tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-78766132024-03-14T06:18:42.068+00:00Good in Partsan Anglican priest learning on the job...Kathrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09171138485811816831noreply@blogger.comBlogger2157125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876613.post-81304038137305526652024-02-16T14:22:00.004+00:002024-02-16T14:22:34.004+00:00All about chocolate? Thought for the day, Friday 16th February<p><span style="font-family: arial;">How is it going so far?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Barely three days into Lent, and I’ve so nearly failed in my
Lenten disciplines already, as yesterday morning my hand automatically
stretched out to take the chocolate kindly offered by a colleague after a big
memorial service. Salted caramel…pretty much my favourite. Of course I’d like
one…Thank you…Except…and so I remembered in the nick of<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>time the new law that I had established, and
swerved away – my resolve unbroken even if my internal monologue was on the
decidedly grumpy side. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Sometimes at the start of Lent it can feel as if we have
written a whole catalogue of new rules simply to make life harder for
ourselves, forbidding things overnight that had been entirely licit only the
day before. Whether we are giving things up or taking things on, whether we’ve
created a whole new schedule of prayer or are planning to spend 5 nights a week
volunteering for some worthy cause, we often seem intent on creating situations
which confine us, set us up to fail, load us all with a plethora of new reasons
to beat ourselves up. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">So – is that really what it’s all about. Lent, a season to
make ourselves as miserable as possible and, as a result, to make those around
us pretty miserable too? Is the idea that I should become a kind of penance for
my nearest and dearest?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Well, obviously not. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">While Lent can look like a kind of spiritual assault course,
one more desperate attempt at self-improvement at which we’re bound to fail,
that’s never the point. Yes, we are called to amendment of life..Yes, we should
expect to learn some important truths about ourselves in the coming weeks…but
the point of it all is to enable us to focus ever more deeply on God and God’s
love.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">A<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>long time ago, I
asked a group of primary school children what they thought Lent was about.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">“It’s spring-cleaning for the soul” said L – and for me,
that hit the jack-pot. This is our season to give up, not just chocolate, but
all those things that get in the way so thoroughly, to declutter heart, mind
and soul – to attend to those matters that really need attention…Remember,
though,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>it’s not the obedience to our
own internal legislation that matters, any more than it was adherence to the
full Mosaic code that spelled salvation for the Galatians.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">There’s nothing we can do to make that happen...Nothing we
can do to earn our seat at the table, - Christ has already done that for us and
it is ours through God’s grace…<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">But we CAN use these coming days and weeks to strengthen our
faith, as we learn to be God’s people once again, touched by God’s love and
enlivened by the Spirit. With an agenda like that, chocolate probably doesn’t
matter.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 26.4pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt;"><span style="color: #252324; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Kathrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09171138485811816831noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876613.post-87340506767343769562024-02-10T14:03:00.003+00:002024-02-10T14:03:43.016+00:00Racial Justice and Transfiguration Sunday 11th February 2024 at Southwark<p><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;">How
clearly can you see?</span></p><p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">I’ve
just admitted defeat after decades of wearing glasses to drive, and
am the somewhat anxious owner of my first pair of variafocals. In
theory this should mean that absolutely everything is much clearer,
though I’m not completely convinced yet. I asked the Sub-Dean for
advice and he simply told me to follow my nose – but I’m not
quite sure that my nose knows where I’m heading, which makes me
feel rather like an unsuccessful blood-hound., </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">so
I’m wearing my new glasses rather less than I should.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">However
– </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">the
whole experience has made me think hard about the gift of sight, and
the need to see clearly in order to navigate life without injuring
myself or anyone else. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">And
that seems a good route in to today’s readings – and to Racial
Justice Sunday too.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />
</span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">It
seems to me that a great deal of what Christian spirituality is about
is "seeing."</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />
</span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">When
Elijah was taken from him, the critical question for Elisha was
“would he see it happening”</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />
</span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">On
that hung so much of his own future </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">hopes
in</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
ministry …He would be given a double share of his Mentor’s spirit
if he had eyes to see, </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">even
if to see is not always a joyful experience. Whenever I read this
passage I’m struck by Elisha’s desolation “father, father...the
chariots of Israel and its horsemen”</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">He
can see that for Elijah there is no going back. He really is leaving,
so Elisha stands, bereft, tearing his garments, </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">confronted
by </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">the
</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">incontrovertible
evidence </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">of
his own eyes.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Clear
vision isn’t always welcome – as we begin to comprehend things,
</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">notice
hard truths that</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
we just hadn’t seen before.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">W</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">hen
I was a child, Racial Justice Sunday simply hadn’t been thought of.
</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">It
was first marked in 1995 though it has taken far longer to gain a
secure foot-hold. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">At
its best, I imagine that the Church </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">of
my childhood </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">was
full of benevolent paternalism, that my mother’s view that to be
colour blind was the best possible </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">approach
was pretty widespread, that nobody had noticed, somehow, that the
playing field </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">on
which different races and colours were standing</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
was unimaginably far from a level one. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">It
took a long time before anyone felt able to acknowledge that.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">It
would be great to be able to say “But that’s all gone now...” -
except that clearly, it isn’t. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">If
we’d learned, then there might be no need for Racial Justice Sunday
at all -….but you’ll know the statistics as well as I do...how
much harder it can be to simply get through life, let alone thrive,
if, to put it crudely, your face doesn’t fit.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">I</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">t
can be very hard indeed to truly see and name the situation for what
it is. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">White
privilege remains white privilege whether we acknowledge it or
not...and can be internalised in myriad unhealthy ways. I discovered
this f</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">or
myself w</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">hen
I first spent time in India, as part of a diocesan exchange
programme. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Wherever
we went, with our Indian clergy hosts, queues formed to ask for
blessings and I discovered that there was an unexpected hierarchy at
play, such that the hands of a white British priest, - even a woman-
were perceived as somehow more holy than the hands of the faithful
</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Indian</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
priests who served those communities day in day out. It was s</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">hock</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">ing,
unwelcome but undeniable. The myth of white superiority had been so
thoroughly absorbed in those rural communities, </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">it
was hard to imagine an appropriate response that did not look simply
ungracious. And, after all, that myth had its origins in the days of
the Raj...it was my forbears who had taught those communities that
they were of second rank, second value.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Simply
because I was, in effect, wearing new glasses, this did not change
the view for everyone. Seeing clearly can be very hard work…Sometimes
the gospel, the truth of God’s unconditional, all-inclusive love,
seems to be veiled by the very institutions that exist to embody it –
and that is something of which the Church must, and does, repent. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">But
the truth, of course, is always ther</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">e,
whether we see it or not, j</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">ust
as it was for the disciples on the holy mountain. Listen to these
words from Madeleine l’Engle’s wonderful book The Irrational
Season:<br />
"Suddenly they saw him the way he was; the way he
really was all the time, although they had never seen it before, the
glory which blinds the everyday eye and so becomes invisible. This is
how he was, radiant, brilliant, carrying joy like a flaming sun in
his hands. This is the way he was - is - from the beginning and we
cannot bear it. So he manned himself, came manifest to us; and there
on the mountain, they saw him; they really saw him, saw his light.
Now, perhaps, we will see each other, too."</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<b><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;">NOW
PERHAPS WE SHALL SEE EACH OTHER TOO.</span></span></span></span></span></span></b></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">That
must be our task, on this Racial Justice Sunday.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">To
see ourselves, </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">to
see </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">the
unconscious privilege that </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">some
of us </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">enjoy
and to repent of that.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">T</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">o
see the face of Christ </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">in
all whom we meet, </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">regardless
of race, colour or all the other external markers that might deceive
us or threaten to distort our vision.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">To
see Christ and so seeing, to love and serve him as he loves and
serves us </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">all.
</span></span>
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">So,
h</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">ow
clearly can you see? </span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Perhaps
you need new glasses yourself...</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">As
a pilgrim in the Holy Land some years ago, my own experience on the
Mountain of the Transfiguration provided the kind of </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">lesson</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
I </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">wish
I didn’t </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
need. We visited in January, and </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">as
the group emer</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">ged
from our taxis </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">close
to the church, </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">cloud
</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">did
indeed overshadow us so that </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">we
could see – , </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">honestly,
</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">precisely
NOTHING.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">I</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">nside
the church building all was gold and blazing splendour – the image
of Jesus with Moses and Elijah instantly recognisable and
unmissable.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">above
the altar</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
Outside, though, I could barely see the ground at my feet...had no
idea where I was heading...</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">was
in real danger of falling over my own feet or tripping up others..</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">I
know I can be guilty of that in daily life too. I just don’t </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">see</span></i></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">…</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">But
p</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">erhaps
</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">that
is</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
the task of priesthood: simply to help others to see. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Or
better yet, perhaps we can help each other..</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Would
you help me?</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Together
we might learn t</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">o
see God’s presence in everything </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">and
everyone,</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
to see one another with his eyes of love…with no judgement, no
comparison, n</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">either</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
anxiety, </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">pride</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">n</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">or
fear…</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">To
look at one another and to see, not those features that divide us,
those characteristics that irritate...but, like the disciples, only
Jesus. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">As
we begin our journey through Lent, our eyes fixed on the cross and
the love that </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">transforms
it,</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">,
let us pray for th</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">at</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
grace to see God’s glory blazing through the ordinary til
</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">everything
is extraordinary, everything illuminated</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">.
</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">May
we </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">see
</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">that
more and more til </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">the
day dawns and </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">the
</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">morning
star rises in our hearts.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">
</span></span>
</p>Kathrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09171138485811816831noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876613.post-11196824249822192122024-02-10T14:00:00.006+00:002024-02-10T14:00:56.836+00:00Thought for the Day 24th January 2024<p> </p><p class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial;">God
is our refuge and strength, - a very present help in trouble,
therefore we will not fear proclaimed the psalmist...but our reading
from Matthew’s gospel leads us into very different territory, as we
are taken into the darkness of fear and uncertainty, anticipating the
events we will experience once again in a few short weeks as we join
Jesus in Gethsemane.</span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />
</span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial;">It
seems to me that in this passage we encounter Jesus at his most
vulnerable...He NEEDS his friends, because the weight of all that is
to come is overwhelming, unbearable. It has been suggested that the
name “Gethsemane” derives from the Hebrew word for an olive
press...Certainly this is the time when Jesus is pressed almost to
breaking point.</span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />
</span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Is
it the anticipation of the physical pain of crucifixion or the
knowledge that he may feel himself cut off from his heavenly Father
that grieves him, even to death? Is the cup that he longs to set down
one of physical suffering or the deep emotional and spiritual trauma
of carrying the brokenness of the world and all its pain? We can’t
know – and I’m not sure that it matters. The point is that on
this, the night before he died, Jesus went from the light and
companionship of the passover meal out into the darkness where, even
in the company of his disciples, he found himself alone.</span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />
</span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The
disciples are vulnerable too. For all their longing to support Jesus,
they cannot keep awake...falling asleep repeatedly so that Jesus
faces his ordeal, wrestling with himself and with God without any
tangible human support.
</span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />
</span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Perhaps
its perverse, but I find this ultimately comforting. If JESUS longs
to step aside from suffering, if he too would prefer to take another,
easier route, if he finds himself at odds with God as he contemplates
the way ahead, then it is surely OK for me to to protest against even
the second-order challenges of my life and my faith.
</span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />
</span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial;">In
my earliest days of ministry I was sent to visit a lady who had been
shaped and supported by her faith all her life long. By the time I
landed, a shiny new curate in the church she loved, she was already
well advanced on her final journey, housebound as her cancer took its
inexorable course. As I spent time with her during those final weeks,
she told me something of her fears. No stranger to pain, she was
worried that she might face an agony that nothing would alleviate,
though her MacMillan nurse promised that it would be managed. Then,
one afternoon, she suggested that she was letting God down.</span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial;">“I’m
afraid. Afraid of dying. Afraid God might not be there. Afraid of my
own fear”</span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />
</span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I
was SO inexperienced and for a moment gripped by total panic – but
then, wonderfully, this passage landed. Can you think of a time when
Jesus felt like that I asked….</span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Silence,
so I prompted “What about Gethsemane?”</span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial;">There
was another silence but then a smile of pure joy spread across her
face.</span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Oh.</span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I
see.</span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial;">He’s
been there.</span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial;">He
knows how I feel.</span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial;">It’s
going to be OK</span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>Kathrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09171138485811816831noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876613.post-77021915318862494422024-02-10T14:00:00.001+00:002024-02-10T14:00:14.579+00:00Thought for the Day January 17th 2024<p><span style="font-family: "Lucida Sans", sans-serif;">I’ve
always felt a kind of appalled fascination at the description
Matthew’s Jesus presents in this passage, the “Little Apocalpyse”
which takes us into an unimaginable future, which will arrive – who
knows when? Not as soon as Matthew expected, for sure. He was
surrounded by all the baggage of a struggling community and in this
writing wanted to give them a rationale for their suffering, a sense
that it had purpose and direction….</span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Lucida Sans, sans-serif;">More,
he wanted to make sure they were alert – to both the pain and the
potential of the moment, - and in doing so, paints such a vivid
picture of a community oblivious to the dramatic events unfolding in
their midst.</span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">“<span style="font-family: Lucida Sans, sans-serif;">For
as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking,
marrying and giving in marriage until the day Noah entered the ark,
and they knew nothing until the flood came and swept them all
away...so too will be the coming of the Son of Man”</span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Lucida Sans, sans-serif;">It’s
so easy to imagine life going on as normal – Happy couples
celebrating their wedding night...Families gathering around the
dinner table...while all the while the world was changing around
them.</span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Lucida Sans, sans-serif;">Indeed,
it’s hard to work out what people might more properly do. </span>
</p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Lucida Sans, sans-serif;">Remember
those last weeks of February 2020 – that half term break when
families headed determinedly to Italy, obstinately refusing to accept
that the tide of covid was rising so fast and so high that it might
yet sweep all away…?</span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Lucida Sans, sans-serif;">When
confronted by crisis, we tend to seek comfort in the familiar...and
that’s both understandable and acceptable up to a point. </span>
</p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Lucida Sans, sans-serif;">But
there comes a moment when surely nobody, NOBODY can ignore the lie of
the land...When carrying on regardless seems an act not of courage
but of wanton stupidity. Jesus makes it clear to his friends that
there WILL be signs – and highly dramatic ones at that. Only the
foolhardy will choose to ignore them, to pretend that there’s
nothing to see here….</span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Lucida Sans, sans-serif;">As
we continue our journey through Epiphany, it’s still all about
seeing...and allowing what we see to change and shape us…</span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Lucida Sans, sans-serif;">I
find myself transported unexpectedly back to my childhood, and to the
large crucifix that hung outside a local church…As we travelled
home by bus, I would find myself on eye level with the words carved
beneath</span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">“<span style="font-family: Lucida Sans, sans-serif;">Is
it nothing to you, all you that pass by?”...and something in the
power of word and image arrested me every time, making it impossible
to look away….</span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Lucida Sans, sans-serif;">But
how often we choose that route…</span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Lucida Sans, sans-serif;">On
Sunday’s dog walk in the park I was accosted by a man who was
clearly highly disturbed and anything but happy. He was standing next
to the tennis courts, swearing voluably at those playing and at all
those walking past. I managed to skirt round him on the way out, but
as I headed homeward his imprecations became harder to ignore.</span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">“<span style="font-family: Lucida Sans, sans-serif;">EFF
YOU...and your dog!”</span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Lucida Sans, sans-serif;">I
paused, uncomfortable, out of my depth, but realising that avoidance
was no longer a workable strategy. He was just a few feet away...his
anger and distress at the world hitting me in waves. I stopped,
offered him a few clumsy words to convey that I had at least tried to
listen to his pain</span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Lucida Sans, sans-serif;">He
spotted my collar </span>
</p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">“<span style="font-family: Lucida Sans, sans-serif;">You
a priest?”...His hand went into his pocket. I froze. Was he going
to pull out a knife? No – a fistful of coins...”Take them. Go on.
