Sermon for Palm Sunday 2015 Wetley Rocks

Palm Sunday 2015 Wetley Rocks

A farmhand named Fred was overseeing livestock in a remote part of the Derby Dales when suddenly a brand-new BMW 4x4 advanced out of a dust cloud towards him.

The driver, a young man in a Brioni suit, Gucci shoes, RayBan sunglasses and YSL tie, leans out the window and asks the farmhand, 'If I tell you exactly how many cows and calves you have in your herd, will you give me a calf?'

Fred looks at the man, obviously a ‘city type’, then looks at his peacefully grazing animals and calmly answers, 'OK, Why not?'

The ‘city type’ parks his car, whips out his Dell notebook computer, connects it to his Cingular RAZR V3 mobile phone, and surfs to a NASA page on the Internet, where he calls up a GPS satellite to get an exact fix on his location which he then feeds to another NASA satellite that scans the area in an ultra-high-resolution photo.

The young man then opens the digital photo in Adobe Photoshop and exports it to an image processing facility in Hamburg, Germany. 

Within seconds, he receives an email on his Palm Pilot that the image has been processed and the data stored.

He then accesses a MS-SQL database through an ODBC connected Excel spreadsheet with email on his Blackberry and, after a few minutes, receives a response.

Finally, he prints out a full-colour, 150-page report on his hi-tech, miniaturized HP LaserJet printer and finally turns to the farmhand and says, 'You have exactly 896 cows plus calves.'

'That's right. Well, I guess you can take one of my animals,' says Fred. 

He watches as the young man selects one of the animals and looks on amused as he stuffs it into the boot of his car.

Then the Fred says to the young man, 'Hey, if I can tell you what your job is, will you give me back my calf?'

The young man thinks about it for a second and then says, 'Okay, why not?'

'You're a Civil Servant or some such thing working in a government department', says Fred.

'Wow! That's correct,' says the ‘city type’, 'but how did you guess that?'

'No guessing required.' answered the farmhand. 'You showed up here even though nobody called you; you want to get paid for an answer I already knew, to a question I never asked. You tried to show me how much smarter than me you are; and you don't know a thing about cows...this is a flock of sheep.  

Now give me back my dog.

There is a long history of a certain kind of rivalry between rural dwellers and city types.

Jesus was a rural dweller, from the North as well.

Remember these words spoken by Nathaniel;

‘Nazareth, can anything good come from Nazareth?’

So perhaps we should see the Palm Sunday story in this light. Crowds of pilgrims would have been flocking into Jerusalem for the Passover Festival, one of the obligatory pilgrimages to the Temple for all male Jews.

We can easily imagine the crowds hustling and jostling in the hot sun, fractious camels, overladen donkeys, and kids running hither and yon. We can see groups of pilgrims who on approaching the city would lift up their voices singing the ancient Songs of Ascents from the Book of Psalms. A veritable riot of colour, smell and sounds.

And the Roman Soldiers, hands held close by their gladius, the short swords that could be used to great effect, watching nervously for any sign of trouble. 

And here is Jesus, riding on a donkey. The only time we have any record of him having done so. Those from the North know this man well, he is one of theirs, and so it is easy for them to get caught up in the triumphal shouts that are soon bouncing off the city walls. Hallelujah, correctly translated as ‘save us.’  This is one of their own.

But the sophisticated city types are not best pleased about this and call for a halt to it all. Jesus knows exactly what he is doing; he knows how this riding on a donkey was powerfully symbolic.

‘If they keep quiet,’ replies Jesus, ‘these stones will start shouting.’

Remember the forerunner, John the Baptizer, he had said, ‘Do something to show that you really have given up your sins. Don't start saying that you belong to Abraham's family. God can turn these stones into children for Abraham.’

Some years earlier someone else had ridden into the city, in all probability mounted on a splendid horse, he came at the head of an army and marched right up into the city and into the Temple causing a huge affront.

Although he grudgingly backed down and removed the Roman Standards from the Temple precinct.

We are reaching the peak of a titanic struggle, the clash of two kingdoms. The kingdoms of the world represented by Imperial Rome and the Kingdom of Heaven, represented here by Jesus. We will watch this drama unfold as both Pilate and Jesus come toe to toe.   

This cheering crowd of rough Northern folk who welcomed Jesus will be prevented from entering into the courtyard where only the right people are allowed in – the right people who want nothing to do with this Northern messiah – ‘can anything good come from Nazareth.’ Easy enough for them to pick up the cry ‘crucify him, away with him.’

