Sunday Sermon

Easter 3

Sun, 21 Apr 2024 14:15:37 GMT

Sermon for Easter 3

By Rev. Sarah Shaw

Readings:

1 John 3. 1-3

Luke 24. 36b-48

Sermon:

When I spoke to Evie’s Mummy, Elizabeth, yesterday, she said that Evie was very excited about her Baptism today. Indeed, it is a particular joy for me today, to baptise someone who’s been so excited about her baptism for weeks now!

Quite often what we do in Church doesn’t appear to have much to do with excitement. We come in, we stand or sit in or at pews, everything is pretty orderly, with words to say, and words to sing at points. When we come up for our ‘shared meal,’ Communion, we queue in an orderly fashion. We don’t really, as Episcopalians, tend to do ‘excitement.’ Certainly not the grownups, anyway!

But this season, and today particularly as Evie is baptised, is definitely a time for excitement. Two Sundays I spoke of the reality of Easter, the season when we celebrate Jesus’ rising from death, as an embodied experience. Recall Mary outside the tomb, going to embrace her risen Lord; then the story last week of Thomas’s fervent wish to touch the marks of the nails in Jesus’s risen body. And now today - one of my favourite resurrection stories. Jesus appears among the disciples (locked in an upper room in fear), and offer for them to touch him, and know that he is real. Most wonderfully, Jesus then eats a piece of fish in the presence of his amazed disciples. Yes, Easter is an embodied experience - the reality of a risen body, Jesus’ body alive again - still bearing the scars, but alive to a new life which can never be lost.

Yet in the Gospel today we heard that initially the disciples were started and frightened – they did not believe their eyes. They were certainly not excited, at this stage, anyway. Luke’s account reads: ‘Jesus showed them his hands and his feet. And while they still d id not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, ‘Do you have anything here to eat?’

It’s that middle bit I find so human, so typical! The disciples did not believe because of their joy and amazement. Isn’t that such a human response? Their joy and amazement seemed to them impossible, because they just couldn’t believe Jesus was alive again. Surely it was too good to be true! This was, after all, a miracle! Their joy and amazement at something so wonderful, prevented the disciples from accepting that Jesus was with them again. Not as a vision, dream or ghost – but as a living, breathing person.

It is this reality that is the exciting news we continue to celebrate today. The reality of Jesus overcoming death, and risen from death himself – enabling us to glimpse what God promises us too, who believe. We, too, are promised this same new life through our belief in the one who overcame death, and now lives again, for ever and ever.

And it is this reality that Evie, continuing in the faith handed down through the generations, is witnessing to in her Baptism today. Just as those early disciples became the first witnesses to the good news of Jesus, Evie will witness to her faith in Jesus and the new life she is beginning today in him.

And it is an embodied experience for Evie too. She will be baptised with water; anointed with oil; and partake, with all of us, of our shared meal of bread and wine; a meal which is a foretaste of the heavenly banquet we will one day share with all of the faithful, the whole company of heaven, in the place where we will see our risen Lord face to face.

Easter Sunday

Sun, 21 Apr 2024 14:13:00 GMT

Sermon for Easter Sunday

By Rev. Sarah Shaw

In our final prayer today, our Prayer after Communion, we will pray these words:

‘God of life, bring us to the glory of the resurrection life promised in this sacrament we have shared. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ, the risen Lord.’

It’s a simple prayer, but it says so much of what today is about! The resurrection life - a life transformed by having been brought through death to a new beginning. This is what we celebrate today.

The resurrection life. At the heart of this is Jesus risen from death – not as an idea, not as a metaphor, but as a reality. It’s so important that we understand that Jesus had a body again after his rising from death, because it makes all that gives us hope a reality. Our faith is all about embodied reality. We live, and breathe our faith. We find our faith rooted in the risen body of Jesus; we live our faith in community with other bodies, i.e. each other; we feed our faith through food and drink that nourishes our body (this bread and wine we will soon share); we share our faith in loving actions and in hopeful words - with each other, with our families, with our communities, and with the wider world. This is the resurrection life which God gives us a share in.

