here's the text of the sermon I preached today, as we begin Christian Aid Week.
Easter 6 yr C Christian Aid sermon
I wonder how you're feeling in the wake of the past few days.
You may be disappointed that so little seems to have been settled, appalled at the muddles that prevented some voters from getting to cast their votes at all, exhausted by the emotional highs and lows as seats were declared through the long hours of Thursday night and Friday morning...
It's been quite a week in UK politics – but will there be lasting change?
So many promises, so much hope...but our country and our world needs something far greater, a genuine transformation that is beyond the remit of any party, whatever size their majority.
Our gospel this morning is another part of the great outpouring of the hopes, dreams and prayers that Jesus left with his disciples – the passage known as the “Farewell discourse” that we have been following over recent weeks. Last week we considered Jesus's manifesto for ministry as he rose to speak in the synagogue in Nazareth– today we're looking at the legacy that he longs to see lived out in the lives of those he leaves behind him.
“Those who love me will keep my word...”
This passage comes at a pivot point in John's gospel. Ahead lies the shadow of the cross, but Jesus looks beyond that separation to the fulness of resurrection life to come, and the promise of the Holy Spirit.
That Spirit, says Jesus, will be an Advocate...One who speaks on behalf of those who are voiceless...
Let's just think for a moment about those who ARE voiceless in our world.
Not us...We may have issues with the current electoral system, - we may feel that as individuals we can't really change anything that happens on the larger stage – but in truth, we do have the freedom and the resources to make a difference. We can risk going out on a limb for religious or political beliefs knowing that it's unlikely to cost us more than a bit of embarassment, a few uncomfortable conversations with friends and colleagues.
We are protected in so many ways, ways that perhaps we barely notice.
If we are silent, that is our choice.
We can speak without fear of reprisal on so many issues...and indeed as Christians we have a duty to do so.
More of that in a moment...
But who then are the voiceless?
In a society where communication is celebrated as never before, where we can engage at any moment of the day or night with friends across the globe, there are still too many who have no place in the conversation.
Those without access to education
Those living where democracy seems beyond their wildest dreams
Those struggling to survive amid poverty that we can barely imagine.
Today Christian Aid week begins.There's much I could share with you of specific projects, of groups and individuals whose lives will be changed by people like us, who bother to turn out in the rain to deliver envelopes, who transform church halls into shops for a week, who run fair trade coffee mornings and fish and chips quiz nights. If you ever doubt the value of the yearly push to fill envelopes and encourage reluctant neighbours to contribute, there are hundreds of stories to inspire you...But today I want to explore why this kind of giving, this kind of campaigning is built into our faith – not an optional extra but part of our essential Christian DNA.
“Those who love me will keep my word....”
There is no room for confusion. We are commanded to follow Christ’s word – to love as Christ loves. We see in Christ’s life, ministry and passion his absolute love. And throughout his life on earth he demonstrated compassion for the poor and marginalised people. This gospel passage comes soon after the washing of the feet, and the implication is clear – this is how we are to love; this is how we are to follow.
It isn't always comfortable...but then, real love doesn’t shy away from the unclean, unpleasant, unsanitised things of the world. It drives us to respond to them, by practical love that works for change.
Does that sound too difficult? Too challenging? Too scary?
If you don't think you can manage – you're in good company.
I don't think anyone here realistically believes that they CAN love as Jesus did.
We tend, as fallible human beings, to prefer not to follow the way of the cross.
We prefer to curl up in a safe place, rather than stand against the powers and principalities of this world.
We think that perhaps we can abdicate......but no, that isn't an option.
We are called to love.
But don't panic....though loving as Christ does is not humanly possible in our own strength, we have been given the Holy Spirit.
As the Spirit comes to us, we are offered transforming gifts, love, joy, peace, kindness and patience, coming not from our own limited resources but directly from God's overflowing treasure chest. Christian Aid Week always falls in the liturgical season of Easter – our celebration of the sure and certain hope that Christ has won for us. The God that could raise Christ from the dead has power beyond our imagining to transform the world and invites us to co-operate in that transformation.
Christ’s resurrection tells us that there is not only an alternative vision for the world, but also another end to the story, and that if we can enter into the story of sacrifice, there is abundant life to be found.
