Blessing and the Shape of Reality

 Sermon for Evensong

Sunday 19^th February 2012

Numbers 22:21-23:12

LINK TO RECORDING OF THE SERMON

Blessing and the Shape of Reality

“The Righteous shall live by faith”

This morning I spoke about forgiveness being Necessary – that we needed it – but not purely in some psychological – emotional – or even spiritual sense. ‘Spiritual sense’ always sounds a little vague to me :) No, we needed forgiveness, to forgive and be forgiven in a very Real and indeed, I believe if we Saw its impact, a Very Concrete sense. That in forgiving we are restoring the broken bonds of Love, the bonds which actually hold the whole Universe together. That in forgiving we are engaged in a construction project, the like of which the world has never seen nor comprehended.

St Paul, drawing on the story of Abraham, tells us “the Righteous shall live by faith”, but I suggest we have far too narrow a conception of what faith is, or perhaps to put it better we are content with the seed or content of faith, but seldom do we allow it to flourish and bloom from a set of beliefs into that which it is intended to be, a Perception of the World in which we live and into which we walk. Moses, we are told, By faith left Egypt, unafraid of the king’s anger; for he persevered as though he saw him who is invisible. This is the Essence of faith – walking in a new reality which God has shown to us in Christ.

As I have said several times over the past few weeks, Jesus is about restoring sight to the blind and the gift of faith is intended to be a gift of sight, to see the world as God has created it and to order our lives in the reality of that vision, one which is clouded or obscure to those amongst whom we live. So we forgive at first because we hear the command of God, but as we grow in faith we begin to see – our eyes are opened to this enthralling work which God has called us to, to Participate in the healing of the very fabric of reality, that is given Concrete expression in the Word made flesh. Love incarnate.

Well tonight I’d like to add to that theme of forgiveness, that of Blessing – That Blessing is the most appropriate of actions for the people of God who pours out his blessings in abundance. Yet how slow we are to see this.

One thing that concerns me Very greatly in contemporary Christian life is the rapidly dwindling practise of Giving thanks before eating – it concerns me because actually it is an act of faith  - we come to table and there we SEE God’s blessing – and yet we do not recognize it. Failing to give thanks is a sign that our eyes have grown dim to Reality.

Tonight’s Wonderful story from the Book of Numbers is a beautiful illustration of this practise of Blessing, and throws in a talking donkey to boot for those whose attention is slipping :). Actually it is only about a ¼ of the whole story of Balaam and Balak and Israel.

To put it quickly in context – God has rescued Israel – he has chosen them to be his people and brought them out of Egypt and into a life of Blessing. He has given them daily bread in the wilderness and sustained their life. If you like he has given them a crash course in faith and like any crash course it has been a bit painful at times, but we come to the story as they have come to the plains of moab and the blessing of God means that they are quite a crowd – and as you might imagine, the locals are more than a little nervous – so we read a little earlier on . . .

Now Balak son of Zippor was king of Moab at that time. He sent messengers to Balaam son of Beor at Pethor, which is on the Euphrates, in the land of Amaw, to summon him, saying, ‘A people has come out of Egypt; they have spread over the face of the earth, and they have settled next to me. Come now, curse this people for me, since they are stronger than I; perhaps I shall be able to defeat them and drive them from the land; for I know that whomsoever you bless is blessed,

 and whomsoever you curse is cursed.’ Numbers 22 vss 4-6

And that is the context of our reading tonight. Well the story lasts an entire chapter before Balaam sets off to see Balak. Balak keeps sending messengers to him, but God prevents Balaam from going. Eventually he does let him go but it is clear that this is not Plan A!!

We read from just before tonight’s reading

That night God came to Balaam and said to him, ‘If the men have come to summon you, get up and go with them; but do only what I tell you to do.’ ²¹So Balaam got up in the morning, saddled his donkey, and went with the officials of Moab. 22 God’s anger was kindled because he was going, and the angel of the Lord took his stand in the road as his adversary.

Certainly there is a degree of ambiguity here and I’m not going to attempt to iron it out – God says to Balaam, OK, Go with the men, but only do what I tell you . . . but it seems clear that he does so with a degree of reluctance and the next morning puts a shot across Balaam’s bows – a warning if you like, against any sense that because this is commanded it is necessarily good – Be on your guard!!

