currency different from the rest of Palestine; and then there was the currrency used in the Temple. Hence there were many money changers dealing in these currencies.

Taxes for Rome were collected in denarius of which one was to be given as a poll tax each year: this gave rise to much political unrest. The tax had been one of the bones of contention in the recent rebellion of Judas which was brutally suppressed by the Romans.

“Tell us, then, what you think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor or not?” the question asked by the Pharisees was intended as a trap; Jesus was aware of it. It was an explosive question; they were asking him, ‘are you a Roman sympathizer or a terrorist?’ Either answer would lead to trouble.

Jesus answered by pointing to the image on a denarius offered by a Pharisee. (Notice neither Jesus nor his followers produced such a coin, possibly because they did not have one or use them).

“Whose head is this and whose title?”

They answered, “the emperor’s.”

Then Jesus said to them, “Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

He seems to say – you’ve got some of Caesar’s property in your pocket, why not give it back to the minter? But then – give to God.

And what belongs to God?

Well in one sense everything, as we sing in a modern hymn: “O Lord all the world belongs to you”. But maybe Jesus meant something more specific.

The coins were ‘made in Caesar’s image’ but what is supposed to be made in God’s image? We are: humankind. ‘God said, “Let us make humankind in our own image and likeness”’ (Genesis 1,28).

So Jesus tells the clever questioners to make less fuss about paying taxes, focus more on how you spend your own lives.

That implies some global questions, so now let’s take this step by step. We are invited to take three big steps.

1. Recognise to whom we belong(‘Give to God what is God’s’):

We belong to God because God Created us, shaped us and gave us his Spirit.

More than that, when we failed God, Jesus Redeemed us at the cost of his death.

So we can join with John Wesley’s words in the Covenant service:

‘I am no longer mine, but yours.’

2. Accept that its payback time; time we gave back to God the life God has given.

We do this in worship - we give glory to God, which means giving away our own claims to glory. And we do this in service, when we make our lives available to do what God wants of us.

Thank God that we serve a liberating creator and redeemer: God’s service is perfect freedom, God wants us give ourselves up in order to become our true selves.

3. Take stock of how we spend our days and our money. Do we try to live as though everything we possess is held in trust - as trustees for God?

To quote John Wesley again: ‘It is not a question of how much of my money will I give to God, but how much of God’s money will I keep for myself.’

Does it sound tough? Not really, because we are handing our lives and our goods back to the one who alone can bring us to perfection.

Rev’d Canon Peter Fisher.

***

The Reality of the Resurrection. Third Sunday of Easter 2009.

I don’t know if you have any phobias but I do not like spiders! I never have done although I think the huge one that ran over my shoulder as a ten year old, whilst I was in the car with my Dad driving down the motorway at 70 mph did rather finish me off. (Mind you, it is to my Dad’s credit that the scream I emitted at the time did not cause him to lose control of the car and so finish us all off!). The psychoanalyst, Freud suggested a deep seated reason for a fear of spiders but it is not appropriate to say in a family service. I will tell anyone interested afterwards what Freud thought! Anyhow, I have just moved flat and my new home has rather an abundance of spiders. So far, on average I have dealt with about 3 a day. I know I am being a baby but I don’t like it! The result is that I am always keeping an eye out for anything moving, or dark shapes sitting on the skirting board. The trouble is that half the shapes I swoop on turn out not to be spiders at all, but dirty marks or shadows. I am seeing spiders in places where there are no spiders. It is an illusion.

The Resurrection stories, and the one we have heard from Luke today is no exception to this, all tell us how the first disciples and friends of Jesus were being scared by shadows and living under illusion. They could not see the reality that Jesus had been raised from the dead. In part this was because they were conditioned to think in a certain way, like I am conditioned to think anything small and dark is a spider on the loose. The disciples, like all Jews were expecting a Messiah –they thought he would be one who would sort the Romans out and rule justly, and champion the cause of the Jews. They thought they had found their man in Jesus. And they tried to put their money where their mouth was by backing him. So when he got murdered their whole lives fell apart. That was it, their hopes and dreams crushed and broken. They thought they knew how the story went and therefore the story had come to an end. They had been wrong about Jesus, he was not the Messiah they had been waiting for, so, in the resurrection they were repeatedly being confronted with a reality that was for them unexpected: Jesus had come back from the dead. He was alive! They did not understand that and so were still seeing bogeymen in the shadows and missing the point that Jesus had risen and all that that would mean.

The trouble is that we do know what happened to Jesus and why, and, as they say, hindsight is a wonderful thing. Imagine if you thought you knew the ending to a story and it turned out differently. Take Goldilocks and the 3 bears for example. I guess you all know that story, but actually it didn’t quite happen as it is usually told: The bears came back all right from their trip out and went to the dining table to sit down for breakfast. Daddy Bear said ‘Who’s been eating my breakfast?’ and Baby Bear said ‘Who’s been eating my breakfast?’ and Mummy Bear said ‘Oh don’t be so silly, I haven’t even made the breakfast yet!’ That is not the ending we were expecting. We are surprised by a twist in the tale.

So it was for the disciples. They expected one thing from Jesus, and when he died they seemed to get another, and yet the reality of what actually happened was totally different again and it was a surprise. Jesus had gone through death and out the other side. What a twist to the tale! They had to get their heads round it. They had to realise that they had missed the point and that their idea of Jesus had largely been based on an illusion. Now it was time to face reality!

Jesus really was alive, he wasn’t a figment of their imagination. He could be touched, he could eat, he could be talked to. He was tangible. Alive. Real. And what a reality! A whole new way of seeing God and relating to him. A whole new way of thinking and being. Throughout his time on earth Jesus had tried to explain it to them but they did not get it. Now, he explains it again and in the light of the resurrection it makes sense. They see! Rejoice and exult with all of your heart. The Lord has taken away any judgement of you. God is in our midst. God loves and saves everyone, no matter how much on the edges, no matter what they have done. The outcast, the lame get healed in the name of Jesus. No shame for anyone. Whatever has gone on before is over – a new start awaits us all. God looks at us all and sings his heart out with joy! In his eyes, because of what Jesus did on the cross, we are all welcome as friends of God.

It is the same events, the same story but given a completely different meaning by Jesus to the one that the disciples had given it. And the disciples believed what Jesus said and it changed them. And it changed those with whom they came into contact. People got healed. People began to live differently; in a countercultural way, sharing their belongings, gifts and time. They studied the Scriptures, spent time in prayer, trying to understand how to follow Jesus, how to relate to a God that they were suddenly seeing in a new way. And they were prepared to stand up and be counted as Christians. They were witnesses.

I wonder whether our familiarity with the Resurrection stories has led us into complacency. Maybe we no longer see the surprise, the wonder, the power, the challenge to live differently to how the world expects us to, the totality of commitment that God calls from us, the radical nature of being a Christian. And the love and joy that God has for each of us. We, too, are his witnesses. Maybe we need to re-experience the impact of the message of Easter in order to be better witnesses.

In front of you there is a little picture (on the right here). What do you see? It is one of those illusion pictures where there is another picture hidden. There is another reality to the one which immediately strikes the eye. Take it home with you. Look for the other reality and let it remind you, however much it may feel like an illusion, of the reality of the resurrection and the promise of new life in Jesus, and of his call for us to grasp it, follow him and be witnesses for Him in our lives today.

Susie. April 26^th 2009.

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24 May 2009. The Disciples. The Jesus Team.

Ezekiel 36 24-28; Acts 115-17 21-26; John 17 6-19.

Put a member of a rugger team in the Sin Bin and the team deems itself lucky if the opposition only manage to score three points during the 10 minutes forced to play with a below strength side.

If a team plays with a member short, it affects the overall performance.

Ask my son. He plays football for a team which "gets together when it can" and often they have to play an under strength side because some of the team members are unable to make the match. Those are the occasions when they are very glad to come away from the match with a draw rather than a loss.

The performance of any team with a member short is affected. And that is what faced the disciples.

They were used to working as a team. They went in two's, rarely on their own , so 11 was not a good number.

And 12 is a special number. It points to the 12 tribes of Israel and if the apostles were to be like a New Israel they would have to make up their team to 12. So with Judas' death they needed a replacement. And this is where we realize that it was not just the 12 who followed Jesus from the beginning of his ministry but also many others were involved in the journey.

We are told there were about 120 gathered, that is 10 people suitable for every apostle.

The decision is made that it should be someone who had been with Jesus from the beginning. One of those who saw the Baptism on the Jordan and at that life changing moment followed Jesus for the rest of his earthly Ilfe. The person also had to have been there at the resurrection, and to have seen the ascension.

We hear of a resurrection appearance to some 500 Christians at one time, check out 1 Corinthians 15 verse 6. So this gathering in Jerusalem is a much smaller group.

The ascension was now past and they were in prayer in anticipation of important work.

But first they needed to replace Judas. That there was to be such an appointment at all was a tragedy. The shadowy figure of Judas had been fully involved in the apostolic group, then had made a not wholly explicable and ultimately heartbreaking compact with the enemies. The ugly details of his death would indicate that this was neither dignified nor creditable suicide. So a replacement was needed, but it was essential that the person would be God's choice.

Certain criteria were agreed. The person had to have been with Jesus throughout his ministry, had to have met him risen from the death and be able to proclaim, credibly and authentically, the resurrection of Jesus. So the selection of a new apostle depended on long associafion with Jesus.

The important thing was having someone who knew Jesus, not someone who had just heard of him. The person had to have followed and loved Jesus. It had to be someone who would show others that Jesus was alive, that Jesus was not just a figure of history or a holy man of the past, but the Living Lord.

Two people become obvious candidates: Joseph and Matthias. And the final choice was taken in prayer and by casting lots. We may find this a little strange but they wanted the choice to be God's and 2,000 years ago it was a natural way of seeking that choice. The names of the candidates were written on stones they were placed in a vessel and that vessel was shaken until one stone fell out. The one whose name fell out was the chosen one, the one God wanted. So Matthias become apostle Number 12. Matthias was now part of the team. And Matthias in his new role is both witness that the Lord has been raised and also guardian of the gospel tradition, able to ground new Christians in the teaching of Jesus and to preserve the memories of his ministry in an expanding fellowship.

Today we are part of that expanded fellowship. The teachings of Jesus have been passed down from generation to generation. Yes there have been a few hiccoughs as gospel interpretations have veered from the truth, but over the years these have been brought back to the message that Jesus Lives.

We are all needed to expand the fellowship. And by spending some time each day with our Lord we can get to know him. Are we sure we speak of a risen Lord? And do we speak of Jesus in the present tense?

Does the prayer that we heard Jesus make in the Gospel from John resonate with our souls? IT is a prayer as much for today as it was for the disciples on the evening before Jesus made his lonely way to the cross.

Jesus prays for the disciples whom he has gathered and who will continue his work on earth. They have heard and heeded his word and realise that he is sent by God. They have become a distinct community within the world and now they are sent into the world as Jesus was sent with purpose, to do God's work. There may be controversy and pain; for they do not belong and will not always be popular.

Jesus prays for them, for their unity and joy. He guarded them while he was with them, - with one exception only and even this was in fulfilment of prophecy - and he prays that the disciples and followers may still be protected. Jesus requests not their complete detachment from the world but their separation from evil.

The church must be involved in its surroundings, but different, distinctively committed to God and to godly living.

We are part of the expanded fellowship. We are the church here today. It is important that we each know Jesus personally and it is important for us to realise we are part of the team. The Jesus team.

Edwina.

***

14th June 2009 Evensong. Amend Your Ways And Your Doings. (Jeremiah 7:2-4).

Stand in the gate of the Lord’s house and proclaim this word and say, “Hear the word of the lord, all you people of Judah you that enter these gates to worship the Lord, thus says the lord of hosts, the God of Israel, amend your ways and your doings and let me dwell with you in this place”. (Jeremiah 7: 2-4. )

Plain speaking indeed. Amend your ways and your doings. The newspapers and the television news have been filled recently with the scandal over the M.P.’s expenses. They seem to have claimed for everything from already paid off mortgages, to repairs, to cleaning and even in the bizarre for duck houses.

Most of us at this time are in one way or another being affected by what is being called the credit crunch. Jobs have been lost by the thousands, manufacturing shut down or scaled down, shares and interest rates have fallen through the floor, and many others have had their overtime and even their hours cut. We as a nation and as many individuals will also testify are struggling. Struggling to pay off one mortgage let alone two, struggling to keep our heads above water and to make ends meet. While pay goes down and petrol and the cost of living go up.

Amend your ways and your doings.

A number of M.P.s have been forced out, some have resigned, and now they are looking for a new speaker for the house. Maybe now is the time to amend the system. The system, let’s face it, sucks. It smacks of one rule for them and one rule for us, and no it is not fair. But then it never really has been, has it?

When I was a child I used occasionally to complain to my father “It’s not fair” to which he would reply, “Life isn’t fair”. But our ways are not God’s ways, nor our thoughts God’s thoughts. God shows us another way, a different path, not one of money and materialism, not one of status. God is the God of the under dog, of the dispossessed, the orphan, the widow, the abused, the sick. God is the God of the poor, he is the God of the common man, He is our God.

When we look to Jesus, Son of God, we see him in action taking no regard for the structures of the society in which he lives. He mixes with tax collectors and sinners, he talks to women and people from Samaria (despised in their day) he heals on the Sabbath (thus breaking the law). He shows nothing but total love and compassion for the orphan, the widow, the sick, the everyday people in everyday places. He does not set himself apart from or above others, he does not live according to the dictates of the world structure, he does not claim expenses. Jesus gives, and gives, and gives, himself, his time, his love everything he is. He is the embodiment of the new order, the right way.

Amend your ways and your doings.

M.P.s aside, governments aside, they must look to their own amendments and make changes as necessary if we are to have our faith restored in them. But we must look too at our ways, at the distribution of our own personal wealth (or otherwise), at the distribution of our personal time and the way in which we relate to others.

It will be a big job, we will feel constrained by opinion, by circumstance, but there is always room for improvement. Even in the smallest things, the smallest gift, the smallest gesture, for from little acorns mighty oaks can grow. I am having a bit of a clear out at home, decluttering, giving a little away, but I am also looking at my religious life; at what I do for God and for others. Traditionally these things are kept for lent, but the lent rule provides a good rule for life. Live simply so others may simply live.

So let’s live and let’s give, let’s amend our ways and our doings little by little so that we may enter the gates of the temple and worship the Lord with a little less baggage and a little more love.

Jan.

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Sunday 19 July 2009 Sheep and Shepherds. (Jeremiah 23: 1-6. Ephesians 2: 11-22. & Mark 6:30-34, 53-56).

I don’t know about you but I am not a fan of adverts on the TV. One or two of them are ok but mostly they get on my nerves and their real value for me is that they provide an opportunity to go and make a cup of tea without missing anything. However, I have managed to note that there are a couple of adverts on at the moment which feature sheep. Of course the downside of not paying attention is that I can’t be sure what they are actually advertising so maybe any of you who do know might like to enlighten me after. One of these adverts I think is for train tickets and we are told we are sheep if we don’t get cheap ones in advance and save money. The other features a sheep dog who after competing in a sheep dog trial where he splits the flock (was he meant to?) then is seen seated at a dinner table with another dog. Haven’t a clue what advert is for and can’t imagine what can the advertisers think we are like if they expect ads like that to cut the mustard. It makes me just think I wont buy the product.

Shepherds and sheep appear in our Bible readings today. Probably you are thinking ‘again?’ Yes, well they do appear a lot. The sheep is the animal that is mentioned most in the bible; over 400 times apparently though I have not counted. It is understandable when sheep farming has played such a huge part in the life of that part of the world. It is familiar and rich imagery. Frequently leaders, rulers, Jesus are compared to shepherds and frequently we are compared to sheep.

But in our book, it is not really very complimentary to be called a sheep. Sheep are thought of as rather stupid and written off as dull and boring. Sheep are often the butt of jokes (excuse the pun). 2 sheep were out grazing and fell into a hole. “Help, help,” cried the first sheep (only he said it in sheep language). “Help ,help” cried the second sheep. No one heard. “Perhaps we would be louder if we shouted together,” said the first sheep to the second. “Together, together,” shouted the second sheep............

However, sheep behaviour has been formed from instinct and over 1000s of years of learning what works and there is much we can learn about ourselves by looking at the characteristics of sheep. Compare and contrast as they used to say in exam papers before they all became multi guess.

Sheep are a herd animal. They need each other to survive. They are not an aggressive animal (in fact they only have bottom teeth) and can’t attack predators and enemies. Though apparently one should not scratch the head of a ram cos if you do he’ll take it as a threat and head butt you to remind you of your place in the flock. As they can’t attack then their safety lies in sticking together. Needless to say when they get together in the huddles that they do, the strongest ones in the flock push their way to the middle because that is the safest place to be – in danger the ones on the edge are going to be the ones most at risk. When they are not in danger they still stay quite near each other but ideally they each like a bit of space around them. It is called a flight distance. How close they want to be to another sheep depends on how well they know them. They don’t like strangers to be right on top of them. The more comfortable they feel with each other then the nearer they can be and cope.