So, let me ask you this morning, to which kingdom do you give allegiance?

If you haven’t given that much thought before now, then you ought to do so, and now is a good a time as any.

Imperial Rome may have long gone, but new worldly kingdoms have arisen that demand our alliance, obedience, demand our time and money and energy, our efforts.

Jesus said, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. “But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal.”

Perhaps it is time we began to really shout out – Hallelujah, save us! Save us from our madness that puts profits before people. Save us from a world in which we have child soldiers killing adults, very often their own parents.  Where young girls from our own schools are lured away to join a fanatical extremist group bent on murder and mayhem. 

Save us from a world where we still have hundreds of people in slavery and being trafficked.

But save us not by airlifting us out of it all. Not by taking us away to some dreamy heavenly realm with clouds, harps and angels.

But rather save us by indwelling us with your mighty power – the power of the Holy Spirit.

Save us by our wholeheartedly welcoming you not into Jerusalem but into our hearts and lives.

Save us that we may partner together with each other and with God that we may evidence a realized Lord’s Prayer, where God’s Kingdom comes and His will is done on earth as it is in heaven!

It is time to “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Hallelujah indeed! Lord save us!

Captain's Log February 2015

Everything is new and different, and presenting a challenge. That includes a new lap top and lay out…

We are now living in a Methodist Manse! Because of what was being offered we decided that we would accept the salary package rather than the stipend package. However this did mean having to either buy or rent a property. We made a trip to Stafford to look around the area in October and managed to get a feel for the place. However, the Estate Agents told us that if we were looking to rent in January there was no point in looking at anything until December. So we made the long trip back to Stafford in early December. We looked at a few houses but nothing was suitable, either too expensive, too small or in the wrong place. I had a text from a friend Revd Sheila Foreman (Methodist) who knew a Methodist Minister in Stafford who had served sometime in Horsham.  I contacted him and left a text message.  He came back the next day and said they might be able to help as they had a Manse coming available in Stafford. There is a story behind how the Manse became available and all I will say is please pray for P and her family who have suffered an awful bereavement.

Although the house is four bed-roomed it is considerable smaller than our previous house. So we have been culling, sifting and sorting and making daily trips to the tip and charity shop. We still have a long way to go and two of the bedrooms are full of stuff acting as ‘storerooms.’  We are also outside of the town and our nearest Coffee Shop (Costa) is a 40 minute walk away. We have visited our local Anglican Church. As lovely and welcoming as the people were we do not feel particularity drawn there. We also paid a visit to the local Methodists who were amazingly friendly, warm and delighted to see us. We have visited St John’s Littleworth, a couple of times now which is about 3 miles away. This looks more promising, although making that journey is a bit of a pain.

We also made a trip over to Oswestry to visit my sister-in-law Alison. We joined her for worship at Hope Church, had some lunch, then a few hours chatting back at her home in Pant. The Service isn't until 10.45 so it was not that difficult to get over there and back in a day. This is great to know as this was one of the attractions of moving here.

On the work front it is going amazingly well so far and I have been deeply impressed by the warmth and friendliness. There is also a very rich, deep thread running through everything that the Diocese is committed to growth, both numerically and depth of spirituality and discipleship. There is an honest assessment that we need to do things differently and face tough decisions.  A number of new key appointments have been made, and mine is one of them. There is quite a buzz about the place. Initially I have been trying to get out and about and meeting as many people as I can.

Licensing on the 17^th January in the Bishop’s Chapel Lichfield. 

Bishop Jonathan behind, with Archdeacon Mathew and Bishop Geoff flanking me. I am working closely with both + Geoff and Matthew.  On this occasion it was wonderful to have the support of Jane, Captain Andrew Smith CA and Jennie Davies who had traveled up from Brighton.

I am missing running by the sea but have found, very close by, a canal.

I have now got a few routes of various lengths established.  

We had Tabitha visiting us recently and had a great time together exploring Lichfield - such a rich city with a diverse and fascinating history.  

So we are all set for another adventure - 'Make it so...' 

Advent One 2014 All Saints Patcham ~ transcript of sermon

All Saints Patcham Advent One 2014

Isaiah 64.1-9 & Mark 13.24-37

Have you ever taken a sauna, perhaps trying to outstay someone? Then coming out you enter a very cold shower or sometimes an ice cold plunge pool, or perhaps in Sweden roll in the snow! Or perhaps you took up the Ice Bucket challenge that was going around in the late summer months.