In the March edition of our magazine, The Bell, I quoted a poem by Ann Lewin called ‘Healing.’ In the poem, Ann Lewin talks of healing being a process, something which happens when we change, are transformed – something like a mini resurrection. She writes of healing being a process, by which ‘Through many deaths and resurrections we are set free.’ Healing involves some dying, as any change does; but ultimately, finally, through many deaths and our final resurrection, we will be set free.

In the meantime we live in the midst of this process, so that in our every day lives we experience, and will experience, many mini deaths in a lifetime. We all experience loss, pain, grief, suffering – and some of us, trauma. But our embodied lives as Christians who have come through death – with Christ – to a new beginning in our Baptism, also give us opportunities for many mini resurrections. For example, the every day blessings – enough food, shelter, a flock of geese overhead, a card from a friend, a much-needed hug, a relationship restored through forgiveness. Each time we experience one of these things that are life-giving, we are called back to recalling the resurrection of Jesus and what that means for us. His resurrection changed everything – a resurrection for all time and for all people – making all our ‘mini resurrections’ resonate with a deeper meaning. And one day, we too, will, in our resurrected bodies, see him face to face. This is the resurrection life in which we share.

In the Gospel we heard that moving account of the meeting between Mary and Jesus at the empty tomb. Jesus, not as a ghost, dream or vision, but as a living reality – so much so that Mary wants to cling to him. And in the reading from Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians, Paul reminds his readers of what he has received from the early disciples of Jesus: ‘that Jesus was buried, that he rose again on the third day, that he appeared to Cephas – meaning Peter – and the other disciples, and then to more than 500 believers, as well as James and to me.’

Nothing short of a miracle would have enabled those early disciples - locked in fear in the upper room - to have emerged from their fear; nothing short of the bodily resurrection of Jesus would have given them the boldness and courage to preach the Gospel of Jesus, died, buried and risen again for us! - throughout the world.

They received the news from Mary, that first eye witness; heard the news from Peter and others; saw Jesus themselves – saw him eat and drink!; believed with their hearts; and spread the Gospel with their lips. This is living, embodied, faith!

What does that mean for us then, who have renewed our baptismal vows this day?

We also share in the resurrection life of Jesus. And our response, in love and gratitude, should be to use our bodies for the proclamation of the good news of Jesus. Through our words of hope, encouragement, forgiveness, peace and love; through our actions of giving, forgiving, kindness, generosity and patience. Through many such mini resurrections in our lives we will make the truth of the good news known. This is the resurrection life we are called to.

In the words of the Psalm, ‘We will not die but live, and will proclaim what the Lord has done.’

Lent 4/Mothering Sunday

Tue, 12 Mar 2024 17:28:04 GMT

'No Story so Divine'

Rev. Canon Sarah Shaw

Readings

Psalm 107: 1-3 17-22

Ephesians 2: 1-10

John 3: 14-21

Sermon

The context for the words of Jesus in the Gospel reading (below) is this. Nicodemus, a Pharisee and member of the Jewish ruling council, comes to Jesus at night, not exactly with a question, but a statement of belief. He starts by saying to Jesus, ‘Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God, for no-one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him.’ I think it’s interesting that what has immediately gone before this encounter is Jesus overturning the tables in the Temple! No wonder, then, that Nicodemus comes to Jesus by night, clearly not wanting anyone to know – Jesus has not made himself popular with the important ‘religious’ people of the time. However, Nicodemus is clearly intrigued by Jesus, and wants to know more.

So Nicodemus comes to Jesus at night, and there is quite a lengthy dialogue in which Jesus teaches the Pharisee about himself; his relationship to God; and what he has come to do. Jesus has talked of the reality of having to choose between belief and unbelief; judgment and condemnation; truth and untruth; good and evil. Jesus starts in this section we’ve heard by comparing what must happen to him – dying on a cross - with the serpent in the wilderness. This was the serpent that Moses lifted up to God’s people when they were wandering in the wilderness, so that when they looked upon it, rather than perish, they lived. How simple! How wonderful! Jesus is saying that all people need to do is to look upon him as their Saviour, lifted on the cross, and they will live.

By comparing the way in which he himself would save the whole world with the serpent being lifted up, Jesus is not setting a high bar for those desiring to be saved from their brokenness. All it took, all it takes, is to look upon Jesus, lifted on the cross, and believe in his power to save. The divine plan of God – no story so divine! - is summarised in the wonderful words here of verses 16 and 17: ‘For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him, may not perish, but have eternal life.’ And there’s more: ‘For God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.’

