'Forgiveness is a story not a text message' - transcript from Sermon at St Andrew's Shilton 13th September 2026

Sunday, 13 September 2026
The Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity

Romans 14:1-12 & Matthew 18: 21-35

On the 23^rd August I preached at my home Church of St Oswald’s Rugby. That day the Gospel reading concerned Peter’s confession of faith and his declaring Jesus as the Christ, or Messiah.

Following on from Peter’s confession the Gospel story turns towards the gathering dark clouds of Calvary, and Jesus begins to try and prepare his disciples to see just what kind of Messiah he is and what path he is going to follow.

On the subsequent Sundays we might entitle them as, ‘Life Lessons with Peter and Rabbi Jesus.’

The first lesson came hard on Peter’s confession and hard on Peter’s heart and ears. “Get behind me Satan.”

Peter learns, and we are invited to learn, as we read in Isaiah 55.8-9…

For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

    nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord.

For as the heavens are higher than the earth,

    so are my ways higher than your ways

    and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Then last week we have a lesson to learn about reconciliation and about a practical process of seeking to be reconciled. And crucially if not somewhat uncomfortably, we note that reconciliation may not always be possible.

And then this morning picking up on this life lesson Peter thinks he has it cracked and so asks if he should forgive his brother seven times. Interestingly there is a Jewish tradition of forgiving three times. So, Peter may think he is doing well here and especially choosing such a number as seven, often taken to denote completeness in biblical thought. That sounds like a good Biblical number. No, Jesus replies, but rather seventy times seven, which doesn’t mean 490 times!

And this number seven and seventy times seven is not plucked out of the air. It is the same formula we see in Genesis 4.23-24

“Lamech said to his wives, Adah and Zillah, “Listen to me, wives of Lamech; hear my words. I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for injuring me. If Cain is avenged seven times, then Lamech seventy-seven times.” 

In this passage from Genesis, we hear the words of Lamech, who is a descendant of Cain. He’s speaking to his wives, Adah and Zillah, and his remarks unveil a culture of violence that seems to have escalated since Cain killed his brother Abel. Lamech boldly states that he has killed a man for wounding him. His actions express a sense of vengeance far exceeding that of Cain’s. In fact, Lamech asserts that if Cain was to receive revenge sevenfold, then he would receive revenge seventy-sevenfold.

Revenge feeds revenge and sets in motion a vicious cycle.

Forgiveness creates the possibility of breaking that cycle.

Then to make his point, Jesus does what Jesus does and tells a story of a forgiven servant who doesn’t offer the same grace and mercy he has just received to a fellow servant.

This is fleshed out in all senses of that word in 1 John 1.19-21.

We love because he first loved us.  Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.  And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.

And note if you will the king forgives the debt and sets him free as a grace gift – nothing required, a free gift of grace, salvation offered without cost to the recipient, but at a cost borne by the king. Ponder on what this might be saying to us.

But then the now freed person enslaves himself again by not offering the same grace and mercy he has just received and finds himself locked up and being tortured.

Which is often what harbouring hatred and seeking revenge does, locks us up, closes us down and can bring pain and suffering.

And then we step into the whole world of forgiveness, and it is hard to think of saying anything that hasn’t already been said or discussing anything that hasn’t been discussed.

But please allow me to say a few things, to highlight some of the thinking and reflecting and experience around forgiveness.

First off, forgiveness is central to the Christian Faith and offers a way of living that reflects God’s kingdom. It breaks the cycle of revenge and retribution as outlined by Lamech.

But one of the key things about forgiveness is to learn what it isn’t?

It isn’t saying, ‘O it doesn’t matter.’  Well, in some cases it doesn’t matter. If you came into Church this morning and you accidently spilt some water all over me, well, that’s pretty straightforward.

However, if you came into Church in a rage about something and deliberate threw water all over me, and maybe for good measure threw the glass at me as well, now that’s something of a different order altogether.