This passage from Mark has that effect – or at least it should if you are paying enough attention!

We have missed some of the earlier passages and jumped straight into Mark’s Gospel part way through Jesus’ outlining the future.

This is shocking and brings us up with a jolt, or at least ought to.

Today is the first Sunday in Advent, the beginning of the new liturgical year with Mark as the guiding principle Gospel for the year ahead.

I would encourage you to read Mark, learn and inwardly digest.

So, why have we jumped in here and not taken the more logical step and started at the beginning of the Gospel?

Well there are good reasons for that; however Mark’s Gospel is so dynamic that wherever you jump in it is like a slap in the face.

Mark begins and offers no birth narrative but plunges straight into Jesus’ public ministry with a startling announcement – an announcement that has everything to do with today’s reading and the season of Advent.

Mark opens his Gospel speaking about John the Baptizer making a straight road, a highway for the Lord.

Familiar words from Isaiah chapter 40 and set to wonderful music and words by Handel in The Messiah, ‘Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.’

Then Jesus’ first words set a challenge both then and now.

‘At last the time has come!’ ‘The Kingdom of God is near!’ ‘Repent and believe the Good News!’

We need to bear in mind that Jesus would have heard evangelist announcing good news of the advancing kingdom as he grew up.

These evangelists, tellers of good news, would have been dispatched from Rome and called to announce some glorious military triumph or the Emperor’s birthday or some such good news!

And here is Jesus announcing another kingdom, another Lord and inviting people to make a choice.

What the Kingdom of God will look like and how its citizens should act, Jesus will go onto teach and demonstrate over the new few years.

Back to where we jumped into the Gospel with Jesus talking about the last things, the end of the age, which seem to suggest that a new age was about to dawn.

This passage must be read in the context of the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem in the year 70AD.

It is way beyond our comprehension to even begin to understand what this meant to Jews at that time. Scripture after scripture from their prophets told of this time to come, principally Daniel and also Isaiah.

The Jewish historian Josephus recalls the horror of the final invasion, the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the temple under the hand of Titus, Vespasian’s adopted son.

This was indeed the end of the world as far as the Jewish nation was concerned.

No ‘ordinary’ language could begin to describe it and so Jesus turns back to the prophets Isaiah and uses his words;

‘The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give out its light, the stars will fall from the sky, and heavenly bodies will be shaken.’

Not to be taken literally but as dramatic poetry.

And then from Daniel 7.13 – ‘At that time men will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory.’

This reading from Daniel is the Son of Man coming to God after being subjected to suffering and now being vindicated

Following Jesus’ suffering and death there is a resurrection bringing vindication.

God’s new age has dawned; the Kingdom of God has been established up earth.

That same clarion call goes out to the four corners of the earth, ‘The Kingdom of God is here, repent and believe the Good News.’

However this is a now and not yet Kingdom.

And underlying the apocalyptic language that Jesus uses in Mark we need to hear and heed the message of Christ’ second coming.

In particular the final verses we heard from Mark’s Gospel.

‘Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back – whether in the evening or at midnight, or when the cock crows, or at dawn. If he comes suddenly let him not find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to everyone, ‘Watch.’

Imagine if you will Downton Abbey, and Lord and Lady Grantham have been away and have a long journey back home and have told Carlson to be ready at any time for their return. As a diligent and dedicated Butler Carlson would make sure everything would be ready for their return at what ever hour.

A silly illustration but I hope you see the point I am trying to make.

The keyword for Advent is ‘Watch,’ a time of waiting and reflecting.

An earlier tradition considered what are commonly known as the ‘Four Last Things’ – heaven and hell, death and judgment.

That would certainly knock the edge of early Christmass jollification.

Today the four Sundays of Advent are most often focused on the Patriarchs, the Prophets, John the Baptizer and Mary.

From the Patriarchs like Abraham and then the Prophets, culminating in John the Baptizer as the Prophet of Prophets, God reveals His plan for the redemption of the cosmos. And miracles of miracles that plan included God squeezing himself into human form and sharing our life with us. He finds Mary, as a willing God bearer, the Theotokos.

Jesus born of Mary comes amongst us as we will hear from the Prologue to John’s Gospel, as the light of the world.

 Further on in John’s Gospel (14.46-48) we read...