No story so divine, indeed! God’s divine plan, for the whole world to be saved through the self-giving of Jesus, was, and is, perfect. Today’s reading, verses 16 and 17 are called ‘The Gospel in Miniature,’ because they tell us all we need to know. Without the giving of God’s own self in his Son, our world would be left to brokenness, ruin, destruction and violence – but that was not in God’s plan at all. Instead, we are invited into faith through the words and actions of Jesus: ‘Everyone who believes in me may not perish but have eternal life.’ It’s not just an invitation for you or for me, but for the whole world. God desires to save the whole world from the brokenness which marks so much of its dealings. This, after all, is the world he made, and saw that it was good. It was the world he made, out of his love.

Of course, we may also have in our minds that today is Mothering Sunday. How appropriate then, that we should hear words in which the one perfect God-made-man gives life to all people, and through his great love, brings us back into relationship with our heavenly parent. For no matter what our relationships are like here on earth – and let’s face it close relationships can be difficult – we have a perfect parent in our Father God, and a perfect Saviour in Christ Jesus. The Father did not abandon the Son to death; we will never be abandoned either, whether or not we feel we deserve it! When others condemn us, or we condemn ourselves, God does not condemn us; when we are rejected or overlooked, even by family and friends, God does not reject or overlook us; when we lose the ability to hope, God draws us back into hope – and warms our hearts once more to love.

In the reading from Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians, Paul seeks to explain how God’s great love brought mercy and grace through faith in Christ Jesus. He says these words, ‘God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ, and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places.’ No story so divine! Not only are we saved by simple faith in Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, but we are, in a sense, already with Jesus, at the same time as we look forward to the day when we will, with all our sisters and brothers gone before us, be with Jesus for ever and ever, and see him face to face.

Lent 3

Mon, 11 Mar 2024 16:02:34 GMT

Hearts for Love Alone

Readings

Psalm 19

1 Cor. 1: 18-25

John 2: 13-22

Sermon

The account of Jesus turning over the tables of the money changers is often read in Church, and preached on, around this time in Lent. In the story of the ministry and life of Jesus, the tension is building. Jesus has warned his followers that he will undergo great suffering; be rejected by the chief priests and the elders; and be handed over to be killed. This week, we see those things coming nearer to fruition as Jesus goes to the very heart of things, the Temple, and attempts to drive out all that is not holy. (We should understand that where the words ‘the Jews’ are used here, it means the Chief Priests and the Elders, the important religious people of the day).

These people, the ‘holy’ people, were doing very nicely out of the situation in the Temple. There was some lucrative money making going on, with the money changers who exchanged the ‘temple tax’ for the sacrifices that ordinary people had to present in the Temple. No doubt, too, those who were sustained by the Temple – the chief priests and elders – did very well out of it too. And why not? This was the Temple, and the right sacrifices had to be made, regardless of how that happened and who profiteered.

In the account we’ve just heard, Jesus is livid. Instead of the Temple being a holy place of prayer, it’s become an unholy market place. What do sacrifices mean when they revolve around a money making scheme!? And the religious people condemn themselves with their own lips when they say ‘This Temple has been under construction for forty-six years’. Clearly there was a level of complacency about completing the Temple; things were fine as they were for those who were doing so well out of the status quo.

The Temple, instead of being the holiest place, was not what it should be. And God’s people were not what they should be! This is what Jesus wants to show. Many prophets down the ages had implored God’s people to understand that, rather than the ‘right’ temple sacrifices, what God wanted was a greater sacrifice - of a heart for God and for others. ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ spoke the prophet Hosea. And Amos brings these words to the people: ‘Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them... Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps. But let justice roll on like a river, and righteousness like a never-failing stream!’ The people were being called to treat others justly; to be merciful; and to desire justice and righteousness. Their worship meant little when they paid no attention to these things.

Time and time again, too, in the words of the prophets, we find God’s people being called repent from all the ways they had turned from God. They were called to be hospitable to the stranger among them; merciful to widows and orphans; and generous to the poor.