My wife’s great niece, a lovely girl just finishing Uni and home to celebrate mum’s birthday, was tragically killed by a car while out for an evening with friends on October 9^th 2022.

However, this wasn’t simply an awful tragic accident. This accident came about because a young man, high on drugs and drink and driving a powerful car weaponised his vehicle and drove purposefully into a crowd of people outside an All-Night Eatery. The awful long, drawn-out court case saw him convicted of murder and receive a long jail sentence.

Now it simply wouldn’t have been right for her parents to say, O it doesn’t matter and we forgive him anyway.

It did matter and it does matter and when it does matter we need to say so.

However, there are some truly remarkable stories of those who have their sons and daughters murdered and then finding forgiveness and eventually in some cases a reconciliation with the perpetrator. 

I watched a short video of one such case from ‘The Forgiveness Project’ (one of the Founders was Desmund Tutu). The mother of a murdered son made the journey of meeting with his killer in jail. She talks about how she was filled with rage and anger. She began by saying that she did not know him, he did not her, he did not know her son whom he had murdered.

At the end of their conversation, she offered to give him a hug and as she did, she said she felt something starting in her feet and going right up her body and felt all the bitterness, anger and rage leaving her body.

(www.theforgivenessproject.com) 

I am a volunteer with Prison Fellowship and a Volunteer with the Chaplaincy at HMP Rye Hill.  This is the sharp edge of where forgiveness – or not, is everywhere and is palpable.

Sadly, I would say our prison system in the eyes of most of the public is predicated on punishment and retribution. Restorative justice and rehabilitation are viewed as soft, woke, leftwing. Lock them up in a hard regime for a long time. If you can’t do the time don’t do the crime.

Thankfully people like James Timpson, of the family firm, Timpson’s and allied Max Speillman, take a different view. They have been working in prisons for some years giving the inmates a skill set and then seeking to employ prison leavers.  And there are other companies that do the same. In HMP Onley there is a café used by the staff, run by the ‘residents’ with the backing of Greene King.

Another thing that forgiveness is not is forgetting, especially if real injustice or harm has been done. That needs to be addressed.

And then there are times when a long-standing sleight has rumbled on through generations of families. These sometimes pop up at family gathering like funerals or even weddings.

I have some of those in my family, and perhaps you do as well.

One thing we know for certain is that unforgiveness is ugly and distorts and robs people of peace. It can grow and fester like the worst kind of cancer. It can bring on physical and mental maladies and illness.    

Paul who suffered much physical abuse wrote in Romans 12:17-18, “Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Carefully consider what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible on your part, live at peace with everyone. Do not avenge yourselves, beloved, but leave room for God’s wrath. For it is written: ‘Vengeance is Mine; I will repay, says the Lord.’

There is more than can be said about forgiveness, much, much more.

Can I invite you this week to explore some of the remarkable stories of forgiveness, like the one I mentioned of the mother forgiving her son’s killer and then seeking to develop a relationship with him.

Maybe watch ‘Les Misérables’ a story of grace, redemption, restoration and the policeman Javert who only sees the letter of the law, his inflexibility leading to his death by his own hand.

I can commend the book, ‘UNFORGIVEABLE - exploring the limits of forgiveness.’ by Stephen Cherry which explores some of the complexities around forgiveness.

Then consider if you are carrying any resentment, any unresolved issue of forgiveness towards another person. Are you able to move into a place of forgiveness?  And you might want to consider if it is right to make contact and offer an apology if you have wronged someone. Even from years ago. 

However, if you are going down this route, if it was something serious, then tread with caution and care.

But remember carrying unforgiveness can rob you of your peace, and even your health and wellbeing.

On Tuesday last I was in HMP Rye Hill taking part in a course, ‘Living with Loss’ with a focus on bereavement.

And I told a Native American story…

An old Cherokee tells his grandson that a fight is happening inside him between two wolves:

• The “evil” wolf: anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self‑pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, ego. 
• The “good” wolf: joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, faith. 