"I have come as Light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness.  "If anyone hears My sayings and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world.  "He who rejects Me and does not receive My sayings, has one who judges him; the word I spoke is what will judge him at the last day.…

This encapsulates the two Advent themes, Jesus coming as Saviour and then coming again as judge, when the secrets of all hearts will be opened.

And you and I as members of the Body of Christ now upon earth are called to be light bearers.

This season of Advent affords us the perfect opportunity to reflect on how well we are doing as bearers of the Christ light. Perhaps we might think back to the parable of the wise and foolish virgins with their lamps trimmed and oil at the ready for the coming of the bridegroom. We need to be alert and watch because we do not know the day or the hour when the master will return.

We have already seen and will continue to see lights decorating homes, shops and streets.  But however bright those lights are they cannot hide the darkness that remains in the world. Were thousand still die of hunger, were nearly one in four women across the world suffer abuse, were nearly 80 medical staff have died trying to treat and bring comfort to sufferers of Ebola. Where in our own country Food Banks have become normalized and we are seeing cases of rickets returning.

Sad to say, it is more often the case as a song writer once put it;

 ‘The world is living in the dark because the Church is asleep in the light.

Let us pray…

To make our weak hearts strong and brave, send the fire!

To live a dying world to save, send the fire!
Oh, see us on Your altar lay our lives, our all, this very day:
to crown the offering now we pray, send the fire!

William Booth

Captain's Log October 2014

Two months until my time with the Diocese of Chichester comes to an end and I continue to say farewells to numerous groups and people as well as other ongoing ministry. 

Older People was the focus of a PCC Away Day held at Bell House, Chichester. This was linked in with their MAP which had engaging with ‘older people’ as part of their mission. I haven’t really focused

 on older people before and so this was an interesting challenge.  The morning was given over to four 30 minutes sections. Each section introduced an aspect of engaging with older people (60+), a short discussion and then one action point from each of the four groups. We then voted on the action we liked best. That gave us four action points and a number of subsidiary action points. We focused on, Music, Golden Memories, Change and Decay (in all around I see) and Spirituality. In the afternoon we brought all of this into the context of the overall mission strategies and the MAP.

This, by the way, is going to be the main focus of my new appointment, helping parishes with the Mission Action Plans and Growth Strategies.

One of the things I will miss is the coast and it was great to be able to take part in a fantastic Harvest of the Sea at the Church of the Good Shepherd, Brighton. This is a very large open church building which was filled with all manner of things appertaining to fishing. This included fresh fish for sale after the Service.

Germinate was a one day Rural Conference organised by the Arthur Rank Centre and attracted 200 delegates. I had the delight (and somewhat daunting) challenge of presenting a Rural Evangelism Workshop – two forty minute sessions back to back. The ‘rural church’ seems to be finding a prophetic voice and discovering new ways of being church and engaging with communities. Check out this link for material.  www.germinate.net/go/germinate .

Everybody Welcome – I have been working alongside St Peter’s Bexhill going through this excellent course. They have been presented with some real challenges especially from the ‘strangers’ reports.’ 

http://www.everybodywelcome.org.uk/

One of the things I hope to pick up quickly when I move is a regular Quiet Day. If you have the opportunity of taking some time out like this I can highly recommend it.

Visit to Stafford - towards the end of the month Jane and I had an extended weekend in Stafford. First it was a weekend spent with my sister-in-law Alison who moved up near Oswestry a couple of years ago. It was great to join her at Hope Church in Oswestry. On ‘welcome’ - top marks to Hope Church as we were approached in a gentle manner, they had picked up we had come along with Alison.  However I still took (for interest) the Welcome Bag, a little paper bag with an array of items including a chocolate bar and a CD introducing the Church and other helpful material. Then on Monday/Tuesday we began a bit of a house search. This is all very scary as there are so many things that need to mesh together if this is to come to good and we can feel settled quickly. We are currently looking to rent so we need the right size house, remembering we have lived in Vicarage size houses for the last twenty years so have built up Vicarage sized furniture! There is also need for a study/office space alongside all the resources I have built up over the years – that includes a two berth caravan. The price has to be right as well, because alongside paying rent we are now going to be responsible for Council Tax and Water Rates. Currently we only have the one car and so something else we are looking for is accessibility, not only for various obvious facilities, like cafés, shops, doctors and dentist, but a good supportive Church.  All of this, plus arranging removals, has to come to good by the end of this year with a move planned for the first week in January!