And here we begin to see how there is a greater reality – perhaps Balaam really doesn’t know with whom he is dealing – he is portrayed as blind – unlike the poor donkey!! The donkey sees how things really are. He sees the angel stood in his path with a drawn sword. The donkey’s no ass! He knows what is and isn’t good for him and desperately tries to avoid the Angel.

This story sounds to our ears most fanciful – yet how many of us not only have heard but believe thoroughly in the ability of animals to See far more than we do. Certainly here in New Zealand we know of how they seem to be ahead of the game when it comes to earthquakes – why do we understand ourselves so wise and the animals so foolish? All of Creation suffers through the sin of human kind, but only humans become totally blind, and in our fury lash out, like a frustrated child who cannot have his own way

When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, it lay down under Balaam; and Balaam’s anger was kindled, and he struck the donkey with his staff. ²⁸Then the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey, and it said to Balaam, ‘What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?’ ²⁹Balaam said to the donkey, ‘Because you have made a fool of me! I wish I had a sword in my hand! I would kill you right now!’ ³⁰But the donkey said to Balaam, ‘Am I not your donkey, which you have ridden all your life to this day? Have I been in the habit of treating you in this way?’ And he said, ‘No.’ 31 Then the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road, with his drawn sword in his hand; and he bowed down, falling on his face.

Cursing and anger flow form the mouth of Balaam and it is Wrong!! As James tells us :- no one can tame the tongue—a restless evil, full of deadly poison. ⁹With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse those who are made in the likeness of God. ¹⁰From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers and sisters,^* this ought not to be so.

[A brief aside at this point, just to note that I think it mistaken to remove the cursing Psalms from the prayer book – the fact it that at times we are full of anger and cursing and it needs a safe outlet and that is directed towards God who can handle it, rather than the Creation, which it destroys. We are not yet made perfect. We are given these Psalms as a release valve and a place where we might safely reveal our hearts and find them healed in doing so.]

Balak, The King of Moab understands the power of the prophetic word – he knows that Words can build up or destroy and he is afraid of the hoard of Israel, and so calls Balaam to Curse them – over the next two chapters there is an almost comedic battle between the King who has called for cursing to destroy and the prophet who Knows that he must Not curse, he can only bless to build up.
We are more than aware of the power of sin to destroy, but we are slow to believe in the Greater power forgiveness which restores the broken bonds of love. We are so aware of how Cursing and false words destroy, we know this. But we are all to blind of the Greater power of Blessing to build up. 

Do we have any idea of the Concrete power of Blessing in the Name of the Lord?? As some of you know, I belong to a New monastic order whose mother house is in South Wales, Old South Wales, that is :) One of our disciplines is that of Blessing, not so much Being a blessing, but pronouncing blessing. It comes out of the expereince as a good friend of mine who was called to the place that became the mother house of our order. He went in faith, but VERY reluctantly. He had NO idea of what the call was about and over time became incredibly frustrated with God – and one day made an ultimatum!! ‘I cannot stay here unless you do something!!’

Later that day, as often happened, some folk turned up at the centre, curious to know what it was – Roy took them round and talked about how it was a place where the Living God changed lives – this was more an expression of what he wanted than what he had seen to that point. Suddenly, out of nowhere, the idea came to him to bless them before they left. They responded positively and Roy said to them ‘I bless you in the name of Jesus, to know God, his purpose for your life, and his blessings on you, and you family and the situations of your life. Amen’ – they were immediately overcome with the most profound sense of the presence of God they had never known, with them. 

This became a very regular practise – and lives have been changed, healed and restored in many many ways through this. Every Friday, the folk who are resident at the centre stand on the high place overlooking the valley and pronounce blessing upon the whole valley – the life of the whole area has been transformed. Cows give more milk, even in a time of economic hardship, all the local bed and breakfasts are almost continually fully booked, the tiny country school thrives and people’s lives are being dramatically changed for the good.

We are called to a life of blessing – restoring through forgiveness and giving life through blessing. Paul reminds us ‘Bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse’ 

I began reminding by reminding us that The Righteous will live by faith. Abraham is given to us as an example, that he reveals in his life the Blessing that comes through faith ‘Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.