In the words of our Offertory hymn today, ‘I the Lord of sea and sky’, the words of the prophet Isaiah (ch 6) are paraphrased for all of us who follow Christ today: ‘Here I am Lord, I will hold your people in my heart.’ We are called to hold all of God’s people, throughout the world – friend, neighbour, enemy, stranger – in our heart, and therefore to work for good for them. We also hear echoes of the words of Samuel in the chorus: ‘Is it I Lord? I have heard you calling in the night.’ As the hymn goes on, we hear of the God who will bear his light to all who dwell in sin; of the God who will speak his word to his people; of the God who will give his life for the poor and lame. At the end of each verse, God asks the question ‘Whom shall I send?’ to which our reply as we sing is, ‘Here I am, Lord.’

It’s not that we’re meant to think that God can’t do anything without our help. But God loves us so much that he invites us to do these things: to bear light to others; to speak his words of love; to give our lives for others. It’s a bit like when your children begin to grow up a bit and they want to help around the house. Of course you don’t need them to help. But giving them the opportunity to do things with you is a gift of a loving parent. It is in joining with God in giving – to those in sin, pain; to those in need – that our hearts grow in love. It is in joining with God in giving that we find that, in place of hearts of stone, we have hearts for love alone.

What do hearts for love alone look like?

For every one of us it will be different. But I suspect that for every one of us there will be some risk in loving. A risk of vulnerability; of loss; of having less; of giving without appreciation; of forgiving but being rejected.

We may need to be the ones to speak out at potential cost to ourselves (what an example we have in Yulia Navalnaya, the wife of the Russian anti-corruption activist, Alexei Navalny, who has said she will continue his work following his untimely death).

We may need to give up something that feels difficult, and a sacrifice, because we know it’s not good for us. We may need to go without something, or have less, because it enables us to help someone else whose need is greater. We may need to offer forgiveness or say sorry, at the risk of being turned away. In all these things we will be following the one who went before us all the way to the cross. Jesus will never ask anything of us that he has not suffered himself!

In our liturgy for Lent we ask to ‘share in the joy of his (Christ’s) obedience’. May we, in this Lent season and beyond, find joy in obedience; in sacrifice; and in hearts for love alone.

Lent 2

Sun, 03 Mar 2024 17:59:13 GMT

'Self on the cross and Christ upon the throne'

Readings

Psalm 22: 22-30

Romans 4: 13-25

Mark 8: 31-38 *text given at the end of the sermon

Sermon by Rev. Sarah Shaw

You’ll notice that the service has a ‘theme’ today. This is because, as I was thinking about the next few weeks of Lent, hymns words kept coming into my head! For this week, it was the words ‘Self on the cross, and Christ upon the throne’ that emerged. We’ll sing these words shortly, and I encourage us all to take them to heart.

I don’t think, from these words, we’re to assume that in some way we as Christ did, must sacrifice ourselves, i.e. go to our physical deaths, for his sake, or for the sake of others (although in some countries where you can’t be a Christian, this could be a possibility). But ‘Self on the cross and Christ upon the throne’ is a shorthand way of saying that Jesus needs to take proper place in our lives. Perhaps it helps if we think of that first word, ‘self,’ as ‘selfishness’ or ‘ego’. For all of us, there are things in our lives that threaten to distract us from God, threaten to prevent us from following Jesus – these are ‘Self’. Our selfishness – putting our needs first – our pride – making us rely on ourselves rather than God. These are the things we need to prayerfully nail to the cross.

In some ways, we could say that an opposite of selfishness is faithfulness; faithfulness to our calling to love God and our neighbour above all things. In our readings today the call to faithfulness is important. In the Psalm, the Psalmist praises God for hearing him when he cried to God. And, in turn, the Psalmist promises to fulfil his vow to serve God.

In some ways the words seem a world away from ours, the language flowery and biblical. But let’s think for a moment about our own Baptismal vows – the vows we made, or others made, on our behalf, to God. How faithful are we to this calling? As a reminder, in our Baptism we promise three things: to continue in fellowship and in communion with others; to proclaim the good news in words and deeds; and to work for justice and peace. These vows are not empty words, but enable us to be faithful Christians, where our selfishness and pride make way for higher, truer and nobler living.