Transcript Sermon 'Harvest of the Sea' Church of the Good Shepherd Dyke Road Brighton 5th October 2014

Sermon – 5^th October 2014

The Church of the Good Shepherd 

      ‘Harvest of the Sea’

Genesis 1.1-2, 20-23 Psalm 107.23-31 Matthew 8.23-27

In 2011 as a 60^th birthday treat my wife booked a Mediterranean Cruise, something we have never done before.

We flew over to Tenerife to board the ship. Around 12 midnight the ship slipped anchor and sailed away with an Upper Deck Pool Party.  However that wasn't to last long as we sailed straight into a storm force 12 gale with a 4 metre swell and spent the night being tossed about like a cork in a barrel.

Never having done anything more than cross the English Channel and the Straights of Gibraltar I thought this was par for the course. It was only the next day with the wind still howling and all decks closed off that we realized this wasn't ‘normal.’  The doctors were kept very busy not only with a large number of guests but also with very sick crew members.

The Captain knew it would be a rough passage and knew equally the ship could handle it even if some of the guest and crew couldn't. So he sailed through the storm rather than get delayed. After that it became quite literally plain sailing. I might add that neither my wife nor I felt any effects at all and in fact thought it quite a giggle and enjoyed being rocked to sleep totally oblivious to those trying to handle the ship through the stormy weather.

The Jewish people (remembering Jesus was a Jew) had no love or liking for the sea. They were a land based, dessert people. The opening passage of the Bible tells a story of the creation being spoken into existence and the waters of darkness with the Spirit of God brooding over the waters of the deep.

At the other end of the Bible in the Book of Revelation we read this rather obscure little verse;

Then I saw "a new heaven and a new earth," for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. (Rev 21.1)

Then we have the story of Noah – who of course is one of the best businessmen recorded in the Scriptures. He kept a limited company afloat whilst the rest of the world went into liquidation!

  

But more importantly is a story amongst other things about overcoming the floods of destruction.

Then we have the stories of Jesus.

Remember the one about the demoniac and the pigs running down the hill into the sea? That story comes after this one – once they have journeyed across the Lake to the other side.

Forget all the other stuff for a moment but look at it as pigs being an unclean and forbidden animal for Jews and think about the man possessed of a legion of demons and how Jesus casts them back to where they belong and from where they emanated – the sea!

We do have one account however of Jesus taking a Mediterranean coastal break in Tyre and Sidon.  It may be safe to conjecture he took the boys with him on this trip walking the 35 miles there and then a circuitous route back.  If the disciples did go with Jesus you can only imagine what they thought as they looked out across the wide expanse of water.  It would be lovely to think of Jesus having a barbecue on the beach, a small fire and talking late into the night before curling up on the beach and going to sleep.

We just don’t know, maybe he arranged a boat trip for them out onto the sea.

What we do know is that Jesus went to the edges and pushed others to travel to the edge as well. In this instance, in Tyre and Sidon, he encounters the Syro-Phoenician woman and heals her daughter – Jesus had stepped outside the role of saviour only to the household of Israel.

The disciple did however have the experience of the Sea of Galilee also known as Kinneret, Lake of Gennesaret, or Lake Tiberias.

Not a sea at all, which probably goes to show what they knew about seas! This is Israel’s largest fresh water lake, about 53 kilometres (33
miles) around, about 21 km (13 miles) long, and 13 km (8 miles wide.

We are also familiar with some of Jesus’ first disciples being fishermen working the lake.

The Sea of Galilee can experience powerful storms that can form suddenly when dry, cold air from the surrounding heights flow down to meet the moist, warmer air over the lake.

That’s where we find ourselves in our story from Matthews Gospel.

Keep in mind all that I have said about the Jewish people being a dessert people with no love or liking or real experience of the sea.

The story is easily told. For those with any imagination, especially those who know through experience about storm tossed seas. It is easy enough to imagine yourself in this story, battling away with sails and ropes and oars, the wind and rain and sea spray threatening at any moment to break the boat apart.

Now for a moment let’s imagine the story not being about a physical boat struggling on a stormy sea. Let us instead let think of it being about our life and the many storms that beset us and break about our heads.

A year after our first cruise we embarked upon another shorter Mediterranean cruise planning to spend some time in Tenerife afterwards as well when our daughter would join us.