In the passage from Revelation we glimpse the completion of the perfect kingdom enabled by Christ’s work of redemption
Always we struggle because that kingdom that is both now and yet to come..secured for us by Christ's saving action on the cross, but apparently out of reach as we look around...It is both a clear and wonderful goal and a sad, stark contrast to the brokenness of so much of our world today.
So we strive towards the golden hope represented, but wonder if it's truly attainable...
We dream of the heavenly city, a perfect society – vast and open to all, without pain, death or suffering. God and people dwell together because there is nothing to marr their relationship; all exist in perfect communion, perfect community.
This is a place of abundant health, where the tree of life grows -whose leaves are for the healing of nations.
This is a place of transforming light – light streaming from God's own self.
A vision to sustain us and inspire us – the hope which beckons us on...
Just a few verses before the passage we've heard, in Revelation 21 God's promise that those who overcome will be given "the water of life as a gift".
Our passage today shows us ‘the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal’, and the miraculous tree it waters which brings healing and wholeness for all nations....but are we actually thirsty?
We're quite comfortable here and now...
so do we honestly yearn for change, thirst for a new creation, a world transformed and made new in love?
The gospels are clear that there is abundant life to be found through the way of sacrifice. And if we thirst to follow the way of Jesus, God promises to give us his strength –through the Holy Spirit.
The only limit is the limit of our thirst.
Is that vision our vision?
By the grace of God it can be so.
Of course vision without action is only fantasy. We are all called to play our part in bringing the kingdom of heaven to earth. The vision of a pain and suffering free world given to us in Revelation is not just a beautiful hope for the future. It is something to aim for now.
In a little while we will sing a hymn that will probably be new to you/(at St M's this morning) we sang a hymn that might not be familiar to you...I chose it because it sums up for me the call to love in action
Let me read you the final verse
“Heaven shall not wait for triumphant alleluias
When earth is past and we reach another shore
Jesus is Lord in our present imperfections
His power and love are for now and then for ever more”
The Christian Aid slogan “We believe in life BEFORE death” reflects this.
We are not in the business of offering “pie in the sky when you die” for our resurrection faith leads us to believe that what might seem impossible can and must happen, and invites us to roll up our sleeves and co-operate with God in transforming the world through the power of Love.
Showing posts with label Christian Aid week. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christian Aid week. Show all posts
Sunday, May 09, 2010
Saturday, May 09, 2009
A parishioner phoned to ask if I had any resources she could use to lead intercessions for Christian Aid week. Of course, I've any number, and as I collected them together for her, this prayer by the staggeringly gifted Janet Morley jumped out at me
On Tuesday we were encouraged to reflect on the MDGs and the church's response to them...Tomorrow, Christian Aid week begins and I read a letter in yesterday's Church Times which I found frankly appalling. It began well enough, acknowledging the discomfort that we all feel in knocking on doors & asking for money at a time when so many are struggling to make ends meet...but it concluded by suggesting that we should adopt the maxim
"Charity begins at home"
buying directly into the culture of self-interest that asserts that there is not enough to go round - not enough money, not enough food, not enough love.
But surely we are called by the God of abundance, the God who gives ceaselessly of Godself, the God who floods our lives with love and grace beyond our wildest imaginings.
We are small and scared - but where we are most fearful, God meets us and offers us all that we need, blessing us to be a blessing in our turn.
Charity begins at home, because that is where we learn how to love and how to share, - but it spreads out in endless ripples that encircle the whole world....
God of the poor
We long to meet you yet always miss you;
we strive to help you yet only discover our need.
Interrupt our comfort with your nakedness
touch our possessiveness with your poverty
and surprise our guilt with the grace of your welcome
in Jesus Christ
We long to meet you yet always miss you;
we strive to help you yet only discover our need.
Interrupt our comfort with your nakedness
touch our possessiveness with your poverty
and surprise our guilt with the grace of your welcome
in Jesus Christ
On Tuesday we were encouraged to reflect on the MDGs and the church's response to them...Tomorrow, Christian Aid week begins and I read a letter in yesterday's Church Times which I found frankly appalling. It began well enough, acknowledging the discomfort that we all feel in knocking on doors & asking for money at a time when so many are struggling to make ends meet...but it concluded by suggesting that we should adopt the maxim
"Charity begins at home"
buying directly into the culture of self-interest that asserts that there is not enough to go round - not enough money, not enough food, not enough love.
