Revd
Kate Lawson First Eucharist All Saints Hove
Ezek.34:
11-16, 20-24
Eph.
1:15-23
Matthew
25.31-46
‘A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step’
Jesus said, ‘follow me.’
Kate responded to the latter by the former, taking that
first step in the call towards Ordination.
It has been a deep joy and
a huge privilege to have walked alongside Kate as a Companion on part of this
journey.
That journey, that
pilgrimage, continues for Kate, as indeed it does for each and every one of us
in our various vocations and callings.
Kate has been called to
the Priesthood, to be a Priest for the Body of Christ. However she has not been
called into some ancient craft or cult.
There is no magic formula, no magical incantation of words that brings about a particular
effect.
What Kate will be doing as
she recites the words of Consecration over the bread and wine will be witnessing
to the reality of God’s presence in each and every thing.
The words used do not
bring God into these elements as if by magic, for God is already fully present. God always was fully
present, fully present in both the grain and the grape.
Kate has been ordained to
bear witness to this profound and mysterious reality. So that these simple gifts
of bread and wine can become for us an icon of God’s very presence upon which
we can feed, be nourished and sustained.
For that is the primary
calling of the Priest. To bear witness to the reality of God in each and every
situation they face.
That will be easier at
some times than others. It is not very difficult to witness to the love of God as
a couple come before the Priest to ask for God’s blessings upon their union. However it will be a deep
challenge, say when a child dies. On that occasion it may that the need is to
sit quietly and travel gently with those journeying through that Holy Saturday
experience, knowing that tomorrow is Easter Sunday.
At other times it will be
less sharp and less profound, in the day to day, sometimes mundane routine.
In this calling to bear
witness to the reality of God’s presence in each and everything you will be
acting as an exemplar to the body of Christ, God’s people.
Paul in 1 Corinthians 11.1
declares ‘Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.
Each and every one of us
in our own journey is called to bear witness to ever present reality of God in
each and every situation we find ourselves in.
Our Gospel reading marks
out in very stark terms what this looks like as we engage with the world. As we become as St Theresa
says, Christ’s hands and feet, Christ’s eyes, Christ’s heart of compassion.
We are each and every one
of us, to discern and discover what is our calling, what is our vocation and
where is our front-line.
Just how do we bear
witness to the every present reality of God, especially to those in particular
need?
‘Dear
children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.’ 1 John 3.18
Priests have as their high
calling to be exemplars in this mission and ministry. We are to look to them to
help us discern and discover how we can truly be the Body of Christ upon earth.
How we can evidence a realized Lord’s Prayer, God’s will be done upon earth as
in heaven.
We sit down with our
Priest when we are beaten and baffled and bemused as to how to conduct
ourselves as we engage with our own particular front-line. We sit down together and we
search the Scriptures, we seek God in prayer, we muster as much human wisdom as
we can to help us minister in each and every situation so that can bear witness
to the ever present reality of God.
Alongside this high
calling as an exemplar to the Body of Christ, being a Priest in the Church of
England brings with it a whole raft of other stuff borne out of a desire to be
the National Church and to have a visible presence in each and every community
across these lands.
Most Priests will be
called at some time to minister to a given geographical location and usually
with that also comes buildings in various sizes, shapes and states of repair.
There will be committees
to chair and deal with, fund raising, child protection, and civic ceremonies,
grant applications, etc. etc, etc.
Little wonder woman make
good Priests, used as they are to multi-tasking!
However, however, however,
all of this must serve all I have been saying so far, to bear witness to the
ever present reality of God.
We are not called to worship
buildings, choirs, worship bands, committees or any other things; we are called
to worship God.
This ‘stuff’ is to be an
icon that speaks of God’s ever present reality. It must never, ever, ever
become a mere idol.
I can highly commend a
study of the Nehushtan – the bronze serpent set up by Moses that was eventually
destroyed by King Hezekiah.
Let me leave you with two
final thoughts.
You will recall Kate, that
when I was walking alongside you as a Companion we used to meet for breakfast.