Well lets just pause there a minute and take stock. Is that like us? Please no comments about some of us only having bottom teeth, that was not the point! Certainly I have to say that the flight distance is very true! Look at us all spread out over the church! We are happy to be near those whom we know I am sure but how many of us would feel comfortable if a stranger came into church and sat right down in the seat next to us? We would prefer a gap would we not. But we also need each other. Is it possible to be a Christian and not be linked into other Christians through a church or fellowship group? I don’t know but those of us who are here recognise that we do need others. The church as an institution needs us all to be here and playing a part or it would not survive and at a personal level we need each other to support each other and seek God together. In this 21^st Century there are many dangers for us Christians to face both at a personal and societal level and to face them we must stick together. And, unlike the sheep, our faith is one that looks outwards so we are not just here for our own sakes but because we believe we have a responsibility to the world. We have a job to do.

Sheep are very timid creatures and easily spooked at the slightest thing and they have plenty of opportunity to see the slightest thing as their eyes have good peripheral vision and can see 320 degrees. So the tiniest thing that is a bit scary and a sheep is off. And if one is spooked then they all go. You don’t get one running off and another one turning round and saying “oh don’t be so silly there’s nothing to be scared of.” One goes, they all go. And sometimes the other way round in that they wont go somewhere which would actually be good for them because they are too scared. Sometimes too they get ideas in their heads and will not be dissuaded. So they head off on false trails because it seems like a good idea at the time. Or if they see a hole in a fence they want to get through they will try and even if the hole is too small they will keep trying. They don’t always learn very well.

So how often do we do that? How often, both as individuals and as a church, do we get ideas in our heads and go off following them when if we stopped to think about it, it is chasing fools gold. How often do we let one person influence our opinions or behaviour, and not for the better? Do we need to be more discerning about to whom we listen? We have a responsibility to each other to influence each other wisely; to build up not tear down; both at the church and at a personal level. Leading each other on in a bad way can really destroy a group. We can’t afford to be destroyed.

Sheep cannot look after themselves: they need someone one else. If they get caught in brambles, they cannot free themselves. If they end up on their backs they cannot right themselves. Because they are so timid they don’t always know what is safe to do. They need protecting from themselves and from danger and they need leading into good places for eating and care. That of course is where the shepherd comes in. Sheep learn to know and trust the voice of the shepherd who cares for them. Mix 4 flocks of sheep up and have the 4 shepherds call their flock and each flock will go to their shepherd. Much has been written about shepherds and Jesus as the Good Shepherd. Our first reading talks of bad shepherds and the damage they can do but all human shepherds can make mistakes because they are human so it is very important that all of us try and listen for the voice of Jesus and support our leaders in doing the same. We need to follow our Shepherd in order to be safe and well.

We often talk about good and bad shepherds but what about good and bad sheep? I leave you with the question. What kind of sheep are you? And can you be a better sheep? Unlike real sheep who behave just by instinct and response to their circumstances, we actually have a choice and can choose what kind of sheep we are and whose voice we are going to follow. It is up to us.

Susie.

St. Chad’s 11am Sunday 4^th October 2009. Trinity 17.

The disciples were astonished and said, “Then who can be saved? ”. Mark 10.26.

I’ve stolen that text from next week. Why? Not to spike the next preacher’s guns but because it’s the right reaction to today’s Gospel – last week’s too.

Reading Mark, we have to forget ‘gentle Jesus, meek and mild’. We see instead someone who at first seems paradoxical. Contradictory: Hard to understand. He seems with one breath to ask for perfection and with the next to welcome and accept the hopeless and unacceptable.

Today we hear him set the bar higher than any of his contemporaries in relation to divorce, higher even than the rules of his own Scriptures (you can see them set out in Deuteronomy, chapter 24) . These rule provided for a regular form of divorce. But Jesus goes back to square one: God’s original intent, that man-woman should become one indivisible flesh.

Yet a moment after this teaching, which (to our ears) seems stringent and rigorous, here is the same Jesus welcoming the little brats whom his disciples were sternly excluding. And, yes, they would have been seen as little brats by the unsentimental adults of those days. Then he tells his disciples (and us) to be like them.

“Who then can be saved? ” Does Jesus rule out all divorcees, all those who will not give up all their wealth to follow him (next Sunday’s reading), anyone who swears, anyone who gives the glad eye to someone of the opposite sex or calls another person a fool? (All in the sermon on the mount).

Here’s how it is. Here’s how we can make sense of it. Jesus preaches a whole new creation which he calls the Kingdom of God.

In one sense that means going right back to square one; to everything that God intended in creating us in the divine image to reflect divine love. So Jesus will allow no settlement, no rules of convenience, no compromise which might help us to forget God’s fabulous founding intention. Yes, Jesus asks the very best of us.

But then, if we ask Jesus, “What is the route from the mess we’re all in now to that Kingdom, that re-creation of righteousness and love? He will say over and over and over again: this is the way, by receiving the forgiveness and acceptance I offer you from God – just as these little brats let themselves be scooped up onto my knee. You shop-soiled, life-soiled imperfect images of God, forget your self justification and self-concern, and let yourselves be scooped up into the new creation by Jesus’s love.

Reverend Canon Peter Fisher.

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1 November 2009 ALL SAINTS DAY.

At a school assembly some time ago where we were thinking about All Saints Day as we are today, I interrogated a group of children at the front of church over how they did at keeping God’s commandments. Were they a sinner or a saint? Did they deserve a halo or horns? Were they going to heaven? Don’t worry, we are not going to do the same thing in this service. Anyway, as each of the children owned up to the commandments they had broken I was left by myself at the front, not because I am not a sinner I should add but because I was the one who was getting to play God.

This exercise reminded me of an old story in Jewish folklore about what happens at the end of time. On Judgement Day, God summons all the people who have ever lived. “Here’s what we’re going to do”, he explains. “Gabriel will read out the Ten Commandments, one by one. As he does, those who have broken them will have to depart into everlasting darkness.” Commandment number one is read out and a number of people are led off. The same thing happens with each of the commandments until, having read eight of the ten, only a small crowd remains. God looks up to see this handful of stern, smug, grim-faced, self-righteous, joyless miseries staring back at him. He pauses and contemplates the prospect of spending eternity with this lot. “All right!” he shouts, “Everybody back; I’ve changed my mind.”

And that’s what I said to the kids in assembly too. “Everybody back,” because going to heaven isn’t primarily about being good and keeping God’s commandments. It is far more about knowing God loves you as you are and then loving God back; having such a heart for him that you want to keep his commandments because you want to love him better.

The Saints understood this point and therefore found a freedom that most of us can only long for. When we, like them, can get it then it fixes us in another dimension of living, it gives us different priorities, a different focus. It doesn’t, as we have said before, mean everything is going to be honky dory; it just means that we begin to have a foot in heaven as we wait for heaven, the kingdom of God to come in wholeness.

All of the world is waiting for that day and the imagery in our readings is very strong. When God’s kingdom comes in fullness, there will be no crying or sickness or war but, instead, peace, joy and lots of fab food. An endless celebration and delight for all.

The message is clear: where God is there is life and life in abundance. In so far as any of us grasp that then we are moving more and more into heaven.

We see it very clearly in the story of Lazarus. Lazarus is dead and buried. No life there at all. But Jesus comes and calls him out to new life. It isn’t an easy situation. There is the stench of death, Lazarus is bound in grave clothes and can’t move properly. Jesus, Lazarus’s friend, and the Lord of Life calls to him. “Lazarus, come out, come back to life.” And he does. Where God is there is life. And note that Lazarus’s friends are called upon to help set Lazarus free. He needed help to receive life. Presumably he got that help though we are not told in the story.

I wonder what is keeping us buried; whether we are bound in grave clothes and need to be set free to live again. I wonder if others around us need our help to rid themselves of their grave clothes. Can we hear God calling us to new life? “Come out!” Choose life. Choose heaven.

To choose life is to move closer to heaven and God and it also means becoming more who you are meant to be, not less. It helps you become the very best you can be, to fulfil your whole potential. It doesn’t change your circumstances but it does give us a new hope of the fullness of life that comes with Heaven. That’s what the saints understood.

It did not make them perfect people though. In fact some of them were extremely hard to live with. I am not sure that we would always appreciate them if they lived around us. St Martin, for example, a 4^th Century bishop, was so compassionate that he was always giving things away. Constantly he would be in the vestry waiting to take a service and the churchwardens would come in and find he had given his clothes away to someone worse off than himself and so was sitting in his underwear. The wardens would have to go out and buy him some more clothes. Can you imagine if Edwina did that! When I was a nun I was told of a Sister who once gave away the ConventTV to a family who hadn’t got one. I don’t suppose she was popular.

Mother Teresa we all have heard about and know some of the good stuff she did in India. Apparently though she was a very strong willed and was very stubborn about having things done the way she thought they ought to be. I guess that could be hard to be at the receiving end of.

St Lawrence was told by the authorities to hand over all the riches of the church or be killed. So he paraded all the poor people before the authorities as he said they were the riches of the church. Needless to say the authorities thought he was taking the mickey and roasted him to death on a griddle. But hear what he stood up for – the poor, the weak, the frail. People like you and me. We are the riches of the church! Lest you don’t believe me, think of Bernadette of Lourdes. She was a 14 year old peasant girl when she had the visions of the Virgin Mary that made her famous. She wasn’t even especially religious at the time; certainly not a good churchgoer. Other saints like Therese of Lisieux were really physically ill or frail but still were much used by God. So take heart, whoever you are and whatever your circumstances.

Saints did not become saints because they were perfect but because they had such a love for God and were prepared to live that love out above and beyond anything else in their lives. For them, and for us, it means choosing God’s life, knowing that in doing so we glimpse heaven. And every step that we take towards God, every grave cloth we can shed leads us closer to heaven, that fullness of the Kingdom of God, which one day, along with the saints, we will all see. Let us think what steps we can take today to choose God’s life.

Susie.

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15^th November 2009 Holy Baptism.

I'd like to begin this morning by re-introducing ourselves to you all. Firstly we have our vicar, Edwina. Her name means rich or valuable friend, as I'm sure she is to many. Then we have Brian, one of our Readers, whose name means strong one, or high and noble. Then there's Pauline, another of our Readers, whose name means small and good, and myself Jan meaning God is kind and merciful. However, not all names necessarily have a positive definition. Cameron, for example, means crooked nose. Personally, I prefer to think of Cameron as an anagram of the word romance. But also this morning we welcome a new family and a new child into the body of the church, as baby Sophie is christened. Sophie, as I'm sure her parents already know, is a name derived from the Greek and it means wisdom. For the rest of us, perhaps you know the meaning of your own name, or perhaps you might like to look it up sometime. Perhaps your name has special associations with a certain time or a certain place. But what's in a name?

Names are so important, they are what identifies us, what make us each unique, individual, they say so much and the choosing of a name or the changing of a name is important too.

My husband and I went on our honeymoon to Cornwall and stayed in the middle of nowhere near a small hamlet called Carleen. We liked the name and so with it's romantic connotations, when our daughter was born some years later we called her Carlene after the village. She has never quite forgiven us for this but then I tell her she should be thankful we didn't take our honeymoon in Grimsby. She calls herself Carly, a modern abbreviation that she prefers.

Our names can define us and yes we can change them, but primarily they are chosen for us and remain with us. In the Bible names often denote a person's place of origin. For example, we have two Mary's, Mary of Bethany, from Bethany and the other known as Mary Magdalene or Mary of Magdala from the town of Magdala.

Saul is on the road to Damascus when he encounters God in a most dramatic fashion. Saul has been persecuting the Christians but after his conversion he becomes known as Paul, a new name for a new person, a new life. He is no longer Saul the persecutor but Paul, the follower of Jesus. Another example is when Jesus calls together his disciples and he calls Simon the fisherman, whom he re-names Peter, meaning the Rock, the rock on which Christ will now begin to build his church. Another encounter with Jesus, another new beginning, a new name to denote a new life.

And today marks the beginning of a new life too, as Sophie is baptised into our church family and into the greater family of God. Her parents and Godparents will undertake promises on her behalf until she is old enough to do so for herself. We pray for them all and we pray for God's blessing, his strength and his wisdom for Sophie as she grows and explores the world and comes to know God better.

Amen

Jan.

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2nd Sunday of Epiphany. 17th January 2010.

The Wedding at Cana in Galilee. (John 2: 1-11).

As I have been reflecting upon the season of Epiphany, which we are currently celebrating, I have had inside me a question that I have pondered over quite a lot. What did Mary, Joseph and Jesus actually do with the gifts the wise men brought? Did they keep them, give them away or use them? We are not looking at the visit of the wise men to Jesus directly today, but I feel justified in raising the question, partly because I hope to be enlightened and partly because Epiphanytide is about revealing and showing, and our gospel reading today is the first of what John calls Signs; a miracle that shows who Jesus is if only those around him have eyes to see it.

That miracle takes place at a wedding feast. You wont be surprised to learn in view of my earlier ponderings on gifts that I have thus been wondering what happened over wedding gifts in 1^st century Israel. It won’t have been how it seems to be nowadays where bride and groom specify in exact detail a list of items they desire and none of them seem to be cheap. I mean when did you ever see on a wedding gift list ‘nail brush from Wilkinson’s’ or ‘plastic plant pot holder from Poundland?’ More likely to be asked for is a state of the art washing machine or a top of the range music centre. I suppose it does stop couples ending up with 6 steam irons or 30 sherry glasses that don’t match but it must be a far cry from the Jewish wedding in question here where they didn’t even have enough wine.

Why Jesus’ Mother and Jesus got involved in the crisis is not really clear and has been the subject of much debate but the point for me is far more what Jesus did, not why he did it. He turned what was probably about 120 gallons of ordinary water into a very good wine. I am not a wine drinker but that strikes me as being a huge amount of wine especially given the fact that there had already been a supply that had run out. It is a bizarre tale; the servants must have thought Jesus was mad when he told them to fill up the stone jars with water but they did it anyway and Jesus turned it into an abundance of wine that astonished those who were told about it because of its quality.

Jesus used what was there: plain water. He didn’t need something special to make something good. The only thing had to happen to make something commonplace turn into something amazing was that people had to bring the water to Jesus. Someone had to be prepared to take a risk and do something that didn’t necessarily seem very sensible in order to allow a miracle to happen.

So I ask the question with which I began this sermon again in a slightly different way: What does Jesus do with what we give him? In Jesus everything can and will be used for the good of the Kingdom and often we will be surprised at the unlikely things that can be done with what we bring and offer to Him. If we look back over our own lives and over the life of our Church we may glimpse some of what God has done with situations that either were so ordinary we didn’t notice them at the time or so impossible we felt hopeless. But often, too, we will never know what has been done with what we bring and give to God. We don’t get to see. How many people at the wedding knew what miracle had taken place? How many of us know what results our actions and words have? How what we have done has changed the course of events for others without us knowing? Or what consequences our struggle to live the Christian Life in truth and faithfulness to the gospel has for others? Every action, every offering count however ordinary a place it has in everyday living and will bear fruit of some sort somewhere. Water is as about as ordinary as you can get. God, in Jesus, did great things with it. And he always does do great things with what we bring. How do we know that? Because God has to be true to whom he is. A theologian called Sam Wells in his book ‘Improvisation; the Drama of Christian Ethics’ which sounds as if it is going to be a dull and dreary book but which is actually an exciting exploration of our formation in Christ, says that we act out of how we are formed; we can’t help it. Well neither can God; love, abundant generosity is His nature and he cannot help but do great things with what we give however small or ordinary they may seem to us.

I guess some people may be sitting here thinking that they feel they haven’t even got water to bring to Jesus. They may feel like dry stone pots. Well that has to be ok too. Our God creates something where there is nothing but emptiness: that is how our world began. If all we have to bring is our emptiness then that is our gift. In the emptiness and parched wastelands of the desert there are extravagant blooms that no one except God will ever ever see! If we bring our emptiness to Jesus then that, too, will be magnificently used by Him.

Some of us will have to go further and admit that actually our pots feel all cracked and not capable of holding anything even if God Himself put something there. We have to dare to believe that that must be ok too. Cracks let in the light and God’s Kingdom needs things that let in the light. We are quite good at wanting to give God our best and that is right and proper but we aren’t the magi with treasure chests. We are what we are and have to know that that is all we can and are asked to give and live. And in the giveness of each of us God does miracles.

The miracle at Cana is a foretaste of the ultimate fulfilment of the Kingdom where all are welcome and all have gifts. At Cana, we see God’s generosity and abundance poured onto humankind; God’s glory spilling out into every day life in the presence of ordinary men and women. That’s what Jesus does with what we bring him. What that means in the specifics of everyday living, like a lot of us, I don’t really know. Life often seems in a muddle to say the least and I am not sure a lot of the time that I, for one, know what is going on! But when we look around and see the pain in the Anglican Communion, the struggles we all have individually and corporately and the uncertainty of what God is leading us into, we must take seriously the need for us each to faithfully carry on giving what we can and who we are, in trust that He takes us as we are and will do wonderfully exciting things with it whether we see it or not. One day at the heavenly party to end all parties we will see and understand but until then let us be encouraged to carry on giving all we can no matter how insignificant we may feel our gift is and trusting that God will respond in an amazing way. Let us do it and pray that we see the Kingdom of God come in its fullness amongst us.