TAKE THEM”…</span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Lucida Sans, sans-serif;">Which
is why I have a single penny in my coat pocket...the least I could
get away with taking, but somehow enough to satisfy him.</span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Lucida Sans, sans-serif;">As
I moved away, one of the guys playing tennis nearby called over to me</span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">“<span style="font-family: Lucida Sans, sans-serif;">IGNORE
HIM. Don’t engage with him. Don’t looks as if you’ve seen him”</span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Lucida Sans, sans-serif;">But
I did. He was there. I couldn’t look away – and in actually
seeing him, saw something of Christ in pain in his broken, suffering
child…</span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Lucida Sans, sans-serif;">Is
it nothing to you?</span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Lucida Sans, sans-serif;">Before
we see the Son of Man coming in clouds and great glory, we need to
learn to see him in the broken, the weary, the discomforting
situations of our here and now.</span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">“<span style="font-family: Lucida Sans, sans-serif;">Behold
and see”…</span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Lucida Sans, sans-serif;">In
this season of Epiphany may we see indeed – may we read the signs
of the times and respond before its too late.</span></p>Kathrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09171138485811816831noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876613.post-36248037028102309682023-12-17T15:55:00.004+00:002023-12-17T15:55:40.286+00:00Advent 3B at Southwark Cathedral 17th December 2023<p><span style="font-family: arial;"> Today all our readings are full of music. We have Elgar "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me", Gibbons "This is the Record of John" and Purcell et al inviting us to "Rejoice in the Lord alway"...wonderfully appropriate for this Gaudete Sunday, when, were we wrapped in heavy-duty penitence, we might cast it aside briefly to break into pink vestments to express our joy.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">But - what is there to rejoice at, - in our world or in our worship in this troubled and troubling season? Can we rejoice at all?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">I'd say we certainly can. There's much to celebrate in our life as a community here. One of my personal highlights in all the
busyness of these first 3 months at Southwark is undoubtedly that service of
Compline which the Merbecke choir sang under the Museum of the Moon. Listening
to the music of ancient prayers said and sung so beautifully, in
this space where so many have brought their hopes and fears, under the peaceful
light of Luke Jerram’s great moon was a truly wonderful, joy-filled experience that I will
treasure for some time.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">But the amazing thing about the real moon, of
course, is that of itself it has no light at all.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">It shines only with the reflected light of the
sun.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">If that light were extinguished, among many other problems, the moon
itself would be all darkness.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><o:p> </o:p>And here in today’s gospel John the Baptist
stands as the moon, to the sun that is Jesus.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>He was not that light, but was sent to bear
witness to that light….</i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">He bore witness because he too shone with
reflected glory….and he at least was in no doubt that his role in the gospel
was not centre stage. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">He was not that light but was sent to bear
witness...<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">His calling was to be a sign, pointing the way
to Jesus.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">We too share his calling to reflect the light
of Christ and to so shine that others can see the way…<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>There was a man sent from God whose name was
John.</i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Not much of an introduction, but then John was
not one who cared about such things. He stepped out of his priestly heritage,
shrugged off the wonders that surrounded his own birth.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">You could imagine him saying, again and again
“It’s not about me”.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">John was quite happy with a life of wandering
in the wilderness, rough, unfashionable clothes, basic food, and an
unshakeable, uncompromising message.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><o:p> </o:p>Uncompromising, but compelling.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">So compelling that people assumed that he must
be the Messiah, and we completely nonplussed when John said, <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>"No” </b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">That silences the questioners for a moment, but
then they are off again.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">“Well, if it’s not you, where IS the Messiah?
He must be close, if prophets like you are abroad.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">"He is here. He is among you," says
John. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">And that was almost as startling as anything
that had gone before. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Imagine, you have been waiting and watching for
the Messiah all your life long, your people have looked for him for centuries,
and now you are told that he’s hear among you already. Surely not…<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">The Messiah arriving unrecognised? Unthinkable…<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><o:p> </o:p>But John is insistent, absolutely confident
that he has heard God aright, and that he knows his own place in God’s script
of salvation.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Thus he can say, with no false modesty,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">"I am the voice crying in the wilderness...As Isaiah foretold, the day of the Lord IS coming. Get ready..."</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText2"><span style="font-family: arial;">John´s message is compelling, right enough. He believes it himself and is wholly committed
to his task, in the tradition of the great Old Testament prophets.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">His claim to be the voice of one crying in the
wilderness, <i>'Make
straight the way for the Lord,'</i> immediately aligns
him with Isaiah as his authority. This inheritance absolutely real to John, and the
authority that he received from God shone in his commanding words.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">And of course, John´s message is so compelling, so authoritative, because, above all, he points away from himself towards Jesus. That’s
the foundation for everything, - all that he preaches, all that he does, all
that he is</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><o:p> </o:p>He is the moon, not the sun, remember..."Not that light"... <i>"Among
you stands one whom you do not know, the one who is coming after me; I am not
worthy to untie the thong of his sandal."</i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">And this is the mark of all those who aspire to
preach the true Gospel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-family: arial;">We must remember always that the Gospel is all about
Jesus, the Jesus who took as his mission statement, when he preached in the
synagogue at Nazareth, these very words of Isaiah.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“The spirit of the
Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to preach the gospel..”</i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">John points to Jesus, and Jesus comes, not with
a teaching which would imprison us with fear, not with words which would tie us
up in knots, but with tidings of great joy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">As the way is made straight, as our lives are
put right, so we can know that the good news of hope and freedom is for us as
well. This is the promise we hear in Isaiah.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText2"><span style="font-family: arial;">"He has sent me to bring the good news to the
oppressed, to bind up the broken-hearted; to proclaim liberty to captives and
release to the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord´s favour."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>"to give them a garland instead of
ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><o:p> </o:p></i>Isn’t that fabulous?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">This, surely, is the central core of our
gospel, the heart of the church's ministry. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Healing for the broken-hearted. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Liberty for the
captives.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><o:p> </o:p>And yet so people can be imprisoned by
religion rather than freed by it. It’s not a coincidence that many assert that
the root of the word comes from the Latin “religare” ,to bind...though that
binding can, at its best, be a benevolent banding together of those drawn by a system of
belief. Not always, though.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">At its worst, religion really CAN imprison. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">We’ve seen this recently during those synod debates that set out to determine
who might be in and who out, or where the most pure doctrine might be found. It’s
always a risk when you travel with those of like minds...Its all too easy to
strengthen your own position by building relationships based on
exclusion...whether on account of gender or sexual orientation, youth or age, or
preferences in worship.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">When that happens, it's not good news at all.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Emphatically not the gospel. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">In case of doubt let me remind you - the gospel
is not about legalism, but about liberation, justice and joy. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">The year of the Lord’s favour.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">It is not about hierarchy but about equality
and inclusion. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">It is not about fear but about freedom,
security and hope<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">It is without doubt GOOD news – the best
possible !<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">THAT is what John points towards. THAT is what
Jesus preached, in word and in deed. And – that is our calling.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><o:p> </o:p>John stands as a model for us.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-family: arial;">We share his task, to witness to Christ in our lives, our
words, our actions…To speak good news and to be good news as well, hoore in
this cathedral for sure, but yet more when we go out into our working weeks,
into the flurry of last-minute busyness, the tetchyness of weary crowds.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-family: arial;">Like John we are to point to Christ, knowing that any
light we may bear is not ours but reflected from him alone…We might be
surprised to find that in doing that we become surprisingly beautiful, - as
beautiful as the moon on a cloudless night, away from the heart of the city.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-family: arial;">When you get home, please do read the gospel again, and
put yourself in the place where John stands<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">There was a man (or woman) sent from God, whose
name was ...<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">May God strengthen us as we witness to the Good
News each day.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></o:p></p>Kathrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09171138485811816831noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876613.post-36460953567904288122023-11-13T09:28:00.004+00:002023-11-13T09:28:57.422+00:00Sermon for Remembrance Sunday, 12 the November 2023 at Southwark Cathedral <p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">History repeats itself.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">It has to. No-one listens.</span></p><br /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I have used those words as a tag, a way in to preaching on Remembrance Sunday time after time but they have rarely seemed more poignant. Even a few seconds engaging with world news reminds us so forcibly that the peace that we might have imagined was largely secure in most of the world is far more fragile than we hoped. I prepared this sermon having not heard the day’s news, but certain that it would be terrible. We seem to be living in a smouldering world that might yet burst into flames around us…</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">History repeats itself. It has to. No-one listens.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">So, what is the value of today if humanity refuses to learn the lessons of history and turns away from the radiance of wisdom...and what on earth are we to do with those 10 bridesmaids, gathered in their wedding finery just outside the door?</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">That question, unsurprisingly , took me back to my son’s wedding here in Southwark in April. It was all very beautiful...the music, the space, the sheer volume of love for Jack and Rachel that filled the building to overflowing. And yes, of course, there were bridesmaids, looking fabulous as they followed Rachel down the aisle.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">But that is not why they are important to us as a family. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Each of those friends is someone who had shown love and care for the bride and groom through some very tough times...who had been responsive to cries for help, quick to meet needs that were sometimes hard to put into words.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Theirs was an active role, lived out over months and years</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">And as the parable reminds us, to be a bridesmaid escorting a delayed groom also needs care and attention, forethought and preparation. It’s absolutely not about being passively decorative and hoping for the best. There is work to be done if we are ever to celebrate. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The parable invites us to be ready to take our place in the kingdom of God, that place of justice and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit…</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">But how can we get ready in this broken, angry world, where the lessons of peace seem to be beyond us? We have prayed for it, looked for it, longed for it to arrive – and yet, we’re still waiting.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Perhaps we’ve imagined that the responsibility lies elsewhere. Perhaps with our friends from the Services whom we have welcomed today.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">After all, one middle-aged cleric singing Evensong doesn’t have much power., no matter how often she sings “Give peace in our time, O Lord”…</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Should I just keep singing, and do nothing else, in the hope that my song might drown out the cries of fear and pain that are echoing outside?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">To do that is surely to make our Remembrance worthless, to dishonour the memory of the dead by losing sight of the purpose of their sacrifice.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">We have to be willing to be changed ourselves, if we want to change the world</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Mahatma Gandhi understood this writing</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Liberation Serif"; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Peace is not something you wish for</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">It is something that you make, something you do, something you are, something you give away</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Peace is something you ARE.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Woh</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">That’s a challenge, is it not? And yet, Christ has promised us the gift of his peace...if we can only open ourselves to receive it.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">But that process of opening will repeatedly demand that we give up bits of ourselves...habits of heart and mind, small seeds of unkindness, growing plants of selfishness that let us believe that somehow, our own needs, our own agendas have more value, more justification than those of others.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">And there may be other things to be set aside, - things that are good in themselves, but which we need to give away, as individuals or as communities, on our journey to the greater good of ultimate reconciliation. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Even as we stand at the war-memorial and ponder the names and dates of those who died too soon, it matters that we remember those who were “the enemy” - but whose deaths were as painful, whose loss was felt as deeply, who were every bit as truly the victims of war as our own heroes.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I don’t say that lightly – but I’m convinced that we won’t end war until we come to really understand the equal humanity of those whom circumstance has placed as the “other”.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I am not sure how the conversation would have gone with my own father, injured by the Japanese in Burma, still less sure if I would dare to speak thus on the streets of Jerusalem or amid the broken chaos of Gaza.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">But when we only see the issues, and not the people, we’re horribly, cataclysmically stuck so we need to find a way to change our lens.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Being a peace-maker, and a peace-keeper is hard and costly. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The Mennonite theologian John Paul Lederach, who has written and worked extensively on reconciliation tells us that we will only truly arrive as reconcilers when our own constituency believes that we have betrayed them…</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">in other words, what he refers to as conflict transformation will provide us with a new set of lenses through which to view both the presenting problems and their underlying meaning. This matters because, to reach peace, we need to be able to look hard at the triggers for war, in ourselves and in others, to look behind and beyond those to explore relationships at a deeper level and then we need imaginative, distance lenses to help us see how the world COULD be.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The problem with Remembrance-tide is that inevitably it invites us to look back, - and though that can sometimes help us to learn from history, as we’ve established, it doesn’t in itself make us creators of peace. But re-membering means bringing the scattered pieces of the past into our present – where we are invited to take a serious look at ourselves, and establish whether we are part of the problem or its solution.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">That’s a choice. We can join the sleeping bridesmaids and leave the work of peacemaking to others but it seems to me that to do that is to condemn ourselves and countless others to a remembrance that is soaked in the blood of today’s wars, </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Or we can consider what actions we can take, what tools we might need to find, what oil should fill our lamps to help us set out on a journey of peace-making. That probably won’t involve you or me heading off to a war zone to stand as a human shield, though I do know a couple of people who have done just that. However, it’s more likely to mean that we have to confront our negative feelings about that former colleague, that awkward relative, those siblings in Christ whose interpretation of Scripture differs radically from our own., and invite the Holy Spirit to help us look beyond the issues til we can recognise and love the face of Christ in each. </span></p><br />Kathrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09171138485811816831noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876613.post-13838109570853380702023-11-06T16:46:00.000+00:002023-11-06T16:46:07.585+00:00Sermon preached at Cathedral Evensong on All Saints Sunday, 5th November 2023 Isaiah 65 & Hebrews 11 & 12<p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Say what you
like about the author of Hebrewsl...he’s nothing if not logical!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">On this All
Saints Sunday we’ve been given snapshots of the stories of some of the heroes
of the faith, and reminded that they represent unfinished business, since their
company and their story is incomplete without US…</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">The evidence is
amassed in Chapter 11 and then, after perhaps the briefest pause for
reflection, chapter 12 begins with a triumphantly assertive THEREFORE, answering
any question that might have been lurking at the back of our minds<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">“So they did!
So what?!”</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">“THEREFORE
since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses….”<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Our ancestors
in faith, men and women whose spiritual DNA should run in our blood, firing us
up to follow in their footsteps. On a good day, it’s easy to answer the “so
what?” question as we stretch out willing hands to receive the baton...to join
in the children’s hymn with conviction…</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="color: #0a3f64; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"> </span><i><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">I sing a song of the saints of God,<br />
patient and brave and true,<br />
who toiled and fought and lived and died<br />
for the Lord they loved and knew.<br />
And one was a doctor, and one was a queen,<br />
and one was a shepherdess on the green:<br />
they were all of them saints of God, and <b>I mean,<br />
God helping, to be one too.</b></span><o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Oh yes. We’re<span style="color: #0a3f64;"> called to be saints. Let’s get on with it, right here
and right now. Where do I sign?</span></span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Except – did
you notice how many of them had a pretty miserable time of it. - tortured,
mocked, flogged, stoned, sawn in two</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">This is not
really the stuff of stained glass windows, nor, if I’m honest, the kind of
adventure I really long to sign up for. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Physical
courage isn’t my forte…</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">I’m inclined to
agree with S Theresa of Avila, who famously said </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">“If that is the
way you treat your friends, Lord, it’s not surprising you have so few of them”</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">And yet – and
yet – we ARE surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses...and the courage that
filled the hearts of the martyrs of old burns bright in God’s Church even
today.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Behind me in
front of the high altar the Tears of Gold exhibition illustrates this
powerfully.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">I’m sure many
of you will remember the horrific news in 2014 that school-girls had been
kidnapped by the terrorist group Boku Harem</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">The world was,
rightly, outraged and we prayed for those young women in many of our churches
for weeks on end. Now some of those stories have faces. .In the Sanctuary there
are self-portraits of some of those Nigerian Christian women, created as they
began to process their traumatic experiences, and to look for healing and hope.
In each self portrait, the woman weeps, - but she weeps tears of gold, a
reminder that the God who holds all our tears in their bottle, treasures each
woman and their story of faith and courage.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">For now the
tears are all too real. The pain of the world is acute today, and our pictures
give but the tiniest glimpse of it, but our first reading gives us a promise
that God is not oblivious to that suffering, but hears the cries of God’s
persecuted children.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“no more shall the sound of weeping be
heard...or the cry of distress” </span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">we
are told.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">The picture of
hope in Isaiah’s prophecy takes us into the same realm<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>of realised perfection that we will meet
later, in Revelation 21, where what is broken is restored, what has been lost
recovered, where the future is secure <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">“<i>They shall
build houses and inhabit them</i>”...and where even the natural instincts of
fallen creation are transformed.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">“The wolf
and the lamb shall feed together and the lion shall eat straw like the ox….They
shall not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain”</span><o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">A parallel
transformation is expressed in our exhibition through the art of Hannah Rose
Thomas which stands side by side those self-portraits. Those rather naive,
childish images, the ways in which the women see themselves, are turned into
something very different as Hannah Rose writes them afresh as parallel icons. Their
stories of suffering become windows for the soul, enabling us to look through
the likeness, the brushstrokes, colours and shapes, to glimpse the deeper
mystery and meaning of God’s love. </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">As we pause, look, and
listen with our hearts, we are changed and perhaps those unspeakable
experiences, and that untold courage seems less remote, less unattainable,
after all. </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Many
have called icons windows for the soul. The word “icon” comes from the Greek
for image or likeness. And, as I’ve shared, God’s image and likeness can be
found everywhere. Icons—and other forms of art—are invitations to look beyond
the brushstrokes, colours, and shapes to the deeper mystery and meaning. If we
take the time, we may all glimpse God;s face gazing back at us, as we gaze at
these beloved daughters.</span><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">My
favourite All Saints story is the apocryphal one of a Sunday-school child who
was being quizzed by the vicar about what he had learned in their session that
All Saints morning. Looking wildly around he spotted a halo’d being in the
nearest window and announced “A saint is someone that the light shines through</span><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">I’ve
always loved that...because, you see, though there are so many tales of great
heroism to be told within the Church of today as much as that of the past, in
the end its not our stories that matter. Each of those women at the altar would
see themselves, I’m sure, as very ordinary, just as each and every Christian
persecuted for their faith in every age would, just as that great cloud of
witnesses would...…just as you and I do.</span><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: work-sans; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: work-sans; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">And
yet, by God’s grace shining through us, each of us CAN be a sign of hope, of
courage, of loving-kindness...building up the Church to be all that she is
called to be<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">I sing a song
of the saints of God,<br />
patient and brave and true,<br />
who toiled and fought and lived and died<br />
for the Lord they loved and knew.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><b>They were all of them saints of God and I mean<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God helping, to be
one too.<o:p></o:p></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Amen.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #032939; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #032939; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><br /><p></p>Kathrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09171138485811816831noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876613.post-66343899730837930492023-10-14T11:48:00.000+01:002023-10-14T11:48:18.931+01:00Be careful for nothing - sermon for St Hugh's, Proper 23, Trinity 19, 15th October 2023<p> </p><p align="left" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">For
a long time I had on the pinboard over my desk a cartoon by Simon
Drew.</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;"> It depicted a small terrier standing on top of an impressive
table tomb, with several thinks bubbles emerging from his head</span></p>
<p align="left" style="font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="border: 1px solid #dddddd; display: inline-block; padding: 0.4cm 0.53cm;"><span style="background: #ffffff;"><span style="color: #333333;">“<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Will
I be able to pay off my credit card”</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p align="left" style="font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="border: 1px solid #dddddd; display: inline-block; padding: 0.4cm 0.53cm;"><span style="background: #ffffff;"><span style="color: #333333;">“<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Did
I leave the gas on?”</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p align="left" style="font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="border: 1px solid #dddddd; display: inline-block; padding: 0.4cm 0.53cm;"><span style="background: #ffffff;"><span style="color: #333333;">“<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Whatever
can I do about </span></span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">climate
change</span></span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">…”</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p align="left" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="border: 1px solid #dddddd; display: inline-block; padding: 0.4cm 0.53cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: #ffffff;"><span style="color: #333333;">Beneath
was the caption</span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p align="left" style="font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="border: 1px solid #dddddd; display: inline-block; padding: 0.4cm 0.53cm;"><span style="background: #ffffff;"><span style="color: #333333;">“<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">The
tomb of the unknown worrier”</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p align="left" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p align="left" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="border: 1px solid #dddddd; display: inline-block; padding: 0.4cm 0.53cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: #ffffff;"><span style="color: #333333;">You
see, I'm rather good at that kind of worrying myself – and this
past week has given us all ample opportunity not just to worry, but,
as we hear more and more about events in the Holy Land, to be
fearful, almost to the point of despair</span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p align="left" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="border: 1px solid #dddddd; display: inline-block; padding: 0.4cm 0.53cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: #ffffff;"><span style="color: #333333;">That's
rather a shame, really, because Paul says that this should not be an
option for me as a Christian.</span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p align="left" style="font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="border: 1px solid #dddddd; display: inline-block; padding: 0.4cm 0.53cm;"><span style="background: #ffffff;"><span style="color: #333333;">“<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Do
not worry about anything”</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p align="left" style="font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="border: 1px solid #dddddd; display: inline-block; padding: 0.4cm 0.53cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background: #ffffff;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">ANYTHING?