And in our reading from Romans we hear Paul’s description of the example of Abraham as someone who was faithful to God. Abraham had faith that God would fulfil his promise – that he would be the father of many nations. We’re told, ‘Abraham did not weaken, he did not waver’ in believing that God would do what he had promised. Abraham’s faith, Paul writes, made him righteous. Again, back to faithfulness.

It’s not always easy to keep faith when so many troubles afflict our world, ourselves, and those who we care for. Sometimes these feeling can threaten to overwhelm us. Faithfulness to God asks that we remember our need of him (as another hymn has it, ‘Let not fears your course impede, great your strength if great your need.’) May we seek therefore, to keep faith, it takes a conscious effort! And in doing so, may we find renewed hope – hope we can then share with others who have lost hope. Faithfulness to God, at times, means setting aside our own feelings and instead looking to God to meet all our needs - the God who cared so much for us he died for us, and for the whole world!

And finally, our Gospel reading. At the recent Mark Study morning, Prof Paul Foster posed the question, ‘Were the disciples good, bad or stupid?’ His answer was that in fact they were none of these things – certainly not all of the time! In the Gospel reading today they show themselves as having an entirely human and understandable response. Jesus is telling them what he must undergo – suffering and death - and it cannot have made sense. This rabbi - their leader, with his life-giving words and actions – why must he undergo suffering? And how would that be? We might imagine how they felt if, for example, an excellent sport coach half way through a season tells his team that at the end of the season he’ll be resigning in disgrace.

The disciples were neither good, bad nor stupid, particularly – simply human like us. And we know that, as humans, so often our response is to another person is too quick, and we say simply what makes us feel better. In the Gospel reading Peter rebukes Jesus when he talks of his suffering and death. And Jesus rebukes Peter more strongly, saying that they must all take up their cross in order to follow him. Taking up their cross will mean not imposing their values, wants and desires on Jesus, but instead faithfully following him all the way to the cross and beyond. What they will find, of course, is that despite their abandonment and betrayal at the end, God will remain faithful, and the resurrected Jesus will greet them once more as friends.

When you hear the words ‘Self on the cross and Christ upon the throne’ today, what challenge do you hear? What is God saying you need to do, to be faithful to Christ’s calling to ‘Take up your cross and follow him?’

A prayer by Janet Morley:

Jesus our brother,

you followed the necessary path

and were broken on our behalf.

May we neither cling to our pain

where it is futile,

nor refuse to embrace the cost

when it is required of us:

that in losing our selves for your sake,

we may be brought to new life. Amen

* Gospel Reading

Mark 8: 31-38: Jesus Predicts His Death

Jesus then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. ³² He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.

³³ But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. “Get behind me, Satan!” he said. “You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”

³⁴ Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. ³⁵ For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. ³⁶ What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? ³⁷ Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? ³⁸ If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”

Sermon for Epiphany 3

Wed, 31 Jan 2024 10:16:24 GMT

Sermon for Epiphany 3

First Reading: Psalm 62 v5-12

Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 7 v29-31

Gospel Reading: Mark 1 v14-20

Last week, you may remember, our Gospel reading from John’s Gospel focused on the calling of Philip and Nathanael. This week we hear the story of the calling of Andrew and Simon, and James and John. The passage we’ve read is very typical of Mark’s Gospel. The description of what happens is concise; there are no lengthy explanations or exchanges of conversation. Jesus sees the brothers casting their nets; he calls them; they follow him. Twice in this short passage, the word ‘immediately’ is used.

People have often commented on what it might have been like for Zebedee, the father of James and John. How did he manage once they had left? Surely God wouldn’t want these two sons to leave their father with so much work, and some hired men? It’s uncomfortable reading, isn’t it! Impractical, surely, to expect them simply to leave everything and follow Jesus without a word of explanation to anyone!

Imagine the dialogue:

Jesus to James and John: Stop what you’re doing, leave everything, follow me!

Andrew and Simon. Okay, we’re coming.

Zebedee, father of James and John: Hold on a minute, where do you think you’re going? You can’t just leave...

There’s a kind of reckless impracticality in the command of Jesus, ‘Follow me.’ Jesus arrived, commanded, and the fishermen follow. I was reminded of a couple of weeks ago, when I spoke of the impracticality of the Magi’s gifts to the infant Jesus. Instead of something practical for the child, they brought gold, frankincense and myrrh. Practical, it seems, it not always what is wanted by God!