Our conversation was wide and roaming and always fascinating. However there
would always come a point when I would stop and ask, ‘how is it with Kate and
God’ – how is your soul?’
I want to remind you of
that and ask you to bear that in mind. Fr John Twisleton once said, ‘why is
that when someone speaks to a Priest they will often preface their words by
saying, ‘I know you are busy but…’ When
he asked, did it come to pass that Priest were known for being busy instead of
being holy, and wholly available?
It takes deep courage and
great strength in our world of high demands and frenetic activity to be
contemplative. It feels all wrong to sit
in silence and in reading when the emails are bouncing into your inbox, when
there is that committee to organize and then they are a dozen and one things
that need doing. However, continue to bear in mind we are first and foremost
human beings not human doings.
And remember again your
calling to be an exemplar to the Body of Christ. Is ill health, high stress
levels and living on a hamster wheel really a good model?
Drop Thy still dews of quietness,
Till all our strivings cease;
Take from our souls the strain and stress,
And let our ordered lives confess
The beauty of Thy peace.
Then Kate, do you recall a
part of training when you were asked to explore the Eucharist. I asked you what
you thought were the most important words and you gave your answer.
I then suggested that the
most important words of the Eucharist are the ones most often said not by the
Priest but by the Deacon. ‘Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.’
Go and feed the hungry,
clothe the naked, visit the sick and those in prison. Go and bear witness to
the ever present reality of God in each and every situation. Go and be attentive to the
prompting of the Spirit to share the Faith in word and in actions.
‘Dear
children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.’ 1 John 3.18
It is from the dismissal that we get the word Mass.
The term "Mass" being derived from the late Latin word missa
(dismissal), a word used in the concluding formula of Mass in Latin: "Ite,
missa est" ("Go; it is the dismissal")."In
antiquity, missa simply meant 'dismissal'.
In Christian usage, however, it took on a deeper meaning. The word
'dismissal' has come to imply a 'mission'.
And when we speak of mission let us recall that ‘the Church of God does not
have a mission in the world but rather than the God of mission has a church in
the world.’
As Rowan Williams once put it, ‘mission is about finding out what God is
doing and joining in.’
We seek to do what God is blessing rather than ask God to bless what we are
doing.
So let me leave you with this thought for us all to consider…
Just what are you doing for God’s sake?
We can see what Kate is doing for God’s sake. As part of the calling to
being a Priest as an exemplar to the body of Christ, now in a public office,
the body of Christ will observe how you live and conduct yourself, in and out
of cassock if I may put it like that!
But what about you and what about me?
What is our peculiar and particular calling?
Michael Quoist in his book
‘The Christian Response’ wrote…
‘You are a unique and irreplaceable actor in
the drama of human history, and Jesus Christ has need of you to make known his
salvific work in this particular place and at this particular moment in
history.’
Jesus said, ‘follow me.’
I had the great privilege
at the Church Army Gathering at Swanwick back in April to sit under the
ministry of Paula Gooder. Among other
things she explored with us the Great Commission.
She argues that the ‘go
and make disciples of all nations’ is perhaps not the best interpretation. She contends that the ‘go’ can sound like a
dismissal where Jesus remains and we go. A better reading would be ‘come with
me and together we will make all nations my disciples.’
Jesus said, ‘follow me’,
we do not take Jesus anywhere, for in each and every situation is the ever
present reality of God.
So, when the most
important words of this Mass are said we should hear that as Jesus inviting us
out into the world, into our Monday to Saturday world, into each and everything
we do and say and each and every place we find ourselves.
And we look to our Priest
as exemplars;
‘Follow
my example, as I follow the example of Christ.
… as we bear witness to
the every present reality of God in each and every thing and in each every
situation…
Christ be with me,
Christ within me,
Christ behind me, Christ before me,
Christ beside me, Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort and restore me.
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all who love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.
Kate, the journey is not
over. Follow Christ and as you do may you find joy and fruitfulness in your
ministry and become a perfect exemplar to us all. Amen.
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