REALLY? When the world seems to be teetering on the edge of war, the
climate is well and truly </span></span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">traumatised
and the idea of turning on the heating if temperatures drop is giving
far too many people sleepless nights as they contemplate the cost of
living.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p align="left" style="font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="border: 1px solid #dddddd; display: inline-block; padding: 0.4cm 0.53cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background: #ffffff;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Rejoice?
Don’t worry?</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p align="left" style="font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="border: 1px solid #dddddd; display: inline-block; padding: 0.4cm 0.53cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background: #ffffff;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Paul
– WHAT ARE YOU ON?</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p align="left" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="border: 1px solid #dddddd; display: inline-block; padding: 0.4cm 0.53cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: #ffffff;"><span style="color: #333333;">To
be fair, Paul doesn’t simply forbid us to worry.</span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p align="left" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="border: 1px solid #dddddd; display: inline-block; padding: 0.4cm 0.53cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: #ffffff;"><span style="color: #333333;">He
gives us an alternative programme to follow, as he encourages us</span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p align="left" style="font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="border: 1px solid #dddddd; display: inline-block; padding: 0.4cm 0.53cm;"><span style="background: #ffffff;"><span style="color: #333333;">“<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">rejoice
in the Lord always, and by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving
to let your requests be made known to God.”</span></i></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p align="left" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="border: 1px solid #dddddd; display: inline-block; padding: 0.4cm 0.53cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: #ffffff;"><span style="color: #333333;">He's
looking for hearts and minds transformed, it seems...and it all
begins with joy.</span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p align="left" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="border: 1px solid #dddddd; display: inline-block; padding: 0.4cm 0.53cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: #ffffff;"><span style="color: #333333;"><i>"Rejoice!"</i> Not
just once, but again...</span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p align="left" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="border: 1px solid #dddddd; display: inline-block; padding: 0.4cm 0.53cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: #ffffff;"><span style="color: #333333;">look
to the things that give you joy – focus on all that is good, and
remember that we have the all-time best reason to be cheerful. THE
LORD IS AT HAND!</span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p align="left" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="border: 1px solid #dddddd; display: inline-block; padding: 0.4cm 0.53cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: #ffffff;"><span style="color: #333333;">That
doesn't mean we all have to turn into Pollyanna's, pretending that
everything is just fine when we're surrounded by real and serious
problems…Though we might at first read it this way, Paul isn’t
acting as a kind of spiritual cheer-leader, insisting on an upbeat
response to any and every grief. He is writing to a church filled
with doubt and fear, amidst a crooked generation in an aggressively
evil environment. Remember the passage began with him telling two
good people to fix their relationship...He knows that life in
Philippi is a struggle, with in-fighting and persecution. There is no
shortage of things to fret about, and yet Paul insists, “<i>Rejoice
in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice.”</i></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p align="left" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="border: 1px solid #dddddd; display: inline-block; padding: 0.4cm 0.53cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: #ffffff;"><span style="color: #333333;">I
don't know how the Philippians took that – I'm often frustrated
that we don't get to hear the response to all those New Testament
letters – but I suspect they may have snorted in derision at first,
that they might not have been much better at living a joy-filled life
than I am myself.</span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p align="left" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p align="left" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="border: 1px solid #dddddd; display: inline-block; padding: 0.4cm 0.53cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: #ffffff;"><span style="color: #333333;">You
see, the sad truth is, that often Christianity seems to be a religion
for kill-joys...People imagine that we spend most of our time
focussing on the things we can't do, and disapproving of those who do
them anyway – and it's certainly true that opting to follow Jesus
isn't a recipe for an easy life. Everything from our relationships to
our shopping habits may need to change...It's hard work...and for
those who focus on the external sources of happiness, it just doesn't
make sense. But the thing is that joy exists independent of the
environment and will persist through any and all circumstances –
because it doesn't depend on them.</span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p align="left" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="border: 1px solid #dddddd; display: inline-block; padding: 0.4cm 0.53cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: #ffffff;"><span style="color: #333333;">The
secret to joy is not to look at the circumstances of your own life.
Focus instead on Christ and his work in you. Now it begins to make
sense.</span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p align="left" style="font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="border: 1px solid #dddddd; display: inline-block; padding: 0.4cm 0.53cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><span style="background: #ffffff;"><span style="color: #333333;">Don’t
worry…Be careful for nothing.</span></span></i></span></span></span></p>
<p align="left" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="border: 1px solid #dddddd; display: inline-block; padding: 0.4cm 0.53cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: #ffffff;"><span style="color: #333333;">This
does not mean “Be careLESS of everything” but rather do not be
worn down by anxiety…</span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p align="left" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="border: 1px solid #dddddd; display: inline-block; padding: 0.4cm 0.53cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: #ffffff;"><span style="color: #333333;"><i>"Present
your requests to God"</i> Let God know specifically what
troubles you – what your needs are –No matter what is going on,
in all things PRAY!</span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p align="left" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="border: 1px solid #dddddd; display: inline-block; padding: 0.4cm 0.53cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: #ffffff;"><span style="color: #333333;">Suddenly
this seems a slightly better reading in this week of terrible news.</span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p align="left" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="border: 1px solid #dddddd; display: inline-block; padding: 0.4cm 0.53cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: #ffffff;"><span style="color: #333333;">This
reading is often used at Rogation services, when communities
tradtionally gather to ask God's blessing on the sowing of
seeds...and that's the perfect illustration, really, since planting a
seed is always and everywhere an act of faith. How can something so
small and fragile carry within it all it needs for fruitful life? How
can burying that tiny fragment in the ground lead to the growth of a
whole new plant, just like its parent? Clearly with the planting of
each and every seed, we find ourselves in the realm of miracle…and
it's so as we plant the tiniest seeds of faithful prayer.</span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p align="left" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p align="left" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="border: 1px solid #dddddd; display: inline-block; padding: 0.4cm 0.53cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: #ffffff;"><span style="color: #333333;">Yes,
these ARE dark and difficult days. The world is messed up in ways
beyond all telling – and worry might seem the most rational
response, though we know for ourselves that it achieves very very
litt.e</span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p align="left" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="border: 1px solid #dddddd; display: inline-block; padding: 0.4cm 0.53cm;"><span style="background: #ffffff;"><span style="color: #333333;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">But
we have an alternative...</span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p align="left" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="border: 1px solid #dddddd; display: inline-block; padding: 0.4cm 0.53cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: #ffffff;"><span style="color: #333333;">However
ridiculous, however inadequate it may seem, we have the choice to
carry on praying even when it seems to be a completely fruitless
activity.</span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p align="left" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="border: 1px solid #dddddd; display: inline-block; padding: 0.4cm 0.53cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: #ffffff;"><span style="color: #333333;">Just
as planting a seed involves us in a process of patient waiting while
nothing much happens, we have to believe that a similar process will
see prayers answered, if we wait in hope.</span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p align="left" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="border: 1px solid #dddddd; display: inline-block; padding: 0.4cm 0.53cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: #ffffff;"><span style="color: #333333;">And
as we wait – there's good news, news of God's peace which
"Transcends all understanding"...of a peace beyond human
reason or logic,- the peace of knowing God's presence and protection.</span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p align="left" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="border: 1px solid #dddddd; display: inline-block; padding: 0.4cm 0.53cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: #ffffff;"><span style="color: #333333;">So
a seed of prayer sown, leads to the miracle of a mind transformed.</span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p align="left" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="border: 1px solid #dddddd; display: inline-block; padding: 0.4cm 0.53cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: #ffffff;"><span style="color: #333333;">As
the peace of God comes to occupy the place anxiety once held!</span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p align="left" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p align="left" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="border: 1px solid #dddddd; display: inline-block; padding: 0.4cm 0.53cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: #ffffff;"><span style="color: #333333;">That's
what happens when we pray in joyful hope.</span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p align="left" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="border: 1px solid #dddddd; display: inline-block; padding: 0.4cm 0.53cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: #ffffff;"><span style="color: #333333;">We
pray and God plants a seed within us, diverting our attention from
those things which cause us pointless anxiety, which drain our
energies and rob us of our sleep. Instead we can focus on</span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p align="left" style="font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="border: 1px solid #dddddd; display: inline-block; padding: 0.4cm 0.53cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><span style="background: #ffffff;"><span style="color: #333333;">whatever
is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure,</span></span></i></span></span></span></p>
<p align="left" style="font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="border: 1px solid #dddddd; display: inline-block; padding: 0.4cm 0.53cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><span style="background: #ffffff;"><span style="color: #333333;">whatever
is lovely, whatever is admirable...</span></span></i></span></span></span></p>
<p align="left" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="border: 1px solid #dddddd; display: inline-block; padding: 0.4cm 0.53cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: #ffffff;"><span style="color: #333333;">Doesn't
that sound better as a response to the 3 a.m. devils?</span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p align="left" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p align="left" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="border: 1px solid #dddddd; display: inline-block; padding: 0.4cm 0.53cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: #ffffff;"><span style="color: #333333;">So
here is Paul’s prescription – his four part antidote to anxiety.</span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p align="left" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="border: 1px solid #dddddd; display: inline-block; padding: 0.4cm 0.53cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: #ffffff;"><span style="color: #333333;">Change
your attitude - Rejoice! all shall be well, for God is in charge!</span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p align="left" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="border: 1px solid #dddddd; display: inline-block; padding: 0.4cm 0.53cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: #ffffff;"><span style="color: #333333;">Do
things differently - in everything – absolutely everything – give
thanks and pray! Ask for what you need, and it will be given to you</span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p align="left" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="border: 1px solid #dddddd; display: inline-block; padding: 0.4cm 0.53cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: #ffffff;"><span style="color: #333333;">Wait
for your answer and instead of worry, you will experience the peace
of God!</span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p align="left" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="border: 1px solid #dddddd; display: inline-block; padding: 0.4cm 0.53cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: #ffffff;"><span style="color: #333333;">And
while you wait, think of all the gifts and blessings that surround
you.</span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p align="left" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="border: 1px solid #dddddd; display: inline-block; padding: 0.4cm 0.53cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: #ffffff;"><span style="color: #333333;">Even
in the darkest hours, I hope you’ll agree that this is so much
better than immuring ourselves in the tomb of the unknown
worrier...so let's pray that through God's transforming power the
small nugget of belief, the vestige of faith the size of a mustard
seed, that we bring to the table may flourish and grow, so that as
the body of Christ in this place we may be full of that irrepressible
joy of which Paul writes, as we live lives grounded in the peace that
is beyond our reason, beyond all understanding.</span></span></span></span></span></p>Kathrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09171138485811816831noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876613.post-63453250762130477592023-10-09T12:59:00.001+01:002023-10-09T12:59:16.500+01:00Thought for the day 4th October 2023<p>Until a few weeks ago, I was part of the clergy team at Coventry Cathedral, where my favourite place to pray was the Chapel of Christ in Gethsemane. It is separated from the retro choir by an iron grille shaped as a crown of thorns, and behind the small stone altar glitters a huge mosaic of the angel of the agony. That angel dwarfs even the tallest who stand there and the cup of suffering the angel bears seems big enough to contain all the pain of the world.</p><p>To preside there, and to lift the chalice at the point of consecration is to stand very firmly amid the tide of God's loving purposes worked out through history.</p><p>But in contrast to the glittering splendour of the angel on the other wall there is a tangled mess of greyness, another less glamorous mosaic that depicts a heap of sleeping disciples who are so easy to overlook that it's often necessary to take visitors up behind the altar if they are to recognise them at all.</p><p>They might as well not be there it seems.</p><p>Their presence adds no more to the art work than did the men themselves to the outcome of events on that first Maundy Thursday. Everything that needs to happen is played out as Christ wrestles with just what it means to surrender his own will to the will of his Father. The sleepong disciples are irrelevant</p><p>Except, perhaps, for people like us.</p><p>You see, that is the Chapel where I have struggled to stay awake as the minutes crawled in towards the midnight of the Maundy Watch. It is the Chapel where Christ, present in the Blessed Sacrament, lovingly leads me to acknowledge the myriad ways in which I have failed him, denied him, promised much yet failed to deliver. Like Peter I'm quick to jump in and declare my love, like Peter my passionate devotion is shortlived. I aspire to spend the night in prayer but find myself distracted by aching knees, or trying desperately to suppress yawns that are at odds with my longing to be holy. But I AM still there</p><p>That's when I'm glad of those sleeping disciples. Despite everything they remain part of the story, even as they doze on the edge of the action,.</p><p>These are the people who in just a few weeks time, filled with the Spirit, will set out to change the world.</p><p>And if God can use them, - well, it seems God can use us too.</p><p><br /></p>Kathrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09171138485811816831noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876613.post-25441025825580392702023-09-20T21:36:00.000+01:002023-09-20T21:36:01.474+01:00Thought for day - Matthew, apostle and evangelist. 23/9/23<p> </p><p class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Once
upon a time, while I was training for ministry, I had a conversation
that I have never forgotten with a student, whose tradition was far
more evangelical than my own. I found myself apologising that, coming
from a liberal catholic background, I feared that my relationship
with the Bible was nothing like a robust as his – but, bless him,
he was having none of it. </span>
</p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">You
pray the office daily, don’t you</span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">AND
you have sung in church and chapel choirs all your life</span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Add
to that your background in English Literature and 7ou have probably
spent far longer immersed in Scripture than I have – it’s just
that you live in that immersion, instead of sitting down to engage
consciously in Bible study.</span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Rather
to my own surprise, I had to admit that he was right. Whereas some
English literature degree courses now include an introductory Bible
familiarisation programme, to ensure that students aren’t
completely oblivious to the influences that shaped much of the
writing they will study, even the atheists among my contemporaries
had at least a working knowledge of Scripture, though they would
never have claimed a special status for those texts. We lived in a
world where we had, as Paul reminds Timothy, “known the sacred
writings that ARE ABLE to instruct you for salvation”…</span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Whether
they do or not surely depends on how you use these texts. </span>
</p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">If
they are treated as just another body of historic writing, important
in its day but not really relevant, - then that is how it will
remain. It is only, as Paul points out, when we combine knowledge of
Scripture with faith in Christ Jesus that the words awaken to their
full life and power.</span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I
wonder how you respond to the famous declaration “All scripture is
inspired by God”</span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">It
is, when you pause to think about it, slightly ironic that many use
this phrase, itself surely subject to the same process of exigesis as
the rest of the Biblical text, as a proof positive of that text’s
surpassing value. An internal system of self-validation may not,
after all, seem to be entirely conclusive – yet there is no doubt
that this book that reads us can change lives.</span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">But,
I would say, it’s not the power of the words alone, however great
their impact. This IS a body of words, collected over many centuries,
an account of the great love story of God and God’s people – and
it does not exist in isolation, to be valued for itself alone.
Rather, the significance comes as we ask my favourite “So what! “
question once more.</span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">All
Scripture is inspired by God SO THAT everyone who belongs to God may
be proficient, equipped for every good work.</span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Scripture
helps us to understand how to be the people whom God calls us to be
and, on this feast of Matthew the apostle, we give thanks that God
chooses to tell his story through many different voices, and many
different lives - Jews and Gentiles, Kings and scholars, tax
collectors and sinners. Even, by God’s grace, through you and me.</span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>Kathrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09171138485811816831noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876613.post-51693502731713102152023-09-20T21:33:00.000+01:002023-09-20T21:33:00.021+01:001st sermon for Southwark - The Cathedral Eucharist at 9.00 & 11.00 on Trinity 15, Proper 19A, 17/9/23<p><span style="font-family: arial;">If
you’re a regular at Sunday worship anywhere in the world, you’ll
be conscious of the fact that some Sundays are easier for the
preacher than others. There are days when the appointed readings say
everything that you could possibly want to hear, when readings, music
and sermon alike lift hearts and minds to heaven – and then there
are days like this, which feel a bit different. Left to ourselves, We
probably wouldn’t have chosen a passage that speaks of a
hard-hearted slaves being tortured into a better state of mind (as
the ideal way to welcome Max and Freddie into God’s Church).