Today, instead of giving his first disciples some notice so that they can make some other arrangements to cover their work, Jesus asks them to follow immediately. And they do. I wonder if God has ever asked anything entirely impractical of you? You’ve been doing one thing, and suddenly you find yourself going in a completely different direction, and there’s not always a very obvious reason.

As reasonable and thoughtful people, I’m sure most of us try to live our lives in a responsible way, most of the time. But what Jesus seemed to ask of those first disciples seemed completely irresponsible. What do we do with that? And how would we respond? Are we ready for that, in our lives of following Jesus?

In the Psalm, the Psalmist sings these words: ‘For God alone my soul waits in silence, for my hope is from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation. Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us’. These are strong words! We are told that our focus should all be on God; on God alone. He is the one who is our rock and salvation, and to be trusted. Our plans can easily, surely, be put asunder by the one who made heaven and earth.

And in the reading from the First Letter to the Corinthians, we hear these words: ‘The appointed time has grown short; from now on, let even those who have wives be as though they had none, ³⁰ and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no possessions, ³¹ and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away.’

Strange words– but all Paul is saying that the attachments of this world are fleeting and transient. Nothing that we hold to on this earth – relationships, marriage, possessions, wealth, our work - are lasting. God alone is. We are to hold to these things lightly. Being aware of this helps us make more sense of the Psalm. The solidity of our lives is found in God alone, not in anything else we may hold dear. He is our rock. He is to be trusted. He is our refuge.

So with these things in mind perhaps it’s not so impractical and unreasonable that Jesus should say ‘Follow me’ and that the disciples should answer, without reference to their Father or their work. These things, though important, were nothing compared to the call to follow Jesus and to depend on him alone. They must have sensed, without being told, that it is in Jesus alone that their rock will be found; him alone who can be trusted; he alone their refuge.

In our hymn today, ‘Take my life and let it be, consecrated Lord, to thee,’ we ask God to take all of our lives – every aspect, and ask that they be consecrated to his use. Our moments; our days. Our bodies. Our voices. Our money. Our wills – and finally, our love. It is an all or nothing song – all for Jesus. And in our final hymn we will sing these words, ‘The dearest idol I have known, what ever that idol shall be, help me to tear it from thy throne, and worship only thee.’

Those first disciples were called, and we are called, to live lives completely for God. We should hold nothing back; and we should hold lightly all that we have. As James and John were called from their father and their fishing, we are called away from the idolatry of putting our relationships or money or jobs first. We are called instead to a life of saying ‘Yes’ to the one who says to us, ‘Follow me.’ May we, like those first disciples, hear, respond, and go, to whatever is impractical and unreasonable, in the name of the God who calls us.

Sermon for Epiphany 2

Wed, 31 Jan 2024 09:54:31 GMT

Sermon for Epiphany 2

First Reading: Psalm 139 v1-5, 12-17

Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 6 v12-20

Gospel Reading: John 1 v43-51

In this season of Epiphany, Jesus is revealed as the Saviour of the nations, a light for all people. Firstly, by the worship and witness of shepherds; and then by unknown wise men from the East. And with light comes truth – truth over deceit; justice over injustice; right over might. Our readings today teach us that God is truth – nothing is hidden from him; and we are called to be people who live and work for God’s light and truth to prevail in our world.

In our first reading, the Psalmist addresses God personally as he proclaims God’s closeness and God’s knowledge of him. It is a relationship of utter trust in the one for whom nothing is hidden, all is known – ‘The darkness is not dark to you; darkness is as light to you.’ There is nothing that is hidden from God – and there is huge comfort to be found, that the God who knew us before we were born knows all about us, and loves us. Nothing is hidden from God!

In our reading from Corinthians it may not, on first reading, appear connected with the Psalm. But know that in context, Paul was writing to a Christian community of converts who will have found it hard to shake off the Greek belief that our souls and bodies quite separate. Paul wants the Corinthians to understand that what they do with their bodies matter! Believing in Jesus with their hearts and minds is the starting point; but they cannot continue as they had done before, satisfying their desires without consideration of God’s good and holy intentions for their bodies, as well as their minds. ‘Glorify God with your body’ writes Paul. While the Corinthians may have thought they could continue as they were, Paul wants to them to know that all aspects of their lives are visible to him! Nothing is hidden from God.