Susie Walker

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Candlemas. 31^st January 2010.

Jesus bids us shine, as a pure clear light,

like a little candle burning in the night.

In this world of darkness so let us shine,

You in our small corner and I in mine.

The words of a chorus learnt in Sunday school, complete I believe with actions. This morning we are celebrating Candlemas (normally on 2^nd February). This ancient festival marks the mid-point of winter, halfway between the shortest day of the year and the forthcoming spring equinox. In years past many people used to say that the Christmas season lasted for forty days, like lent and therefore Christmas officially finished on the second day of February – Candlemas.

Traditionally this was the day in the year when all the candles that were to be used in the church during the coming year were brought into the church and a blessing would be said over them. So it was a festival day, or mass of the candles.

Obviously candles were more important in the past because there were no electric lights to read or work by and many people also believed that they offered protection against the plague, illness and famine.

Today they tend to be more of an accessory, for decorative purposes, but also they mark occasions like birthdays, baptisms and anniversaries. I have at home a special 25^th candle from my silver wedding.

The Romans had a custom of lighting candles to scare away evil spirits in the winter, and in Scotland Candlemas was the day when the children brought candles to school so that the classrooms could have light on dull days. As time went on gas lighting took over from candle light. The children took money to the teacher who was supposed to spend it on sweets and cakes for the children. Th boy or girl taking in the most money were then declared the Candlemas King and Queen and ‘ruled’ for six weeks; having the power to make one afternoon a week a playtime and they could also let anyone they wished off punishment. I bet Ofsted would have something to say about that! And it hardly meets the healthy eating policies now promoted.

For Christians of course candles hold much more importance – they were and still are both a reminder that Jesus is the light of the world and representative of the light of goodness and of God shining in an otherwise dark world.

“The light shines in the world and the darkness has not overcome it.”

“Behold I am the light of the world” says Jesus.

Jesus is God’s light in flesh – a human candle bringing the message of salvation, the light of hope and of love. Children are often afraid of the dark and between you and me if I am ill at night, I sleep with the bedside light on. There is comfort in light and shadows and fear fades. I love candles, candles at Christmas, a candlelit dinner, so much more romantic and I use candles in my prayer life. Many people will light a candle for someone who has died – showing their passage from darkess into eternal light and life.

Each candle has its own representation, on a cake one for every year, in church perhaps one for every soul, on a table symbolic of love, in private, one for every prayer, but always they represent light in darkness; Jesus in The World. When we look to Jesus we glimpse the light of eternity. When we look to Jesus he lights up the darkness in our souls, the darkness in our lives in the world. He is light and hope and faith and love. He drives from us the snares of evil and leads us. Wise men followed a star at Christmas – we follow Jesus the light of the world, and we celebrate someone when we light just one candle.

Going back to the words of our song:

Jesus bids us shine like a pure clear light,

Like a little candle burning in the night.

Jesus bids us shine – to show further his light in the world to others, indeed to take his light to others so they too may remain no longer in darkness – our lives should shine forth; where ever we are, whoever we are, whatever we do, we should shine for Jesus, you in your small corner and I in mine.

Jan. Reader.

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7^th Feb 2010. The Nature of Worship. Gen. 24b-9 15-25; Rev. 4; Luke 8 22-25

In a play by George Bernard Shaw, Don Juan says, "Heaven is alright, of course, but for meeting old friends and acquaintances you can't beat hell."

There is a powerful truth in that facetious remark. People concerned only about themselves would find the ceaseless praise of God and the Lamb intolerable. Worship on earth, a foretaste of heaven, is just as unpalatable to them as Don Juan's thoughts. But to those who profess to follow Christ, worship is our deepest need just as it was to the seven churches in Revelations.

Worship is our response to God.

This image of the heavenly court sees God enthroned surrounded by various attendants.

John was undoubtedly drawing on the most precious things in his experience to describe the glory of God's presence in the passage from Revelations. It is not up to us to decipher each image, but to be captured with the significance of worship that transcends time and space. Highlighted in John's words is the importance of the Rainbow. It made its first appearance in the old testament when God promised Noah that he would never again send a flood which would cover the whole of the earth. The rainbow is God's promise. And as we meet the rainbow in the first chapters of the bible we meet it again in the closing chapters when the rainbow is a sign of God's glory. The rainbow in Revelations is a powerful statement that God's sovereign rule in the disasters that will follow are not at the expense of mercy. God's promise to Noah is not forgotten. This scene which John describes is lavish, dramatic and appeals to our faith. It is rich in biblical imagery and is designed to show us that worship is the dominating perspective of the Christian life. What appears to be a waste of time and wealth is holy waste and meets our deepest need.

John sees 24 elders. This has been described as symbolizing the ideal church represented by the 12 patriarchs of the Old Covenant and the 12 apostles of the new. And the four living creatures may stand for everything that is noblest, wisest, strongest and swiftest in nature. The king of beasts, the lion; the supreme among domesticated animals, the ox; the supreme among birds, the eagle; and the supreme among all creatures, human. This chapter from Revelations shows the throne of God towering above the troubled course of human history and the scroll of destiny to be handed to the Lamb who when the time comes, will bring history to a close. The great biblical theme of creation and redemption are underlined and these form the subject of the worship of heaven.

The 24 cast their crowns before the throne singing, ‘You are worthy , our Lord and God, to receive glory and honour and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created’.

So many people see worship as people pleasing. It's not. It is important to direct ourselves to be God pleasing. It is not what WE get out of worship, it is what we give God in our worship. It is important for us to concentrate on the kind of worship given to God. The English word worship means literally worth -ship. And God alone is worthy or worth-ship.

True worship is not the mechanical repetition of rituals, but should be wholehearted and reverent. It should be based upon trustful and obedient lives in that obedience is itself to be seen as an act of worship.

The supreme reason for human existence is to worship God for his love, greatness and saving deeds. True worship goes beyond mere form and can be hindered by a wrong relationship to God or to others. Remember what Jesus said, ‘before you lay your gift on the altar go and make peace with your brother’.

Praise and thankfulness are important elements of worship which also includes confession of sin, the reading of scripture and music. We are encouraged to worship with awe, worship with joy, worship with music and worship with dance. But I do accept we are a bit constrained by the aisle to follow that instruction too closely, although I have been in churches where the challenge of the aisle has been used creatively. Worship which not only gives God what is due to him but also results in many benefits to his people.

There is blessing, guidance, deliverance, a sense of God's presence, a deeper sense of Jesus's lordship and a boldness to witness.

Worship is praise, adoration, and reverence of God, both in public and private. While our worship may not include flashes of lightning and thunder one thing we can all do is ask God to teach us how to worship him.

And if we do that humbly, prayerfully and meaningfully, God will answer.

AMEN

Rev’d.Edwina Wallace.

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SERMON: 25^thApril 2010

The Good Shepherd

May I be helped to speak in the name of the Living God … Amen.

My brother-in-law, Bob, has some experience of sheep. He spent the early years of his life on a farm in Hertfordshire; and later he went to agricultural college. Sheep, he says, wake up each morning, then go into a huddle and draw lots to decide whose turn it is today to drop dead for no reason. Bob doesn’t involve himself with sheep these days – he builds agricultural machinery. Tractors and harvesters tend to be more reliable.

Bob’s negative attitude to sheep is not unusual. If someone were to describe you or I as a sheep we would not normally accept it as a compliment. To say someone is a sheep suggests he or she unthinkingly follows where they are led. We tend to think of sheep as slobbering, untidy, dumb animals who exist for just three purposes: to be sheared; to be slaughtered; to get in the way of cars on country roads.

I read a passage the other day which took a rather less jaundiced view of sheep. It’s the view of someone who grew up on a sheep farm in the Midwest in the United States. He says that sheep aren’t dumb at all. He blames their bad image on cattle ranchers – or in this country I guess cattle farmers – who don’t get on with sheep for the sole reason that they don’t behave like cows.

Cows are herded from the rear by hooting cowboys with cracking whips, but that just won’t wash with sheep. Stand behind sheep and make a loud noise, and all they will do is run around behind you. Anyone who has watched ‘One Man and His Dog’ and seen sheep refusing to co-operate when being rounded up by an overexcited or inexperienced sheepdog, will know just how that works.

The thing is, sheep much prefer to be led. You can push cows; but you’ve got to lead sheep. And not just anyone can lead sheep. They’re very choosy. They won’t be led anywhere unless it’s their shepherd who is leading them. They want someone they know and trust to go ahead of them to show them that everything is all right.

This guy from the Midwest went on to say that sheep grow fond of their shepherds. It never ceased to amaze him, growing up on the sheep farm, that whilst he could walk right through a sleeping flock without disturbing a single one of them, if a stranger stepped foot in the sheepfold there would be pandemonium.

Sheep seem to consider their shepherds to be part of the family, and the relationship between sheep and shepherd can become very close. They develop an understanding such that a good shepherd can distinguish between a bleat of pain, and a bleat of pleasure; whilst the sheep learns that a cluck of the tongue means food, or a two note whistle means it’s time to go home.

In Palestine today, it’s still possible to witness a scene that Jesus almost certainly saw two thousand years ago: Bedouin shepherds bringing their flocks home from the various pastures they have grazed in during the day. Often different flocks will end up at the same watering hole around dusk, so that they all get mixed in together – eight or nine small flocks turning into a convention of thirsty sheep.

Their shepherds don’t worry about the mixing of the flocks though. They have no need for different coloured marks from the sheep dip to help them separate their charges. When it comes time to go home, each shepherd gives his or her distinctive call – a special whistle, or a particular tune played on a particular reed pipe. And that shepherd’s sheep withdraw from the crowd to follow their shepherd home. They know who they belong to, they know their shepherd’s voice and it is the only voice they will follow.

You know, it is in the nature of sheep that they cannot lie down unless four requirements are met. Because they are timid creatures unless they are free from fear they will not lie down. Because they are part of a social grouping unless they are free from friction with others in their flock they will not lie down. If they are tormented by flies or parasites they cannot relax and so they will not lie down. If they are hungry, if they need food, they will not lie down.

To be at rest a sheep must feel a sense of freedom – freedom from fear, tension, aggravation and hunger. Part of the bond between sheep and shepherd is that the shepherd is the only person who can provide this sense of freedom from anxieties. A good shepherd tends sheep which feel safe in his care, which are at ease with each other, which are free from parasites, which are well grazed. A good shepherd is able to make it possible for the sheep to relax, to lie down, to rest, to be content – to flourish.

Of course, Jesus referred to himself as the good shepherd; and we think of ourselves as his sheep, his flock. So perhaps all this talk of sheep and shepherds should lead us to ask a few questions of ourselves. Do we feel at ease with our shepherd? Do we listen out for his voice, and follow where he leads? Do we feel part of a safe, secure flock which relies on him? Do we feel able to rest in the presence of our shepherd and our fellow sheep?

Let’s keep a few moments of quiet as each of us reflects on that.

Rev’d. John Routh.

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Sunday 27^th June 2010. Follow Me! Luke 9:51-62.

I’ve recently been on holiday with my sister and brother-in –law and the dog! Before we set off, it took a good two hours to pack the car. The boot was full of bags of one sort and another, things for us, things for the dog, food, bottles of water, medical supplies, shoes for all weathers, cagoules, photographic equipment, etc. Inside the car, there was a suitcase on the back seat, on top of which the dog was perched inside two dog beds. I was squashed on the other third of the seat with two bags. We took everything but the kitchen sink, despite the fact that we were going to a very well appointed bungalow! When we travel, we try to take everything we might need – just in case! We really like to have our home comforts. But how different it was for Jesus and his disciples. They were itinerant travellers, walking from village to village, town to town, never in one place for very long. They went just as they were, travelling light. They had an urgent message to proclaim and so many people who needed to hear it. As they travelled on, they were usually reliant on the hospitality of people in that area, and at times, may even have slept out under the stars. It was a hard and demanding life, a life that called for total commitment.

In our Gospel reading today, we heard about three people who could have become disciples of Jesus, but sadly, each one had a problem. Jesus seemed to speak very harshly to them, but perhaps he sensed their lack of real understanding and commitment. They needed a reality check, and they needed to understand what following Jesus really meant. The days ahead were going to be extremely difficult. Jesus was heading for Jerusalem, and he knew when he got there, there would be strong opposition from the powerful Jewish authorities. Would these men be up to it? Preaching the Gospel was paramount – and would take precedence over everything else in their lives – even family. They needed to understand this. It wouldn’t be a celebrity life, it would be very hard and they might often lack food, creature comforts, or even a roof over their heads. Were they prepared for this? Jesus knew there was no longer any room for casual followers, so he tested them severely.

Let’s look at these three men. The first, actually offers to follow Jesus, he says, ‘I will follow you wherever you go.’ It sounds easy doesn’t it? – but maybe a little too easy. So Jesus, sensing that the man doesn’t really understand what he is letting himself in for, spells out for him some of the hardships. In essence he says, ‘Understand that it is not going to be an easy ride; being a disciple is difficult and you need to think seriously about what is involved before you make a commitment.’ We are not told what happened to that man, so we can only surmise that he probably thought better of it and didn’t become a disciple. We see it all the time in our churches today, don’t we? Many people are baptised or confirmed and they come to church for a short while afterwards, and then disappear from our midst and hardly ever attend church any more. They possibly lack true faith and commitment.

The second man is actually called by Jesus, who says, ‘Follow me,’ but the man replies ‘Lord, first let me go and bury my Father.’ One might have thought that it was a perfectly legitimate request, particularly as in Jewish law, it was considered to be the son’s prime duty. However, Jesus’ reply seems quite harsh when he says, ‘Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.’ We know that Jesus was full of love and compassion.

We remember how he wept at the tomb of his friend Lazarus, and how he raised him and others from death, so it is difficult for us to understand why Jesus should say such a thing. Perhaps he was exaggerating to make his point about the importance of furthering the kingdom, or maybe he sensed the man was making excuses.

In a way he was saying ‘Well, possibly later, but at the moment I have more pressing things to do.’ So Jesus sharply reminds him that when he calls us, there is nothing more important that we have to do. Again, we do not know what decision the man made, but we can imagine. I remember my own reaction, when I was first approached with the idea of becoming a reader. I had umpteen very good reasons why that shouldn’t happen. But, I did agree to think about it and pray about it. As I prayed and brought all my good reasons why I shouldn’t do it, to God, he had an answer for every single one, and even better ideas why I should!! In the end, he won, and here I am! But we all do it don’t we? If there is something we are not keen to do, or something we don’t think we can cope with, we make an excuse.

Everyone here today has been called by God, otherwise we would not be here. If God has called us, he has called us for a reason, and that reason is to serve him and further his kingdom.

There are many ways of doing this, and not everyone is called to be a reader like me. But everyone here has a job to do for God, so we all need to pray and listen and to be open to God’s prompting. There is nothing more urgent that we can have to do than furthering God’s Kingdom.

The third man also said he would follow but that he would like to say goodbye to his family first. Again, on the surface it seems a reasonable enough request. But of course Jesus knew that would entail a delay of several days at least, or even longer. It wasn’t a case of popping home, kissing loved ones on the cheek and saying goodbye. It was a much grander affair, including greater family and even distant relatives. Jesus sensed that this man’s love for his family might get in the way of his calling, and that he might be constantly looking back and regretting what he had given up. So he issues a grave warning, saying, ‘No one who puts a hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.’

In times before farm machinery, the hand plough was used to plough the fields. It was difficult to control and it took great concentration to hold it firm and plough straight furrows. The farmer needed to look straight ahead, if he but turned his head, the plough blade would turn and the furrow would be crooked. As a child, when we lived at the cottage, I remember the farmer coming down the lane with the old hand plough and the cart horse. When he reached the field opposite our house, he would hitch the horse in front of the plough, and he would walk behind the plough, controlling the horse by means of a long rein. For several hours, horse, plough and farmer would walk up and down the large field, and bit by bit the ploughed furrows would appear. It took a long time and was hard and exhausting, and the farmer could not take his eyes off the job in hand for a moment. Once again, we don’t know the decision of the third man, Luke, does not tell us, we are left to think about it for ourselves.

As Jesus clearly spelled out, the cost of following him can be great, but following him can also bring us great joy. It can be exciting as we endeavour to follow where the Lord is leading, stepping out into the unknown and the new with him, sometimes not knowing exactly where we shall end up. It involves trust and faith, lots of it. As we work our way through ‘Transforming Church’ we have the perfect opportunity to do this, as we pray and listen and try to ascertain what God wants for our future. So let us all pledge anew our full commitment to God and his kingdom.

Pauline Norris (Lay reader).

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Sunday 29thAugust 2010. Hospitality & Humility. Luke 14 verses 7-14

If I was in Sunday School today and we were following the normal lectionary readings as we are, I would be telling the children this story: about a man called Cuthbert who was a monk a member of a religious community who spent a great deal of his time in prayer with God.