When the grandson asks which wolf wins, the elder replies: “The one you feed.”

 

Amazing Grace was written by a former slave trader John Newton. Once sailing a ship full of slaves from Africa his ship was hit by a fierce storm. Newton feared for his life and got down on his knees and begged the good Lord to spare his life. He promised the Lord that if he would only spare his life, he would change his ways and stop trading slaves. The storm calmed down and Newton wrote the song Amazing Grace, full of sorrow and love and hope that he would be forgiven of his sins.

'Amazing Grace' - but sung in a way that you probably haven't heard before....

https://youtu.be/89g9yMGFGlM?si=QO5e3qv1-i46zQhu

 

 

  

 

'A Copernican Revelation' - Weekly Reflection 6th September 2026

Towards the end of the school holiday we went to pick up our twin grandchildren on the final day of three-day basketball coaching session. Last year one of them won an award for the most improved player. As all the children bundled out one was full of banter with a T-shirt and a basketball, the other was in a grump. We learned that he was in a mood because someone else won the award for the most improved player. Thankfully his sulk wasn’t very long-lasting. And it is not unusual for children of primary school age. They are asserting themselves and developing their own sense of personhood, their own ego.

Richard Rohr in his book, ‘Falling Upwards,’ speaks of the two halves of life. The first half is all about developing the ego, the period of acquiring and getting and establishing. Roles, money, property, positions, salary. At one level a good ego is part and parcel of our human development. However, Rohr goes onto argue that there comes a period when we need to learn to let go of our ego, to move into the second half of life.

There is a logic to this, and an inevitability no matter how much we may have acquired. Remember the story of the bigger barn building man with a bumper grain harvest. In the story the man, after building bigger barns,  is told by God, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself.’  Luke 12:16-21.

On Friday I joined the group who gather every week to discuss either the Gospel passage set for the forthcoming Sunday, or some other related topic. On this occasion we were exploring the Letter to the Galatians. One of the earliest of New Testament documents, possibly written around 48AD by Paul.

(For a useful overview of Galatians see this short video and read allied material from The Bible Project. https://bibleproject.com/guides/book-of-galatians/)

One of the broad themes of this Letter is that in Jesus we have an opportunity of being put back into a right relationship with God, with each other and with ourselves.

However, and this is a very important however, this cannot be done by anything we can do – particularly in this case by the keeping of the law as Torah observant Jews.

The Bible I was reading on Friday was from St Andrew’s, (where we meet) and someone had obviously been doing some reading and thinking. In pencil written against Galatians 3:1-5 were written the words, ‘ego, ego, ego, ego.’

Part of Paul’s larger argument, here Paul is taking them to task for having begun to be in this right relationship as a ‘gift of grace’ were they now going to turn back to works of the law.

Let me remind you of another story Jesus told. (Luke 18:9-14)

This is the story of a self-righteous Pharisee and a tax collector praying in the temple.

Christianity is unique in its vision for a world where everyone has an opportunity to become righteous, to be made right with God, with each other and with our selves.

You might have it said that all faiths/religions are but different paths up the same mountain.

Okay, but just suppose you could pay for the best guides, you were able to get the best food, that you had the time to learn about mountain climbing.

Doesn’t that put you at an advantage over others not so blessed?

‘Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law. It is based on faith.’ Romans 3.27

I remember once standing in line with the ‘residents’ of HMP Stafford to move forward, hold out my hands and humbly accept the wafer before moving on to dip it into the wine.

It was a moment of the deepest profundity. I stood before God, to receive Him, symbolized in bread and wine. I was in the eyes of God on a par with these men with whom I lined up, some of whom had committed the most heinous of crimes against the weakest and the most vulnerable. Loved no more nor no less.

On Saturday last I was in Coventry cathedral for a Celebration of Lay Ministry in the Diocese of Coventry. Some people were mentioned by name, having been nominated for their ministry in their parish or in some other ministry they exercised. This year I wasn’t one of them!  However, I didn’t sulk or feel in anyway slighted.