If forgiveness is the way in which we heal the bonds of Love that hold the universe together, Blessing is I think the way in which we are called to Breathe the Life of God into those bonds. This is the Reality We are called to inhabit in Faith. Speak Blessing.

Sermon for Sunday 19th February - Epiphany 7 - Ordinary time7

 Sermon for Sunday 19^th February, 2012

Epiphany 7 / Ordinary 7

Isaiah 43:18-25

Psalm 41

2 Corinthians 1:18-22

Mark 2:1-12

LINK TO RECORDING OF THE SERMON

 

I, I am He who blots out your transgressions for my own sake,
   and I will not remember your sins. Is 43:25

God who is the source of all Life – who is Love in his very being – does something utterly extraordinary – something which I think should give us all pause before we say that we know what love is. In Love he inextricably binds himself to a people – he commits himself to them by unbreakable bonds. He promises Never to let them go.

God is the Centre of Everything, Everything comes from Him and to Him Everything must return. God is Love. God is Light, in Him there is no darkness at all and when he takes on flesh for our sake, it is to banish the darkness, for the glory of His Name, that Love may Triumph

When I think of this Love of God, this convenant love, I am reminded of human marriage. I have to say straight away that I am comparing the Great Perfect Love of God with the far lesser, highly imperfect and at times invisible love in a human marriage – but I will deal with the Ideal (if the reality always falls short of this) 

In the Church of England liturgy the words used are these ‘I . . . take you to be my wife’, ‘I . . . take you to be my husband’. As I frequently told couples whom I was preparing for marriage – there is no ‘I will if you will’ – for you are entering into a Covenant relationship, which is the purest form of Love – a commitment to the other which is not dependent upon the Other. God’s Love is not dependent on us, He Is Love. In other words in marriage a couple you enter into a Covenant expression of Love, a Love that expresses how God love us. And of course this metaphor of marriage is used by St Paul when he is talking of the relationship between Christ and His Church.

This Love of God for His people is the theme that runs through the whole of the Old Testament and in some respects comes to its zenith, its peak in these latter chapters of the prophet Isaiah. Here God is rhetorically arguing with his unfaithful people – reminding them of their sins, of their unfaithfulness – but over and over again saying he will do something extraordinary in response – he will save them, he will protect them, he will be a life giver to them

¹⁸ Do not remember the former things,
   or consider the things of old.
¹⁹ I am about to do a new thing;
   now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
   and rivers in the desert.
²⁰ The wild animals will honour me,
   the jackals and the ostriches;
for I give water in the wilderness,
   rivers in the desert,
to give drink to my chosen people,
²¹   the people whom I formed for myself
so that they might declare my praise.

 - These words of the love of God revealed in a time in the History of his people when they were being taken into Exile because they had abandoned the God who had Committed himself to them, Given himself to them, taken them to himself in Covenant Love . When, to use other prophetic language with its roots in marriage, they had been unfaithful – in the midst of this he declares - I am going to do something new – I am going to make life giving waters flow.

Then he re-iterates the argument

²² you did not call upon me, O Jacob;
   but you have been weary of me, O Israel!
²³ You have not brought me your sheep for burnt-offerings,
   or honoured me with your sacrifices.
I have not burdened you with offerings,
   or wearied you with frankincense.
 ^{. . .}
But you have burdened me with your sins;
   you have wearied me with your iniquities. 

I have not been a burden to you, but you have been a burden to me. I have not wearied you, but you have wearied me . . .

BUT your unfaithfulness will not be the last word

²⁵ I, I am He who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.

 - I, I am He who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.

Your unfaithfulness will not have the last word – My Love will – My foregiveness. God had bound himelf utterly to this people – they were His burden – he carried them – He was known as The God of Israel – if you like He was known as their National God – His identity was tied up with theirs – and so was His character - and Israel, the people of this God had besmirched themselves and so had taken God’s name with them into the mud.     

       

            So what does he do?? Does He cast them off?? NO! Rather he Refuses to let their Word be the Last Word – he will overcome Even Unfaithfulness, the Covenant may have meant little to Israel – but it meant everything to the God who makes Promises – He has made a Covenant – He has bound himself to these people and thus His name is being dragged through the mud? What will he do?? He will make their sins Whiter than snow!! – though they are scarlet – he will blot out their transgressions for His Names sake – He will not stoop down to their level of unfaithfulness – no He will restore them and Life them Up!!!