History says for a while he in lived in Yorkshire where he was given the job of looking after guests who came to the monastery who came asking for food or help. Early one December morning Cuthbert went into the guesthouse and there was a young man sitting waiting for him. The man looked as if he had been on a long journey and was needing food and shelter. The poor man looked absolutely frozen, Cuthbert removed the mans ragged footwear and began to rub his feet to bring some warmth back into them. Cuthbert then persuaded the young man to wait for the bread to be cooked that day so that he could have some, the young man agreed and waited by the fireside to get warm whilst Cuthbert went to morning prayers.

When he returned he saw the young man and said that the bread would be ready now so he went to fetch a nice warm loaf. Cuthbert was only a short while but when he returned the man had gone. Cuthbert hurried to the front door - but there were no footprints to be seen in the snow, he looked around the other side of the building but found only his own tracks. Cuthbert came back to the guesthouse and there was this beautiful smell, he looked around and saw three lovely pure white loaves on the table!

Was this a gift from the young man ? Cuthbert had been ready to feed the young man but ended with a gift himself, then he remembered a verse from scripture in the book of Hebrews 'do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it' .

Cuthbert would always remember the visit of this young man and how he suddenly disappeared and he would always tell people that an angel had visited him. This illustrates the hospitality - the second part of our reading, whilst these comments refer to the first few verses explaining humility.

I read recently a letter in the agony column of a newspaper recently - where the parents of a bridegroom went to the reception rooms in advance of the wedding to ensure that all was well - on checking the names on each table at the reception to their horror they found that they had not been placed on the top table with the other members of the bride and grooms family - when immediately after the wedding ceremony they brought this to the attention of the their son and his bride - the bride immediately responded that it was an error and that it should be changed - which probably would have been the correct action - but the parents were so upset that they refused to have it changed and remained at the other table. Subsequently since the marriage it has caused a rift and now all concerned do not know how to resolve it!

The story is told of the famous boxer Mohammed Ali who was flying one time to an appointment.The aircraft ran into severe turbulence and was soon shaken violently. The passengers were instructed to fasten their seatbelts immediately, everyone complied except Ali. When the stewardess approached and questioned him and asked him to fasten his seat belt, he replied 'Superman don't need no seatbelt' she took one look at him and retorted ‘superman don't need no airplane either’.

Martin Luther King said ' God created the world out of nothing, and as long as we are nothing he can make something out of us'.

Another quote ' the person who looks up to God rarely looks down on people'.

If we are truly humble it means compairing ourselves to Christ which shows us how limited we are and how much we need his guidance.

Humility and hospitality are both trademarks of our faith.

So from what can we learn here at the St Chads about the meaning of hospitality when perhaps you yourselves could be teaching others on the subject.

I am pretty confident that most people here would offer the need of food and comfort to any distressed person who may appear on their doorstep, although we are now surrounded by different cultures, dynamics and certainly a different enviroment which could prevent us from opening our homes so easily to others as our bible reading suggests and maybe there is not that degree of poverty now or is there? I would suggest that we need now to widen our horizon and so encompass that wider vision of hospitality that the Jesus is teaching us- to broaden our perspective of the needy.

This hospitality can begin at home by doing just as the reading suggests if we know of others less fortunate than ourselves that would benefit from a good meal - its easy we can offer that meal- but that hospitality can manifest itself in other directions - perhaps there are some within our community that need the hospitality of sharing good working practices or parental skills!

There are many families that have not had the same loving home background that we have enjoyed and certainly in todays culture and society unless we as a christian family unit can share that love and concern they are not going to receive it and so benefit from its reward.

(It is fantastic that some of you with your varying skills of trade and pleasure are sharing this with our young people when we have our Messy Church) watch this space.

This need however is on the doorstep of the Church today and we as the family within that Church need instruction on how best we can best administer the love and concern that Christ has for every individual. I am not using rhetoric language but as Christ’s family we need teaching and instruction how we can show this hospitality to those families in need, its not a question of being pious and saying this is how it ought to be done but sharing and being alongside those who need care and atttention, that this may be the best approach of discipline or best method of cleaning because it has worked for me. Its not the only way - but it can help you - is that not what the 'big society ' is all about; how we can best help each other because if it is not, then the language of the present politicians is all rhetoric and they are just playing to the audience.

We as the Church need now to ask for this mantle so that it can be in the centre of our society feeling and understanding the needs of each person so that we show in a positive light the love of God not via preaching but through compassionate use of our working and domestic skills. We do not want generations that propagate themselves with the same old problems that begin with the lack of motivation and foresight - that manifests itself through dole queues, anger and poverty - we need to aim together for a fairer and equal society for each and everyone of us but the Church needs to have that power and authority that Jesus talks about. If only we could all work and share together, how happy are those who sit down at the feast in the Kingdom of God.

So through the hospitality of the gospel and all that it represents and that does not mean that the Church is to be used and abused, but it needs to be strong in defining its principles in a world that so lacks moral and spiritual guidance. Charity begins at home - and thats every brother, sister, mother, father, son and daughter across our world that needs our love and help - whether it be the hospitality of food or love and giving, whatever -forget not our Malawi orphans! as they are our family they need our hospitality of sharing and giving ,they have lost that grandparent who can spoil them, who can give them that pocket money when parents are not looking - they have even lost their parents! How Cuthbert would be please to hear that our fund raising had resulted in some of the orphans going on to further education ie senior school.

We have heard recently of the floods in Pakistan - is it not terrific and does it not elevate our aspirations and hopes when you hear how much funds have been raised by the peoples and nations of the world; £30 million alone from the public in the UK. It only makes you think there is enough cash out there to solve the world poverty problem and make things the way God wants them. It is the willpower to treat this symptom that is missing!

Nick Fawcett writes: Bring your laughter and bring your tears

Bring your joy and bring your sorrow

Bring your hopes and your fears

Bring today and bring tomorrow

Bring your weakness and health

Bring your best and your worst

Bring your loved ones and bring yourself

Bring your gladness and your cares, bring your faith and your doubts

Bring your prayers bring what life is all about'.

He talks about bringing all this to the communion table, but when we can bring all this together each and everyone of us then we shall all know How great is our God and how great is our hospitality to be able to share together and bring our hearts together.

If we as Christ’s disciples can show the hospitality of the gospel to those around us who do not know how to appreciate Gods love then perhaps they will want to have a share in his kingdom; how great our hospitality of the gospel needs to be, remember that's where our heart is in the richness of the gospel of Jesus Christ. There will come a time when we shall have a reflection like that of Cuthbert and what would we be telling others?

That it was a visit from an angel or God answering our prayers. Amen.

Brian Scotcher. (Lay reader).

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20-06-2010.

Driving Out Demons. Luke 8:26-39; Galatians 3:23-end.

Can you imagine, you’ve just crossed the Lake of Galilee for the umpteenth time – and that was strange enough, a choppy crossing to say the least and Jesus had commanded the wind and waves to abate as the boat had been taking on water and He had wanted to sleep. Well they were all tired. It had been another long day and they arrived at the country of the Garasenes, when out of nowhere some mad, naked and very large intimidating man appears. He still had shackles attached to him and he falls down at his master’s feet, shouting – ‘What have you to do with me Jesus, son of the most high God?’ A mad demonic possessed by evil spirits.

Jesus takes it all in His stride as though an everyday occurrence. What happens next seems strange though; Jesus orders the demons out of the man and into the pigs – poor pigs. Why the pigs? And then the whole herd appear to throw themselves off the cliff – the herdsman/farmer is going to be a very unhappy man – his livelihood has just disappeared.

And the man, like new, quiet, compliant and in his right mind, he wants to travel on with Jesus but Jesus says he should return home and tell of the wonderful things God has done for him.

This is a very odd passage, I think and one which at first glance doesn’t seem to have all that much bearing for our lives today. But we need to look more deeply at the passage. I began by jotting down just a few bullet points as they occurred to me and slowly the picture changes and widens.

The first thing I looked at was the swine. The demons actually begged Jesus to go into the swine rather than return to the abyss – consequently the whole herd disappeared over the cliff. Obviously the herdsman lost his possessions and even perhaps his livelihood – but by giving the demons permission to enter the swine Jesus is putting the man’s needs first. The man needed to be healed and in order to be returned to his right mind he needed to be demon free. This cost our herdsman but human life is restored to sanity and human life is of far greater value than material wealth - the wealth of possessions.

Secondly the Demons, when Jesus arrived on dry land they called out. ‘What have you to do with me Jesus, Son of the most high God?’ The Demons recognised Jesus for who he was – so even the devil himself recognises the power and authority of the Lord and is subject to that power and authority.

Thirdly – we have in this story many witnesses. There are those who had been on the boat; there were the people of the city and in the country who saw the mad man reclothed in his right mind and of course we have the man himself – who unlike in previous stories where Jesus tells people to say nothing about who he is - here he tells him to do the opposite and go and tell and witness to all that God has done. All those recognise the power and authority they have seen and go to spread the word.

Let’s take things a step further – our man having first recognised the authority of the Lord, subjects himself to that authority and in so doing experiences a life changing, life enhancing moment. Whatever his past was, his encounter with Jesus changes everything and he is given a new life.

This is where it becomes more relevant to each of us who hear it – it means once we have acknowledged and accepted Jesus’ authority for ourselves, our past history is just that, past history and we can move on – clothed in our right mind, we can move on with Jesus and also witness to Jesus and to what he has done for us and in our lives. Hopefully many people will come and witness to change for themselves in their own lives too.

Submitting to Jesus, frees us from the tyranny of sins – in our story not only was the man freed from his demons but the neighbourhood which he had inhabited was also set free. In Jesus our spirit becomes free and our lives change for the better.

Now I am going to bring us bang up to date and leave you with these final thoughts. If we go back in the scriptures, to the passage just before, we read about Jesus calming the storm on the Sea of Galilee – then comes our man with his demons, followed swiftly by Janus’s daughter raised from the dead and the woman with haemorrhages healed. The authority of Jesus 1) calming the storm – His authority over nature, 2) His authority over evil, 3) His authority over sickness and death and in all cases Jesus’ authority and power transforms – transforms people, transforms lives. The people and their lives begin to form the church. We are the people of today, the church of today. Dare we let Jesus transform us and so transform His church as we accept again and acknowledge His authority.

Jan Walker. (Lay reader).

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Sunday 5^th September 2010. The Cost of Discipleship. Luke 14: 25-33.

Many of you are probably familiar with a programme called Grand Designs; here the participants take on a large renovation project or a new build, pouring thousands upon thousands of pounds into the project; sometimes living onsite in quite primitive conditions maybe camping or having to fork out rent whilst continuing to build. Most of these are extremely ambitious and run into problem after problem; from not being able to get the planning permission, to obtaining the right materials (and in time) to finding dry rot/damp/subsidence, you name it. Always these projects go way, way over budget and I wonder where on earth do they find the money from? Do they live forever after in debt and how many of these types of projects do go to the wall or have to be sold on subsequently? Even with a healthy budget and much planning all is not plain sailing.

The warnings are clear especially in our reading from Luke 14 “For which of you intending to build a tower does not first sit down and estimate the cost to see whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise when he has laid the foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him saying, ‘this fellow began to build but was unable to finish’”.

So first you need to estimate the cost. Then it is advisable to have a little extra in reserve for when times get harder and throw up the unexpected.

As with life, so with faith. How many of us though, weigh up the cost of discipleship before entering upon the Christian journey? And how would we, indeed should we?

As we study the scriptures hard and read carefully we can begin to see the human cost of discipleship adding up. Those who’ve given up home, family and livelihood to follow Jesus – not just the twelve disciples, but the seventy that were sent out and the women who catered for the Lord out of their own resources.

Those whose lives were changed forever: Legion restored and returned to society, the woman with haemorrhages likewise, Lazarus raised from the dead, a life changing (or death changing) experience. All paid a price; for them following Jesus was costly on a personal level.

And for us, well, we cannot really know what may lie ahead, or exactly what our discipleship will cost us, materially, emotionally, or socially; we just know that it will not be an easy ride.

There will be many pitfalls many detours, many complications and unexpected trials along the way – that is when we will need to draw on our reserves of strength and of faith – we may have to pool our resources with other Christians so the load is spread, the cost shared. We need to put something aside for the harder times, time to study, time to pray, time to commune in order to shore ourselves up for the next stage of the journey. This is one life project that we should not sell out on, nor abandon when the going gets tough – this is one journey that we need to complete in order to fulfil God’s grand design for us and to achieve eternal life. Whoever wants to be the Lord’s disciple must therefore pick up his cross, whatever that cross may be and follow.

Let us bow our heads in prayer.

Lord help us to build a strong and true faith on the sure foundations of your love. Be with us each and every step of the journey whatever life may throw at us until we receive our ultimate reward in your eternal kingdom.

Jan Walker. (Lay reader).

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17-10-2010. The Widow and the Unjust Judge. Luke 18: 1-8.

May I be helped to speak in the name of the Living God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen

When the first Christians heard the story of the widow and the judge, when they repeated it to each other, I imagine they normally focused on the widow. They would have paid particular attention to the widow, because they’d find it fairly easy to empathise with her, fairly easy to put themselves in her shoes. They knew what it felt like to feel powerless, defenceless. They could understand how she felt.

She doesn’t have any clout in the community; she doesn’t know anyone who can get her case onto the list of court hearings; she doesn’t have access to an advocate to represent her before the court. All she can do is go back, time and again, to hound the judge. She turns up regularly at the city gates where he holds court. She pursues him on the streets and in the shops and markets. The widow won’t let him rest until he hears her case properly, until he grants her the justice she craves.

I can imagine the exasperated judge finally giving in with the words: ‘Alright, alright, whatever you want. Just stop nagging me, for goodness sake.’

I imagine the widow was something of a role model for those first Christians. Her story taught them that they should not lose heart. Her dogged pursuit of justice against the odds, her perseverance, was worthwhile. Her dogged pursuit of the judge put them in mind of their own pursuit of God, of their conversation with God, of their own prayers. As Luke puts it, ‘pray always and don’t lose heart.’

She was a reminder to them that, just as she nagged the judge, so too they should nag God! They should never let up on reminding God they were there. They should pray always, not simply as a last resort; pray always, even when it seems pointless.

When Luke says ‘pray always and don’t lose heart,’ it’s clear that’s how he wants us to understand this story. The widow represents us, the judge represents God – or at least a very pale shadow of God.

But let me give you another angle on it; a different way of looking at things.

Just for a second, clear your mind of preconceptions, and suppose that Luke has got it all wrong. Suppose that everything is the other way round. Suppose that the widow isn’t us; instead she’s God. And the judge isn’t God, he’s us.

Try not to empathise with the widow, the supplicant, the pray-er. Instead put yourself in the shoes of the unjust judge. Now, it’s no longer a story about us nagging God, pleading with God to treat us justly. Instead it’s a story about God nagging us, God hassling us, God pleading with us. It’s not us asking justice of God, it’s God asking justice of us!

At first the judge is deaf to the woman’s pleas. She doesn’t have any clout; she doesn’t know anyone who can get in your way; she has no access to an advocate to represent her – she can only go straight to the judge. And, as there’s other recourse, it’s quite safe for him to ignore her. So here’s a question for us – do we ignore God like that? Are there times when we ignore that nagging voice of God that pricks our conscience? Be honest now!

Despite her treatment the widow comes back again and again. She so wants justice that she hounds the judge, she follows him around. He can’t get rid of her, she’s an incessant aggravation to him. Life’s too short for this, so regardless of her lack of power, the judge grants her request – not because he’s keen to deliver a just settlement in her case, but because it’s the only way out, it’s the only way he can stop that awful, embarrassing, nagging voice.

The widow wants justice, just as God wants justice. She can’t get it on her own – she needs the judge to deliver justice to her, just as God needs us to deliver the justice that he craves.

God wants justice, and he needs us to deliver it. We are his hands on this earth. So he nags us to work towards, to build a just and merciful world, to bring about his kingdom. God demands that his kingdom be built in the here and now, and he pleads with us to deliver it. Listen again – can’t you hear that voice, nagging away at your conscience?

It’s not how Luke meant the story, but perhaps my unusual take on it is a better interpretation for our age. Maybe we shouldn’t read this as a story about us nagging God to answer our prayers; but as a story of us being nagged by God to build his kingdom.

Luke said ‘pray always and don’t lose heart.’ Well – if you can see prayer as not simply a conversation with God going on in your head; if you can see prayer as the acting out of your faith, as the putting of faith into practice in your everyday life – then frankly the two readings of this story come up with exactly the same answer.

Pray always, work for God’s kingdom always, seek to bring to this world God’s justice, God’s mercy – and when it seems a hopeless task, don’t lose heart. Listen to that voice nagging away at you. God’s kingdom will come – but ours are the hands he would use to make it happen.

John Routh (Priest in Charge Holy Trinity).

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Sunday 2 January 2011 Epiphany. God’s Promise.