Back to the teaching of Rabbi Jesus, “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.”  Matthew 6.2.

The question for us all then is to consider where we are on our life’s journey.

Are we developing a ‘good ego’ – an ego that doesn’t wallow in self-abnegation or even self-pity or loathing. But an ego that doesn’t become all consuming, all self-consuming. Just consider someone with an over inflated ego. It isn’t helpful or healthy, especially in someone in the ‘second stage of life.’

Have a little mental check in your conversations over the week ahead. How many times does you use the term, ‘I’ in your conversations. How often do you seek your way, to impose your will, to demand that people do things your way. Do you listen or has your mind gone on ahead as to what you want to say, and you are just waiting for the opportunity to jump in.

And a final word for us to chew over from our guide Messiah Jesus, “If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it.” Matthew 10.39.

And the Copernican Revelation - 'you are not the centre of the universe!'

 https://youtu.be/5tYEo0DXclE?si=5RiliTah87gFVgok

'Beware of the Back Seat Driver' - Weekly Reflection 30th August 2026

 

When ever you read an article online it is not unusual to see some words in blue and underlined. This is a hyperlink and replaces the footnote of printed material.

When we come to read the Bible, it is good if we have this idea in our mind. Some Bibles already do this, commonly called Chain Link Reference Bibles.

However sometimes there are words and phrases that have no direct link and yet if you are an alert reader you will notice a link.

Take for example, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”  Matt 16.23

Put that in context. Peter has just announced and declared Jesus to be the Messiah, the Son of God. Jesus accepts this and says that this was revealed to Peter by God.

Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.”

This is a pivotal moment of recognition of Jesus’ vocation.

And immediately after this revelation there is the voice of Satan trying to divert him away from this vocation and using Peter as a mouthpiece.

“Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”

Where have we seen this before? At Jesus’ baptism when the Spirit came upon Jesus and a voice proclaimed him to be God’s Son.

As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

And then do you remember what happened next?

Jesus was driven out into the wilderness and faced the Satan who tried to turn him away from his vocation.

“Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.”

And if we know our Scriptures well this story of following the will and way of God or choosing our own path has a core story.

It is found way back in the opening pages in the book of Genesis and the story of the first human couple.

Jesus gives us the way and words to rebuff temptations. 

“Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”  Matt 16.23

Something Paul knows about. In Romans 12.1-2 we read, ^“With eyes wide open to the mercies of God, I beg you, my brothers and sisters, as an act of intelligent worship, to give him your bodies, as a living sacrifice, consecrated to him and acceptable by him. Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mould, but let God re-mould your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice that the plan of God for you is good, meets all his demands and moves towards the goal of true maturity.”

I have heard it said that we need to let Jesus into the driving seat so he can take control of our lives.

I think that analogy requires a bit of tweaking.

Instead of Jesus being in the driver’s seat let’s put him the passenger seat as a co-driver in a rally car. The job of the co-driver is to be acutely aware of what lies up ahead and get that information to the driver so they can make the right adjustments of steering, thrust, gears and brakes, etc.

That’s more dynamic and invites us to grow in trust of our co-driver rather than merely being taken along for a ride.

But there also another passenger, a back seat driver. And they are also advising you to go in this or that direction. We need to learn to discern that voice and say clearly ‘get behind me Satan’ you are trying to detract me and turn me of my course and turn me away from my God given vocation.

Once we have understood and grasped this we are then ready to go for the drive of our lives!

https://youtu.be/PLCM58m_w1Y?si=_pZssOck2SnERxHu

'What say you of Jesus?' - Transcript of Sermon 23rd August 2026

 Transcript of Sermon St Oswald's 23rd August 2026

Matthew 16: 13-20

I Keep Honest Serving Men by Rudyard Kipling

I keep six honest serving-men

(They taught me all I knew);

Their names are What and Why and When

And How and Where and Who.

I send them over land and sea,

I send them east and west;

But after they have worked for me,

I give them all a rest.