It is Breathtaking. To Israel’s No – he Thunders His Triumphant YES – and so one comes in whom All God’s Covenant Promises are held – In whom All His Promises are YES!! Which begins to explain what to some might be a strange puzzle in the gospel reading.

Here is Jesus – in this tightly packed house – barely room to breathe and some people bring their paralyzed friend to him – presumably to heal him?? The text is silent. So determined are they to get him to Jesus they go onto the roof and knock a hole in it. And lower him down in front of Him.

And here we see how Different is our reading of this text from those of the time of Jesus – What does Jesus do? He forgives him his sins – and his critics are thinking Why does this fellow speak in this way? It is blasphemy! Who can forgive sins but God alone? And we may be thinking – Hang on a minute!! He’s paralysed – can’t you see?? Why not do That First and forgive the sins later? Surely the Priority is healing him?? – and in this regard it is Very worth noting the following – Jesus heals the man to prove the point about forgiveness. Do you see??

He forgives the man. Then the scribes accuse him of blasphemy – THEN to show that the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins he heals the man of his paralysis – to show that the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins – Which is it easier to say ‘Son our sins are forgiven you’ Or take up your mat and walk??? Which is most important???

We look out on a world where there is So So much wrong – I used to get JWs coming to my door – I don’t know if they do the same here in NZ but in England they always began by saying- aren’t things in a terrible mess – and we LOOK OUT and have to agree with them – and so we see people with sickness – we see wars  - we see famines – we see all sorts of things. And we think that there are all these problems out there and we’re busy saying – look Here Jesus – all this forgiveness of sins stuff is . . . well of course its important but what about the Real problems . . . except the real problems all stem from sin which we do Not see because we’re all too busy looking out there. The problems are Symptoms – the root dis - ease is sin.

God is Love – he creates the world in Love, through Love, for Love – the Universe is if you like a cathedral of Love – Love holding it all together – its trellises  - its buttresses – its foundations and beautiful windows are Love -  and Sin takes a wrecking ball and smashes it up. If we go around that all that is wrong in the world today is down to sin, we might be thought idiotic – but if God is Love and Everything is an expression of Love – in other words the hard physical matter of our existence is in fact that Energy emanating from the Life of God that we call Love – then before any true healing can begin – those bonds have got to be restored. That is what holds everything together. Just what seems like a minor matter for the religiously minded becomes of literally Fundamental importance. And we might know this surely for ourselves for what is the pain we know like the pain of broken relationships – it is literally as if the fabric of our Lives is torn apart – it is that the fabric of creation is rent – love is torn.

Jesus – the Lamb of God from before all eternity offers himself to atone for the sins of the world. What is God’s Solution to the demolition of Love? More Love – Indestructable Love declared in Glory on Easter Morn and the Way for all who have found new life in Him. What he does for the paralysed man in forgiving him his sins, he literally embodies on the cross. 

Remember last week – this faith of our is bodily and material? God who is Love takes on flesh. Jesus embodies Love and forgiveness on the cross and so the New Creation begins to spring to birth  - one which we are called to step into. This New Life of Christ is one we are all called as Christians to participate in. The Scribes are right – only God can forgive sins – but we are joined to him to become one with Him and thus enter into he work he is doing as Christ was himself one with the Father and only did what he saw the father doing. Forgiving and then healing.

This last couple of weeks I have referred to Peter and John and the healing of the lame man outside the Temple. I suggested that there was something missing in a church that could no longer say ‘Silver and Gold have I none,’ nor could it say ‘In the name of Jesus of Nazareth get up and walk’ – well if that seems to hard – which is easier to say ‘Your sins are forgiven you’, or ‘take up your mat and walk?’ We are given a simpler yet more Foundational starter. Peter and John having discovered the power of this love which refuses to be overcome even by death enter into this Life being renewed by forgiveness and so in that Life, in the Life of the Risen Christ, the Embodiment of the New Creation they engage in the works that that forgiveness, that restoration of the bonds of Love makes possible.