Indeed, if we had written the parable, we might have chosen to
rewrite this tale of shocking ingratitude in favour of an overflowing
generosity that paved the way for a wild celebration and the
assurance that “They all lived happily debt free ever after”</span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 108%; margin-bottom: 0.28cm;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Surely,
with Max and Freddie coming to Baptism, it would have been much
better to stick to an uncomplicated celebration of God’s love
unclouded by any sense of human inadequacy. But that’s why we have
the Lectionary. To force us to engage with some of the challenges of
faith, as much as with its joys, and so, – here we are, - with no
escape possible. Forgiveness, judgement, and yet more forgiveness…the
theme runs through all our readings, like the lettering in a stick of
seaside rock – and perhaps after all that is not unhelpful as we
celebrate baptism, and recall our own today. Indeed, in an age where
sin and its remedy, forgiveness, are disturbingly unpalatable
concepts, this may after all be exactly what we need to hear –
whether we want it or not.</span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 108%; margin-bottom: 0.28cm;"><span style="font-family: arial;">So,
let’s dive in together and see if we can wrestle some good news
even here and now.
</span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 108%; margin-bottom: 0.28cm;"><span style="font-family: arial;">It
wasn’t til I began preparing for this sermon that I, rather
belatedly, explored the actual value of the coins we hear about, the
size of the debt forgiven and the payment demanded.
</span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 108%; margin-bottom: 0.28cm;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Let’s
start small. The denarius, I’m told, represents something like a
day’s pay at the living wage: so the funds owed by one slave to
another were substantial – but not, I would say, impossible to
bear. You could imagine how such a debt might have been run up, and
also, how given patience and a following wind, it might even be
repaid if the debtor was free to work, and thus to earn.</span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 108%; margin-bottom: 0.28cm;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Walking
the parish, Dickens in hand, in the days before I was installed, I
found myself remembering those consigned to the Marshelsea Debtors
Prison, - whose arrival there pretty much guaranteed that they would
never be able to work to earn their way out of their predicament.
That penalty landed with special force on the poorest – as it does
in the parable.
</span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 108%; margin-bottom: 0.28cm;"><span style="font-family: arial;">It
seems, then particularly cruel that a slave should be consigned to
prison by a fellow slave – creating a scenario in which both are
losers, freedom forfeited and the slate doomed never to be cleared.</span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 108%; margin-bottom: 0.28cm;"><span style="font-family: arial;">In
contrast we have the transaction between Lord and slave...a
transaction based on the harsh reality of a truly unpayable debt. You
see, a talent was the largest unit of currency in the ancient world –
and ten thousand the biggest number that could be computed. So, to
speak of ten thousand talents is to say “A squillion billion
everythings” an absolutely unimaginable sum… debt beyond
comprehension, and most certainly far beyond any hope of repaying.</span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 108%; margin-bottom: 0.28cm;"><span style="font-family: arial;">And
yet – THAT is the debt that is forgiven.</span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 108%; margin-bottom: 0.28cm;"><span style="font-family: arial;">One
so huge that it defies description.
</span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 108%; margin-bottom: 0.28cm;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Infinite
debt, calling forth infinite forgiveness.
</span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 108%; margin-bottom: 0.28cm;"><span style="font-family: arial;">“As
the heavens are high above the earth, so great is God’s mercy
towards those who fear him”</span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 108%; margin-bottom: 0.28cm;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Ah
hah. I’m beginning to scent that good news which we all need so
badly – and I’m quite tempted to stop right now and leave the
story to do its own work.
</span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 108%; margin-bottom: 0.28cm;"><span style="font-family: arial;">We
have been made fabulously, incomprehensibly rich by God, who writes
off the debt that we have incurred simply by being human.
</span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 108%; margin-bottom: 0.28cm;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The
spotlight reveals God’s forgiveness as unbounded as God’s love,
and it is time to rejoice indeed.</span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 108%; margin-bottom: 0.28cm;"><span style="font-family: arial;">It’s
THIS into which Max and Frederick/Freddie are being baptised.</span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 108%; margin-bottom: 0.28cm;"><span style="font-family: arial;">This
which should bring us up short day after day after day.</span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 108%; margin-bottom: 0.28cm;"><span style="font-family: arial;">But
-what are we going to do once we recognise this, because, you see,
always the gospel invites us to ask the question “So what?”
</span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 108%; margin-bottom: 0.28cm;"><span style="font-family: arial;">As
one commentary puts it “God’s mercy to us is meant as lesson as
well as gift”. We are not to be simply passive recipients but
active transmitters of that grace we receive.</span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 108%; margin-bottom: 0.28cm;"><span style="font-family: arial;">We
know that even fractured, selfish humans CAN forgive. The Joseph
story we heard confirms this and, after all his trials and
adventures, Joseph at least seems to have learned that we can never,
MUST never put ourselves in the place of God, meting out judgement no
matter how justified it may seem. “Though you intended to do harm
to me, God intended it for good” points up once again what can
happen when we put ourselves in the judgement seat, with all our
sadly limited compassion, our puny, inadequate forgiveness.</span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 108%; margin-bottom: 0.28cm;"><span style="font-family: arial;">So
– we receive. We are forgiven. We make a fresh start. So what?</span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 108%; margin-bottom: 0.28cm;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Many
of you will know that until recently I worked at Coventry Cathedral –
and in the bombed ruins of the medieval cathedral of St Michael there
is a statue by Josefina de Vasconelos. Originally intended to depict
the reunion of two victims of war who had traversed the length and
breadth of ravaged Europe to fall into one another’s arms, it has
been re-titled “Reconciliation” . If you don’t know it, do have
a look online later, or I have placed a small replica at the back of
the cathedral this morning…</span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 108%; margin-bottom: 0.28cm;"><span style="font-family: arial;">It
depicts two figures leaning into one another in an embrace, so that
the arch of their bodies forms a bridge between them, and it seems
likely that either would fall without the support of the other. It
seems to me that this, THIS is the model of mutuality God invites us
into, where it is impossible to tell who is forgiving, who forgiven,
for we hold one another up as we acknowledge all our human
imperfections yet find ourselves bound together in our mutual
dependence on God’s grace.</span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 108%; margin-bottom: 0.28cm;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Forgive
us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us can, if it helps,
be turned on its head in a prayer that invites God to help us to use
that infinite forgiveness to remind us how to live day by day.</span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 108%; margin-bottom: 0.28cm;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Forgive
not once, but repeatedly...Don’t keep a tally, imagining that it’s
fine to turn away once a limit has been reached – be it 77 or 70
times 7. Just keep at it, remembering that in the final analysis it’s
actually none of our business. “Whether we live or die, we are the
Lord’s” - and we have ample evidence of the infinite compassion
with which God treats us, in all our frailty.</span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 108%; margin-bottom: 0.28cm;"><span style="font-family: arial;">WE
have all been freed from prison, the walls of the Marshalsea pulled
down – so let us live that way, walking in joy the path of
forgiveness as reconciled and reconciling people.</span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 108%; margin-bottom: 0.28cm;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Thanks
be to God.
</span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 108%; margin-bottom: 0.28cm;"><br />
<br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.49cm; margin-top: 0.49cm;">
<br />
<br />
</p>
<p align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 108%; margin-bottom: 0.28cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<br />
<br />
</p>Kathrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09171138485811816831noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876613.post-20729838186606169422023-07-17T15:07:00.001+01:002023-09-20T21:34:19.964+01:00Final Sermon for Evensong at Coventry Cathedral 16th July 2023<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Forgive me this afternoon if my main object seems to be to
preach, quite literally, to the choir.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">I hope my words may have some relevance elsewhere too, but
let’s start with the singers. Oh my goodness.If you were intent on reducing
your Canon for Worship to helpless tears, congratulations. “I was glad…”
presses pretty much every emotional button I have available – from the wedding
of a dear friend here, to our Diamond Jubilee service – not to mention the many
many times I’ve sung it myself in different choirs and different contexts. And,
always, of course, it does what it says on the jar – so that I was and a I AM
glad that we have come here <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">together</i>
into the house of the Lord….<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Glad – but sad as well. In other words, a bit flayed,
….raw, vulnerable, open to whatever God might want to do in this final Evensong
of our time together. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">And, of course, that is often what music does for us. It
bypasses our defences – of logic, of busyness, of simple inattention – and
forces us to be present and open in the moment. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">And the moment is, most often, where we find that we can
meet with God.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">That’s why this service of Evensong is so important to me,
and why each and every voice in our choirs is doing something that matters even
beyond excellence in performance. St Augustine said that those who sing pray
twice…On a bad day, it may be that we find ourselves substituting singing for
any other kind of engagement in prayer, - but on a good day, music builds
bridges to God like nothing else and expresses the truth of God in ways that
words can simply never aspire to. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">And what is true for you as you sing is true for those who
listen as well. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">We can’t always do faith with our understanding – though
that’s not an invitation to switch your brain off the moment you come in to
worship. But if you don’t see yourself as a person of faith, or if the readings
leave you cold, or with far more questions than answers, the invitation is
simply to let the music take over and do what it does best, transforming the
moment as it opens a window onto eternity.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Yes, our worship will always be inadequate. How could it
not be, when you consider the greatness of a God beyond all words, beyond all
telling? The spiritual writer and mystic Evelyn Underhill knew this when she wrote</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">"If God were small enough to be understood, He would not be big enough to be worshipped"</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">The hymn we will sing very soon recognises that too, with its opening
question<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">“How shall I sing that majesty…” highlighting the gulf
between us, in our human frailty, and the God who has drawn us here<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">But when we worship, when we turn hearts and minds to God,
however much we may struggle with the process, we will find ourselves carried,
if we’re only willing to allow it. Just that tiniest movement towards God
“Where heaven is but once begun”…sweeps us up in the song of praise that
started as the world began, and will continue even beyond its end.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">And, you know, the notes that we have sung together in this
place will resound in God’s heart forever, for God delights in every movement
of the heart towards him. Wherever we are, whatever comes next in our lives, in
this place where prayer has been valid for centuries we have begun the work
that is ours for ever, to magnify the Lord and rejoice in God our Saviour.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">So, let us bless the Lord. Thanks be to God!</span></p>Kathrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09171138485811816831noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876613.post-66615732266268499152023-07-17T14:55:00.005+01:002023-07-17T14:57:26.033+01:00Farewell sermon for the Cathedral Eucharist, Sunday 16th July 2023 <p> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Merciful God, </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">you have prepared for those who love you </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">such good things as pass our understanding: </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">pour into our hearts such love toward you </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">that we, loving you in all things and above all
things, </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">may obtain your promises, </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">which exceed all that we can desire; </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">who is alive and reigns with you, </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">in the unity of the Holy Spirit, </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">one God, now and for ever.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><i><b>Loving you in all things and above all things.</b></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Really, I think that this is what it is all about…the
Eucharist, the Cathedral, ordained ministry, the whole Church in all its wild
wonder and terrible pain. It’s why we are here – not just here in the cathedral
this morning, but why we were created in the first place. That we might learn
to recognise God wherever we turn, and recognising, love with all our hearts<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">And put like that, it sounds so deceptively easy…not least
because the Collect frames that love in terms of aspiration to a reward –
because, of course, that’s how humanity functions. The need for future promises
is never part of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">God’s</i></b> identity. God’s love does not depend on our response, -
not for one moment., - and as we reflect on this morning’s gospel, it’s
probably good to remember that.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">You see, I suspect I’m not the only one who has spent
anxious hours (perhaps not at a stretch – I’m not that pious) wondering what
kind of soil I might be. Usually, I land myself somewhere midway between the
rocky and thorny ground, conscious that many a promising beginning in my
journey of faith has been curtailed because I’ve been just too preoccupied with
other things – sometimes, even with doing things FOR GOD as a priest in God’s
Church. Then there’s time for a bit of self-recrimination, wailing and gnashing
of teeth (I'm good at that) before I am gently reminded that maybe Jesus didn’t intent this
parable as a motivational tool, but simply a reminder of how God <b>is.</b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Here’s the thing. The sower keeps on sowing. Wildly
profligate, flinging the seed- that message of reconciling love – recklessly far
and wide, regardless of the success or otherwise of the process…It’s bonkers by
any human standard. Such a waste! And yet, God keeps on doing it…because it’s
part of who God is. Not just love but outrageous EXTRAVAGANT love.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> Let anyone
with ears listen…<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">You see each seed is always, without fail, a sign of hope. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">That something so small should carry within it such
potential is never less than miraculous, even when our focus is the relatively
ordinary…And yet time and again, despite the inherent risk of sending, perhaps,
a dandelion blowing every which way on the breeze, that potential is eventually
realised. Maybe not in the way we expected, or where we had planned – but
nonetheless, realised as something new comes into being.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">We’ve all watched seeds of hope flourish here in this
place…The hope that Provost Howard voiced in that extraordinary Christmas
message – that his community, shocked, battered, grieving, - would TRY to
banish all thought of vengeance from their hearts and set out to build a
kinder, more Christ-child-like world. Who would have guessed we would still be
telling that story 83 years on? Or what kinds of reconciliation plant would
grow from his vision. Clearly he had both heard and received God’s seeds of
love…<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">But there have been times, too, when we’ve felt the
disappointment of a world and a church that seems largely oblivious to the
words we share day by day, as years have passed without us being noticeably
different from any other community that aspires to much but falls over its own
feet repeatedly. We long to be a reconciled and reconciling people – but
sometimes its hard even to be reconciled to ourselves.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“Be kind to one another, tender-hearted…”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">We know that the plant of kindness doesn’t always grow as
well as it might in our own hearts and souls. Does that mean that we need to
return to that cycle of self-doubt and recrimination which can sometimes trap
us? <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Surely we can trust that the seeds that have been planted
will come to fruition, because they are not ours but God’s…</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">There’s so much inevitability in our first reading. God
speaks…</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: -7.1pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-hyphenate: none;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-themecolor: text1;">My word shall not
return to me empty,<br />
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,<br />
and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: -7.1pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-hyphenate: none;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It’s not down to us, not
dependent on our efforts, our determination to transform ourselves into more
fertile, more productive ground. It’s all going to happen, as surely as the
cycle of the seasons.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: -7.1pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-hyphenate: none;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">During that first spring of
the pandemic, when I’d imagine most of us spent at least some time
contemplating our mortality, I found the sheer beauty of life returning to our
city, the sunshine, the birdsong, the hawthorn blossom, deeply reassuring. It
helped me to remember that while my time here had always been limited, that was
exactly how it should be, that I was only the tiniest part of the great cycle
of creation in which we could recognise God, and that God’s self-revelation in
everything had begun long before humanity and would continue beyond us, in
every corner of the universe, and beyond the farthest star. That’s the promise
we hear expressed in Isaiah…<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: -7.1pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-hyphenate: none;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><sup><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-themecolor: text1;">12</span></sup></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-themecolor: text1;"> </span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-themecolor: text1;">For you shall go out in joy,<br />
and be led back in peace;<br />
the mountains and the hills before you<br />
shall burst into song,<br />
and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.<br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><sup>13</sup></b> Instead of the
thorn shall come up the cypress;<br />
instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle;<br />
and it shall be to the <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Lord</span> for
a memorial,<br />
for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: -7.1pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-hyphenate: none;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-themecolor: text1;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: -7.1pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-hyphenate: none;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">An everlasting sign. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: -7.1pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-hyphenate: none;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">God in all things – there for
us to recognise, there for us to love, - in all things and above all things.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: -7.1pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-hyphenate: none;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Over my years here, there have
been so many moments of recognition for me – yes in our worship, the alchemy of
word and music that transforms again and again; <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>in the beauty of our building and its power to
surprise and subvert…But even more in the stories of fragile hopes and broken
lives entrusted to me along the way…in random acts of kindness from friends and
strangers…in shared moments of silence when we knew beyond doubt that God was
close…<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: -7.1pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-hyphenate: none;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I’m so very grateful for all
those glimpses – and for your part in them, as God’s beloved people here. Long
long ago, Augustine wrote “Life is for love…Time is only that we may find God”
– so let’s pray that Collect once more today, but try to live it every day, to
the glory of God’s name.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: -7.1pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-hyphenate: none;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: -7.1pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-hyphenate: none;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Merciful
God,</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br />
<span style="background: white;">you have prepared for those who love you</span><br />
<span style="background: white;">such good things as pass our understanding:</span><br />
<span style="background: white;">pour into our hearts such love toward you</span><br />
<span style="background: white;">that we, loving you in all things and above all
things,</span><br />
<span style="background: white;">may obtain your promises,</span><br />
<span style="background: white;">which exceed all that we can desire;<br />
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,</span><br />
<span style="background: white;">who is alive and reigns with you,</span><br />
<span style="background: white;">in the unity of the Holy Spirit,</span><br />
<span style="background: white;">one God, now and for ever.</span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>Kathrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09171138485811816831noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876613.post-16942190972470555962023-06-12T07:15:00.003+01:002023-06-12T07:15:46.248+01:00Mercy, not sacrifice, a sermon for the Cathedral Eucharist, 11th June 2023, Proper 5C, 1st after Trinity<p><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Do you look forward to the readings Sunday by Sunday, or do you sometimes catch yourself wondering quite why youre hearing them at all. As you almost certainly know, the readings that we hear are those prescribed by the Church of England, in line with something agreed by many denominations, the Revised Common Lectionary. The point of the lectionary is to ensure that the Church hears and reflects on the fulness of God’s word in Scripture, rather than being tied to the favourite passages of the preacher week after week, even if particularpreachers always seem to end up deliveringthesamemessage. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">You might notice the shape of the lectionary particularly in the way that a 3 year cycle leads us deeper into engagement with each of the gospels in turn, as we move from year A to B to C, - but you may not be conscious of a weekly choice that we make between a “Continuous” track, in which one Old Testament book is followed through, and a “Related” option – because often the relationship between readings is not that obvious. It’s very much in contrast to the days of the ASB, when every Sunday had a theme, so that the preacher might suspect that their work had already been done for them. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Today, though, you would have to try quite hard to miss the connection between our readings – and when we hear the same words aimed at us from two very different contexts in Scripture, I think perhaps we should attend to them.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Listen</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><i>I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice,</i></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><i><br /></i></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><i> the knowledge of God rather than burnt-offerings</i>, God says, speaking through Hosea, while in our gospel Jesus invites us all to </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Go and learn what this means. “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.”</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Do you look forward to the readings Sunday by Sunday, or do you sometimes catch yourself wondering quite why youre hearing them at all. As you almost certainly know, the readings that we hear are those prescribed by the Church of England, in line with something agreed by many denominations, the Revised Common Lectionary. The point of the lectionary is to ensure that the Church hears and reflects on the fulness of God’s word in Scripture, rather than being tied to the favourite passages of the preacher week after week, even if particularpreachers always seem to end up deliveringthesamemessage.