 

I let them rest from nine till five,

For I am busy then,

As well as breakfast, lunch, and tea,

For they are hungry men.

But different folk have different views;

I know a person small-

She keeps ten million serving-men,

Who get no rest at all!

 

She sends' em abroad on her own affairs,

From the second she opens her eyes-

One million How’s, two million Where’s,

And seven million Whys!

Questions, questions, questions – the world is full of questions.

Each and every day we are asking questions and making decisions.

Some of those questions will be mundane, like, what I am going to have for breakfast. However, that question may be mundane to us, but for many families, even in Britain, that is not a mundane question.

So, we live with questions some of which will have little or no impact, and others that will set our lives off on a completely different direction. 

That’s as true for individuals as it is for communities and for nations and the decisions made by governments.

However, I want to suggest this morning that there is one question that outranks all other questions.

I think there is one question that is the most important question of all time, place and history.

The question is the one that Jesus put to the disciples and that Peter answered.

‘Who do you say that the Son of Man is?’

And people have answered that question variously over the years.

C.S. Lewis famously presented what has come to be known as the trilemma. Although the concept was written first in 1846 it is Lewes who has brought this to popularity.

It is a bit of long quote so bear with me and try and follow the logic of the argument. Quote…

"I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon, or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to. ...

Now it seems to me obvious that He was neither a lunatic nor a fiend: and consequently, however strange or terrifying or unlikely it may seem, I have to accept the view that He was and is God." End quote.

Now we must tread a little carefully here and in particular when we are reflecting on Peter’s confession.

We must be careful we don’t rush ahead at this stage in the Gospel narrative and assume an acknowledgement of a full-blown concept of Jesus as the second person of the Trinity, being both God and man. All that is to come, but in the Gospel story so far we aren’t there yet.

Indeed, I was listening to a podcast the other day where Lewes’ work was being discussed and this trilemma came under scrutiny. One of the scholars said that Jesus did not out and out claim to be God as Lewes here says that he did.

(https://open.spotify.com/episode/1t3zptkGN3EF2qvh60at2J?si=a7d9d4e38ba74cc9)

Therefore, the question as we have it presented in our Gospel reading (which is in all three synoptic Gospels) is a good way of approaching what I am suggesting is the most important question which presents as two-fold.

The first part of the question from Jesus to the disciples is, ‘who do people say that the Son of Man is.’

 It’s intriguing to note that Matthew has Jesus speaking in the third person, Son of Man, and that Luke and Mark use the first person, I am. We know that Mathew writes obliquely, e.g. Kingdom of Heaven instead of the Kingdom of God. However, it does slightly change the tenor of the question, something perhaps to mull over later.

Be that as it may, we still have the first part of the question, “who do people say that Jesus is?”

Now that is a huge question in and of itself.

If you went and asked somebody from the Church of the Latter-Day Saints you would get one answer, and from the Jehovah’s Witness another answer. From a Muslim something else and from a Jew something different again.

From most orthodox Christians, (small o) the answer would reflect two thousand years study, debate, including textual scholarship and archaeological evidence, and not unimportantly, the lived experience of many millions of people.  But our primary source must remain the Scriptures.

The standard orthodox Christian view would claim that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, the second person of the Trinity, both human and divine.

The first part of the question therefore invites us to spend some time considering what others say about Jesus.

Having done that we are then ready for the next and most important question, ‘who do you say that Jesus is?’

Not what Lewes says, or Tom Wright, or Gordon Banks, or the person next to you or the Pope or the Archbishop, but you, in your heart of hearts, who do say that Jesus is?

This is a deep question asked deep into your heart, deep into your soul, deep into your very being.

We know how Peter answered the question – but this isn’t the sort of question that has a right and a wrong answer.

Now we can of course concur with Peter, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.”

And I sincerely hope that you do agree with Peter’s confession of faith in Jesus.

Romans 10.9 “If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

But - saved from what and saved for what?