Forgiveness is the way in which the true ordering of the world is made new, that Love is restored and that Love is the healing of Everything.

Sermon for Sunday 12th February - Epiphany 6 - Ordinary 6

 Sermon for Sunday 12^th February 2010 – Epiphany 6 – Ordinary time 6

2 Kings 5:1-14

1 Cor 9:24-27

Mark 1:40-45

‘Bodily faith’

(LINK TO AUDIO RECORDING)

Athletes exercise self-control in all things; they do it to receive a perishable garland, but we an imperishable one. So I do not run aimlessly, nor do I box as though beating the air; but I punish my body and enslave it, so that after proclaiming to others I myself should not be disqualified.

Last week as most if not all of you know I celebrated my 50^th Birthday and enjoyed a wonderful day. As a little self indulgence I wrote a note on Facebook – you can tell it was self indulgence because No-one has responded to it :) In it I imagined that Great cricket commentator of my youth, the great Hampshireman, John Arlott describing the scene at Headingley Cricket ground as I raised my bat to the pavilion in acknowledgment of a half century.

Now you have got to know quite a bit about me these past few months, but one thing you don’t know about is my prowess as a cricketer – you didn’t know?? No? Well in my head  I m a great cricketer :) In my head!! In England there is something known as The Church Times Cricket competition. All the dioceses field teams, and after regional group stages the best teams play at Lords in the final. I played for Bradford Diocese – we were a bit thin on cricketers :) In my first match I’d been watching the test mtch on TV – I batted six – the first delivery  . . . I placed my foot down the track and struck a flawless drive through mid-off for four :) I went on to score 24, nearly all in boundaries before being undone by a slow full toss which took out my middle stump :) Unfortunately the apparent quality of the rest of my innings perseuaded the captain he had a real talent on his hands. I was promoted to open. I now probably hold the Church TImes record for consecutive first ball dismissals :) It was all in my head. In my head I was a Great Cricketer – I still am :) in my head, but not in my body.

We live in a world and culture where we think so much of the body and fear its loss of power. People are consumed by body image – by being slender, or muscular, or athletic – we are warned at every corner about the perils of mistreating our body through unhealthy diet or the like  - and when we express aging and our fears for the future, it is nearly always the body we refer to – I cannot do what I once wanted to – I am afraid of losing my physical ability – we feel very threatened by old people who have lost control of their bodies. YET for all we think of the body, we actually think very little of it in temrs of our identity – we do not think ‘I am my body’ we understand the self in a psychological/emotional/ spiritual sense – like the Greek idea of the Soul a persons essence – but to say ‘I am also my body’ comes as a strange idea – obsessed with the body but denying we are our bodies – AND we think very little if Anything of its place in our faith. We hear these words of St Paul, ; but I punish my body and enslave it, so that after proclaiming to others I myself should not be disqualified,  and we either fail to comprehend what he is going on about, or, probably after that dismiss him as some strange ascetic. What after all has Faith to do with the body?? As long as he keeps faith he will be ok, surely? How can the body threaten his own salvation??? Surely faith is a matter of thinking the right things?? What has faith got to do with the body. Dismissing St Paul – psychologising him and finding ways to write him off has been popular for a number of years – we always try to dismiss what we don’t understand . . . to our great loss

One of the earliest battles the church had to fight doctrinally was the denial of the Real humanity of Christ – his embodiedness. Indeed the doctrine of the Virgin Birth was not fought for because as we might like to think it was miraculous and therefore divine, rather that it Proved Jesus was Flesh and blood!! Early Christianity grew up in a body denying Greek culture, that is why we speak of the soul although such an idea is hard to find in Scripture, certainly as we think of it. Body denying. Finally the battle was won, but then forgotten and the demon sneaked in through the back door finding the house empty and swept clean – and nowadays it is rare to say the least to hear anything of the VITAL necessity of the body in faith – so we can dismiss Paul

BUT

The Word became Flesh . . . and we have seen his glory

John REFUSES point blank to allow us to disconnect the flesh and blood Jesus of Nazareth with ‘the Christ of faith’ which has implications for us which I haven’t got time to go into now – but for him and for the early church the embodiedness of Christ was Essential.