Readings: Jeremiah 31:7-14; Ephesians 1:3-14; John 1:10-18.

Hands up those of you who made New Year’s resolutions this year; hands up those of you who have already broken them? So much for good intentions; I suspect actually that most people who make resolutions break them, if not sooner, then later.

There are of course the usual ones, to lose weight, to do more exercise or to give up smoking; in fact the take up of gym membership in January usually soars but not so many people carry on later into the year.

Unfortunately promises made are often broken, if not the promises we make to ourselves or for ourselves, then the promises we make to other people. It is so easy to utter those two little words ‘I promise’ but sometimes we are totally unable to keep the promise and it may be through no fault of our own. We can’t always promise someone who is suffering that it is going to be alright, or that it won’t hurt, when it many or that their interpretation of ‘alright’ isn’t the same as ours.

We have just celebrated the birth of Christ. The babe born in a manger in Bethlehem was God’s promise to mankind to deliver and save mankind. It was a promise re-iterated throughout the Old Testament especially in Isaiah. We can read from chapter Isaiah 60:1-3.

‘Arise shine for our light has come and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you’ and verse 6 reads:

‘A multitude of camels shall cover you and young camels from Midian and Ephrah all those from Sheba shall come. They shall bring gold and frankincense and shall proclaim the praise of the Lord.’

And we know subsequently that it was wise men from the east riding camels and bringing gifts of gold and frankincense that come to worship the baby Jesus. It was a promise written not only in scripture and prophesy but in the skies, as a star, for the wise men to read and to follow. This is what we celebrate, when we celebrate epiphany, the arrival of the wise men with their gifts, the culmination of a centuries old promise coming true, dressed in flesh and delivered as promised to a virgin from the house of David.

As the story unfolds further, as we go through the years and we head towards Easter, we will see God’s promise delivered again with the death of his Son at Calvary. God promised to overcome death and sin, indeed to take all our sin once and for all and to deliver in its place the gift of eternal life.

Jesus too makes his promise; he promises not to leave us comfortless or alone, he promises to send his Holy Spirit in his stead. And when we get to Pentecost he sends his spirit as promised and that same spirit is with us today and every day.

Unlike us, frail mortals, God keeps his promises. It is good news that we are able to hang onto when times turn bad or get difficult, whatever and wherever our life is at, God is with us. Emmanuel – means ‘God with us.’

The child born in a manger is the best news that we can have, offering hope for all of us. As we celebrate Epiphany we celebrate the wise men who followed the star to the manger bed to witness for themselves God’s promise fleshed out.

And that brings us back to the reading from the gospel of John 1:1-3, ‘In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. It was in the beginning with God’. The word, God’s word, his promise there at the beginning of time, there through all time and the word became flesh and lived among us and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son full of grace and truth – and laid in a manger for all mankind, for all time – the eternal promise.

Jan Walker (lay reader).

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Candlemas 2011.

Today is the end of Christmas. The time of festivities is over and in the cycle that is the Christian year we turn our minds to Lent. Candlemas is the official end of Christmas.

For schools, Christmas was packed away before Christmas Day. The day after the children left for their holidays, the tinsel and the decorations were taken down, put in boxes and stored for the next year.

For most of the population, Christmas was packed away by January 6....12^th Night. Here at St Chad's the cloths were removed from the cradle, the Christmas tree was dismantled and the lights were taken down by the Monday group and others by Epiphany.

But if you venture to St Peter's at Maney, the stable, the holy family, wise men and their gifts were still on display until Candlemas.

A number of churches keep their stables until the end of the Epiphany season but as more and more churches come in line with the secular world , Advent loses its aura of preparation as trees and decorations are in place for those weeks leading up to Christmas Day and Christmas gets packed away before the Schools go back in January.

So why do we celebrate Candlemas today. Candlemas is a winter festival of birth and light. It is a story of living, ageing and learning. The wisdom of age, the years of struggling and hurting and loving, the presentation regularly in the communal round of worship, the prayers of a lifetime are what we recall today. These are the experiences that enable Simeon and Anna to recognize God in Jesus and to have confidence of the safety and vulnerability of God's love. These are the experiences we have. Experiences we can relate to as we come to church regularly, pray daily, cope with life's struggles, hurts and loves, as we grow older and allow our spiritual nature to grow too.

Consider this Reflection by Ruth Burgess.

Like Simeon, may I grow old in hope and in wonder?

Like Anna, may I be in love with you all my days.

May I be open to truth, open to surprises.

May I let your spirit into my life.

May I let your justice change my behaviour.

May I live in the brightness of your joy.

Living and dying, striving for holiness and justice, accepting forgiveness and affirmation, living with the questions and the mystery, trusting in hope of home and the glory and light of resurrection - these are the element of life and loving that dance and burn in the candles of Candlemas. And these are the candles that are offered to us so that, lit by God's bright fire, we may be light and warmth for God's world.

And so we pray: Star maker God, Lightener of the world, bless us and warm us into light and loving. Bring us to the light of Jesus all the length and breadth of our nights and days.

You have found me, I have seen you. Daily I know you cherishing me. Kindle and draw me into the light of your loving every night and day of my journey home.

As the candle, so my life: flickering, burning, changing, alight and warm with the light which is you.

AMEN

Rev’d Edwina Wallace.

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The Samaritan Woman. 27-03-2011. John 4 :5-42.

May I be helped to speak in the name of the Living God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

In today’s gospel reading, Jesus encounters a woman from Samaria. He is sitting by a well when the woman comes – as she does every day – to draw water. He speaks to her, and the two of them are drawn into a long conversation.

It may sound quite unexceptional to us, but in the Middle East of two thousand years ago that was a very unusual thing to do. It was not normally acceptable for a man to approach a woman who he didn’t know. It was not normally acceptable for a Jew to talk with a Samaritan – let alone drink from the same cup. But since when did Jesus worry about what was normally acceptable?

By speaking to a Samaritan, to a woman not known to him, Jesus teaches his followers a lesson. In the eyes of God, women and men are equals; in the eyes of God, Jews, Samaritans and, indeed, Gentiles are equals. In the eyes of God, every single human being is of equal value.

In this country, in our present age, that is something most people tend to assume. We assume that the colour of skin shouldn’t matter; that gender shouldn’t matter; that social class shouldn’t matter. It hasn’t always been that way.

In this country, in ages past, it was quite clear that dark skinned people were not the equal of whites. Slavery was acceptable, and slaves regarded as nothing more than a piece of property. Colonisation of India and Africa for economic exploitation was acceptable.

In this country, in ages past, it was quite clear that women were not the equals of men. For long years women had few rights and were utterly dependent on their father or husband. They had no say in elections. If they worked outside the home it was in extremely poorly paid jobs.

In this country, in ages past, it was quite clear that the poor were not the equals of the wealthy. Education, health care and housing for the poor were basic, minimalist. The right to vote was restricted to property owners. The wages earned by the providers of labour were pathetic compared with the profits earned by the providers of capital.

Thankfully, this country has come a long way since those times. Slavery is illegal and the expoitation of empire long gone. Women have gained equal rights to education, to electing the government, even leading the government. The poorer classes, for want of a better term, have more realistic wages and improved support through the welfare state. Much has changed, much has improved.

But lest we take all this for granted, we need to remember that we are far from perfect. Though our attitude to people of different skin colours, to people of different genders, to people of different social classes has changed, this country is still far from perfect.

Our society is not perfect on racial equality. There are increasing numbers of prominent non-white faces on our television screens, in our sports teams – but there is plenty of room for improvement. The BNP still spouts its bile and attracts votes. John Sentamu may have risen to become Archbishop of York, but it was a hard road, littered with letters and messages of abuse, not least here in Birmingham Diocese, along the way.

Our society is not perfect on class equality. In the aftermath of the banking crisis we face a huge cut-back in government spending on social provision, on education; a huge, ideological and largely unwanted reorganisation of the NHS; an increasing emphasis on a culture of volunteerism rather than professionalism – quite where the volunteers will come form is beyond me! As far as I can see the people who will really suffer from these changes are the poor, the elderly. I’m afraid I don’t have much sympathy for those bankers and other higher earners who find they’re now being taxed a little more heavily.

Our society is not perfect on gender equality. Women may have access to most types of jobs these days, but the so-called ‘glass ceiling’ is still there, barring the top jobs to most women. There’s still a pay differential between the genders. Even in the church we still live with the reality of churches, one not far from here, which will not accept women priests. And we still haven’t got a women bishop in the Church of England.

Our society is not perfect on equality, be it racial equality, gender equality or class equality. To borrow from George Orwell, all animals are equal, but some are more equal than others!

Archbishop Desmond Tutu once said: ‘I am puzzled about which bible people are reading when they suggest religion and politics don’t mix.’ There are political implications in what I’ve just said, and I don’t expect everyone to be comfortable with it. But like it or not, religion and politics cannot be kept in two different compartments.

The equality of every human being in the eyes of God is a basic doctrinal precept of the Christian faith. And our society is far from perfect in how it puts that into practice. By speaking to a Samaritan, to a woman not known to him, Jesus teaches that in the eyes of God, women and men are equals; in the eyes of God, Jews, Samaritans and, even Gentiles like me are equals. In the eyes of God, every single human being is of equal value.

Like Jesus two thousand years ago, we his followers, the church, are called to bring God’s values to the society we live in. We are called to show our society that all are equal: by the way we treat others individually, by the causes we as a community, an institution, put our weight behind.

So which of society’s failings do you think we should be addressing? Which group of people do you think are most treated as being less (or more) deserving than the rest of us?

John Routh. Priest in Charge. Holy Trinity.

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Julian of Norwich.

Evening Service, St Chad’s, Sutton Coldfield 15^th May 2011

Text taken from the Alternative Service book for evening prayer and comes from psalm 18; “I will love thee, Oh Lord my strength, the Lord is my strong rock and my defence”.

On May 8^th the church would have remembered Lady Julian of Norwich, or as is printed in the new calendar where she is simply noted as Julian of Norwich, mystic, 1417.

Very little is actually known about her, especially with regard to her childhood and background. She was born in 1342 and on May 8^th1375 (aged 33) when she was seriously ill she received a number of visions concerning the Holy Trinity and the Passion of our Lord. She wrote down her account of these visions and probably and maybe as a consequence of, around the same time she devoted herself to the solitary life of an anchoress or hermit, living in a small cell attached to the church of St Julian in Norwich.

Her writings were completed by 1393 (l8 years later) and are known today throughout the Christian world as “Revelations of Divine love”.(http://www.amazon.co.uk/Revelations-Divine-Love-Penguin-Classics/dp/0140446737/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1305545395&sr=1-1 )

She is believed to have died about 1417 (making her 75) but may well have lived longer. No trace of her burial remains. “You shall soon forget me” she wrote, and, “do so that I shall not hinder you, and also, Jesus is teacher of all”. However the first of these quotes proved wrong as she is not forgotten after all these centuries and her work and her teachings continue today.

A selection of her writings entitled “Enfolded in Love” (I have not read this) rapidly became a best seller introducing thousands of people to one of the most wonderful of Christian voices. All over the world scholarly and devotional studies have appeared and for some people Julian has become like a patron Saint. Julian groups, and thousands of pilgrims to her shrine in Norwich, testify to the extraordinary influence of this woman writer of so long ago. “How can this be?” is the question that springs to mind.

The answer is that her thoughts appear to chime in with many of those of our own time. Her age was similar in many ways to our own; new ideas challenging old customs and thinking. For example today, the idea of women Bishops challenges many traditionalist views. Religion in her day was in disarray and divided in opinion against itself, there were many fears and questions for the future. Julian faced all these with complete assurance in the love of God; as should we all. The Lord did not say “you shall not be afflicted” or “you shall not be tossed in the tempest of life” but he did say “You shall overcome” and that is the anchor that we too can claim and cling to in times of trial. “You shall not be overcome”. Christ is our rock and our foundation on which we build enduring faith.

Julian’s ideas are impossible to summarise in a few lines but Julian had a deep and abiding sense of the centrality of God (at all times and in all places, even and especially in adversity). God remains our maker and keeper, our everlasting love, our joy, and ultimately our bliss. So we should seek God with faith and hope and love.

For Julian, God is the ground of all that exists, its maker, sustainer, and redeemer. Nothing is outside of his creative will.

And so I leave you with these few and famous lines from Julian of Norwich, that “All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all shall be very well”. Amen.

Jan Walker. Lay Reader.

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Sunday 5th June 2011. Sunday After Ascension. (John 17:1-11. Acts: 1:6-14).

‘Jesus lifted up his hands and while he blessed his disciples he parted from them. Allelulia’. (Luke 24, verse 50. Also ASB Alternative Service Book, introductory service).

As we celebrate the mysterious event we call the Ascension we emphasize the fact that our Christianity, our faith, is so much more than purely a philosophy or a mere system for the conduct of life. It is a Christian faith, a belief that goes beyond philosophy; our lives are not just directed by human logic and observation. We have a religion based on the revelation (or reveal – ation) of God Himself.

If we were to try and rationalize our faith and bring it within the terms of our human comprehension alone, then we could begin to destroy it. Over the years many have tried to explain away the miraculous, the inexplicable. The only explanation of course is faith; faith in God and his son Jesus, who came to demonstrate the way.

So in our gospel story of the ascension we see Christ rising up in full sight of his apostles until he was hid from them in clouds; something that is outside of our own experience and that cannot be explained away in terms of our limited human experience.

In Christ’s day even the wisest people believed that the earth was flat and that heaven was a place above the sky, so some scholars will claim that Jesus chose this way to depart from his friends to fit in with their world view. Other scholars have thought that the disciples were put into some kind of trance, or even that St. Luke is putting down what he saw in a vivid dream or vision. But the ascension can only be understood through and with faith, in terms of the supernatural, a mystery, a miracle, a God incident; something above and beyond human nature and understanding.

Today we know we need to keep faith and it is that faith that is at the heart of our Christianity. ‘We believe’, we say those words each time we repeat the Creed, we believe, we believe Jesus was the son of God and that he demonstrated God’s love in word and deed even when that deed was beyond normal human understanding. Christ is with us, he is not merely an echo of his teaching and parables nor is he the shadow of a past presence, now gone away. He is with us as truly as he was with the widow and her son at Nain, with the lepers, with the five thousand who were fed, with the penitent thief dying on the cross beside him. He is with us for the same reason, to heal in mind, soul and body; to forgive us our sins, to feed us when we are hungry and to be with us in the hours of darkness.

From heaven Jesus continually intercedes for us while remaining with us on earth. The ascension is a guarantee that Christ at the end of his life did not lay aside his humanity but shared with us our humanity so that we might share his divine nature.

He is high and lifted up and his train fills the temple. He touches earth so we too might reach for heaven. For me, I find the ascension somewhat comforting; it is a promise fulfilled but it also shows me that there is a place, a better place to which we too may be lifted up and that by following Jesus we can follow him all the way to heaven and dwell with him ever after in eternity. The ascension is faith, is hope, is everlasting life.

Jan Walker (Reader).

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Sunday 3 July 2011. Thomas the Apostle.

John 20:24-29.

But Thomas (who was called ‘twin’), one of the twelve was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, ‘We have seen the Lord.’

But he said to them. ‘Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger in the marks of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe’.

A week later his disciples were again in the house and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’

Then he said to Thomas: ‘Put your fingers here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.’

Thomas answered him, ‘My Lord and my God.’

Jesus said to him, ‘Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.’

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It’s a busy Saturday afternoon in the Mall Shopping Centre; you’re rushing around as usual trying to fit everything in before the ticket runs out on the car.

It’s heaving, but what are the chances that you’ll bump into Jesus; would you recognise him if you did. Let’s face it we all know Jesus was crucified, dead and buried a very long time ago and although we know he was resurrected and came back; well, we just accept it as fact and yet we don’t expect to bump into him when out shopping – or let’s be honest, even for him to walk through that door this morning, do we. Would we believe it was him if he did, or would we believe ourselves to be dreaming or worse.

The disciples knew Jesus was crucified. They had borne witness to the fact, so they too must have received a shock when he just popped up. We are told just a few verses ahead of this morning’s reading John 20 v20 that he showed the disciples his hands (complete with nail marks) and his side – where he had been pierced, as evidence that here he was in the flesh, the real McCoy.

But Thomas hadn’t been with them on that particular occasion and although Thomas didn’t want to call the other disciples liars; well it was just a bit too much for him to swallow. Thomas has received such a bad press over time – known as ‘doubting Thomas’ – but to doubt is very human indeed. We all doubt from time to time. However much we want to believe, sometimes our minds can’t quite make that leap of faith and we crave evidence. If only we could see, then we could know for sure.

I don’t think Jesus would have been angry with Thomas; he would have understood. Patience is a virtue they say – and just a week later when they are all together Jesus appears again and this time Thomas is with them. Jesus invites Thomas to ‘put your finger here and see my hands; reach out your hand and put it in my side.’ I imagine Thomas both excited and a little afraid as he reaches out to touch the wounds of Christ – and then that wonderful moment of recognition. It is true!! Jesus says ‘Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen yet have come to believe.’ Thomas receives proof positive standing before him in physical form.