For if we do believe and confess faith in Messiah Jesus then we have another question to answer.

In the light of this confession of faith how should I now live.

In the light of this confession of faith that we share with this community of Jesus’ apprentices, here at St Oswald’s, how should we then live in the world, in our community?

Alan Redpath in his book about King David, ‘The Making of a Man of God’ wrote, “the conversion of a soul is the miracle of the moment, the manufacture of a saint is the task of a lifetime.

If we had also read the Epistle set for this day we would have heard Romans 12. 1-8 that opens by saying…

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

In answering the question of ‘how should we now live’ at both an individual level and at a corporate level, as a community is going to take some work.

One place we could begin is to explore the term Messiah and what was and is meant by that term. What were some of the expectations.  Messiah – simply put, means an anointed King, like David, who would bring restoration and peace.

That pushes us back to the Scroll of Isaiah, especially chapter 42. From there to further exploration of the Scriptures as we seek to discern and discover God’s will for the whole of creation.  

Jesus wasn’t simply an interruption in the purposes of God for the world, a plan B, but integral to it, as beautifully portrayed by John in his opening prologue to his Gospel.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

And it is this confession of Peter that Jesus says is what the Church will be built on as upon a rock, a solid foundation.

Tom Wright says of this confession,

‘Jesus isn’t going to build an actual city, or an actual Temple. He is going to build a community, consisting of all who give allegiance to him as God’s anointed King. And this movement, this community starts right there and then at Caesarea Philippi.    

And we here at St Oswald, August 2026, are part of that same community, making the same confession and carrying the same hope. And like Peter, occasionally making mistakes even after this Confession. But as we study and reflect on Scripture, as we look to God and engage in prayer and meditation, we respond to God’s call to be co-workers with God pushing back the forces of darkness and making way for the King of Kings and Lord of Lord’s, God’s anointed King, Messiah Jesus.

David in his sermon last Sunday talked about external action not matched with an inner reality.

“’These people honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.

This is reflected in the beautiful Choristers Prayer…

“Bless O Lord us your servants that minister in your temple, grant that what we sing with our lips may we believe in our hearts and what we believe in our hearts may we show forth in our lives. Amen”

If Jesus is the Messiah then what we have breakfast matters because every aspect of our lives matters to God. As St Augustine said, ‘If Jesus is not Lord of all, he is not Lord at all.’

But we need to learn that alongside the question about what we might have for breakfast, a much more important question asks why our neighbours aren’t able to have breakfast! 

Matthew 7.21 ‘“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”

 

                            Who is Jesus to you?

https://youtu.be/UjER7McRbzc?si=JnrBW0XfDCwbt2YR

To view the sermon in context follow this link.

https://www.youtube.com/live/7KdR7g549Mw?si=YewOdTLkZYx1hbjC

'Becoming really Real!' - Weekly Reflection 16th August 2026

 On our recent holiday we took charge of our grandchildren James and William for the day which included putting them to bed. This gave their mum and dad an opportunity to have some time together. At bedtime I read an adapted version of ‘The Velveteen Rabbit.’ 

This is one of my favourite stories that I first came across while working and living in London in the 1980’s. We started up a ‘Story Time’ evening when a small group of adults would gather, between six to a dozen on a regular basis, and someone would read a story. Usually, the story could be read in one sitting or at most three or four sittings. ‘Charlotte’s Web’, a number of Oscar Widle’s stories, ‘Jonathan Livingstone Seagull, and one of our favourites, ‘Winnie the Pooh’ which was always accompanied by a ‘Pooh Party’ and always with a ‘little something to eat.’

('Story Time' is not the same as a book club. And  on the importance of story check out this podcasts about the value of Fairy Stories, myths and legends.)

https://open.spotify.com/episode/7BeywvbixU7yFO7xqn1jGQ?si=57960dc0f484429f)

I remember spending over a week at Prinknash Abbey in Gloucester and following the Benedictine custom one of the monks would read a story aloud while everyone ate in silence. 