You might notice the shape of the lectionary particularly in the way that a 3 year cycle leads us deeper into engagement with each of the gospels in turn, as we move from year A to B to C, - but you may not be conscious of a weekly choice that we make between a “Continuous” track, in which one Old Testament book is followed through, and a “Related” option – because often the relationship between readings is not that obvious. It’s very much in contrast to the days of the ASB, when every Sunday had a theme, so that the preacher might suspect that their work had already been done for them.
Today, though, you would have to try quite hard to miss the connection between our readings – and when we hear the same words aimed at us from two very different contexts in Scripture, I think perhaps we should attend to them.
Listen
<i>I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice,
the knowledge of God rather than burnt-offerings,</i> God says, speaking through Hosea, while in our gospel Jesus invites us all to</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><i>Go and learn what this means "I desire mercy, not sacrifice"</i></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">It's usually a good plan to obey direct commands from Jesus, so let's go.
Both passages use the Hebrew word “Chesed” – a word which wraps up in itself all the positive attributes of God: love, covenant faithfulness, mercy, grace, kindness, loyalty – and is often used to reflect on God’s generosity towards God’s people. Here, though, we are told to live it ourselves, in acts of devotion and loving-kindness that go beyond the requirements of duty. It is a word that leads us towards grace, setting aside any system of sacrificial payment through which we might atone"for our faults.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">
Better yet, as always, Jesus does not simply tell us how to do life. He models it, so that the encounters in this morning’s gospel provide worked examples. They show us where mercy and sacrifice diverge, and encourage us to consider whether we see ourselves as humble recipients of grace, or independent souls who hope to earn salvation by doing the right thing.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">
So, as we reflect this morning, I’m going to ask my favourite question: where do you find yourself in the story? I’m pretty sure you’re there somewhere.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">
Perhaps Jesus met you in an unlikely context, as he did Matthew at the tax booth. Perhaps he called you, and you just upped and offed in obedience to his voice…You didn’t have anything worth bringing with you, but you knew you had to come. Where have you travelled since with him? Do you still hear him loud and clear? Does his call inspire glad obedience or reluctance? Are you mainly conscious of the reach of his mercy, encompassing you, or of the demands of faith, the sacrifices that drive tax collectors from their booths and force them, force you, to rethink your life choices? Maybe you even felt that his mercy was contingent on your sacrifice? That can be an easy mistake to make.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">
Perhaps, though, you’re currently rather disappointed in Jesus. Does his choice of friends bewilder you? Wouldn’t it be easier, really, if he confined his attention to people on the inside…those whose behaviour we can monitor and control, those whose way of being chimes with our own. Do you find yourself asking, in the quiet of your heart, what on earth Jesus sees in someone like X? Does he HAVE to be so undiscriminating?</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">
Heres the rub Mercy, not sacrifice. Not even if the sacrifice is one enshrined in all that you understand of religious practice. Not even if you’ve spent all your days in steadfast obedience to laws enshrined by common consent. This, - THIS – is the way we do things here…</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">
Hard though it may seem – that’s just not how it works. Forget about playing by the rules and earning your place at the table. This is an absolutely open invitation…There’s nothing you can do to win his attention, or garner his love. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">
It’s yours already. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">
You are as beloved as if all that Love had no other object in the whole of creation.
You too are caught up in that tide…
Mercy, not sacrifice.
Not easy for those who are leaders, those who are used to setting agendas, planning strategies, controlling outcomes.
This is a different way.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">
Now, just as Jesus is challenging those who have spent their days focussed on obedience to the rules, a leader among them comes to kneel at his feet. He is facing a crisis. There is death and disaster, a father bereft but nonetheless trusting, turning to the one person in whom he dares place his hope when, rationally, all hope has gone.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">
Is this you? Carrying a weight of sudden grief, but remembering to turn to the only One with the power to heal? You’re confident that he will hear you. You belong here. You have favoured status except – what IS he doing now?
We’re back with another demonstration of that reckless mercy, that boundless loving kindness which over-rides so much that seemed to matter. Goodness, there’s even queue jumping. That bereaved father was here first.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">
And yet…</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">
And yet…</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">
If you’re not sure of your welcome, maybe stealing in quietly, hiding behind a pillar, leaving before the end, not even daring to name your need – well, this is your story too. A woman, and one ritually unclean, touched the fringe of Jesus’s cloak.
Let’s enter her thoughts for a moment. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">
This is bound to be OK. Jesus has his attention fixed on that important man with the overwhelming loss. Dreadful for any parent. The worst grief. My need is tiny in comparison, though it has weighed me down for years, but I would hate to be a bother. I can surely reach out in my need, and receive healing without any fuss. Like the synagogue leader, I know Jesus has the power to change the world for me – but my confidence is based on who HE is, not on who I am, because honestly, I’m pretty sure I don’t amount to much.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">
I have nothing I CAN sacrifice – so I’ll turn to him, stretch out a cautious finger and gently touch the silky softness of that fringe. Then I will wait for his mercy that will come down like showers, like spring rains that water the earth. There’s nothing the earth can do to make the rains fall. Only wait. Hope and healing are on their way.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">
Go and learn what this means.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">
Are you getting the idea now?
We are all of us dependent on chesed, but what might it mean to live, not just as one who knows their reliance on God’s loving kindness, but as one whose focus is on sharing it?
What might a church look like if it clung to this way of being?
How might it change? Would new voices be heard that are currently silent? New priorities emerge in the ways we use our resources? At ordination priests are commissioned to tell the story of God's love, but that call is for everyone. What if we actually set out to do it every single day?
Would our life here be any different?
And what about you?
Where are you in the story?
Have you learned what that verse means for yourself?
It’s one to hang on to, because not only does God desire this, God offers it, again and again and again, a gift to be treasured and celebrated but always, always, to be shared.
Amen. Thanks be to God!</span></span></p><br />Kathrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09171138485811816831noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876613.post-31561032117526528282023-06-12T07:05:00.003+01:002023-06-12T07:05:59.761+01:00Evensong Easter 6 Zechariah 8.1-13 Revelation 21.22 – 22:5, 14th May 2023<p> <span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Preaching here some weeks ago, Canon Mary presented a convincing argument for our not “skipping to the good part”, the end of the story in life or in faith, - but sometimes it’s hard to agree with her. One of our former American interns used to say, at the end of a trying day in the office “Any time now, Lord, would be good” – and as we reflect on this evening’s reading from Revelation I’m gripped with that same sense of longing that fills our Advent worship .</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Perhaps “O come quickly” is the kind of prayer that I need more often than simply in those weeks before Christmas.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">After all, Revelation gives us so much to hope for with its vision of a new heaven and a new earth. Just before the passage we’ve read comes the wonderful comfort of God wiping away every tear, the assurance that there will be no more death, sorrow nor sighing, neither shall there be any more pain</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">With all that in prospect, there’s much to be said for skipping to the good part.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">And yet, of course, this radical revision of everything we know and experience as mortals will involve some loss. Listen again to the opening words of tonight’s reading</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I saw no temple in the city</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">No temple at all</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">This precious beloved cathedral, and all those other holy places that have sustained the faithful through the centuries, not even referenced in the new heaven and earth. The best of human art and artifice wiped away as irrevocably as all those things we will rejoice to see the back of. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">For those of us who work or worship here, that may be quite a challenging idea. We know the power of the building to speak of God’s reconciling love. Many of us found ourselves feeling almost cut off from God during our covid-tide exile, and it was very clear when we returned to worship that it was the space even more than the community that held our congregation together. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">It’s Christian Aid week, of course, and that always raises questions for me about our stewardship of God’s gifts to humanity, as we recall their one-time strap line “We believe in life before death”. Should we rejoice in this place at all, when we know that poverty, hunger and disease are a daily reality for many, while we have the luxury of feeling irritated if a favourite hymn is sung to the wrong tune? Actually, that’s a false dichotomy…I suspect that abandoning cathedrals won’t lead to a greater generosity towards the world’s poor, and even as we agonise over whether or not we should expend human and financial resources on maintaining the life and worship of this place and so many others we cling to them because they are our windows onto heaven. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Rooted in the material, we humans need material reminders of the God who can sometimes seem so far beyond us that he is out of reach – but who draws near to us in Jesus, and, of course, as we meet him in the bread and wine of Communion.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">We are allowed to relish the sacraments, and those other sacramental signs that confirm God’s involvement with our daily lives, indeed we should delight in them, see them as the gifts that they are</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">But we can look forward to a new reality...a reality in which they are gone because they are no unnecessary.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">No places of worship. Not even this one, ruined and rebuilt</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">No encounters with Christ at Communion.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">None of the signs that have spoken to us through the ages of God’s presence among us.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Right here and right now, that may feel like an unimaginable bereavement. It’s hard to leap forward in our imaginations, to put ourselves into a context where this will not be experienced as loss at all.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">So today I invite you to try to imagine yourself skipping to the good part</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">You see, we won’t need signposts to the Almighty- not one, - any more than we will need lamps, as we enter into that place where there is no darkness nor dazzling, but one equal light.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">In the new creation our whole existence will be worship, and we will see God as God is and know even as we are fully known.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I wonder if we might try, on the basis of this vision, to sit lighter to those things that we treasure now – whether in style or place of worship. It can be so easy to conflate the signpost and the destination, but as we reflect on the brokenness of our world, I long to stand beside that tree whose leaves are for the healing of nations, to walk with others through those gates that will never close, to wade knee deep in the crystal water of the river of life, and to join in the ceaseless worship of eternity.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Let’s pray</span></p><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.5pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">‘</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.5pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Bring</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.5pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.5pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">us</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.5pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.5pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">O</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.5pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.5pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Lord</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.5pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> God, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.5pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">at</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.5pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.5pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">our</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.5pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.5pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">last</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.5pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.5pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">awakening</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.5pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> into the house and gate of heaven, to enter into that gate and dwell in that house, where there shall be no darkness nor dazzling but one equal light, no noise nor silence, but one equal music, no fears nor hopes but one equal possession, no ends nor beginnings, but one equal eternity, in the habitations of thy majesty and thy glory, world without end. Amen.’</span>Kathrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09171138485811816831noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876613.post-2636588642657794102023-06-12T07:01:00.001+01:002023-06-12T07:01:36.879+01:00Sermon for the Cathedral Eucharist, 7th May 2023, Easter 5 and the Coronation of King Charles 3rd<p>"<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Do not let your hearts be troubled."</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">If we know anything at all about life in this year of grace 2023, it is surely that many hearts and many minds are troubled indeed. To find unequivocally good news anywhere is incredibly hard…Wars and rumours of wars, the climate crisis, the cost of living crisis, the refugee crisis (three crises on that scale feels like some kind of a record) plus the struggles of the NHS and strikes in profusion. We have no shortage of things to trouble us, and those widespread feelings of disquiet are surely part of why some voices have proclaimed that this weekend of Coronation celebrations is completely out of step with the reality of life for most people. It’s hard not to sympathise with those who suggest that this is really not the time for a colossal party, particularly if you are ambivalent about all that is being celebrated. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">After all, we are seeing so many national and international institutions failing. Things we had believed in – that ours is a hospitable country that always seeks to welcome those in need, that we can always expect to find integrity in public life, that our national institutions in Church and State can be relied upon to meet our needs when the chips are down – are inevitably challenged by the evidence of life around us. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Listen!</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="color: #525960; font-family: "Quattrocento Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><i>Our Earth is degenerate in these later days; there are signs that the world is speedily coming to an end; bribery and corruption are common; children no longer obey their parents; every man wants to write a book and the end of the world is evidently approaching." </i></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">OK. Those words allegedly come from Assyria in the year 2800BC – and while that source may not be entirely accurate either, you’ll recognise the general drift. Since time immemorial, there has been much to trouble our hearts…and if you seek your security in any of the institutions that have been created to bolster society – Church, State or monarchy, - then you can expect to be disappointed. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">You see it’s all a question of where you place your belief, and your allegiance.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Believe in God. Believe also in me</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">It’s striking that today’s gospel, offering reassurance to so many grieving families, provided the text for Archbishop Justin’s sermon to a grieving nation at the last great state occasion, the funeral of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Speaking then, he drew inspiration from Queen Elizabeth’s strong Christian faith, the foundation of her life of loving service. Church of England convention demands that in this Easter season if we are only having 2 Sunday readings we must always include Acts alongside the gospel. Today that’s rather a shame, as the alternative from the first letter of Peter sets out the theme of Christ as sure foundation, and invites us to “come to him, a living stone” so that we may be set apart, our identity taken up into his as we become</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">“A chosen race, a royal priesthood…once not a people, now God’s people”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">This is to be our foundation too. It’s not about how well we follow, but whose way. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I am the way</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">, says Jesus, …come and walk in it, tread my path of welcome, forgiveness, reconciliation and service. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">That’s an invitation for each and every one, great or small.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">And what might this way look like for you and me today? </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Yesterday’s coronation began with a child…</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt; padding: 0.0pt 0.0pt 14.0pt 0.0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> ‘Your Majesty, as children of the kingdom of God, we welcome you in the name of the king of kings.’ </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt; padding: 0.0pt 0.0pt 14.0pt 0.0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">And the King replied in his name – the name of Jesus, the name of the king of kings – and after his example, ‘I come not to be served but to serve.’ </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt; padding: 0.0pt 0.0pt 14.0pt 0.0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">And that’s it.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt; padding: 0.0pt 0.0pt 14.0pt 0.0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">For us and for him.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt; padding: 0.0pt 0.0pt 14.0pt 0.0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">That service which is perfect freedom, the heart of Jesus' leadership, was the first theme of the coronation liturgy…a compelling reminder amid all the pomp and circumstance, that here we saw an individual undertaking to live his life for the sake of others. Being human, Charles will do this more successfully at some times than others…and he bears a huge weight of expectation from so many, whom he will surely disappoint along the way. But the intention is there. As Prince of Wales he lived with the motto “Ich dien” – I serve. Now as monarch he has been charged with that service in so many ways, heavy with symbolism. Whatever your feelings about yesterday’s events, can I invite you to find time soon to stand in our Chapel of Christ the Servant and pray for the man who can never be more than a man, but of whom we ask so much. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt; padding: 0.0pt 0.0pt 14.0pt 0.0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">But then, can I encourage you to reflect on how that loving service which he has pledged to us, can be made real in your own life as well. This is our calling too.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt; padding: 0.0pt 0.0pt 14.0pt 0.0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Ask God what situations and relationships are lined up for you to practice Christ-like living – as the Prayer Book puts it “ that we may do </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">all such good works as thou hast prepared for us to walk in”. Seek out those opportunities, and then get on with doing them. It’s as simple and as challenging as that.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt; padding: 0.0pt 0.0pt 14.0pt 0.0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">If all that feels beyond you, if you feel too small, too sad, too tired or bewildered to do anything at all, if your heart is indeed deeply troubled then remember that after all the high ceremonies yesterday, the new King and Queen made their way to the altar as we will do shortly, to receive the life that is Christ, offered to us in bread and wine. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 14.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">In that sacrament there is food for our journey, the food that transforms us, God coming to us that we might come to God and know for ourselves that truth and that life which we can claim now and for eternity. </span></p>Kathrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09171138485811816831noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876613.post-35156972970321717082023-06-12T06:53:00.004+01:002023-06-12T06:53:40.178+01:00Evensong Easter 4: Ezra 3.1-13 &:Ephesians 2.11-22<p><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Where do you look for security in times of challenge and change?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Where do you feel most at home?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">It might be with family and friends</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">It might be in familiar places, or familiar routines</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">It might even be in a gathered community, coming together to offer worship. Something like this, perhaps.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">In our first reading tonight we encounter God’s people struggling to maintain their identity on their return from exile. They’re back in Jerusalem, which ought to be something to celebrate, but nothing is really as it should be, since the Temple has been destroyed. Worse, they are mortally afraid of their neighbours and determined to keep them at a distance in every way, underlining the differences between them as they cling to familiar routines, marking the seasons of their liturgical year, celebrating the festivals as best they can.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">And, little by little in practicing those rituals they gain confidence in themselves, remembering who they are as God’s people once again, living out the days until foundations can be laid and work on the new Temple finally began. And then, of course, there is great rejoicing from some – equaled by great lament by others. Things have changed. The new building is not going to be quite what it was. Things have been lost that cannot be recovered. Is this new start a day of joy or of regret? Can they, can we, embrace a new kind of future that looks very different from all that went before? Change is HARD.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I’m sure questions like these were bubbling just beneath the surface in the weeks and months leading up to the consecration of our new cathedral here in Coventry, 63 years ago. I know that many regretted the decision not to simply rebuild, covering over the wounds of history by denying that they had ever been, even as others rejoiced at the new vision that was taking shape before their eyes. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">But, you know, even the most special, most beloved place of worship is only ever a means to an end, a signpost to a way of being with God. Were every cathedral, every church and chapel, razed to the ground tomorrow, THE CHURCH would be just fine.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">That’s what our second reading is about, as it introduces a new way of being community, in startling contrast to that presented in the Ezra text. This is where WE come in, you and I. We are here because, in one way or another, we have responded to the invitation to come closer, as Christ abolishes all divisions, uniting all humanity in one body, even as his own body is broken on the cross. Those neighbours whom the Israelites saw as a threat in Ezra’s day, the strangers, aliens, outsiders (people rather like us) are suddenly transformed into family – citizens with an equal right to belong to the new reality founded on Christ. And of course that includes you and me.