But surely we are called by the God of abundance, the God who gives ceaselessly of Godself, the God who floods our lives with love and grace beyond our wildest imaginings.
We are small and scared - but where we are most fearful, God meets us and offers us all that we need, blessing us to be a blessing in our turn.
Charity begins at home, because that is where we learn how to love and how to share, - but it spreads out in endless ripples that encircle the whole world....
Friday, May 16, 2008
Oh dear
Yesterday was one of those afternoons that do little for your faith in humanity.
It began with a sad little funeral at the crem, funded by the Local Authority, for a man whose family were unable or unwilling to tell me anything about him at all.
I did my best, using John Donne's reminder that "no man is an island" to add some rightness to a situation in which as a stranger I found myself speaking about someone of whom I knew nothing but his name, his dates and that, of course, he matters to God more than we can ever grasp.
However, later on I made a start on collecting my Christian Aid envelopes and was startled by the way in which some people clearly feel absolutely no connection to people with loves, hopes and dreams just like their own, living in poverty across the world. There were, as always, those who claimed that they had never received an envelope (well, actually I delivered it myself...but that really doesn't matter) and those who said that they had already contributed to the disaster relief fund so had nothing to spare at all...but there was also the beautifully spoken man with the shiney cars in his drive who said
"I am my own charity" and another who, having asked what Christian Aid was about, said
"Why would I want to help people who are struggling to survive in another country?"
Ummmm...If you can't see that, I think we need more than a doorstep conversation.
Later I was chatting to a friend who reported a survey that claimed that (along with War on Want) Christian Aid was the country's most hated charity- perhaps because of a mistaken belief that it provides aid FOR Christians, rather than as an expression of Christian love.
Time for a rebrand perhaps?
But it's tricky...When we don't shout about church-led projects the claim is that "Christians are all talk but never do anything to make a difference".
If we proclaim that the work being done is part of our response to God's loving generosity, by giving it the label "Christian" we are presumed to be limiting our help to those who share the faith. Oh dear indeed - but The Man never said we'd be popular, did he?
It began with a sad little funeral at the crem, funded by the Local Authority, for a man whose family were unable or unwilling to tell me anything about him at all.
I did my best, using John Donne's reminder that "no man is an island" to add some rightness to a situation in which as a stranger I found myself speaking about someone of whom I knew nothing but his name, his dates and that, of course, he matters to God more than we can ever grasp.
However, later on I made a start on collecting my Christian Aid envelopes and was startled by the way in which some people clearly feel absolutely no connection to people with loves, hopes and dreams just like their own, living in poverty across the world. There were, as always, those who claimed that they had never received an envelope (well, actually I delivered it myself...but that really doesn't matter) and those who said that they had already contributed to the disaster relief fund so had nothing to spare at all...but there was also the beautifully spoken man with the shiney cars in his drive who said
"I am my own charity" and another who, having asked what Christian Aid was about, said
"Why would I want to help people who are struggling to survive in another country?"
Ummmm...If you can't see that, I think we need more than a doorstep conversation.
Later I was chatting to a friend who reported a survey that claimed that (along with War on Want) Christian Aid was the country's most hated charity- perhaps because of a mistaken belief that it provides aid FOR Christians, rather than as an expression of Christian love.
Time for a rebrand perhaps?
But it's tricky...When we don't shout about church-led projects the claim is that "Christians are all talk but never do anything to make a difference".
If we proclaim that the work being done is part of our response to God's loving generosity, by giving it the label "Christian" we are presumed to be limiting our help to those who share the faith. Oh dear indeed - but The Man never said we'd be popular, did he?
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Pentecost Sermon - daring to dream.
Another offering that leans heavily on the shoulders of others - this time the helpful resources that Christian Aid themselves provide, which are always a joy to use (though I really have tried to make them my own).
When the day of Pentecost had come, the people of St Matthew’s were all gathered together in one place when suddenly………..
How would you carry on with the story?