Shortly before we were due to fly out my sister-in-law Alison phoned. She had some bad news about her husband Colin. He had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. This came as a real blow as only a few months before at our son’s wedding they were telling us of their exciting plans to sell up in Farnborough and move up near their daughter close to Oswestry.

Alison encouraged us not to cancel the holiday saying that nothing would probably happen while we were away and we could catch up when we got back.  Of course it was not possible to really relax and enjoy the cruise as we had before. We berthed at Tenerife, picking up our daughter from the airport the next day. On the last day before we were due to fly home we had the devastating news from Alison that Colin had died. Little more than six weeks had transpired from diagnoses to his death at the age of 62. We are close to the second anniversary of Colin’s death on the 29^th of this month.

Not so long ago Alison had embraced the Christian faith. Urged and encouraged by Alison and others Colin went through the Alpha Course at a local church as a result of which, Colin also gave his life to Christ and became a Christian.

As things were in place with house sales Alison had to go ahead with the move and settle into Oswestry. Alison is also living with M.S.

I asked Alison if I might mention her story by way of encouraging people that having Jesus in the boat when unexpected storm clouds break can help you face the future and continue onwards.

This is what she wrote in reply…

Hi Gordon, I'm okay with your telling my story. I believe things happen for a reason & that God has a plan for me. He has steered my boat on a different course from the one Colin & I originally planned. However I am discovering things about myself that have given rise to many different feelings & emotions some quite scary but fulfilling in other ways, if that makes sense! I have had a number of previously unknown experiences to deal with but Jesus has always kept me from going overboard. He knows just how much a person can take & it's a lot more than one would imagine had one been given insight. I think it just as well we don't know what's around the corner!!

So, let me ask you, is Jesus in your boat as you prepare to sail into the week ahead not knowing what might happen?

Perhaps you might carry with you this well known Breton Fisherman’s prayer…

Dear God,

Be good to me;

The Sea is so wide, 

And my boat is so small.

But above all, I would urge you with every fiber of my being don’t try and sail into the week ahead without making sure Jesus is on board. I invited Jesus into my life on the 1^st January 1975 and it was the best decision I have ever made. You could make that decision today for the first time or by way of renewing your faith.

Let us pray and particularly if you want to make sure Jesus is on board in your life then I invite you to repeat this prayer quietly in your heart.

Lord Jesus Christ, I don’t know what lays ahead, calms, storms or plain sailing. But I acknowledge that on my own I am lost. I accept you came on a rescue mission to save the world – to save me. I invite you now to come on board, to help me get through what ever I might have to face. I place my life into your care trusting that at the last you will bring me home to your safe harbour in heaven. 

Amen.    

www.christianity.org.uk

'Harvest of the Sea' was put together largely by Deacon Helen Rawlings who oversaw a transformation of the Church. Helen is Port Officer at Shoreham for Fisherman's Mission and had invited local fishermen to bring along a whole range of items plus fresh fish for sale! Prayers were written of fish shaped rice paper which I took with me and put into the sea.

www.fishermensmission.org.uk

Captain's Log September 2014

Well I might be preparing to leave the Diocese but in no way is the work load slacking off.

For Church Army September I travelled down to the edge of the diocese with a visit to St Mary’s, Westbourne.  In conversation afterwards a gentleman said to me as I spoke of my ‘becoming a Christian’ “I don’t understand what that means.”  He had attended Church nearly all his life and yet had never understood or been presented with the need to confess faith! (Romans 10.9-10) 
By the way  have you got your copy of our excellent resource book...www.churcharmy.org.uk

My ‘preaching tour’ continued the following week by going to the top edge of the diocese, St Mary Magdalene, Cowden, Kent. Following the Morning Service we had a lovely lunch. I then led a small group through an Angels Afternoon. The Growing Healthy Churches material has been around for a wee while now but still has lots of mileage. I really like working with Angels. 

Good to meet with my Church Army colleagues for the CA Chichester Cluster. This is a simple gathering of sharing what God is doing in our lives and ministry, saying prayers together and then sharing a lunch.  They now have the task of choosing a new coordinator!