Listen again

We declare to you what was from the beginning (LOGOS), what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— this life was revealed – they TOUCHED the LIFE

Last week I used the story of Peter and John at the Temple to dramatically illustrate how in the Christendom church we have substituted the Life of God for idols, silver and gold, education, buildings, things which look impressive to the world. But they looked at Peter and John and said – these are uneducated men – they said of Paul – his bodily presence is weak and his speech contemptible – it was said about Christ ‘there was nothing in his appearance that we should desire him’. Paul was physically spent spreading the gospel throughout the gentile world – and there is something in that story of the healing of the lame man that I am sure we may think of no account : Peter said, ‘I have no silver or gold, but what I have I give you; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, stand up and walk.’ And he took him by the right hand and raised him up; and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong.

Why take him by the hand? Why mention that? Why didn’t Peter just command him to get up?? Surely faith is enough?? And Yes faith is enough – but the Body is the vehicle of faith. If you examine all the accounts of Jesus healing people – what are exceptional are those healings where Jesus does NOT touch, and in Every single case where he does Not touch there is something else at stake – without Exception. His glory is revealed in the body and by His body. His Glory is inseparable from His body for in his humanity, it is The Glory of the First Adam before he chose to hide.

His glory is revealed in the body - A leper came to him begging him, and kneeling he said to him, ‘If you choose, you can make me clean.’ Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him, ‘I do choose. Be made clean!’ Immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. – Jesus Stretched out his hand and touched him – his body the vehicle of Life.

Lepers were cut off – they were cut off because of fear – fear that their disease was infectious – but actually that cutting off from society was a broader manifestation of their condition. Leprosy is a bacterially caused condition which afflicts the sensory nervous system so you cannot feel – the disfigurment of leprosy is brought about in part because if you cannot feel your skin is damaged. We have little inkling of how awful life would be if we could not feel, of how quickly our skin would be damaged and we would be disfigured. In a sense we too have lost touch with our bodies.

Recently I’ve taken to walking barefoot a lot and also doing a little running barefoot. What you rapidly realize is how sensitive the foot is and how shoes numb you to your surroundings. Following the advice of leaders in the field I’ve tried not to avoid sharp gravel, but rather let it re-educate my feet. Remembering things they had forgotten. Encased in shoes feet become weak and lost touch. So similarly enclosed in understanding of faith which doesn’t require the sensitivity of the body or sensitivity to the body we too, you might say have become lepers. Cut off. Having a disembodied faith – not recognizing the VITAL role a body has to play.

Jesus’ glory is revealed in the body and by the body - and that is How God’s glory is to be revealed in us.

We cannot be present to someone without our bodies – we cannot be a vehicle of God’s Life without our bodies – and in the customs of the church we still have a memory of this, but do we realize it is Essential??? – we still ordain through the laying on of hands, but do we realise that we have to in order to be vehicles of God’s power? – we still lay hands on the sick although less than we did because of ( I suggest mistaken ) concerns over vulnerability. Do we realize that this is Essential??? That this is No Mere comfort – it is No mere symbol – Faith is Enacted in and through the body – faith is not ideas, is is Eternal Life and human Life is utterly identified with the body.

Lent is fast approaching. A season of Discipline and there are several in which the body is most clearly involved – most obviously Fasting. Fasting is a discipline which I think has almost fallen into universal disuse throughout the Western Church. Very few books are written on it, none when put in comparison with prayer and other aspects of Christian disciplines. Yet it is The Discipline that most rapidly reconnects our faith to our body. The Christendom church learnt to live on the bread of silver and gold, of education, of buildings – and forgot that it’s true bread was the Power of god present amongst us. The individual likewise has forgotten that man lives not by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God and so as St Paul warns, our stomachs are all too often our gods, in other words our bodies have become dominated by that which should not dominate them. We have been overpowered – Fasting sharply reminds us of that. We find neat theological sounding excuses for not fasting as we do with other commands of God.

Fasting is a gift - It’s like walking barefoot – all of a sudden we become sharply aware of how out of touch with our bodies we have become –Bodies which are Vital to our faith. We begin to reconnect the two

Perhaps in Lent we might revisit this – for the Word became Flesh – and the Word hungered in the desert – and the Word learnt obedience in the body – and Jesus of Nazareth, the Word made flesh, took that body and broke it for the sake of the world.