After all, those words from Joel draw each one of us into the dreaming of dreams and the seeing of visions.
What would your dream, your vision be for this church family on this day of Pentecost?
Does it feel to you as if the coming of the Holy Spirit might surprise us all at any moment, or do the events we’ve been hearing about have a flavour of unreality, of long ago and far away that can have little impact on Cainscross in 2008?
Sometimes it’s easy to be trapped by our own weariness, - perhaps a long vacancy has meant that the tasks of ministry have been shared among fewer people, people already fitting things in in their limited “spare time”.
At that stage it’s very easy to simply focus on keeping going without daring to lift our eyes to see God’s bigger picture, to allow sheer exhaustion to divorce you from the ongoing action of the Holy Spirit….
If you’ve ever felt like that, imagine how it must have been for the disciples…They had lived through the emotional upheaval of the first Holy Week and Easter…the grief and despair of Good Friday, the confused excitement of the Resurrection, the joyful reunions with a Jesus who was both the same and also unutterably different.
They had heard him promise to be with them always – but seen him vanish from their sight.
Now they were faced with getting on with things by themselves– and perhaps his promise to send them a comforter seemed less than helpful. They didn’t want comfort. They wanted Jesus, with them at every stage…Without him they had no sense of the big picture, no inkling of where God might be leading them, certainly no courage to dream.
Does that sound at all familiar?
I’m pretty certain that the disciples, waiting obediently because they had no idea what else they could do, had no inkling of what was about to happen.So the impact of the Spirit’s coming upon them is the more amazing.
Suddenly, there is courage and conviction.
Suddenly there is complete understanding of just what God has been doing (would Peter the fisherman of old have launched into this sort of sermon? Clearly not)
Where there was weariness and despair, suddenly everything becomes new and exciting.
History has reached a turning point. Through God’s gift of the Holy Spirit, God’s presence became real once again for the disciples.
Through God’s gift of the Spirit, God’s presence is real for us - with us, in us and even working through us. The word for Spirit in both Hebrew (ruach) and Greek (pneuma) also means ‘breath’ – and breath, of course, is synonymous with life.
It INSPIRES us…bringing new life to the world, to each individual and each community, near and far, past, present and future.
New life…for weary churches, for battered communities, for a hurting world.
As today we begin Christian Aid Week, we recall their commitment to “life before death” and their co-operation with the Spirit in all that leads to human flourishing, among those whose lives have been diminished by poverty and injustice for too long.
We recognise that God’s big picture includes the obliteration of poverty, the overcoming of human greed.
Perhaps that’s how we should carry on with the story…
“When the day of Pentecost had come, the people of St Matthew’s were all gathered together in one place when suddenly everyone realised that they could make a difference…that they were not too small or too insignificant to change the world. So they began to pray.. and to work together to affirm life in all its fullness”
I think that might be one happy ending that would make God smile…but there are others too, for the Holy Spirit does not just bring new life…the Holy Spirit empowers people so that they can empower others...
Those confused and defeated men found themselves transformed into radical preachers of a dynamic message, full of confidence, longing to share their gospel in all directions. They knew at first hand what a difference God could make in the lives of the most ordinary, unexceptional people…and they wanted their friends, their neighbours, and the strangers from across the world to experience that same transformation.
Might that be the end of the story?
“the people of St Matthew’s were so thrilled by the reality of God’s presence that they, that WE, could no longer keep quiet but simply had to go out and tell the world, - better yet, show the world, that things had changed.
We’re not just a church of nice people but a new creation!
These actions of the Spirit show the changes God wants to bring about in the world. And the message of Pentecost is that God calls and equips us, as transformed people, to play our part in this mission. We are called to live in a new way.
Through the Holy Spirit we can see things differently, recognise the truths that lie beneath the surface of our own lives, the comfortable excuses we make to ourselves about our own lifestyles, and see the injustices around us.
Through the Holy Spirit we can have courage to, as the Quakers put it “speak truth to power”. From the upper room, the disciples went out to prophesy and testify on the streets of Jerusalem. They told the truth about what had happened in recent weeks, and about where it would lead the world. Many joined their number as a result. As followers of Christ, we are also called to proclaim God’s love, and the justice he requires. We are challenged to speak and to act where there is injustice and abuse in our world, and of our world…to be a voice for the poor and the marginalised…and a voice for the planet itself, the fragile earth whose balance human greed has threatened.