Finally the Gospel reading. Unfortunately it’s one of those weeks where the Lectionary compilers choose to begin mid-story! – The next day, we’re told, Jesus decides to go to Galilee. Well, what happened yesterday, you may ask? Yesterday, Jesus called his very first disciples, the brothers, Simon Peter and Andrew. Today, in today’s reading, we find that Jesus goes to Galilee and meets Philip who already knows who Jesus is. Philip is from the same city as those first disciples, and comes to Nathanael, saying ‘We have found the one prophesied by the law and the prophets!’

Again, we find that nothing is hidden from God. God made man, Jesus, meets Nathanael and already knows him!. Nathanael asks, ‘Where did you come to know me?’. (Jesus might have said, ‘Before you were formed in the womb, I knew you!’) but says rather, ‘Here is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!’ Whether Jesus says it ironically or not in response to Nathanael’s comment about Nazareth, it doesn’t matter. Jesus, God’s Son, knows exactly who Nathanael is without being told. Nothing is hidden from God.

Yet we live in a world where many people believe that things can successfully remain hidden – things they wouldn’t want found out. It’s one of the oldest deceits in the history of the world. Remember last week when we heard the story of the wise men, or Magi, coming to Herod to enquire where they could find the King of the Jews? Herod says to the Magi, ‘When you have found the child, come back and tell me, so that I may go and worship him.’ This lie is emblematic of an evil tyrant who punishes anyone who stands in his way, and goes on to commit mass murder.

Sadly we know that there are many ‘Herods’ today. People, organisations, governments, even – who lie, seek to deceive, cheat and steal to preserve their position of power at all costs. We hear of such deceit in the way that nations justify their violence against their own people and against other nations; we hear of such deceit in the cover ups which have evidently been part of the post office miscarriage of justice – just one example of many miscarriages of justice that go on.

But I absolutely believe this. Because God is the God of justice and righteousness (and those things will prevail as surely as Jesus rose from death to life) - God knows all of this. He knows the individuals, organisations and leaders concerned in such lies and deceit; nothing is hidden from him. At the final reckoning, truth will win over deceit; justice over injustice; and right over might. The liars, bullies, deceivers and war mongerers of this world cannot win. Nothing is hidden from God! His light and truth will prevail. Darkness and light are alike to him.

So I encourage us all to keep praying for truth, justice and righteousness to prevail in the life of the world. But also to keep watch on ourselves. The author Rhidian Brook quoted these words recently in his radio Thought for the Day, which I believe are attributed to Ghandi, ‘The world needs to change, and it starts with me.’ In remembering that God knows us and loves us, may we be prepared for him to shine his light and truth on the hidden aspects of our lives - saving us from self-deceit, unjust behaviour to others, and unrighteousness in our thoughts and attitudes. And may he start with me.

Harvest Sunday

Thu, 28 Sep 2023 13:41:33 GMT

What is fair, What is right?

I was trying to think of a good way of tackling today’s Gospel so I told the story to my boys. I asked them what they thought of the fact that the ‘boss’ of the vineyard gave the same amount of pay to his workers regardless of how long they’d worked that day. ‘It’s unfair,’ they both said. ‘Well, what can I do?’ I said, ‘that’s what we’ve got!’ One of them suggested - just phone up the Bishop and tell him you’re not doing that one! And another suggestion was - just choose another reading altogether! And finally – just change the ending, so that all the workers got the ‘right’ amount of pay instead of all the same...

There is no cosy children’s talk for this week’s Gospel. The story is not fair – and I don’t think anyone of us would say it was ‘fair.’ It’s not ‘fair’ - but it might be ‘right.’

Let me explain. According to the world’s values those who work hard and do well get rewarded. That’s a given. You’ll hear politicians of different parties talking about the interests of ‘hard working families’ and that’s what that is all about. There is a kind of fragile understanding about this – it’s taken as given. But it is fragile at best, nonsense at worst. The world does not really work like that.