I still doubt that I will bump into Jesus in the Mall, I sympathize with Thomas – but nonetheless I believe; I believed he appeared to the disciples (Thomas included); I believe he has appeared to many many saints, followers and Christians and in many ways, throughout the centuries. I also believe that he will continue to appear to make his presence know.

Whether we recognise him or whether we have to accept the word of the bible, the words of other witnesses, those who share their experiences with us or whether we take Jesus on trust – after all, we believe in the Creed – even if we are not first-hand witnesses - blessed are those who have not seen yet have come to believe, blessed are we also each and every one of us.

Jan Walker, Lay Reader.

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Sunday 24^th July 2011

Mustard Seed etc., Reflecting on the Ordinary.

May I be helped to speak in the name of the Living God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Imagine your garden. I don’t know how many of you have mustard there, but I guess almost all of you have some plants – vegetables, flowers – that you’ve grown. Maybe they started out as a seed; or perhaps you skipped that phase and bought seedlings from a nursery. Whichever – think about how they have grown.

If you’re not green-fingered enough to grow plants, maybe you have our problem – unwanted plants: two foot high oaks growing where a squirrel once buried but never retrieved an acorn; nettles and dock-leaves filling borders to which they were never invited; brambles trailing out from the hedges, defying every effort to root them out; moss taking over patches of your carefully or not so carefully tended lawn.

In the garden, everything grows. Tiny things grow to huge proportions. Even the huge, mature trees in the church and vicarage gardens were once seeds. This, says Jesus, is what the kingdom of God is like: it starts small, it becomes huge.

The garden’s not for you? Well we all eat – so imagine your kitchen. I don’t know whether you bake bread, but I guess many of you bake cakes sometimes. Even if you haven’t mixed the ingredients yourself I’m sure you’ll have watched what happens. The mixture starts flat, filling maybe a third of the depth of the tin. It grows until it’s overflowing the rim.

What does it? For bread it’s the yeast, for cakes it’s the baking powder. You take a tiny lump of yeast and mix it with flour many times its own volume. If you baked the mixture without the yeast it would stay flat – literally unleavened. But add the yeast to the mixture and its effect is huge. Imagine the risen loaves, the risen cakes being taken from the oven.

In the kitchen, in the oven, things grow. Tiny things mix with larger wholes to give amazing results. Think how very different the cake, the loaf would be if they were flat. This, says Jesus, is what the kingdom of God is like: it starts small, it becomes huge.

Imagine a field. Occasionally someone will find undiscovered treasure buried in it – the Staffordshire Hoard comes to mind. But that doesn’t happen often so how about a more frequently occurring modern-day example. Imagine this field has the potential to become a site of great value – perhaps a new motorway is being planned not too far away. If it goes ahead there will a huge demand for housing in the area, a huge demand for land to build them on.

Someone gets wind that this is going to happen. What does he do? He tries to buy the land before word gets out. He draws together all the funds he can, buys the land cheaply as unexceptional farmland, waits for the motorway announcement to be made, and then sells the land to housing developers for a huge amount of money. His profit is huge, the field has yielded up its treasure.

The world of business is like this. People see the potential in things and invest everything they have to access that potential. This, says Jesus, is what the kingdom of God is like: it is a thing of such value that people give everything to attain it.

Or are you a fan of Antiques Roadshow and Bargain Hunt? Imagine an antiques collector. She has many pieces in her collection, a collection built up over many years. Together the collection may be valuable, but there is nothing there that individually is of great worth. She sees a piece coming up in an auction, which is far better than anything she owns.

What does she do? She sells her collection – lock, stock and barrel. She goes to the auction and spends every penny on this rare, unique piece. It will give her far greater pleasure to look at, to show to others, than that whole collection she previously owned. It’s as though she has exchanged a collection of assorted silver chalices in order to buy – quite literally – the holy grail.

The world of collecting is like this. People see the beauty and value in a thing, and invest everything they have in order to possess it. This, says Jesus, is what the kingdom of God is like: it is a thing of such value that people give everything to attain it.

A seed growing in the garden, yeast in bread dough rising in the kitchen. A piece of land ripe for development, a collectible item of great beauty and worth. What links these things? Their sheer ordinariness. These are things we see every day – in our homes, on our TV screens – as we go about our daily business.

In the mind of Jesus, the most profound theological insights are triggered by the details of ordinary life. He saw parables for the kingdom of God everywhere. He tried to teach the people who came to him to do the same thing – to open their eyes to the world around them and to reflect upon it. To see how elements of our world can be read as symbols of God’s kingdom; to see how our world is shot through with the presence of God’s kingdom.

So I have a challenge for you. As you go about your work this week, as you partake in whatever it is you fill your leisure hours with, as you wander round your homes, sit before your TV screens – think a little. Ask yourself, wherever you are, whatever you’re doing, what insight Jesus might take from the things, the events going on around you.

You’ll find it time well spent. Because we have other words for those thoughts that will be flashing into your mind: we call them reflection, meditation … prayer. For prayer isn’t just about the time you spend here in church, or kneeling by your bedside at home … it’s every moment of your life spent walking the path towards God.

Rev’d John Routh.

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Sunday 14^th August 2011. What is Faith? Matthew 15:21-28.

Have you ever met anybody who says they have no faith? Or what about talks with someone who says they lost what little faith they had when they were a child ?

Did it sound like a good idea for spending an extra hour in bed on a Sunday instead of going to church?

If rioters had had faith, there would be love for neighbours.

Or maybe they know that the way they treat their family or the people at work is less than loving and claiming to have no faith allows them to ignore their conscience.

Faith is a gift from God. St Paul wrote " To one is given through the spirit the utterance of wisdom and...to another faith by the same Spirit."

Faith is one of those gifts which we can never boast about, it is a gift for which we must be grateful that we are the recipient.

Later today I will be baptising twins. During the baptism service I will use the words "Faith is the gift of God to his people" and will ask the twins’ god parents and friends to pray for the boys, to draw them by example into the community of faith and to walk with them in the way of Christ. I will also tell them that we trust God for their growth in faith and that in baptism the boys will begin their journey in faith.

Faith is like a tiny seed. It is planted in the soul and allowed to grow or wither. It needs careful nurturing if it is to grow. St Paul describes faith as a fruit of the Spirit and like fruit trees, faith needs to be fed and watered, and protected from predators if it is to grow.

Everyone is given the germ of faith by God and if they tend it carefully it will grow until it gives them the strength to behave lovingly.

For some people God offers particular challenges, which they can only meet in the power of the specially strong faith which he has given them. In today's Gospel a foreign woman asks Jesus to heal her sick daughter. But Jesus had not yet recruited enough disciples to staff an international mission and he turned her down. Yet she gets what she asks for, and the words she used are repeated by us week by week, "We are not worthy to eat the crumbs from your table". She believed Jesus could heal her daughter if he wanted to, and Jesus, impressed by her faith tells her,

"Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for as you wish. "

Faith does not mean you have to believe in the truth of lots of doctrines. Faith is a relationship of love, trusting in a loving heavenly Father, and in Jesus. God gives everyone the gift of faith, often when we are not even looking for it. We can fail to recognise it, we can refuse it, we can allow it to wither if we neglect it, but we can never lose it altogether, despite what we may think.

Be open when God offers you the gift. Develop it with regular prayer, worship and bible reading until it bears fruit in the power to love God with all your heart and with all your soul and to love your neighbour as yourself.

If you should ever think you have lost your faith, set yourself simple tasks of loving care for those around you, until you recover the simple trust in God's love that you had before.

Remember, God has given you the gift of faith so it is up to you to nurture it.

AMEN

Reverend Edwina Wallace.

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Sunday 28^th August 2011 ‘Overcome Evil with Good’.

Jeremiah 15:15-21. Romans 12: 9-21. Matthew16: 21-28.

The list of ethical imperatives can be summed up by verse 21 of Romans. ‘Overcome evil with Good’.

This is precisely what God has done in Christ and for Christians to embody this approach is a genuine indicator of their transformation by inward renewal.

The Christians in Rome were bitterly divided when Paul wrote to them. So he wrote that there was only one thing worth competing about and that was who could be the kindest.

"Out-do one another in showing honour ", he wrote.

So the instructions he sent are very positive. The transformation brought about by salvation is not demonstrated merely by what is not done, but by what is actually done.

Paul does not forbid something without giving something positive to do instead (read verses 9, 11, 16, 17 and 21 of Romans 12:9-21)

Generally speaking the instructions start with how to behave towards friends and move towards the more difficult question of how to treat those who are enemies. It is in this second area that evil is most clearly overcome with good, where blessing is returned for persecution in the hope of redeeming the enemy.

Paul is writing to a congregation of new Christians, of many races and all social levels, trying to progress from the vendetta —ridden society all around them.

So Paul tells the Romans "never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay’, says the Lord.”

Getting your own back is called "tit for tat" and it has been said that the inevitable end to a universal policy of tit for tat will be when we are all dead.

This hint of God's eventual judgment provides a context for Christian behaviour. The advice by Paul to the Romans is very practical, but easier said than done. But because they are Christians they are willing to take up their cross and try.

Eventually people around them will notice the way these Christians behave and realize that the way of retaliation does not work. Even if repaying evil with good has no immediate redemptive effect upon the enemy. Christians who do it overcome evil with good within themselves and can therefore stand secure in the judgment which the unrepentant enemy will be suitably repaid by the ultimate Power of Good.

Today's society is very different from that of the Romans two millennium ago, but the lessons they learnt are still appropriate today. There are many who think that if somebody annoys them revenge is an appropriate response. Yet wrongdoers won't change if we tell them off, only if we Christians set them an example of a better way. And that depends on you.

Everybody who goes to church is scrutinized by their neighbours, to see if there are still traces of evil in our words and our lives. If we even once seek revenge on somebody who has hurt us in any way, then we will undo the effect of all these centuries of Christian example. The teaching of Jesus about how we should live will only change society if it is proclaimed by the loving example of Christians and that means,

'Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.'

AMEN.

Reverend Edwina Wallace.

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Sunday 4 September 2011. Love.

Ezekiel 33 7-11. Romans 13 8-14. Matthew 18 15-20.

In just over two hours time a couple will stand here at the chancel steps and make their wedding vows. Just like Mike and Brenda, who are celebrating their golden wedding anniversary, did 50 years ago. The chancel steps are a place of promise. They will promise to love one another, comfort one another, honour and protect one another and forsake all others as long as they both shall live.

They will then, as many other couples have said to each other, that they will have and hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, they will love and cherish each other till death do them part according to God’s Holy law and in the presence of God they make the vow.

When they exchange rings they will make further promises, giving the rings as a sign of their marriage, they will promise to honour each other with their bodies, promise all that they have they will give to each other and all that they have they will share with one another within the love of God, Father Son and Holy Spirit.

I am privileged to stand in front of them as they make these promises and vows. I can see the love in their eyes, the strength of feeling they have for one another and the genuine desire to make theirs a lifelong marriage.

But when they stand here, they are in love, they have not developed that deep well of love that comes with knowing someone intimately in all their moods, joys and disappointments.

Many years ago a school master told his pupils, “You will think I am old fashioned, but my advice to you is never to think that it is sufficient reason to marry someone, just because you are in love with them”. Years later many of those pupils realized with regret that by disregarding his words they had caused a great deal of hurt to a great number of people.

When a marriage breaks down it is not just the couple who suffer pain. If there are children they too worry about their parents, and there are grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins who are all sucked into the maelstrom: not forgetting friends who are not sure where they stand and if they offer support to one are seen as an “enemy” to the other.

Jesus said that the whole of the law was based on two commandments, to love God and to love your neighbour. We begin our services Sunday by Sunday recalling those words.

Unloving behaviour wounds the Father’s loving heart and that by definition is sin. God hates it when his children hurt each other. St. Paul writes “Love does no wrong to a neighbour, therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. He implies that the rest of the law and even the Ten Commandments are simply guidelines to the areas we have to choose between loving and unloving behaviour.

The apostles meeting in Jerusalem about AD 48 decided that the law of Moses was part of the Jewish culture and was not to be imposed on non-Jewish Christians. Remember the laws had been given to a nomadic pastoral society and to apply it to the socially stratified cities of the Roman Empire required, as Jesus has shown, a considerable effort of reinterpretation.

That process continues today. Remember until the early part of the last century women were seen as the property of men ......I can’t see many women here agreeing to that rule any more and neither should they.

We all need guidelines. Yet we must not demand from others what God expects from us, because we do not know their circumstances. We must respect anyone who bases their life on love and leave it to God to decide whether the way they applied it was sinful or not.

This afternoon as the couple make their vows and promises we can pray that the love they have for one another will deepen. Their love needs to grow and develop for it is the only love that will enable them to stand firm together in a world which will change and alter. A growing love makes things possible, it can take on anything, where as a static love can only deal with the joys and the problems of one day.

As we must pray that their love is not just special to them, but that it will also be special to everyone they meet, we hope that it will point to the wonderful mystery of God’s love for us all.

AMEN

Rev’d Edwina Wallace.

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Sunday 11^th September 2011. Forgiveness ……Saying Sorry. Matthew 18:21-35.

According to the song ‘Sorry’ is the hardest word.

According to most of the children I work with it seems this rings true. Saying sorry certainly doesn’t come naturally; either that or it is a word banded about with no real meaning. A child having hit another, when prompted by staff, will begrudgingly offer a ‘sorry’ while not really meaning it and going to perhaps hit someone else a short time later. Words they say are cheap – in this case it can certainly prove true.

Adults, I dare to suggest, say the word with a little more meaning and thought, at least I hope so – but being able to both forgive and forget (as they say) proves more difficult.

A mother will instinctively forgive her child most things; lovers too are able to forgive but in the event of break up or breakdown old wounds flare up and are often used as ammunition in the next fight.

So Peter asks Jesus “how often shall I forgive? As many as seven times? Peter is trying to quantify forgiveness. “I’ll forgive you the first time and the second and the third and so on – but there is a limit to my forgiveness”.

Jesus says not seven times but seventy seven times – implying that we should show unlimited forgiveness, endless forgiveness and so we should.

Whatever the provocation, however deep the hurt and pain inflicted, however frequently someone takes against us, hurts us on any level, it is our duty, as Christians to forgive them. In this instance words are not cheap. In fact they can come at great cost to ourselves. We may need to lose face, or relinquish what we see as the moral high ground. Because not only do we need to forgive without boundaries, without conditions and in love, but equally when we are in the wrong or perhaps even perceived to be in the wrong, we need also to be humble enough to say that we are sorry. “I’m sorry I hurt you. I’m sorry you feel like that, I’m sorry I ….”– and hopefully the recipient of our words will forgive us.

Forgive and be forgiven, and then with Grace move on; move forward. Old grudges hold us back; they prevent our progress emotionally and spiritually; they stunt us and old hurts lie as wounds that if we allow them will fester and infect our life.

What Jesus says is a very tall order, a big deal and does not come easily to our human nature. Jesus forgave without discrimination. He forgave his disciples when they doubted, when they fell asleep in the garden instead of praying, when they denied him (Peter) even when they betrayed (Judas) or abandoned him – he forgave them and he loved them. He forgave too – the woman taken in the act of adultery, the woman at the well of Samaria, the lame man (the man lowered through the roof). He said “is it easier to say your sins are forgiven, or to say get up and walk”. In the end he said both. And Jesus went ultimately to the cross of crucifixion to take all our sins and to die for our sins so that we too might rise to a new and clean life; a life free from sin.

Jesus goes on forgiving us every day of our lives, but we need to say sorry – we need to have that change of heart – to make amends – to turn from our sins and try again. Not like the children of my playground to say sorry and then to repeat the same mistake again – we need to learnt to say sorry and to mean it. And we need to accept the apologies of others when they say sorry to us, not one, not seven times but seventy seven times.

God’s forgiveness is limitless, we should not therefore limit our forgiveness.

Jan Walker

Reader.

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Sunday 30 October 2011. All Saints Day. The Book of Revelation.

If I asked you to give me a quote from the book of Revelation you would most likely come up with, “I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away and the sea was no more”. Or maybe it would be, “See the home of God is among mortals. Death will be no more, mourning and crying and pain will be no more for the first things have passed away.”

If I asked you what else was in the Book of Revelation there might be those who remember the messages to the seven churches in Asia, and you might remember the vivid visual imagery which abound in its pages.

Revelation, is one of those bible books that is often avoided because the whole book is beyond comprehension. It was once described as being the visions of someone coming down from a drug induced trip. And it is a book which many Christians avoid reading when they attend bible study groups.

Yet what is special about Revelation is that it is about the future. While most of us have stopped thinking about the future for fear of environmental catastrophe, nuclear warfare having taken a back foot in recent years, or similar, we try to squeeze as much as we can out of the present. Many in the world have become obsessed with momentary gratification which erodes our capacity to plan and build for the future.

Unlike today, New Testament Christians eagerly awaited and longed for the future. They believed the complete reign of Christ on earth was a more certain reality than the seeming victory of evil. Jesus gave John the strangely beautiful vision recorded in the book of Revelation to give us hope.