With my rural hat on I am the Chaplain for ‘Surrey/Sussex Farming Community Network.’ It was a delight to spend a day at a Ploughing Match representing FCN and R.A.B.I. who had a stall there.  I have never been to a ploughing match before, absolutely fascinating and great fun.  The weather was kind which probably helped!  www.fcn.org.uk

‘Love Patcham’ was the name of a Community Fun Afternoon organised by five Churches in the Patcham area. (Just outside Brighton) Held in a school playing field I had masses of space to spill out and bring lots of games alongside the badge making.  Again the weather was brilliant and it was a joy to see families enjoying it all whilst being entertained from the main stage in various ways. It was obviously an event put on by Christians and people were warmly welcomed but not harangued or badgered. ‘Here is God’s love, this is what it can look like, having fun in the sun so you can have faith in the Son.’  Very hard work but so, so worth it!

Sunday I was over in Bexhill on Sea at St Peter’s preaching. Afterwards I gave a short presentation on the excellent ‘Everybody Welcome Course’ they are about to embark on.

 

A lovely ‘2014 wash-up meal’ with some of our volunteers from the Church Tent at the South of England Show. There is a big challenge for 2015 as I provide most of the practical side in getting the infrastructure to the site and with the build.  Quite a bit of the gear is also mine as well and will be coming with me.

Then the last ‘shout’ of the season, Pulborough Havest Fair. I love being at this event with Jane and myself staying over in the Caravan on the Glebe Field. Following the Fair on the Saturday I preached at St Mary’s on the Sunday, both at the 8am and the 10am! 


The Church Army flag is folded away for the last time in Sussex!

Transcript of Sermon – St Mary’s Pulborough Sept 28th 2014 St Michael and All Angels ‘Back to Church Sunday’

Sermon – St Mary’s Pulborough Sept 28th 2014

St Michael and All Angels ‘Back to Church Sunday’

Gen.28.10-17 Psalm 103.19-22 Rev 12.7-12 John 1. 47 - 51

In 2007 my daughter had been spending time at Camp America in Virginia. She was twenty years old. After Camp she took the opportunity for some travel – solo! While she was waiting at Philadelphia airport to fly to New York a terrific storm began to close in that meant flights were being cancelled.

However she was booked into a hostel in New York and they would only hold the bed until 2am after which she would have to find another place to stay. She didn't have the extra money or really know how she could go about finding another hostel if she just turned up in New York.

While she sat waiting and wondering what to do a man came up and sat next to her and started chatting. He then said he knew how to get on a flight to New Jersey (which is close to New York). He said they should go to the information desk. They managed to get the last two seats on the last flight out before the airport totally closed down. On arrival he waited until Tabitha had recovered her bags and then escorted out to the taxi rank. He gave the driver $30 and told him where she needed to go. Before he closed the taxi door he looked at Tabitha and said, ‘you are a wonderful person’ then closed the door.

When Tabitha turned around to say thank you and wave goodbye he had simply disappeared.  There were no crowds around so he hadn't melted into the crowds, but he had simply gone, much like he suddenly appeared at the airport in Philadelphia. Tabitha arrived at the hostel just as they were closing up for the night.

An angel perhaps?

Angels appear in our very earliest cultures in both myths and legends.

These also feature in both the opening book of our Bible, Genesis. Those of you who were paying attention to the readings will have noted the link between the Gospel of John and Jesus’ conversation with Nathaniel and that of Jacob’s dream, our reading from the Book of Genesis. In case you missed it then let me remind you it was to do with a heavenly escalator and angels going up and down.

In our reading from Revelation we meet Michael, who’s Feast Day tomorrow we are anticipating in our Eucharistic Celebration today. We also meet Lucifer, the Angel of Light who rebelled and was cast down to earth along with his angelic followers, namely the Satan and his demons. 

In between Genesis and Revelation angels are frequently mentioned in various forms and guises.

So, you may agree with Abba whom you might recall sang ‘I believe in angels’ or with any number of other songs about angels – particular Robbie Williams’ song – Angels.

In the Christian tradition the realm of angels developed into a hierarchy so we began to have Archangels, Michael and Gabriel probably among the best known. Then we have numerous other forms of angels including cherubs, cherubim and seraphim and all manner of angelic beings.

Some of these have the role of worshiping God day and night and others are messengers which is probably why we often view them with wings. They are the winged messengers from God or in Greek mythology from the gods.

However they often turn up in the Scriptures stories bearing the resemblance of men.

Think of Abraham’s three visitors, or the angels who appeared in the doomed cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.

This of course is what lies behind Eastern hospitality.

There was, and still is, a very strong tradition that you might indeed be entertaining angels.

An idea that gets carried over into the New Testament…

Hebrews 13.2 ‘Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels
unawares.’