Communal reading was a common practice up until the 18^th century with reading material being relatively rare, the level of literacy and the communal aspects of living.   

And we see this in the story of the Ethiopian Eunuch in Acts, 8:28-30

^‘…and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet.  The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.” Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked.

It is also worth remembering that the Gospel’s and the Epistles would have been read aloud, discussed and debated before being passed on to another community of Jesus’ disciples.

It would be interesting to consider if ‘Story Time’ might work in a prison setting. *

However, to come back to the wonderful story of The Velveteen Rabbit (or How Toys Become Real). This is a British children's book written by Margery Williams  and illustrated by William Nicholson. It chronicles the story of a stuffed rabbit's desire to become real through the love of his owner. The story was first published in Harper's Bazaar in 1921 featuring illustrations from Williams' daughter Pamela Bianco. It was published as a book in 1922 and has been republished many times since.

The Velveteen rabbit is given as a Christmas present to a small boy. The wisest and oldest toy in the nursery is the Skin Horse, which was owned by the boy's uncle, and who tells the rabbit about toys being made real by the love of children: "Real isn't how you are made... It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time - not just to play with, but REALLY loves you - then you become Real”. The rabbit is awed by this idea but feels his chances of achieving this wish are slight due to the boy forgetting about him in favour of playing with his newer, more modern and mechanical toys.

One night, the boy's nanny gives the rabbit to the boy to sleep with in place of a lost toy. The rabbit becomes the boy's favourite toy and the boy eventually begins to regard the rabbit as real. Time passes and the rabbit becomes older and shabbier but remains happy. He meets some real rabbits in the summer, who tell him that he is not a real rabbit upon learning that he cannot hop as they do.

One day, the boy comes down with scarlet fever and the rabbit sits with him as he recovers. The doctor orders that the boy should be taken to the seaside and that his room should be disinfected and all his books and toys burnt, including the velveteen rabbit, to prevent further spread of the disease. The rabbit is bundled into a sack and left out in the garden overnight, where he reflects sadly on his life with his boy. As the rabbit cries, a real tear drops onto the ground, and a flower appears. A fairy steps out of the flower and comforts the velveteen rabbit, introducing herself as the Nursery Magic Fairy who takes discarded children's toys and turns them real. She explains that because the rabbit has become real to the boy, who truly loves him, she will take him away with her and "turn him Real" to everyone.

The fairy takes the velveteen rabbit to the forest and kisses him, whereupon he becomes a real rabbit and joins the other rabbits in the forest. The next spring, the rabbit returns to look at the boy, and the boy muses that the rabbit in his garden looks just like his lost rabbit toy.

"Real isn't how you are made... It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time - not just to play with, but REALLY loves you - then you become Real”.

Jesus saw people and had compassion on them. (Cf Matthew 14.14)

The English noun compassion, meaning "to suffer together with."

And Jesus loved people them and made them really Real!

Sex workers, the lame the blind, the outcasts, the least the last and the lost, Jesus made them really Real by loving unconditionally. Although he did warn people from returning to a path of wrongdoing, such as the woman caught in adultery to whom he said, ‘go and sin no more.’  

And Jesus still looks out with love and desire for people to become really Real, and he invites you and he invites me to be the ones who like the little boy demonstrates that love.

There are a lot of false and harmful narratives out in society that promise a way of becoming ‘real’ and to live the best life.

But Rabbi Jesus says, ^“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.”  John 10.10

Jesus is the way for people to become really Real. We are his ambassadors and bring that message practically demonstrated in our love and compassion.  For all those whom we will encounter in the week ahead we will have an opportunity in helping them become really Real. 

 

          https://youtu.be/yS0jfvEKSgI?si=e9KeWF7i5vQC-CO_

 

 * On the importance of story check out this podcasts about the value of Fairy Stories, myths and legends....

https://open.spotify.com/episode/7BeywvbixU7yFO7xqn1jGQ?si=57960dc0f484429f