Revelation touches us at the point of our despair, our world-weariness, our future shock, our fear of persecution, our collaboration with a sick, though friendly, society. And it could be argued that Revelation is quite possibly the most relevant book of the bible for this moment in history.

But how do we go about understanding this highly symbolic book. It was meant to be read at one sitting, which is still the best way to absorb its contents.

Many people misunderstand the book because they feel it is difficult to understand. Though it is highly symbolic, the major reason we have difficulty in understanding the book is because unlike the first readers we are largely illiterate when it comes to the bible.

The old testament holds important clues for decoding Revelation. Of its 404 verses, 278 allude to the old testament...that is more than half. Though in fairness no one direct citation is actually quoted. The reading we had from Revelation 7, 'the sun will not strike them, nor any searching heat,' is a reference to Psalm 121, where we can read " the sun will not harm you by day".

The book is a biblical implosion. Ideas, symbols, names and themes from the old testament have been powerfully pulled together through the inspiration of the spirit to form a collage, a kaleidoscope effect in the message.

If we treat Revelation as a book of predictions that too can lead to misunderstandings, for Revelation is not so much a prediction of future events as it is an exposé of spiritual realities that affect us now and will bring the events of history to a worthy end.

John wrote Revelation between AD 90 and 95 from his place of exile on Patmos Island. Tradition tells us that prior to his exile John left Israel to live in Ephesus, capital of the Roman province of Asia. The seven churches to whom the book is addressed were visited by a courier travelling on the circular road through modern Turkey.

Revelation is a vision communicated through words…. so we are not meant to only hear the words as thoughts and ideas but also to see them. John in writing Revelation wants us to experience in some measure the vision he received and take it into our hearts.

You know, a child might understand Revelation better than we do. For as adults we approach it with preconceived systems. A child would probably hear the story and conclude 'I'm so glad the Lamb won over the dreadful beast'. They would have truly heard and taken to heart what is written. For Revelation is written for those with eyes to see and we are a generation whose mental eye has been starved of imagery. It is in some ways the most important book of the new testament.

Enjoy reading Revelation afresh, ideally arm yourself with a concordance so you can check up the old testament references and remember that it is primarily a book of hope. As has been said, of the three Christian virtues, faith, hope and love, the one most needing attention today is hope. So read Revelation with hope. This strangely beautiful vision given to John by Jesus was primarily to give hope to Christians who were facing suffering and persecution. It also encouraged those early Christians and helped them to remain faithful.

And so today it can encourage and give us hope too. The underlying theme is that God will finally and totally defeat all his enemies and will reward his faithful people with the blessings of the new heaven and a new earth when this victory is complete.

AMEN

Rev’d Edwina Wallace.

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Sunday 27 November 2011. Advent Sunday.

May I be helped to speak in the name of the Living God. Amen.

Today is Advent Sunday, and in church we begin our preparations for Christmas. The pulpit fall and my stole become purple, as if by magic. The Advent wreath makes its annual appearance. As Advent progresses, on Sunday mornings we will light the candles on the wreath.

Advent slowly builds up, and we draw closer and closer to Christmas Day. A Christmas tree will appear, the church will be decorated. We will have a Christingle Service, a Service of Lessons and Carols, a Crib Service.

These next weeks are a great time for the Christian faith, as we prepare to celebrate once again the birth of a child 2000 years ago. It is a time when we wait, acknowledging our failings, our shortcomings, and look to that child to show us the way. It is a time which can be of great spiritual value.

In the world away from these church doors, Advent takes on a different tone. The shops are full of red and green, gold and silver displays trying to attract our attention. They do it every year, but this time is desperate, they’re pulling out all the stops.

Just in case you try to avoid the shops, never fear: through the wonders of junk mail and television advertising the message comes right into our living rooms. The message is clear and simple: Christmas is coming, spend your money.

There is food to buy; not just the everyday stuff, but tins of biscuits, cakes and puddings, dates and nuts, chocolates, wine, and of course chickens and turkeys; sales of beers, wine and spirits rocket. There are cards and wrapping paper, trees, tinsel and baubles.

And then there are the presents ... electrical goods are everywhere: suddenly an electric toothbrush becomes an essential item for every home. Half the musicians of the world rush to get their latest release into the shops in time for the spending spree.

Clothes shops are filled with party frocks for that once a year staff dinner, with shirts and pullovers and all the other things that will be worn a few times around Christmas week and then put away at the bottom of a drawer for months to come.

And of course, it’s the time for buying toys. The toy companies sell a huge proportion of their produce in the build up to Christmas: electronic toys, cuddly toys, computer games, all sorts. And they all cost a fortune.

Christmas is a major event in our national economy. Many industries depend on it as a time to boost their profits - and especially so this year when many businesses are struggling to survive. So Advent, a time when we should be preparing ourselves for a great spiritual occasion, has become a time of materialist frenzy.

It wouldn’t be so bad if the world at large recognised the importance to Christmas of Jesus, a new-born child. But they don’t: Christmas has become separated from Christ. Religious programmes are pushed into ever more marginal slots in the TV schedule. Nativity displays are replaced with Santa's grotto.

To many in the outside world the meaning of Christmas is not a child born 2000 years ago, but a jolly old man in red clothes, with white whiskers, casting largesse on everyone and urging us to do the same. In some ways we are in danger of losing the spiritual meaning of Christmas itself. But as for Advent before it, the church lost the fight long ago.

Usually people spend a fortune at this time of year - I’ll be fascinated to know if it’s like that this year. It seems as though you have to spend money on your friends, your family - and especially your children - simply to prove that you love them.

It's interesting to see what falls into the category of 'stocking fillers' these days. Once you got a puzzle book, an orange and a banana; now apparently the stocking is to be filled with things costing anywhere up to £15. I don't even want to think about the prices people pay for the main presents ...

We are creating divisions in our society with such behaviour. Our children are separated into the haves and have nots like never before, because not everyone can afford to spoil their children, their friends and family like that.

How can you spend hundreds of pounds on presents for each person in your immediate family if you are in low paid work, or you are unemployed, or you are a pensioner, or your salary is eaten up with mortgage payments and fuel bills and day-to-day living?

With all this commercial pressure, all this advertising, with all the expectation that it builds up, Advent and Christmas have become incredibly stressful occasions. It’s a time that features on those lists of stressful life-events. It’s a time when suicide rates, family arguments, you name it, go through the roof. It is a time of great stress. What an appalling thing to do to the supposed season of joy.

Advent has been swallowed up by the urgency to get everything done in time for the big celebration. It’s become a time to make all those material preparations. But it’s supposed to be about preparing our spirits as well as; about preparing our spirits above all else.

So, I implore you ... don’t give in to the outside pressure. Take the stress out of Advent and Christmas; take the stress out of your over-stretched personal finances. You have to buy presents, you have to buy cards, you have to buy some of the special food, I know. But keep a sense of proportion.

Christmas is a great social occasion, and I don't want to lose that, I don’t want to come over as a modern day Scrooge. But that doesn’t mean it has to be an orgy of materialism. Don’t give in; don’t let the world’s expectations turn you away from the spiritual nature of this time of the year.

Make sure your Christmas is a spiritual celebration as well as a social event. And let your Advent be a season of spiritual preparation, instead of the all too familiar season of frenzied shopping.

Rev’d John Routh.

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Sunday 11 December 2011. What Needs Changing In The World?

Isaiah 61: 1-4, 8-11.

1 Thessalonians 5: 16-24.

John 1:6-8, 19-28.

Poverty, hunger, lack of education, harmony, peace.

Now the hard part, what can we, as Christians, do to bring about that change?

Or do we prefer to keep things as they are?

The reading from John highlights change that faced the Jewish people. The scribes and the Pharisees were the leaders of God's Chosen People. They thought of God as "tied down" by contract and convenant. They would interpret God's laws and make the people obey them. In return God would look after his people and especially them…..the scribes and the Pharisees. If anyone who wasn't Jewish wanted to share these blessings, they could join God's people by washing away the guilt of their pagan sins and their false pagan beliefs in what was called the Baptism of Converts.

But then John comes along. He comes out of the wilderness and tells the ordinary people that everyone is to be baptized. Jews must ditch their traditions and put themselves in the same position as the pagan convert. A clean start was needed; from everyone, People, Scribes, Pharisees, everyone.

Even today, baptism marks a clean start. A new beginning and a willingness to start again from scratch, if need be over and over and over again. Jesus continued the revolutionary approach to religion when he developed John's teaching about baptism and called it new birth. You cannot put new wine into old wine-skins, you cannot put a new patch on to an old garment. Change is always needed.

Yet whenever change is mentioned in church contexts people always take extreme positions. There are those whose immediate accusation that even a minor alteration is "Change for Change sake".

There are those who see Change and decay in all around. I see and they imagine that the two words are synonymous. But they are not. People are reluctant to change. It is cosy in our familiar rut and deep down we are afraid of what change might bring. And the teaching of John and Jesus gets watered down. We get baptised ...but do very little about changing our selfish lifestyle. We follow the rules, jump through the right hoops and pray God will be on our side.

St Chad's is facing change. We have joined with St Peter's Maney and Holy Trinity Churches to form a group which is known as the Sutton Coldfield Group Ministry . It means that the cluster arrangement between the three churches has not a more formal footing. It means that we will speak as one voice with the power of three congregations when we meet with secular authorities and it means that we will continue getting to know each other better through pulpit swaps and joint services. It also means that each church will maintain its own individuality, its own way of doing things and its own vicar. So when I leave, you will get a vicar to replace me, not an associate vicar or a priest in charge, but your own vicar.

Change can be disturbing, but sensitively handled and with the support of people who want to see growth; it can be quite liberating. Change is like dying: dying to the old ways and dying to the past, but like dying, change leads to new life. Changing to a new way of living; a life modelled on that of Jesus is like the sun breaking through the clouds. Old habits die hard but once you have discarded them, you feel as though life has just begun.

Like Jesus you are unselfish in service to the poor and needy; you sacrifice your own comfort to bring comfort to others and you share with others the joy of knowing that God loves you, not because you deserve it, but because that's how God is.

So dying to the old life means rising to the new. Resurrection is not just something we wait for till we have died, it is something we enjoy here and now- a new quality of life.

The Advent message of the coming of Christ is a joyful song, because the birth of Jesus leads us, through dying to the old ways, into joyful life, now and into eternity. Dying to the old means rising to the new. Changing to an unselfish way of living is uncomfortable but to quote that TV advert, You're worth it.

Edwina Wallace Vicar of St. Chad’s.

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Sunday 22 January 2012. Water into wine at Cana.

Genesis 14:17-20.

Revelation 19:6-10.

John 2:1-11.

Signs lead us to Jesus, to believe in him as lord and saviour.

I don't expect many people set out on journeys without knowing where they are going. In these days of car navigation systems, a map is no longer absolutely necessary, although it might be a good idea to have one, and there are always the sign boards at the side of roads to confirm that you are heading in the right direction. Our world is full of signs.

Some accepted signs change with time; Ordnance Survey maps no longer use a cross for a church. That has been replaced with the capital letters PW so that all places of worship are now marked on their maps.

Signs that are relevant to a group on a treasure hunt are not much use to someone who is looking for a particular place.

Signs that are relevant to long distance walkers are not much use to an ambulance driver seeking a particular hospital.

Signs telling us to slow down because there are school children are not much use in the middle of the night.

We look at the signs, weigh up whether or not they are relevant and then use them or discard them.

This year Epiphany has been a sequence of signs. And today's readings are no exception. Bread and wine. Well we all know what that means. Well I hope we do. Bread for his body, wine for his blood; these are gifts from God to help remind us that his Son was sacrificed so that we could be saved. Eat and drink in remembrance of me as words, which are etched on our hearts as the communion prayer unfolds.

But the bread and wine is being offered to Abraham. Abraham the patriarch, the founding father of the people of the book. Abraham has returned from rescuing his nephew Lot, having taken a group of men into the fighting area between a coalition of kings. Abraham's small force of 318 fighters is able to defeat the coalition of forces and Abraham rescues his brother's son and his family. Abraham's concern for Lot is an example of Abraham as a blessing to other families of the earth.

And two kings come out to thank Abraham for defeating the coalition who had attacked them. The Canaanite King Melchizedek of Salem, and Salem is another name for Jerusalem, was also a Canaanite priest of a god named God Most High, and those of you who read the old testament will have quickly spotted the sign that Most high God and God Most High are ancient divine titles used also for the Lord in old testament writings, especially in the psalms. The king priest Melchizedek is mentioned only once elsewhere in the old testament, in a psalm addressed to one of Israel's later kings yet this king priest brings bread and wine and a blessing to Abraham, he brings God's gifts and perhaps the reassurance of God's blessing which Abraham probably badly needed at the time.

Melchizedek, a strange shadowy figure that emerges briefly in this account in Genesis is more a sign than character. Abraham's meeting with him is mysterious because there is no further information about the king. And yet in Hebrews, the figure of Melchizedek is used to explain the existence of a separate and greater priesthood, alongside the Levitical priesthood to which Christ belongs.

Melchizedek represents the permanent presence of that which we only occasionally see, and even more partially understand. Melchizedek reminds us that what we are given to know isn't all that there is to know.

The meal that Melchizedek and Abraham share may have been a sign of a treaty between them.

In this respect it has resonance for us of the mysterious covenant meal of bread and wine that we, the offspring, through faith of Abraham, are given to share with the king priest Jesus.

God will use all kinds of unexpected people and situations to speak of his love to us and like Abraham it is often just when we most need to be reassured.

The changing of the water into wine at Cana is described by John as being a sign of glory in Jesus, which led his disciples to believe in him. This is a strange mysterious sign unlike any of the other Gospel stories. In John's Gospel it is recorded as the first sign that Jesus did and takes place immediately after the disciples are called. Mary, never named in John's Gospel, always referred to as the Mother of Jesus, is aware that the wine is about to run out. It is characteristic of John's Gospel that this miracle has many layers of depth; it is not the case that Jesus simple has compassion and so decides to save the acute embarrassment of the bridegroom.

Jesus indicates that this is an act that carries particular significance by his statement that his hour has not yet come. This invites us to consider what hour Jesus may have been referring to. And could it be that the hour is Jesus’ ultimate provision for the Messianic banquet?

John is very clear that the miracle reveals Jesus' glory so that his disciples put their faith in him. If Jesus’ glory is that he is the Messiah, rather than simply that he is a welcome guest at a party, then the act of abundant wine provision, more than 100 gallons on this occasion, may be seen as an important clue as to his identity.

This miracle is not a healing, it is not a matter of great importance and the family did not ask Jesus for help, the disciples are not asked to act in faith, they are mere onlookers and the only person who has absolute confidence and trust in Jesus is his mother, the woman who according to Luke kept all these signs in her heart and treasured them.

Mary is the first person to acknowledge publicly her son's power. It is to the servants that she says do whatever he tells you. She does not know what he will do, how he will do it or any other aspect of the miracle. What she does know is that Jesus will solve a difficult situation. Mary herself is a sign in this account directing the servant and all of us to do whatever he tells you.

We may wonder why Jesus' power was used in this parochial way at the start of his ministry at Mary's insistent request and whether the bridegroom ever did find out where the wine came from, but what is very clear is that in this miracle we can glimpse life in terms of eternity. Water does change into wine; it is a natural process that takes a long time. By changing water into wine in the time it takes to fill six stone water jars each holding 20 to 30 gallons, the disciples and we are led to see Jesus in terms of eternity and authority. The quantity and size of the stone jars is unusual and emphasizes the extravagance of the sign. Signs point to the presence of God acting in Jesus.

Throughout John's Gospel there are references to eating and drinking with Jesus. It is as if John is seeking to invite us to identify with the characters of his Gospel not only in imagining their experiences but also in participating in them.

So later, when we take the wine of communion we become another of the guests at the wedding and also perceive his Glory. And we can hold on to the sign that points us to the great banquet, which will be celebrated at the culmination of history.

AMEN

Rev’d Edwina Wallace.

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Sunday 29 January 2012. Candlemass.

We did an exercise at 728 this week. We listed the names of the people we knew in the different age bands who come to St Chad's.

How many people do you know by name who are under 5 ? How many can you name in the 5 to 15 age range. What about the 15 to 35's and the 35's to 60's ? The over 85's ?

The idea was to show we are all part of the church family. Young, old, or in between. Nobody is denied access to worship God and that is the prime purpose of the church family; to worship God.

We meet here Sunday by Sunday to worship God.

Simeon and Anna were practically residents at the Temple in Jerusalem. They were there to worship God.

Anna, an elderly widow, the only woman in the New Testament who is given the title of prophetess, is reckoned to be in her late 80's. Of the tribe of Asher she devoutly served daily at the temple and was there at the presentation of the infant Jesus. She, like Simeon, recognized the Messiah then she went on to proclaim redemption to all in Jerusalem.

Simeon, a righteous and devout man also encountered Joseph and Mary when they brought the infant Jesus to the temple for presentation. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Simeon recognized the baby to be Israel's Messiah. He offered a prayer to God, the Nunc Dimittis and then a prophecy to Mary.