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Suddenly, scandalously, we are ALL insiders, all members of the household with as much right to be there as the prophets who looked towards God’s kingdom and the apostles who shared its good news. I wonder, is that cause for rejoicing , or would you just as soon God was a bit more inclined to discriminate? Making room for ME is fine – but does God really have to be quite as generous in welcoming those people over there? The ones who don’t seem to want to behave as we think they should? The ones who look different, sound different…THEM</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">A long time ago, before ever I imagined I might work here one day, Dean John and I were sitting on the grass at Greenbelt festival when he said very firmly that reconciliation was not an aspect of the gospel, but absolutely and incontrovertibly reconciliation WAS the gospel. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Over the years since then, I’ve come to understand more and more what he means. And yes, I have come to agree with him.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">It’s all about bringing together those who were divided…nation and nation, race and race, class and class. (Perhaps this is sounding familiar?)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">More importantly, it is about reuniting broken humanity with the God who holds us steady no matter what…</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">There are to be no divisions</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Here is a new humanity and we belong, not because of where or how we worship, nor because of who our friends and family might be, but because of Jesus. As he speaks peace to us, whether we are close by or need to strain our ears to hear his invitation, he draws us to him – and there in him we find our true community</span></p>Kathrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09171138485811816831noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876613.post-10736637651570377602023-06-12T06:47:00.005+01:002023-06-12T06:47:52.100+01:00No regrets: a gospel reflection for the panel at Southwark, March 2023<p>I was saving it for a special occasion….had been saving it for years. Silly, really. As I got older, the chances of my needing it for my wedding night receded and yet still it stood in a corner of the room, waiting. Precious, but untouched. The lid sealed.</p><p>But then everything changed. The day that Lazarus took sick, our world was rocked, and on the day he died it shattered.</p><p>Two women alone, how would we survive in our small town where people could be so unkind about old maids? </p><p>We buried him, and only when I reached home did I realise. I’d forgotten my jar of ointment. I could have used it on his beloved body. Should have used it. What was I saving it for?</p><p>And then came the transformation, wonderful, impossible. Death undone. That great voice calling my brother’s name and drawing forth a response, even from ears sealed in death. It was probably good that Jesus named Lazarus that day or all the dead of Bethany and beyond might have emerged in answer to his call. Yes – there was a smell of death. My perfume would have helped then – but in the joy of reunion that only added to our reality. Lazarus restored.</p><p>We were so happy when Jesus returned with his friends, the week before Passover. The house was full, the table laden, Martha busy as she delights to be. Wherever you looked, there was joy. Those I loved most sitting and eating together. A special occasion.</p><p>Then it came to me – my great idea. There’s nothing more special than receiving those you love back. No future party could ever be better than this, and there was one person to thank, one person to receive my every token of love and gratitude. I went to the corner, took the jar, anointed Jesus’s feet. My tears of joy flowed too as I focused on those weary, dusty, beautiful feet that preached the gospel just by being here. Then I realized it was too much. My tokens of love would overwhelm…Jesus would slip if he tried to stand, - so I used my hair, letting it too fall over his feet, as I dried them. And the house smelled of love and joy and hope – evidence, like my living, breathing brother, that nobody could deny.</p><p>Of course people were angry. It !I was saving it for a special occasion….had been saving it for years. Silly, really. As I got older, the chances of my needing it for my wedding night receded and yet still it stood in a corner of the room, waiting. Precious, but untouched. The lid sealed.</p><p>But then everything changed. The day that Lazarus took sick, our world was rocked, and on the day he died it shattered.</p><p>Two women alone, how would we survive in our small town where people could be so unkind about old maids. </p><p>We buried him, and only when I reached home did I realise. I’d forgotten my jar of ointment. I could have used it on his beloved body. Should have used it. What was I saving it for?</p><p>And then came the transformation, wonderful, impossible. Death undone. That great voice calling my brother’s name and drawing forth a response, even from ears sealed in death. It was probably good that Jesus named Lazarus that day or all the dead of Bethany and beyond might have emerged in answer to his call. Yes – there was a smell of death. My perfume would have helped then – but in the joy of reunion that only added to our reality. Lazarus restored.</p><p>We were so happy when Jesus returned with his friends, the week before Passover. The house was full, the table laden, Martha busy as she delights to be. Wherever you looked, there was joy. Those I loved most sitting and eating together. A special occasion.</p><p>Then it came to me – my great idea. There’s nothing more special than receiving those you love back. No future party could ever be better than this, and there was one person to thank, one person to receive my every token of love and gratitude. I went to the corner, took the jar, anointed Jesus’s feet. My tears of joy flowed too as I focused on those weary, dusty, beautiful feet that preached the gospel just by being here. Then I realized it was too much. My tokens of love would overwhelm…Jesus would slip if he tried to stand, - so I used my hair, letting it too fall over his feet, as I dried them. And the house smelled of love and joy and hope – evidence, like my living, breathing brother, that nobody could deny.</p><p>Of course people were angry. It was an extravagant gesture….but I promise I was not seeking attention, whatever my siblings said. My focus was on entirely on HIM…the One who changes everything, who turns despair to hope, darkness to light. Those words about his burial shook me. Why bring death to a feast of life?</p><p>But all too soon I understood, wished I had more nard, to anoint him once again on the third day of the week when we gathered at his tomb. His OPEN tomb. We wept. We called his name, but expected nothing. We knew that only he had that power to raise the dead.</p><p>I didn’t see him afterwards, though others I trust promise me that they did, - that they saw with their eyes and touched with their hands. THEY ate with him once again, but I was home in Bethany, trying to make sense of these extraordinary days.</p><p>We talk about him all the time, about that day, about all that he did, and said, and was. I’ve heard that he once talked of a man who knew a pearl of great price was hidden in a field, and sold everything so he might own the field and possess the pearl. </p><p>That is my story too. My treasure was nothing compared to the treasure that HE was…</p><p>The pearl of great price who sat at our table, healed our family, gave us light and life.</p><p>That was a special occasion you see. Worth everything. No regrets.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Kathrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09171138485811816831noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876613.post-50526891189208129512023-06-12T06:39:00.000+01:002023-06-12T06:39:06.518+01:00Here I am again <p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> Once upon a time, this blog was an ever-present help in times of curacy! The place where I could tell stories , suitably anonymised, do athe much-needed external processing without completely overwhelming my beloved, introverted T.I. and generally focus on what God seemed to be up to, in the parish and in me.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">I loved it, and the many friends I made along the way, with several of whom I am still deeply connected</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">With incumbency, though there was more to process, there were fewer stories that were honestly mine to tell, and the blog became mostly a repository for sermons and any other odd bits of writing. Latterly, despite the wonderful experiences of Cathedral ministry it hasn't even been that! I've added pictures and brief catch ups on twitter, made new connections there, and have realised that the dust gathering here is a good six months deep. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">I'm not ready to move out completely though. With another move ahead I'm already finding there are thoughts bubbling, about endings and beginnings, about the London in my bones and the Coventry I have grown to love, that have made me say quietly "That could be a blog post".</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">At the very least, I'd like to put my sermons somewhere once more, so here I am, opening the windows, dusting off the cobwebs and planning, if not to move back in, to at least visit more often. I'll put the coffee on....</span></p>Kathrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09171138485811816831noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876613.post-64973833660190118702022-10-16T10:33:00.001+01:002022-10-16T10:33:00.187+01:00Pray and do not lose heart Trinity 18, Proper 24 for the Cathedral Eucharist 16th October 2022<p> <span style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">O</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;">ne of the complaints frequently
levelled at the Church of England as an institution today is its fondness for
adopting management tools from the secular world, often some time after that
world has moved on to another, different approach. Thus, when I was training
for ordination I experienced not only Myers Briggs and Gilmore Freyling, but
also the Belbin inventory. What I learned and whether it has made a difference
is perhaps open to debate, but it was always at the very least INTERESTING to
discover more about oneself. The Belbin test is designed to help people find
their preferred style of working within a team...Individuals answer various
questions until their preferences are clear – and are then given a score
depending on what emerges. A healthy team will include a variety of preferences
- visionary planners, people with a critical eye for detail, those good at
implementing the ideas of others...and more. You might find it
entertaining to consider which of your clergy might have which preferences, and
which might be most useful around the place on a day to day basis. The options
include those styled "completer/finishers" who find their
satisfaction in a job done thoroughly and well.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;"> Completer finishers are well
worth having on your team if you hope ever to see a project through to a
successful conclusion – but I regret to inform you that the last time I was
asked to do a Belbin interview, produced a score for this category that was so
low it was almost in negative numbers!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">I may be fine at having 6 great ideas before breakfast, but when it
comes to sticking with projects from launch to completion, I'm probably not
your woman. I get bored quite quickly as the unfinished tapestries and knitting
projects around the house testify … so perhaps it's not surprising that when I
first looked at today's readings my heart sank.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">That heart sink was compounded when I reflected on all the dearly loved
and surely well-deserving people whom I know, who are currently having truly
torrid times, in a wide variety of ways. Of course I’ve prayed for them, as I
have for this countryand our government, for the planet and those most
grievously impacted by the climate crisis, for peace in Ukraine, for a place of
warmth and safety for all those who seek shelter around the cathedral campus
overnight as the temperatures fall, - and so the list continues. I’ve prayed
and prayed again, a heart-felt cry of “HELP!” and thus far the results have not
been encouraging.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">It would be extremely tempting to give up, or at the very least to
berate God soundly for not falling in to line with my longings for some quick
and effective fixes. Perhaps you know the feeling?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Couple all of that with an habitual anxiety that I should NEVER be a
bother, and you can see why this morning’s parable is a tad tricky to preach
with integrity. Working with my favourite question “I wonder where you are in
the story” I cant easily cast myself in the role of the widow, whose relentless
appeal for justice, against the odds, won her the day. But that’s EXACTLY the
invitation…<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">All this talk of the unjust judge might seem unsettling at first. It's
easy to jump to conclusions, and presume that Jesus is equating God with that
hard-hearted judge who neither fears God nor respects people...</span><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> the kind of God who
ears seem deaf to those cries of HELP that resound across the universe. I have
heard intriguing interpretations (by reputable scholars, including Sam Wells)
that invert the parable so that we encounter </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">God as the widow, relentlessly pleading
with the unjust rulers, the governments that exclude, disadvantage and oppress,
but I’m not sure that’s where Jesus is going with the story. For once, this
parable is not setting out to explain an aspect of the Kingdom – but to show us
how we should be in our life of prayer.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">We’re given the interpretation before we even hear the story, just to
make sure we land in the right place<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Jesus told his disciples a parable about their need to pray always and
not to lose heart.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Those
communities for whom Luke wrote that orderly account of his were confronting
all sorts of challenges to life and to faith, - it was ever thus – so in
setting out the agenda of the story Luke is acknowledging that. You can imagine
him saying to himself “I know it’s tough for them…and hard times can make
belief almost impossible, just when you need it most. I won’t let them be in
any doubt…they need to keep at it….stay in touch with God even when God seems
to be looking in another direction.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Right<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">In a
certain city…Jerusalem, perhaps? Or maybe even Coventry? For like all parables,
this is OUR story too<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">In a
certain city there lived a judge…<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">A judge,
eh? One who holds the power of freedom or imprisonment, sometimes life or
death…One we need to know is kind and wise and humane. Except that he’s not. He
sounds, frankly, a nightmare…but he’s the only route to justice that there is,
so you either give up and go home or….Well…<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Christmas is coming and already advertisers are intent on harnessing
what they call “pester power” - the way that children can and will continue to
nag, badger and entreat until their adults give in and provide the “must-have”
toy, game or garment of the day.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">This parable is ALL about pester power – and it makes no bones over
asserting that it </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">should be a recognisable element in our prayers.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">God won't mind – I promise!</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">God loves it when we turn to him again and again – when we bring to him
those people and situations about which we care most deeply.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Despite my reticence, we will never EVER be a bother to God.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">This is the same God who, in our OT reading, speaks with compelling hope
of the day when God’s people will have such a close relationship with God that
they will have literally nothing to learn about him. “They shall all know me,
from the least to the greatest”….They will live in harmony with my law, til it
becomes the very rhythm of their heart-beats.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">OF COURSE we can’t be a bother to God. OF COURSE God listens to our
prayers.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Yes. I know it’s tricky<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">I'm willing to bet that we have prayed for world peace on every Sunday
of your Christian life – and mine.</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Week after week after week...</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">And we know that there isn't a day when someone somewhere
experiences just how short of peace the world remains.</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">We've prayed, day by day, “Your Kingdom come” - but struggle with the
evidence of a world still gripped by powers of selfishness, violence,
corruption, greed.</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">But – does that mean it's time to stop praying?</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Of course not!</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Yes - we can be discouraged.</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">And often, we lower our expectations...</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">We have learned by experience that prayer does not work like a slot
machine, - prayer in, desired result out – and so gradually we may allow it to
become a fairly meaningless duty, or we pray so vaguely that it is impossible
to discern what an answer to prayer might look like.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">We lose hope and lose heart.</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">But prayer is surely about tuning our wills to God's</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">It's not about changing God but about changing US.</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Spending time with God, growing our relationship...holding on tight
through thick and thin to the God who loves us.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Think back to the spring, when we were constantly confronted by Jacob
wrestling with the angel.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Think of that persistent widow<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Keep going.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">It won't always feel easy – remember the cry of the psalmist </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">"How long, oh Lord, how long?"</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">"Day and night I cry out to you, but you don't answer me"<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">But even as the psalmist complains, he addresses that complaint to God.
He keeps the relationship going<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">It’s the same for us. We need to cry to God day and night. we need to
hang on, we need to wrestle for our own particular blessing.</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Please do try to take that seriously…Whatever it looks like, believe
that God is listening, and that keeping close to God no matter what is always,
without exception, the best policy.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">It may seem that prayer achieves little…but please don’t give up.</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Listen again to the final question that Jesus puts in our gospel today</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">“When the Son of Man comes – WILL he find faith on earth?”</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">I wonder.</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Will he find faith in his church? In each one of us?</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">If we really believe what we say about God – that He is a God of love,
compassion, and endless grace...a God who makes all things new and heals the
broken-hearted – then surely we will make our relationship with Him our
priority, trusting that though God’s ways are not our ways, that sometimes it
seems that we’re getting nowhere, yet nonetheless, it always makes sense to
stay close, to pray, and not to lose heart.</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">It’s not long now until Advent, when we wrestle with that sense of Now
and Not Yet that is our current experience of God’s Kingdom. Many of our
prayers land in that same territory, -prayers heard but not answered as we
might have hoped. Nonetheless, they are the cords which bind us to God, that
keep our relationship active and current, that give our hopes and our fears,
our griefs and rejoicings, somewhere to go<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">We NEED to pray and not lose heart because it is through those prayers
that we draw close to God – and there is nowhere better to be.<o:p></o:p></span></p>Kathrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09171138485811816831noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876613.post-43810725500729447932022-09-18T14:04:00.004+01:002022-09-18T14:04:31.352+01:00Sermon for a Eucharist in a Time of Mourning<p style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #212121;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">It has
been an extraordinary week in the Cathedral</span></span></span></p>
<p style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #212121;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">From
the moment the news of her late Majesty's death broke and long
established plans were activated, my overriding sense has been of the
sheer privilege of ministry here at such a time as this. </span></span></span>
</p>
<p style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #212121;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Of
course we know, always, that we have a role beyond ourselves as a
gathering place, a theatre of memory for the whole city and beyond,
but this has been heightened as thousands of visitors have made their
way through our doors or into the ruins.</span></span></span></p>
<p style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #212121; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;">They
trust us with so much.</span></p>
<p style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #212121; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;">With
their feelings of grief and disorientation, as our national landscape
shifts once again, after all the traumatic changes of the past few
years. </span><span style="color: #212121; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;">With
the newly-awakened resonances with earlier experiences of bereavement
always revived by each successive loss. </span><span style="color: #212121; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;">With
story after story of their encounters with the Queen, perhaps here in
Coventry or sometimes, for the favoured few, a proud memory of a
royal garden party.</span></p>
<p style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #212121;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Actually,
it’s noticeable how often food has featured in the memories, from
the tiny, perfect cucumber sandwiches of the palace garden parties,
to the pot of home-made jam Her Majesty was so very delighted to
receive from a Maundy Pensioner here in the Cathedral, and of course
there’s Paddington and the marmalade sandwich too.</span></span></span></p>
<p style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #212121;">My
own favourite </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #212121;">tale</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #212121;">
is of a nervous guest at a state banquet, who, dry mouthed with
terror </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #212121;">at
finding himself at table with Her Majesty</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #212121;">,
grabbed and drained the finger bowl intended for a discrete wash
between messy courses. The Queen, hospitable to her core, immediately
picked up her own bowl and did the same, protecting her guest from
any embarrassment and demonstrating </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #212121;">that</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #212121;">
kindness </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #212121;">which
so many have spoken of in recent days.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #212121;">While
I’m sure she insisted that her children learn that t</span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #212121;">able
manners matter, </span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #212121;">she,
</span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #212121;">so
often the guest of honour,</span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #212121;">
demonstrated that day that </span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #212121;">making
others feel </span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #212121;">welcome
matters </span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #212121;">yet</span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #212121;">
more…</span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #212121;">O</span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #212121;">f
course, people sought a connection with the Queen. She represented so
much that was good in our national life, and her constant presence
became for many a rock on which to rely in turbulent times. That need
for connection, is, I think, part of what motivates </span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #212121;">those
waiting patiently in </span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #212121;">The
Queue. </span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #212121;">They
</span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #212121;">long
to say “I was there”...to find a place for a moment </span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #212121;">for
</span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #212121;">their
own complicated feelings of gratitude and pride, love and
loss...</span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #212121;">Others
simply want to stand in solidarity with their neighbours, as even in
death the Queen fosters community, bringing people together once
again, helping them to feel that they belong, have a part in our
national life.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #212121;">W</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #212121;">elcome.