So, another ending to the story
“The people of St Matthew’s pledged themselves to respond to the needs of the world around them by living lives based on God’s justice…by working to make trade fair…by befriending the planet….”
Big words, big concepts – but we are all small people, people living insignificant lives in unimportant places…and yet, at Pentecost, the Holy Spirit united people in purpose and mission. We, too, are called to work together to serve God’s people and purpose. We are reminded in the epistle that we each bring different gifts to this task, but they come together for the common good, we all have different roles to play, but for a single cause: to transform the world.
“When the day of Pentecost had come, the people of St Matthew’s knew themselves important in God’s great plan. They recognised that the Holy Spirit is already with them, giving them the gifts they need to bring about God’s dream for this place…and they dared to look ahead, to see God’s bigger picture, and to weave their own dreams to collaborate in the coming of the Kingdom”
So - will you pray with me?
God of the rushing wind,
sweep through our indifference.
God of the fiery flames,
ignite our compassion.
God of the many voices,
open our mouths to speak out against injustice.
That through your Spirit
and our actions
this world may be transformed.
Amen.
When the day of Pentecost had come, the people of St Matthew’s were all gathered together in one place when suddenly………..
How would you carry on with the story?
After all, those words from Joel draw each one of us into the dreaming of dreams and the seeing of visions.
What would your dream, your vision be for this church family on this day of Pentecost?
Does it feel to you as if the coming of the Holy Spirit might surprise us all at any moment, or do the events we’ve been hearing about have a flavour of unreality, of long ago and far away that can have little impact on Cainscross in 2008?
Sometimes it’s easy to be trapped by our own weariness, - perhaps a long vacancy has meant that the tasks of ministry have been shared among fewer people, people already fitting things in in their limited “spare time”.
At that stage it’s very easy to simply focus on keeping going without daring to lift our eyes to see God’s bigger picture, to allow sheer exhaustion to divorce you from the ongoing action of the Holy Spirit….
If you’ve ever felt like that, imagine how it must have been for the disciples…They had lived through the emotional upheaval of the first Holy Week and Easter…the grief and despair of Good Friday, the confused excitement of the Resurrection, the joyful reunions with a Jesus who was both the same and also unutterably different.
They had heard him promise to be with them always – but seen him vanish from their sight.
Now they were faced with getting on with things by themselves– and perhaps his promise to send them a comforter seemed less than helpful. They didn’t want comfort. They wanted Jesus, with them at every stage…Without him they had no sense of the big picture, no inkling of where God might be leading them, certainly no courage to dream.
Does that sound at all familiar?
I’m pretty certain that the disciples, waiting obediently because they had no idea what else they could do, had no inkling of what was about to happen.So the impact of the Spirit’s coming upon them is the more amazing.
Suddenly, there is courage and conviction.
Suddenly there is complete understanding of just what God has been doing (would Peter the fisherman of old have launched into this sort of sermon? Clearly not)
Where there was weariness and despair, suddenly everything becomes new and exciting.
History has reached a turning point. Through God’s gift of the Holy Spirit, God’s presence became real once again for the disciples.
Through God’s gift of the Spirit, God’s presence is real for us - with us, in us and even working through us. The word for Spirit in both Hebrew (ruach) and Greek (pneuma) also means ‘breath’ – and breath, of course, is synonymous with life.
It INSPIRES us…bringing new life to the world, to each individual and each community, near and far, past, present and future.
New life…for weary churches, for battered communities, for a hurting world.
As today we begin Christian Aid Week, we recall their commitment to “life before death” and their co-operation with the Spirit in all that leads to human flourishing, among those whose lives have been diminished by poverty and injustice for too long.
We recognise that God’s big picture includes the obliteration of poverty, the overcoming of human greed.
Perhaps that’s how we should carry on with the story…
“When the day of Pentecost had come, the people of St Matthew’s were all gathered together in one place when suddenly everyone realised that they could make a difference…that they were not too small or too insignificant to change the world. So they began to pray.. and to work together to affirm life in all its fullness”
I think that might be one happy ending that would make God smile…but there are others too, for the Holy Spirit does not just bring new life…the Holy Spirit empowers people so that they can empower others...