Two elderly people who worshipped in the temple daily. Two elderly people who hold before God prayers for their nation, for the people and for the couple who shyly turn up at the temple intent of carrying out the letter of the law for their young son. Two poor people...they could only afford a pair of turtle doves for the sacrificial offering after their son's birth. Richer people would offer a sheep. Yet they are greeted by Simeon who takes the child in his arms and praises God.

On 2nd February each year the church celebrates the festival of Candlemas, when Mary and Joseph took the baby Jesus to the Temple in Jerusalem to dedicate him to God's service. The Prophetess Anna, is so excited by what she sees that she becomes one of the first evangelists of the gospel.

The great Temple in Jerusalem would have been a breath-taking sight for this young couple from the north. The splendour of a famous religious building contrasts with the tiny bundle of the baby in Mary's arms and the poor man's gift of two pigeons that Joseph was carrying.

Anna was as busy serving God as his people. The temple in Jerusalem was the centre of her life. She was there for services morning and evening, rain or shine, she was always there singing and praying and was also there for all the routine temple jobs:

• She did the cleaning

• She made the tea

• She welcomed people at the door , so well that no one ever felt a stranger.

• She was always ready with a smile, a kind word for the lonely or a special prayer for those in trouble.

They called her the Prophetess and that was quite an honour in those days. Very few women in history

had been given such a special title.

Anna had a special secret too. From time to time, she shared it with those who were ready to listen. When she was praying, singing, welcoming, making the tea, cleaning and caring for others, she was also doing something else. She was on the lookout, waiting for God's promised rescuer the one that God had said would come to sort out the mess of this world. She was sure she was going to meet him one day, although Anna was getting older.

Then one day a young couple arrived with their six-week-old baby for a special thank-you service. Anna, as usual, was handing out the books, smiling to the worshippers and welcoming new visitors. But when she saw this couple, and in particular this baby boy, she thought that there was something special about him. But what was it? By the time she went into the service to join with everyone for the celebration, she saw a most amazing thing.

The baby was no longer in the arms of his mother but had been picked up by a friendly, elderly man. She knew him, because he often visited the temple - younger than her but even so a granddad in his own right! Simeon - was singing about the baby:

Now I can go in peace

And my long waiting cease.

God's rescuer has come

A light for everyone.

This baby was the one Anna had been waiting for; God's special rescuer. God's special light for the world. Because of Anna, many people got to hear about Jesus, the light of the world.

And we meet here today to worship God, to give thanks for his Son Jesus, and are we as excited by our knowledge of God, Father, Son and Spirit as was Anna? Are we able to tell everyone about Jesus.

We do not have to be old like Anna and Simeon to pray regularly, to welcome newcomers to St Chad's, to share fellowship and church cleaning and to tell neighbours, friends, family of our love of and for God. Anna had finally met the one she'd been waiting for. The baby Jesus! He was the light of the world. And of course Anna could not contain herself. She told everyone about it.

•She told the people, who came to the temple doors.

•She told the people, who drank her temple tea.

•She told the people she prayed with on the temple steps.

•She told the people with whom she cleaned the temple ornaments.

This year Back to Church Sunday will be combined with Harvest Festival, so it should not be quite so embarrassing to invite a family member, a friend or a neighbour to the service.

If we want our church to grow we need to start considering today who we want to invite to Back to Church Sunday in September. As we move out of the Christmas Season it is not too early to start asking God who he wants us to invite to that autumn service. Start praying today and like Simeon and Anna, listen to what God says. For over the weeks and months God will put a name in your heart which will be repeated so many times that you will know that that is the person you need to invite. And that person could be the parent of an under five, it could be someone in your age group, it could even be a newcomer to the area.

Rev’d Edwina Wallace.

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Sunday 15 January 2012. Here I am Lord!

1 Samuel 3:1-10

Amid the hustle and bustle of daily life, we often find it hard to hear God's voice. Many 'voices' shout for our attention – deadlines to meet, bills to pay, meetings to attend, phone calls to make, children to care for. We try to read our bibles, but struggle to be still and receive a word from God. Much like today, where apathy and lack of belief permeates our society, so also in the days of Samuel few people were listening to God. Politically and spiritually Israel was in a terrible state, as they had no king, and everyone did as he or she saw fit. In today's Old Testament reading we hear about Samuel as a young man, hearing the word of the Lord for the first time, and beginning what was to become an important prophetic ministry.

Within the Most Holy Place, the innermost room of the temple, stood the Ark of God, containing the stone tablets on which God’s commandments were written. Here, only the high priest could enter once a year. In front stood another small room, the Holy Place, in which were the altar of incense, the bread of the Presence, and the lamp-stand, which was kept lit throughout the night. Beyond that was a space with small rooms where the priests and Samuel would have been sleeping.

It was the depth of the night, and the temple was shrouded in deep darkness. The distant flicker from the lamp-stand shed the only light, throwing long shadows. Samuel lay on his mat, trying to sleep, but he was restless. He began to think about his mother. How he missed her! How he longed for her next visit, when she would bring him a new ephod, the long, sleeveless, linen robe worn by all the priests. He was nearly twelve now, and was fast growing out of the one she had brought him last year. As he lay there, half awake, half dozing, on three occasions he thought he heard a voice calling him. Thinking it was the old priest, Eli, he got up each time and went to him. But each time he found that he was mistaken and was sent back to bed. Eli, thought to himself, ‘What’s the matter with the boy tonight? That’s the third time he has disturbed me – he’s not usually like this. Finally, through his experience and spiritual perception, he began to realize that it might be God speaking to the boy, so he said to Samuel, ‘It may be the Lord, so if it happens again, just say, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.” Samuel obediently returned to his mat and lay down. After a while the voice came again, ‘Samuel! Samuel!’ Instead of jumping up, Samuel did as Eli had told him, he replied, ‘Speak, for your servant is listening.’ This time, God spoke, and gave Samuel a message that was to change both the course of his life and the future of the nation.

This story of Samuel’s call is a favourite of mine, and is probably one of the most evocative stories in the bible – it tugs at our heart strings. This young boy, who was so longed for by his mother, is an answer to her fervent prayer, and in loving response, she gifts him back to God, and from about the age of three, he has lived at the shrine at Shiloh, where he has been an assistant to the old priest Eli, learning the ways and the routine of the temple. Can you imagine giving up your child at the tender age of three and only seeing him or her once a year? I suppose it is a little bit like the boys who attend the Cathedral choir schools nowadays, and from the age of about seven or eight they are trained in singing and taking part in the cathedral services. It is quite a pressured and disciplined life, practising every day, fitting in school and homework, and also taking part in most of the daily cathedral services. But of course they see their parents more often because they only board during term time and go home in school holidays.

We are told that Samuel did not yet know the Lord, he had no personal experience of God, which explains why he did not understand what was happening, when God called him. We hear that God didn’t choose to speak very often. Have you ever tried to have a conversation with someone who is pre-occupied with other things and obviously isn’t listening? It is so frustrating!

Perhaps God felt like that, when his people weren’t listening to him, but ignoring his commands and going their own way. But he has a plan of action, and will speak in his own good time.

It is interesting to look at the way he works. Firstly, he doesn’t do what the people might expect him to do. He is God, so why should he? When they expect him to speak, he remains silent, and speaks when they are not expecting it. God chooses his own time to speak, which shows us that we need to be vigilant and alert at all times, ready for his guidance. God chooses someone who is younger and who has not been influenced by the sinful ways of the people, someone who will be a faithful and obedient servant. One might have expected the message to be given to Eli who was in charge and was older and more experienced. But God sometimes uses unexpected channels; his choice often depends more on faithfulness than age or position. So we must be prepared for the Lord to work at any time, in any place through anyone he chooses. Samuel is thought to have been about twelve years old when all this took place. It would have been around the time of his Bar Mitzvah, the initiation ceremony, which acknowledged his status as an adult and as a full worshipping member of the Jewish community. Each time, God calls his name twice as he did when calling other great leaders like Abraham and Moses. God chooses to speak to someone who is receptive and listening, and he speaks to him in the silence and stillness of the night, when his voice can be heard more clearly.

I remember at the beginning of 1985, not long after I became a Christian, being off work for about three months, following a major operation. I decided to make good use of the convalescence period, and to read and spend time with God, while I had the opportunity. One evening, I had been reading a Billy Graham book in which he was asking the question, ‘Are you assured of your faith?’ He suggested that if a person wasn’t sure, he or she should pray and ask God to give that assurance. I decided to do this, and then lay down to sleep. About three hours later I awoke with a start, and with the sound of a massed choir ringing in my ears. They were singing the hymn, ‘O love, that will not let me go.’ I felt convinced that the wonderful words of that hymn, were God’s answer to my prayer, and how quickly the answer came!

Are we listening people? Are we alert, prepared, and expecting that God might speak or act? Will we hear and understand him if he does? And most importantly, how will we respond? Listening and responding, are vital if our relationship is to grow. How important it is that both as individuals, and as his church, we spend time with God, not only talking to him, but waiting quietly upon him, listening and watching and seeking his will. It is not easy to do this, in the busyness of the day with all its distractions. This is why our church worship is so important, because it allows us to distance ourselves from our everyday routine, and draw apart, to worship God with others, to draw close to him and receive from him in the holy meal. Our private prayer times are equally important and we need to try and find space and stillness there too, so that we can hear him if he chooses to speak to us. When Jesus prayed, he always moved a distance away, or went up the mountain side alone – somewhere quiet, where he could connect with God without being disturbed, and he gave his disciples similar advice – ‘Whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. – Matt. 6:70) So perhaps this New Year, we can all resolve to be better listeners, and try to find space and stillness, so that when God’s message comes, and he calls us to action, we may hear him, and respond willingly and with love.

Here I am, Lord, is it I Lord?

I have heard you calling in the night.

I will go, Lord, if you lead me,

I will hold your people in my heart

Pauline Norris. Lay Reader.

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Sunday 4 March 2012. We Have Entered The Season Of Lent As Jesus Once Did.

Genesis 17:1-7;15-16.

Romans 4:13-25.

Mark 8:31-38.

The three of them stood there looking out over the sand. Well it wasn't all sand. There were rocks and boulders, hard packed yellow stuff and occasional dust clouds as the lighter soils billowed in the wind.

The three just looked. One was dressed in shorts and t-shirt with flip-flops on his feet. Hardly suitable wear for what was ahead.

One was in heavy anorak, salopettes, huge walking boots, a warm hat and thinsulate gloves more suited to the snow slopes than where they were. His rucksack was packed with everything imaginable from water bottles to maps, spare clothing, primus stove, tent, and every type of quick reconstituted food that could be found.

The third stood with a shabby goat. The poor thing had a ragged coat, gaunt ribs, feet that were bleeding and was an ill-suited companion.

The three stood and looked over the sand. In the very far distance there were three miniscule trees with branches at right angles and beyond them what looked like a cave from which issued an indescribable light. But it was so far away and the land between was inhospitable and barren.

The first turned back realising that he was not able to make the journey. The second turned back realising that he was not able to make the journey. But the third set out with only the shabby goat for company.

He went into the desolate place, which was inhabited, by wild beasts and scapegoats. Scapegoats - animals on which the sins of the people had been cast, and then driven out into the desert. Whenever the goat tried to return to habitation it was driven back to the desolate places where it had to fend for itself if it was to survive.

He went with the goats and the wild beasts into the desert, the wilderness and got ready to tell everyone about the kingdom of God by living very simply, even going without food and letting God lead him into areas he needed to think about. He wanted to spend time finding out what God really wanted.

We have entered the season of Lent.

Are we finding out what God really wants from us ?

We can journey with him in the desert or like the two who stood by his side when the journey beckoned, can turn our back and continue with the life style we find easiest.

Nowadays life continues in much the same manner between Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. It is not easy to take that walk into the desert. It is not easy to do what God wants us to do. We can try to keep our Lenten observances of fasting, bible reading and attending the study groups but while we are doing that life continues among our neighbours without such considerations and there is an almost total lack of understanding when we explain what is seen as our quirkiness.

We have a God who waits, a God who saves and a God who proclaims Good News.

Jesus faced a journey with particularly gruesome destination. At the start of a journey it is vital to identify the destination with absolute clarity if there is to be any chance of staying the course.

In the wilderness Jesus could focus on the ultimate and not just the immediate. At the same time, however, those spaces bring the big temptations to light. Usually simple everyday concerns can distract us from our journey quite satisfactorily, but in periods of steady contemplation much heavier guns must be used to blow us off course.

This time of wilderness experience was for Jesus, the final preparation for his public ministry. Jesus is given the opportunity to take stock of what lies before him, both the destination and the obstacles in between.

Today the desert experience of lent continues with Jesus determined that his disciples should be fully aware of the implications of his true identity. Mark tells us that immediately following their recognition of him as God's Messiah, he starts spelling out to them what this means and how it differs from their dreams.

The God of truth insists on our knowing the truth even if it might turn us against him or

temporarily hurt us or upset our plans. Gently, but firmly and openly, Jesus outlines the real Messiah's role, a role in which suffering, rejections and death are inevitable.

It is a reminder to us that we shall be tempted , time and time again, to take the easier route and thus avoid the conflicts which are bound to accompany committed discipleship.

But we can use Lent to ask God for Faith. For faith, a commitment of faith has far reaching implications and will enable us to resist giving up because we feel powerless.

Faith will help us to see what we have in all the gifts and blessings bestowed upon us by a loving creator. And Faith will empower us to make sacrifices and share our resources.

As we have this opportunity at Lent to refocus, and guided by the Holy Spirit we will arrive at Easter Day stronger and more integrated people ready to go out in God's power.

AMEN

Rev’d Edwina Wallace.

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Sunday 22 April 2012. All in a Gesture. Things that will identify God to us.

Everyone has gestures special to them. Distinctive little things that they alone do: the raising of an eyebrow when sceptical; holding a coffee cup in a particular way; beginning a question with a certain tilt of the head.

These things can be the stuff of love or of irritation. But actually most of them are the kinds of things that you don’t really notice on a day-to-day basis. It’s often only when we haven’t seen a person for some time that we suddenly become aware of the little things that they do.

Or they catch you by stealth when you’re thinking about something else; maybe you are sitting quietly somewhere and you can hear someone approach; they suddenly cough in a certain way, and you know instantly who it is.

Everyone has these gestures: they are the seasoning – the salt and pepper – of the way we express ourselves in the world. And we're not always aware of them. It can take someone really close to us to know and see them.

Perhaps, with their senses overworked after their post-crucifixion trauma, it was just such a gesture that woke the disciples up finally to the presence of Jesus in their midst.

These bedraggled and devastated disciples had been through an emotional hell, after all. Their friend, the one who had filled their heads and hearts with such love, such hope of a new world and a new way of life, had been tortured and killed. And they had abandoned him. We can only imagine their feelings - of helplessness and grief, of guilt and regret, of failure and fear.

Then, there had been some strange incidents. In the verses just before the ones we heard today, people had reported finding an angel in the empty tomb. This angel had announced that Jesus was alive and, more than that, had told them this was entirely what they should have expected all along. Peter had been to see for himself, but couldn’t understand what had happened.

Then there was the appearance of a stranger to Cleopas and his friend on the road to Emmaus. They too had received a lecture setting out their failure to understand that the events of Holy Week had to happen.

And yet none of these things seemed to really convince them. In the end it was not the appearances of strangers, angels or otherwise, that brought it home; it wasn't the lectures, nor even the presence of Jesus himself. This all seemed to terrify and confuse them.

Instead it was very simple gestures that really identified Jesus for them, that made the Messiah real. In our reading today, it was when he asked for and ate a bit of fish. On the road to Emmaus it was the breaking of bread. Perhaps, because they had been so close to Jesus over those last years, they saw that the way this person took food was quintessentially Jesus.

Suddenly, after all the drama, a simple gesture seems to open the disciples’ understanding, and the mission of the Church can begin.

That mission, of course, is one that we continue. It's a huge task, a daunting task, and - it seems to me - we spend a lot of time and energy talking ourselves into it, girding our loins for what many of us see as an undertaking for which we are unsuited and unprepared.

But perhaps we’re barking up the wrong tree. The disciples were motivated to carry on their task not by lectures and angelic appearances but by a moment of true recognition brought about by the simplest of gestures.

Perhaps we too should be looking for the simplest, most commonplace things that will identify God to us.

What those things will be we don’t know, but it’s a good reason be attentive to the world, to the people around us.

One of the messages of Easter is the opening of the eyes: the moment of true recognition that enables the beginning of the rest of the story.

That's what people are looking for: a gesture that opens our eyes and allows us to claim Christ for their own. That makes them say, “This is the one!” “This is Christ to me!”

Whatever it is that brings that moment, it will pave the way forward to a new life and the beginning of the rest of our own story. It’s a message of good news, and it sure beats the abundance of egg-shaped chocolate - at Easter, or on any day.

J Routh, adapted from ...

'Common Worship Living Word, Year B 2001-2012',

edited by J Williams, published by Redemptorist Publications.