Connection. Community.</span></span></p>
<p style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #212121;">Such
important themes - aspects of being human that touch us al</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #212121;">l,
</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #212121;">whatever
our rank or status</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #212121;">.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #212121;">Aspects
of being human that, </span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #212121;">at
its best, the Church can model too…</span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #212121;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Because
of course, the Church exists as a sign in the here and now of God’s
Kingdom that is for all time, and all places.</span></span></span></p>
<p style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #212121; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;">And
at the heart of our worship and at the heart of our hope is –
another meal</span></p>
<p style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #212121; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;">I
am the bread of life...Whoever comes to me will never be hungry</span></p>
<p style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #212121;">That’s
an invitation that is always open...</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #212121;">It
may not arrive on a gilt edged card, but that’s OK because here
there are no VIPs, and actually there’s no need to queue, no fear
that there may not be room for all</span></span></p>
<p style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #212121;">“<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Anyone
who comes to me, I will never drive away”</span></span></span></p>
<p style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #212121; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;">As
we gather this morning to make Eucharist, as our community forms and
re-forms at the altar, we each receive the same extraordinary gift –
God’s very life, entrusted to us in that precious fragment of bread
and sip of wine.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #212121;">Here
we practice </span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #212121;">on
earth </span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #212121;">as
it</span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #212121;">
will be </span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #212121;">in
heaven…</span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #212121;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Here,
indeed, we become for a moment caught up in the heavenly banquet,
with angels and archangels ….</span></span></span></p>
<p style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #212121; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;">Week
on week we affirm </span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #212121;">“<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">We
believe in the Communion of Saints” - and that is n</span></span></span></span><span style="color: #212121;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #212121;">ever
just</span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #212121;">
a reference to a closed catalogue of those </span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #212121;">canonised
by the Church. </span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #212121;">whom
we revere for the strength of their faith, the beauty of their lives.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #212121;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">The
Communion of Saints is all those – ALL THOSE – who share in the
eternal banquet of the Lamb…</span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #212121;">Those
whom we love and miss...Those whom we have n</span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #212121;">ot
yet know</span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #212121;">n,
whose hope is in Christ, </span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #212121;">and
with whom we are therefore united in community. </span></span></span></span>
</p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #212121;">Great
and small, famous and obscure</span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #212121;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Elizabeth
II and Chris Kaba. </span></span></span>
</p>
<p style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #212121;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">All
guests.</span></span></span></p>
<p style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #212121;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">All
welcome. </span></span></span>
</p>
<p style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #212121;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">All
wanted.</span></span></span></p>
<p style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #212121;">The
Catholic theologian Margaret Hepplethwaite, widowed very young,
talked about her </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #212121;">deep
</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #212121;">sense
that it was when she came forward to receive Communion that she was
able to share a meal with her beloved Peter. </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #212121;">S</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #212121;">he
knew as the knelt and received that he was </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #212121;">close
at hand</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #212121;">..part
of the same celebration…his eternal life ensured through Christ’s
promise that he would “lose nothing of all that is given to me, but
raise it up on the last day”</span></span></p>
<p style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #212121;">That
is the promise that sustained Her </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #212121;">late
</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #212121;">Majesty
</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #212121;">through
her own experiences of</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #212121;">
loss </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #212121;">and
grief</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #212121;">.</span></span></p>
<p style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #212121;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">That
is the promise that we offer, as a Church, whenever we hold the light
of Christian hope aloft at a funeral. </span></span></span>
</p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #212121;">That
is the promise that we claim, </span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #212121;">you
and I,</span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #212121;">
as </span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #212121;">together</span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #212121;">
we feast on the bread of life.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #212121; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;">In
recent days it has been a comfort for many, and a gift for preachers,
that our late Queen had become increasingly open about her own deep
faith. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #212121;">I
</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #212121;">like
to </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #212121;">imagine
her penning these words with the hope that they might speak to her
own family when her time came to leave. </span></span><span style="color: #212121; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;">Listen</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<i><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #212121;">“<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">We
are all visitors to this place. We are just passing through. Our
purpose is to observe, to learn, to grow, to love, and then we return
home.</span></span></span></span><span style="color: #212121;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
“</span></span></i></p>
<p style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #212121;">THEN
we return home. The fragile </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #212121;">earthly
</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #212121;">tent
of mortal life </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #212121;">was
never intended as a permanent residence. We are just passing through,
and what looks to us like death is the moment when we are, as Paul
puts it, swallowed up by LIFE, </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #212121;">when
we can leave behind our campsite here and go forward to claim the
place prepared for us</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #212121;">.</span></span></p>
<p style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #212121; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;">As
C S Lewis wrote, in the final paragraph of “The Last Battle”</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: arial;"><i>“</i></span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>The
term is over: the holidays have begun. The dream is ended: this is
the morning.”</i></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #212121;">
</span></span></span>
</p>
<p style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #212121;">T</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #212121;">his
is reality.</span></span></p>
<p style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #212121;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">This
is home</span></span></span></p>
<p style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #212121;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">And
at that homecoming, see, the table is set and the feast is ready. </span></span></span>
</p>
<p><span style="color: #212121; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;">c</span> </p>Kathrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09171138485811816831noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876613.post-88994585030602284902022-08-08T22:15:00.000+01:002022-08-08T22:15:06.513+01:00Evensong sermon for Trinity 8 2022<p><br /></p><p>BEHOLD GOD IS MY SALVATION. I WILL TRUST AND WILL NOT BE AFRAID</p><p>Hmmn. Easy to say but looking at the world today I find myself thinking....</p><p>It isn’t supposed to be this way…</p><p>There’s the climate crisis</p><p>The cost of living crisis</p><p>The pandemic, food banks, mass shootings, beggars...</p><p>There are lonely souls shut up behind closed doors, not knowing if it’s safe to come back out, others not daring to come in, uncertain whether they’ll be welcomed or rejected.</p><p>There are children – CHILDREN for God’s sake – locked up in detention centres or entrusted to tiny boats crossing a stormy sea...</p><p>It's really not great is it </p><p>Nothing like the world I imagined when growing up, not even the world into which I confidently bore my children.</p><p>It’s certainly not the world that we read about in the great kingdom prophecies of Isaiah, in the teaching of Jesus or indeed in any of the aspirational passages of Scripture.</p><p>It isn’t supposed to be this way…</p><p><br /></p><p>So – what are we to do?</p><p>Confronted by the pain and disillusion of here and now – how should we respond, as people of faith?</p><p>My first reaction, I must admit, owes less to faith than to fear. I want to gather those I love around me and circle the wagons...If the world has all gone wrong, I want to protect them if I can, or at least huddle together as we face the worst. There’s a lot of metaphorical huddling that goes on as we listen to the news day by day – but into this experience of anxiety, fear, even despair, Isaiah speaks</p><p>I will trust and not be afraid.</p><p><br /></p><p>Oh my!</p><p>Thats an act of will I might not be able to manage....because right now</p><p>Fear seems perfectly rational to me!</p><p><br /></p><p>But I’m here to preach the gospel and am reminded of some wise advice, that in preaching, the task is always to celebrate what God is doing rather than to struggle with the demands and failures of life here and now.</p><p><br /></p><p>So – what IS God doing – that might, somehow, be enough to encourage us not to be afraid?</p><p>You could say its a question of priorities. </p><p>Isaiah seems very excited about all that he looks forward to when God does act,in terms of Gods people being established in peace and freedom...but his trust will be bought at the expense of others for whom the land is also home so even here we can't relax into uncomplicated joy</p><p><br /></p><p>Yes God does great things, but there's no guarantee of an easy ride. Paul points this out too, with his praise of solidarity in suffering</p><p>And his contention that to be confronted with insuperable difficulties, even to face a sentence of death, is the route to perfect dependence on God.</p><p>We were so unbearably, utterly crushed that we despaired of life itself ....so that we would rely not on ourselves but on God</p><p>My sympathy if that doesn't make you feel much better. Me neither yet....Trust is a choice we can make if we raise our eyes from the present struggles to see God's bigger picture...finally in God's dealings the answer is always YES</p><p>That’s extraordinary – and transformative, if we can but recognise it.</p><p>You see, what we believe about the future absolutely shapes how we live in the present.</p><p>We remain conscious of that sense that “it’s not supposed to be this way” - but instead of allowing that to halt us in our tracks, frozen in futility, we affirm that this is not our permanent home, not our eternal destiny.</p><p>We look forward to the day when the Lord is strength sing and salvation and so</p><p>we press on towards it as best we can...sometimes confident of the terrain, more often stumbling, having no idea where we are heading or how we will get there….simply keeping going in a long obedience to God’s call.</p><p>“Do justly, love mercy, walk humbly”</p><p>Keep moving forward faithfully, step by step.</p><p>Sometimes, our faith may not bring us all that we hoped for.</p><p>We try to trust God, to place in his hands our needs and those of the people we love – but things don’t pan out as we’d expected.</p><p>Lament, cry to God acjnowledge your fear (sometim3s you just cant fight it) but nonetheless keep trusting.</p><p>God’s got this.</p><p>Really.</p><p>Have faith.</p><p>Look forward</p><p>This isn't the end of the story....but the final word of that story will be Yes</p><p>Yes to healing</p><p>Yes to hope</p><p>Yes to light and life and love </p><p><br /></p><p>I stake my all on that.</p><p><br /></p><p>Behold God is my salvation I will trust....</p>Kathrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09171138485811816831noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876613.post-15196478429563078962022-07-17T20:23:00.003+01:002022-07-17T20:23:37.467+01:00One thing needed. Trinity 5C for Welcome to Sunday 17th July 2022<p><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The
duty of hospitality is something that Christianity shares with many
world faiths...We know that it matters to be welcoming...to make
space for all comers, - those we like on sight and those who make us
nervous, those who are soul mates and those (sometimes including
children) whose presence in our churches sometimes makes us wonder if
we are losing our own precious sanctuaries. </span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 140%; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">We
know this – though we don't always find it easy.</span></span></p>
<p lang="en-NZ" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 140%; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;">Hospitality
is written into our Christian DNA because we know that we are all
recipients of God's boundless hospitality, his unconditional welcome
that excludes nobody. <i><b>NOBODY!</b></i></span></span></p>
<p lang="en-NZ" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 140%; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;">When
St Benedict was writing his Rule – the template for monastic life
that has influenced so much of the western church – he was clear
that his brothers should welcome strangers as they would welcome
Christ himself. That’s something we find ourselves wrestling with
at the cathedral again and again when someone comes through our doors
whose behaviour is best described as “Challenging”. To stand as a
place of sanctuary means that our doors must be open without
condition...After all, if we are welcoming strangers as it they were
Christ, then actually the cathedral belongs not just as much but MORE
to them than it does to we who find ourselves standing inside looking
out.</span></span></p>
<p lang="en-NZ" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 140%; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;">That’s
challenging – specially when behaviour that’s a bit different
from our norm seems to threaten the very peace and beauty of worship
which drew us there in the first place....How do we offer hospitality
in equal measure to those whose needs are radically different? How do
we balance the needs of those children who need to be themselves in
their heavenly father’s house and those who have come to the
cathedral because the presence of children in their parish church is
too hard to bear in the wake of a bereavement?</span></span></p>
<p lang="en-NZ" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 140%; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;">How
can we be fully inclusive of those who have been forced for too long
to absent themselves from worship as they were made to feel unwelcome
with those for whom the very word “Inclusive” is redolent of
something that strikes at the heart of their understanding of
Scripture?</span></span></p>
<p lang="en-NZ" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 140%; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;">How
can we recognise the presence of Christ in ALL who present
themselves?</span></span></p>
<p lang="en-NZ" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 140%; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;">I
wonder how it played out among Benedict’s monks in the early
years...How they created radical hospitality that really did have
space and welcome for all...I'm confident that they didn't always find it easy, any more than we do today - but there really isn't any wiggle-room</span></span></p>
<p lang="en-NZ" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 140%; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><b style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">We
should welcome strangers as we would welcome Christ.</b></p>
<p lang="en-NZ" style="line-height: 140%; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial;">So
– our gospel shows us two different approaches to the task of
welcoming Christ himself....An honoured guest is treated to the best
the house can offer and his hosts revere him as the one who brings
God’s blessing. But hang on. This isn't simply a question of "Lovely to see you. Do come in". </span><span lang="en-NZ" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">Cu</span><span lang="en-NZ" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">ltural
conventions are being flouted left right and centre, for Martha and
Mary are women alone, householders in a society where lone women were
generally beyond the pale. They risked their already</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span lang="en-NZ" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">compromised
reputations in inviting a wandering rabbi and his disciples to eat
with them and Jesus, of course, should not have accepted
the invitation</span></p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 140%; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;"><span lang="en-NZ">But
we know how little he cared for convention...How little he cares for
it still.</span></span></span></p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 140%; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;"><span lang="en-NZ">He
ALWAYS </span><span lang="en-NZ">responds to our invitations, always
comes to us if we are serious in inviting him, </span><span lang="en-NZ">and
so he</span><span lang="en-NZ"> comes to that house in Bethany </span>–
<span lang="en-NZ">and it's a red letter day. Martha longs to ensure
that everything is just so...and bustles about, cleaning,
cooking,</span> <span lang="en-NZ">doing all in her power to
create a perfect occasion. She wants to make things right, - to
show herself truly ready to welcome Jesus. </span><span lang="en-NZ">To
give him unmistakeable demonstrations of just how much she loves him,
how much she longs to please him.</span></span></span></p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 140%; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;"><span lang="en-NZ">Mary
just longs to be with Him ..</span><span lang="en-NZ">to
show her love by spending every possible moment in his presence. Gazing on his face and feeling her heart and soul transformed by the loving gaze he offers in return.</span></span></span></p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 140%; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;"><span lang="en-NZ">Doesn't that sound wonderful.</span></span></span></p><p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 140%; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;"><span lang="en-NZ">But - Imagine
a hot day like today.</span></span></span></p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 140%; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;"><span lang="en-NZ">Imagine
that you’re with Martha, slaving away over a hot stove while
everything in you longs to be sitting with your guest, hanging on his
every word, treasuring the moment.</span></span></span></p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 140%; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;"><span lang="en-NZ">Small
wonder that Martha is loudly resentful, unable to bear the way in
which Mary is enjoying everything she longs for...She slams the pans down in the kitchen, emerges red-faced and angy...and oh, i</span></span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;"><span lang="en-NZ">t
must have been hard for her when Jesus appears to take Mary's part
and points out what’s really going on –</span> <span lang="en-NZ">but
I think that in fact he is offering her freedom.</span></span></p><p style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 140%; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;"><span lang="en-NZ">You don't HAVE to do all that to please me. It's OK. Come and sit down. Let me love you</span></span></p>
<p lang="en-NZ" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 140%; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;">He
offers that freedom to us as well.</span></span></p>
<p lang="en-NZ" style="line-height: 140%; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">The
Christian life often seems very demanding. We've so much we could do,
so many ways of serving God and his world. We could work at the
food-bank or help with the flowers...we could visit the housebound or
play games with the children...we could join a house group or enrol
on a course. And obviously we could, and we do, create the great acts
of worship that punctuate our cathedral year...the celebrations of
festivals...the ordinations....the special events that bring hundreds
of guests through our doors (and remember, we’re to welcome all of
them as we would welcome Christ, who is both host and guest)...</span></p>
<p lang="en-NZ" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 140%; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;">All
of those things may be right and good – part of our loving response
to the love that we've received.</span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">And
it's true enough that when we look into our inmost souls, when we
stand in silence before God there will be much that we long to
change...much that needs cleansing, restoring, renewing – but
that's not something we can do for ourselves...so there's no point in
tying ourselves in knots in our endeavour to be READY to welcome
Jesus.</span></p>
<p lang="en-NZ" style="line-height: 140%; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">So- stop and listen to him now. These words are for each of us...for we've come
here today because we want to spend time with Jesus, to make him
welcome in our hearts and in our lives. These are his words to us.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 140%; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span lang="en-NZ"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">You’re
busy with many things, but only one thing is needed. </span></i></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span lang="en-NZ"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">We
are</span></i></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span lang="en-NZ"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">
here because you wanted to spend time with</span></i></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></i></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span lang="en-NZ"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">me...so why
not do that? Come, be with me – there's no need of special
preparations or elaborate menus. Just come close. Let me welcome you
as you want to welcome me....</span></i></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p lang="en-NZ" style="line-height: 140%; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">That
one thing needed is to be open and hospitable to God...to come close
to him so that he can come close to you. You don't have to be anyone
special. You don't have to DO anything special. Just choose the one
thing that is needed....Choose to be as close to Jesus as you can,
and trust him to do the rest.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>Kathrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09171138485811816831noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876613.post-77137799032468551532022-07-10T13:37:00.004+01:002022-07-10T13:37:57.853+01:00Sermon for the 1st Mass of the Revd Su McClellan, Coventry Cathedral, 10th July 2022.<span style="font-family: arial;">A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away, our Dean was involved in training a group of clergy, myself among them, to act as peer reviewers. There was a lot of good input that day but the thing that I carried with me and have returned to again and again was a poem, <i>Priestly Duties</i>, by Stewart Henderson.