Those confused and defeated men found themselves transformed into radical preachers of a dynamic message, full of confidence, longing to share their gospel in all directions. They knew at first hand what a difference God could make in the lives of the most ordinary, unexceptional people…and they wanted their friends, their neighbours, and the strangers from across the world to experience that same transformation.
Might that be the end of the story?
“the people of St Matthew’s were so thrilled by the reality of God’s presence that they, that WE, could no longer keep quiet but simply had to go out and tell the world, - better yet, show the world, that things had changed.
We’re not just a church of nice people but a new creation!
These actions of the Spirit show the changes God wants to bring about in the world. And the message of Pentecost is that God calls and equips us, as transformed people, to play our part in this mission. We are called to live in a new way.
Through the Holy Spirit we can see things differently, recognise the truths that lie beneath the surface of our own lives, the comfortable excuses we make to ourselves about our own lifestyles, and see the injustices around us.
Through the Holy Spirit we can have courage to, as the Quakers put it “speak truth to power”. From the upper room, the disciples went out to prophesy and testify on the streets of Jerusalem. They told the truth about what had happened in recent weeks, and about where it would lead the world. Many joined their number as a result. As followers of Christ, we are also called to proclaim God’s love, and the justice he requires. We are challenged to speak and to act where there is injustice and abuse in our world, and of our world…to be a voice for the poor and the marginalised…and a voice for the planet itself, the fragile earth whose balance human greed has threatened.
So, another ending to the story
“The people of St Matthew’s pledged themselves to respond to the needs of the world around them by living lives based on God’s justice…by working to make trade fair…by befriending the planet….”
Big words, big concepts – but we are all small people, people living insignificant lives in unimportant places…and yet, at Pentecost, the Holy Spirit united people in purpose and mission. We, too, are called to work together to serve God’s people and purpose. We are reminded in the epistle that we each bring different gifts to this task, but they come together for the common good, we all have different roles to play, but for a single cause: to transform the world.
“When the day of Pentecost had come, the people of St Matthew’s knew themselves important in God’s great plan. They recognised that the Holy Spirit is already with them, giving them the gifts they need to bring about God’s dream for this place…and they dared to look ahead, to see God’s bigger picture, and to weave their own dreams to collaborate in the coming of the Kingdom”
So - will you pray with me?
God of the rushing wind,
sweep through our indifference.
God of the fiery flames,
ignite our compassion.
God of the many voices,
open our mouths to speak out against injustice.
That through your Spirit
and our actions
this world may be transformed.
Amen.
Monday, May 14, 2007
Christian Aid week began
with a splendid lunch cooked by both Youth Groups yesterday.3 courses, some truly amazing puddings and a great crowd there to serve with a smile. We had a visiting preacher from the Cathedral (will blog something from his thoughtful sermon later) who was most impressed with it all. I found myself hovering on the edge of telling him "We're not really as all-age as this looks..." but realised in time that of course we are. We're just not that good at getting together in one place with one purpose,- partly because the parental generation that might act as cement between teens and grandparents is largely absent from our congregation.
So that makes things like the Christian Aid lunch even more important and special.
After Evensong (at which I preached a not-particularly-inspiring-but-what-the-heck sermon) had a happy time with the older teens, who are creating what promises to be a really exciting take on the Eucharist for their birthday service next month. It's frustrating to have to say "No" to some good ideas that just won't be workable with our building as it is (and my vows of canoncial obedience as they are...) but I think there will be enough fresh vision and real enthusiasm to challenge and inspire all of us. I do thank God for those kids, again and again.
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
Nearly Christian Aid week....
And my mate Linda, who works at Christian Aid Head Office, has just sent me the link to their brilliant video. Even if I weren't a passionate supporter, I'd love this because it really is the India I visited - the place I'm still missing 6 months on.
Have a watch, but more important, UK readers please use the red envelope that should land on your mat next week. We do believe in life before death, don't we?
Have a watch, but more important, UK readers please use the red envelope that should land on your mat next week. We do believe in life before death, don't we?
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