Sometimes it appears to – movies and books are full of rags to riches stories, where someone works hard and does well. We like those stories– sometimes they’re even based on real life! But the reality of the world is that some people are born with absolutely everything stacked against them. They may like in a country like Senegal, where rising temperatures and decreased rainfall due to climate change means it’s becoming impossible to live there. And the increased heat in the atmosphere scientists have said, will lead to increasingly volatile storms and floods affecting low lying places on earth most severely, and often the poorest more severely (it’s hard to raise millions to build flood defences as they’re planning in Grangemouth, when your country has little money and little infrastructure). Senegal is, of course, an agrarian country, responsible for very little of the world’s carbon emissions.

So that’s on a world scale. But closer to home, here in this community, there are people who have very hard lives. They may not be able to work because of a disability. They may be a 24 hour carer for someone. They may be on low pay and unable to pay their bills. Life is really hard for some people – people we know.

As people, then, we don’t start on a level playing field. Things are already ‘not fair’ depending on the circumstances people are born in or find themselves in. So although it may be deemed ‘fair’ that those whose work is most valued by society get paid more than those whose work is not valued so much - is it right?

It’s fair in a very narrow way; if, in fact, we’re talking about entitlement. The problem with entitlement is that those who have a sense of entitlement are not necessarily willing to share with others. That isn’t right! In the Gospel reading the workers of the vineyard who had worked all day had a strong sense of entitlement to more than the workers who had only worked a few hours. But was it really the fault of the workers who’d worked less hours that they’d only been able to work a few hours? They simply hadn’t had the chance. And let’s take it further. What if they’d done no work at all because they couldn’t – should they have been allowed to starve? We only have to put ourselves into their place to see that that would not be right.

So while on the face of it, the parable seems unfair, when we’re prepared to grow up in our Christian faith we stop seeing it as children – ‘it’s unfair!’ - and instead start to see it as God does. In Paul’s letter to the Ephesians he writes that Christians should ‘mature to the full measure of the stature of Christ.’ We can’t stay as children saying ‘that’s not fair’ but instead, pray to see things through God’s eyes to know what is right. When we see things through the eyes of Jesus we see that none of us, in fact, get what we deserve. His grace is more than enough for each of us, and none of us can get to heaven quicker, or easier, by working harder at being a Christian. But we can bless others by being prepared to grow up - to have our assumptions and worldly values challenged.

In this season of Creation tide we’ve been thinking about our calling as Christians to ‘work for justice and peace, honouring God in all creation,’ as the Baptismal promises put it. In the Deuteronomy reading we heard the words of God as received by Moses to God’s early people. ‘Be grateful for the good things that the Lord your God has given you and your family; and let the Levites and the foreigners among you join in the celebrations.’ Time and time again in the Old Testament we find that God’s people go wrong when they forget those in need– including the strangers among them. They may not be entitled to anything in the world’s eyes, but in God’s eyes, everyone is of equal value.

As Christians we’re not called to put our immediate families first, but to consider everyone – neighbour, friend and stranger - just as precious as our own family members. It’s a tall order – again, it might not seem necessarily fair – but it is right. Where the world would say, charity begins at home, we’re called to look beyond our family groups and care for those we encounter, near and far, in the ways God will show us if we ask him. ‘Hard working families’ may get a lot of press and be held up as the ideal, but Jesus asks us, ‘Who are my mother, and my brothers and my sisters? Those who do the will of the One who sent me.’

Our pursuit of justice and peace, honouring God in all creation, should be our daily concern. Looking after others, giving generously, making sacrifices to care for creation better. You will know yourself what you need to do – and if you don’t, bring it to God in prayer. What is God asking of you? Reviewing your charitable giving? Not buying new; choosing second hand items to buy? Walking or taking public transport rather than taking the car? Deciding to stay at home instead of flying abroad? Eating much less meat; buy fair-trade or local? Giving regularly to the Foodbank? Educating our friends and family on how to live more sustainably? And – sorry to plug this! - becoming informed on the climate crisis by attending events such as the one we have coming up on 29 ^th September?

Can we, rather than make sure we get what we think we’re entitled to, open our eyes to those around us and help support them, even at cost to ourselves? Can we decide enough is enough? In the words of Christian Aid, Can we live much more simply, so that others can simply live?

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What is fair, What is right?

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