It’s way too long to share in its entirety (though it’s easy to find online), but its opening questions return to me regularly and seem apt today as we give thanks for this new chapter in Su’s ministry and share in the joy of this first Eucharist. </span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">It begins by asking “What should a priest be” and goes on to question “What should a priest do”, providing a series of answers that are both astute and comic, reflecting the complex expectations that we have of ourselves, as well as those projected by others.
Many of these are contradictory </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><i><span style="font-family: arial;"> What should a priest be? </span></i></div><div><i><span style="font-family: arial;">All things to all – </span></i></div><div><i><span style="font-family: arial;">male, female and genderless
….. </span></i></div><div><i><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></i></div><div><i><span style="font-family: arial;">What should a priest be? </span></i></div><div><i><span style="font-family: arial;">accessible and incorruptible </span></i></div><div><i><span style="font-family: arial;">abstemious, yet full of celebration,</span></i></div><div><i><span style="font-family: arial;">informed, but not threateningly so, </span></i></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Others are just terrifyingly unrealistic or utterly bonkers. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Keep an eye open to spot times when miracles are expected of very ordinary, flawed and feeble clergy...you might, once in a while, find you are falling prey to them yourself... </span></div><div><i><span style="font-family: arial;">What should a priest be? </span></i></div><div><i><span style="font-family: arial;">all-round family person </span></i></div><div><i><span style="font-family: arial;">counsellor, but not officially because
of the recent changes in legislation,</span></i></div><div><i><span style="font-family: arial;">teacher, expositor, confessor, </span></i></div><div><i><span style="font-family: arial;">entertainer, juggler, </span></i></div><div><i><span style="font-family: arial;">good with children, </span></i></div><div><i><span style="font-family: arial;">and
possibly sea-lions, </span></i></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">And so it continues – the kind of catalogue that has most clergy ruefully nodding in recognition of tropes that are all too familiar...though its final section comes very close to nailing some of my own longings and aspirations </span></div><div><i><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></i></div><div><i><span style="font-family: arial;">What does a priest do?</span></i></div><div><i><span style="font-family: arial;"> tends the flock through time,
oil and incense, </span></i></div><div><i><span style="font-family: arial;">would secretly like each PCC </span></i></div><div><i><span style="font-family: arial;">to commence
with a mud-pie making contest </span></i></div><div><i><span style="font-family: arial;">sometimes falls asleep when praying </span></i></div><div><i><span style="font-family: arial;">yearns, like us, for
heart-rushing deliverance </span></i></div><div><i><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></i></div><div><i><span style="font-family: arial;">What does a priest do? </span></i></div><div><i><span style="font-family: arial;">has rows with their family </span></i></div><div><i><span style="font-family: arial;">wants to inhale Heaven </span></i></div><div><i><span style="font-family: arial;">stares at bluebells </span></i></div><div><i><span style="font-family: arial;">attempts to convey the mad love of God </span></i></div><div><i><span style="font-family: arial;">would like to ice-skate with crocodiles </span></i></div><div><i><span style="font-family: arial;">and hear the roses when they pray. </span></i></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Of course none of this may resonate with you at all, so It’s a blessing, then, that Su and those ordained beside her last Sunday have another explicit agenda provided by the Ordinal. Those who were present will have heard Bishop Christopher sharing it – and again, do look on line if you can’t remember all the details. Once more, the list is distinctly demanding and generations of priests, having heard those words, have fallen on their knees thankful that in ordination we explicitly invite the Holy Spirit to come down upon the candidates, as there’s simply no chance we could ever manage what is asked of us alone. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Some of the charge is directed at all those present, including the calling that most resonates with me
<b>“with all God’s people priests are to tell the story of God’s love”</b> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">What an utterly wonderful responsibility – and one that is absolutely at the heart of today’s Gospel, when you come to think of it. Our parable shows us a love that transcends any boundaries we might choose to create. Of course, Jesus told the story in response to two pressing and pertinent questions “What must I do to obtain eternal life” and the supplementary “Who is my neighbour”. There are undoubtedly stock answers available for these, but the answers weren’t really the point.... The whole exchange is intended to catch Jesus out.. We don’t know what kind of lawyer is speaking to him...if a Pharisee, then eternal life is very much part of the theological deal...if a Saducee, then it absolutely is not, so by even asking the question there’s a covert intention to force Jesus to declare himself for one side or the other…
Instead Jesus sidesteps the whole thing by inviting a lawyer to give a legal opinion, - “how do YOU interpret the law?” He is meeting the lawyer on his home ground, before bringing the question swiftly from the abstract to the specific...from theory to practice. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"> DO this and you shall live. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">DO this. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"> That’s a bit demanding isn’t it.
Like the lawyer, we’d often prefer to celebrate theory rather than get involved in the mess and muddle of practice…and so the lawyer makes another attempt to protect himself, at least. Who IS my neighbour? </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Surely there must be ways in which I can limit this troublesome command to love...boundaries that can be confirmed, to protect me from anything too radical. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"> And so Jesus plunges into this beloved, familiar , challenging story...of neighbourly love neglected and then revealed in the most unlikely place. Of course we have no idea what prevented those insiders, the priest and Levite, who you might expect to be first on the scene to offer support, from actually doing anything for the unhappy traveller. We might imagine that it was the strict purity laws that intervened, but the truth is that the obligation to help someone in need would always trump those – so the likeliest explanation for their inaction is fear, pure and simple.
To this day, that road from Jerusalem to Jericho remains rocky, desolate and dangerous and the fate of the traveller has already confirmed that there are unsavoury types about. We’ve all seen tv dramas where a driver stops in the dark in a response to an appeal for help, only to be ambushed himself – and this is that kind of situation. I doubt if I would have had the courage to stop...Fear often gets in the way of kindness...Maybe not fear of physical danger – but there are other threats – to reputation or self-image...The fear of rocking the boat...of standing out from the crowd...of finding oneself committed to something that after all seems far too demanding.
I wonder if fear has ever stifled compassion for you? It’s a question worth asking. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Of course, the point of the parable is that compassion is found in the outsider, the Samaritan...the one who was LEAST likely to tell the story of God’s love in any way that Jewish hearers could recognise. He showed it so clearly that even the lawyer, unable to actually articulate the word “Samaritan” nonetheless knows the answer to the final question from Jesus “Who do you think was a neighbour”
The words may stick in his throat but he cannot deny...“The one who showed him mercy”…
The one who actually did something to help. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">You see – that’s the point. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">DO THIS... T</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">hat command to do bookends the parable. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Do this and you shall live. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Go and do likewise </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">A command to us all...that transcends the restrictions of race or tribe or religious institution. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">DO THIS </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Love is a doing word that is so much more than warm fuzzy feelings. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Tell the story of God’s love by the way we live each day, by the ways in which we demonstrate active compassion, by the ways we reach out beyond our comfort zones to ensure that EVERYONE is included, everyone welcomed, everyone embraced just as they are. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">DO THIS </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">And if you are unsure quite how you might achieve that, or what it might look like for you– well, we’re going to model that right here and right now. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">DO THIS </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">We’re going to hear Su speak those words in just a few minutes time. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">DO THIS in remembrance of me
The Eucharist over which she presides for us today is itself both a living reality, Christ’s once for all sacrifice made real and present for this time and place AND a parable, a story into which we can enter to learn more about life in God’s kingdom…It is the story of God’s love retold by countless priests standing at countless altars around the world, day after day after day...</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">It is a story that Su has been preparing to tell in this way over all the years of discernment, the story that shapes our faith and enables us to share that faith with others.
In the Eucharist, the story of God’s love is demonstrated as bread is broken and wine outpoured…. We are given an insight into the self-giving love at the heart of everything, we see it made real as we enter once again into the miracle that transforms the brokenness we bring so that it becomes the very life of God, here to be received by us all
That is the story we are gathered to tell, the story that shapes and defines us, the story with the power to change the world. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">DO THIS. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Never mind all the other demands and expectations, the aspirations, failures and regrets
Never mind the priestly duties that can so occupy our time, our thoughts, our energy
Together with all God’s people, priests are to tell the story of God’s love
Su does this in many ways, by who she is and by what she does
Today she does it in a new way as she gathers the hopes and dreams, the fears and failings, the prayers and longings of THIS community in an offertory that has always been about so much more than material gifts, of money , bread or wine. She takes our stories and brings them before God, who receives them and retells them in the language of a love that is stronger than everything in creation, stronger even than death. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">So – as we rejoice in our new priest let us hold on to our shared calling to tell that story...with our words, of course, but so much more with our lives….
How will we tell the story of God’s love here in Coventry Cathedral?
How will you tell it in your daily life?
It’s a calling for us all, an exercise in show and tell that gives us hope and purpose now, and beyond that the promise of life everlasting.</span></div>Kathrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09171138485811816831noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876613.post-36257599098092674362022-06-18T23:32:00.002+01:002022-06-18T23:32:47.960+01:00Trinity 1 C "Clothed and in his right mind"One of the peculiar blessings of being here at the Cathedral is the sheer variety of people who find their ways through our doors...I think perhaps I never really understood the phrase “all sorts and conditions” before I came here. Often conversations with visitors are pure joy...So many people blown away by the beauty of our building or coming to reconnect with a precious memory of past visits and special people. Inspiring stories of the difference that reconciliation has made in their lives, and of the part that Coventry played in that.
Moments of encounter with God in so very many ways.
Other conversations, of course, can be more difficult – especially with those whose grip on what I’d see as reality seems to be on the loose side. Some visitors are clearly struggling with life, and this is reflected in behaviour that can be, at best, challenging. You may remember hearing of a visitor who arrived one Sunday evening during the 6.30 service clad only in an umbrella – but there are others, less dramatic, who don’t obviously fit into the gentle world of arts societies and choral evensong. I have to admit, I find those enounters uncomfortable. I would quite happily avoid them.
Nonetheless, the demoniac in our gospel takes the phrase “challenging behaviour” to a whole new level. Small wonder that he is excluded from normal society. He's as frightening as he is frightened - not simply because of the shouting, the antisocial behaviour, the unnatural strength. His vulnerability is alarming too – a brutal reminder of our own frailty. When the chips are down, this is the truth of our existence….what Lear’s Fool describes as “unaccomodated man …a poor bare forked animal”
We would prefer, I think, to clothe ourselves in more splendid garb, to imagine ourselves as more powerful, more sophisticated, with more agency in our own lives and our own destinies…
We struggle with anything that challenges this, and so it’s much safer to turn away from those who might paint a different picture. Send them packing if you can.
That’s what has happened to this man, driven out to live naked among the tombs, in a place of death and decay. He is at the mercy of the elements, as well as other less tangible forces beyond his control, beyond OUR control….and it is that lack of control that renders him most alarming. No wonder he is no longer welcome at home. He’s just too disruptive...the feelings he inspires just too big to accommodate.
I cant help but wonder whether some of the more extreme views and behaviours that have gripped our country in recent years have a similar root. Quite often after listening to the news or reading an article on line I’ve thought “What has happened to us? Have we all gone quite mad?” …
Is this our response to a feeling that we have lost control? That conflicting voices are goading us in different directions, that, like Elijah in the cave, we are taking shelter while earthquake, wind and fire rage around us...
I guess that many of us may have been feeling overwhelmed by the rate of change even before the pandemic hit, with its insistent reminders that we are not, after all, in charge of our own lives, commanders of our own destinies, as we might have liked to believe. The past 2 years have made it very clear indeed that for all our startling brilliance, the stunning achievements of civilisation, nonetheless as the Collect puts it “through the weakness of our mortal nature we can do no good thing” And we don’t like hearing that.
We don’t want to confront our own helplessness, our own neediness, our own nakedness.
We’re in control, remember.
So, when the evidence suggests otherwise, we take steps to distance ourselves We turn away from those who make us uncomfortable. We may choose to ignore inconvenient truths about our pwn reality or better still, we might cast out those who disturb us, to pretend that they and their problems do not exist. Maybe we could try shipping them off somewhere…
If that’s sounding a bit political, can I remind you that there’s quite a political agenda present in the healing miracle we’re considering. The story is set on the other side of Lake Galillee, in the Decapolis, a part of occupied Palestine where the Romans are very much in evidence asserting their unwanted control. We are not intended to miss the implications, when the demons speak as Legion, and are cast out from their human host, straight into a herd of swine. Hard to think of a more appropriately insulting abode for them from the viewpoint of observant Jews...and when the swine charge into the lake, (remember the sea is synonymous with chaos in Jewish thought,) - well, you don’t have to look very hard between the lines to see a bit of wish-fulfillment and a declaration of God’s power over all the forces of oppression, whether political or supernatural.
That’s probably quite helpful for us. We may be slightly wary of the overtly supernatural – but nonetheless, we might still see ourselves, or our society, embodied in the struggling demoniac.
Though we won’t use the language of possession, we cannot deny that many find themselves at the mercy of feelings, thoughts and patterns of behaviour that they would never have chosen...driven by addictions beyond their control..Fightings and fears, within, without…
Things that strip away our disguise and leave us naked, our vulnerabilities exposed again.
But in this place of fear and fragmentation we meet Jesus. We shouldn't be surprised to find him there. Others may have written the demoniac off – but not Jesus. He always pays particular attention to those excluded, literally and metaphorically -- those with nothing, beggars at the gate, lepers, bleeding women and dead children.
He thinks nothing of engaging with the ritually unclean – and here he is in unclean Gentile territory, close to that herd of swine…
Jesus is never choosy about the company he keeps -for he is intent on restoring not just the individual but the community as well....Again and again he confronts everything that stands in the way of wholeness, everything that divides us from one another, everything that prevents us from knowing the love of God in loving community.
Here in this wasteland of death and destructive behaviour Jesus stands – and sees that within the alarming person of the demoniac is one of God's own precious children. The demoniac recognises Jesus too – asking him a crucial question
“What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the most high God”
Naming is powerful. The demoniac no longer knows who he is. He has lost his own name, his own identity, and is at the mercy of so many voices, driving him every which way, intent on his destruction.
But Jesus speaks into that maelstrom and brings healing.
The inner storms cease. For all their volume, those were never really the important voices.
At last the man can listen and in the sheer silence, he knows and is fully known, restored to the truth of himself and, in due course, to his community.
You see, ultimately this is another story of reconciliation – our story, our song.
So, I wonder where you would place yourself in this narrative.
Are you the man tortured by so many conflicting voices, so many fightings and fears that you have lost track of yourself?
Or perhaps you’re just off-stage, among the conscientious community that has driven him in to exile, as his rantings are just too disruptive, too disturbing, and you must preserve the peace?
Or one of the swineherds, whose livelihood is destroyed by this unprecedented turn of events...for sometimes God’s works of mercy to some seem to come at a cost to others?
Or a disciple, gasping in amazement at the company your Lord keeps almost more than at the wonders he performs? It can be hard to watch Jesus engaging so attentively with those whom we don’t understand at all, those who don’t look like us, speak like us, respond like us...We are striving to follow him, and yet he seems sometimes to prefer to focus on those who show no interest in him at all.
I wonder where you are in the story.
There may not be many parts that you’d LIKE to claim for yourself.
But wherever you are, remember, there is hope.
Jesus is here, healing what is broken, engaging with the powers of the world
Yes, truly – Jesus is HERE.
It’s easy, I think, for us to name some of the demons that drive our society mad...There’s poverty, racism, xenophobia, sexism, homophobia, religious bigotry…
There’s self-interest, pride, hatred, greed, ...Just think of our Litany and you’ll find it easy to name the legion…Endless varieties of unkindness, couched in the most respectable, acceptable terms to exclude some and imprison others. A panoply of Powers that seek to divide us one from another, to prevent us from living as citizens of the Kingdom.
But we’re not bound by them.
We do not need to run naked, at the mercy of their tormenting, conflicting voices, nor do we have to protect ourselves with the garments of false self that preserve us from acknowledging our vulnerability.
Be still
Listen.
Amid that clamour, there is someone speaking who knows the truth of who we are, each one of us, and better still the truth of who we could be.
Listen.
He calls you by name.
He will clothe you and restore you to your right mind.
The power of his love drives out demons and restores outcasts to their community, commissioning them, commissioning us, to declare to OUR families, OUR city just how much God has done for us.
Kathrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09171138485811816831noreply@blogger.com0