That is of course a very important message for us to consider, especially as today is Back to Church Sunday.

And if you are here today by way of an invitation you are very welcome. If anything I might say or anything else in this Act of Worship is puzzling to you then please do come and ask questions afterwards.

Hospitality and welcoming the stranger ought to be very high on our agenda.

When I worked in hotels, especially some of the smaller ones, the staff would become almost like a family. Yet we all knew we were not there for ourselves but to serve our guests. To make sure they had the best possible experience they could have. To go out of our way, to walk the extra mile to ensure they were looked after and would speak afterwards with warmth and satisfaction of their visit. Best of all if they became regulars.

St Michael is a warrior angel fighting against forces of darkness.

Not only in the Book of Revelation do we pick this up but also in Ephesians 6.12

¹² For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

It was whilst working in the bar trade that I saw the manifestation of evil and discord through the work of what are called poltergeist.  Nothing on the grand global scale of some of the horrors we are currently seeing being unleashed across the world, but nonetheless very scary and unnerving. Furniture smashed, bathroom cabinet ripped of the wall and thrown in the bath, banging and noise and disturbances, night after night.

C.S. Lewis wrote “There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. They themselves are equally pleased by both errors, and hail a materialist or magician with the same delight”

(C.S. Lewis. The Screwtape Letter. 1941,p. 3).

C.S. Lewis held the firm view that the reality of the heavenly sphere and activity was not geographically placed somewhere in outer space, somewhere in the bright blue yonder, but close at hand in another dimension. Occasionally the curtain is drawn back as it where, and we see the reality.

We pick this up clearly in stories like that of Elisha the prophet as recorded in 2 King Chapter 6. Elisha appears to know exactly what the King of Aram is going to do and warns the King of Israel. So the King of Aram sends an army to capture Elisha and surrounds the city where Elisha was residing. Let me read for you direct from Scripture what transpired…

When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. “Oh, my lord, what shall we do?” the servant asked. “Don't be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”

And Elisha prayed, O LORD, open his eyes so that he may see. Then the LORD opened the servant's eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all round Elisha.

Warrior angels also appear to be waiting in the wings in the story of Jesus’ arrest. We read of a follower who was seeking to defend Jesus with a sword as the Temple Guard came to arrest him. Jesus told him to put the sword away, that should he choose, he could ask his Father, who would send more than 12 legions of angels to save him. That is over 72,000 warrior angels!

If you take into account the story of the might of just one angel in Isaiah 37.36 who in a single night slew a hundred and eighty five thousand men – that is some awesome power.

And in the battle against the dark forces we know that God will be triumphant. We know that the victory belongs to our God.

We know that not only by looking at the great battles described in the Book of Revelation, with Michael and All Angels engaged in deadly conflict against the enemies of God.

We know it supremely because of other angels we meet following Jesus’ arrest, trial and torture and cruel death. 

From Luke’s Gospel - and we are outside the tomb.

While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: `The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.'

There is no more important question in the whole world than the veracity of what those angelic beings spoke of.  ‘Did Jesus rise from death?’

For it that is true then everything changes. 

In his famous book ‘Mere Christianity’, C.S. Lewis makes this statement, "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 a man who says he is a poached egg--or he would be the devil of hell. You must take your choice. Either this was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool 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.” 

Holding a belief in St Michael and All Angels battling against the forces of darkness is not a prerequisite for becoming a Christian. Although it is very much part of a strong Christian tradition and our Lord himself spoke of them.

However believing and accepting the message of the angels by the empty tomb is fundamental to a Christian belief.

Accept that message and everything changes – nothing is the same again.

Should you accept that message then the only appropriate response is to fall at Jesus’ feet and call him Lord and God.

And in so doing we heed the words of St Augustine who said, ‘if Jesus is not Lord of all he is not Lord at all.’

Lord of your life, your work, your money, the place you live, your friends, your leisure – everything.

Romans 12.1-2  ‘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.’

Angels or no, we are now citizens of heaven awaiting the full and final revelation of King Jesus. Like angels we are called to be both messengers and heralds of God’s coming Kingdom. ‘Your Kingdom Come, your will be done on earth as it in heaven.’  That includes Pulborough or wherever you might find yourself this week.

It is well worth pondering just what that might mean for you as you eat your Sunday lunch today and go into the week ahead!  And as you step into the week be aware because you may find that you are indeed entertaining angels!