May we again learn the true power of Life that dares take on Flesh.

Amen

There is no "God AND . . ." - Sermon for Feb 5th 2012

 Sermon for Sunday February 5^th

5^th Sunday in Ordinary Time, 2012AD

ISAIAH 40:21-31

PS 147:1-11

1Corinthians 9:16-23

Mark 1:29-39

God’s mission, not ours

(LINK TO A RECORDING OF THE SERMON)

“For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified. And I came to you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. My speech and my proclamation were not with plausible words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God.”

First Corinthians Chapter 2, verses 2-5

Last week I spoke at some length about Brockville Community Church and as I spent some time with Andrew Scott their minister this week – one thing very forcibly struck me – that what is happening there is almost spontaneously springing up – and that they have very little by way of resources – and I wondered if these were in fact related.

            I spoke last week amongst other things about how in the shift away from Christendom - that era when we thought mistakenly that the gospel had taken root in the world - social works that the church had instigated, healthcare, education and the like - had lost any sense of being Christian. And I suggested that perhaps this was because we had lost sight of the primacy of worship, that this LIFE that created these good things, was the Life of God which found entry into the world through the worship of the human creature, supremely revealed and eternally true in Jesus of Nazareth.   

That in losing sight of the Primacy of the Worship of God, we had actually lost sight of God himself, indeed God had departed and all we were left with was a vast infrastructure we call church – which we now mistake for His Life, His Kingdom.

Now we are taught to think that this loss of Vitality, this loss of life is only recent –but even at the Very height of Christendom, in the High middle Ages – when Glorious Cathedrals bestrode Europe and fine hospitals and Universities were springing into being, even then when it seemed to the casual observer that ‘God was in his heaven and all was well with the world’, even then the life had Gone, the true Glory had departed, except that wasn’t clear to everyone. The Emperor actually had no clothes but we wanted to believe otherwise – yet here and there there were those who saw what had happened. That you can have what looks utterly like a Healthy vibrant and successful church and yet the glory has departed.

A story which puts this very graphically is that of Thomas Aquinas, the great Saint and teacher of the church was one day shown the splendours of the church by the Pope Innocent II? IV? “Ah, Thomas” he said – “we can no longer say with St Peter, Silver and Gold have we none J” To which Thomas is said to have replied, yes father, and neither sadly can we any longer say, in the name of Jesus of Nazareth, rise up and walk. ‘We have the best church money can buy, the best human endeavour can create . . . and we cannot do that which Christ commanded’

Luke Chapter 10 – Jesus sends out his disciples – to declare that the Kingdom of God has come near, AFTER they have healed the sick – and we read that they returned rejoicing saying ‘Lord, in your name, even the demons submit to us!’

Matthew Chapter 10 - Jesus sent out the twelve with the following instructions: ‘Go . . . to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, proclaim the good news, “The kingdom of heaven has come near.” Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. You received without payment; give without payment. Take no gold, or silver, or copper in your belts, no bag for your journey, or two tunics, or sandals, or a staff; for labourers deserve their food.

Amongst young folk in the church there was a trend a while back to wear bracelets with WWJD on them. What Would Jesus Do? What would Jesus do?

Mark Chapter 1 vvs 32-34 32 That evening, at sunset, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons. ³³And the whole city was gathered around the door. ³⁴And he cured many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.

WWJD?? When we imagine ourselves there, hearing the command of Christ to do what he is doing – ‘In the name of Jesus, rise up and walk …’ I imagine we feel utterly helpless . . I know I do. Many many times I have stood with someone who is ill – or even beside the body of someone who has died and hear the words of Jesus . . . and turn sadly away to those things which I know I can do – I can teach, I can devise plans for developing the life of the church, I can visit and pray, I can study and increase my knowledge so my teaching will be better, I can try and do something about the loss of youth. I have skills, I have ability, I have money, I have the ability to develop impressive looking strategies and plans – Silver and Gold have I none? No – I’m overflowing with talents and resources – but I cannot do what he commands. Of course there was another who turned sadly away from the Kingdom – the rich young man, for none of what he had availed him anything – all the things he thought so necessary, Jesus told him to leave them behind

You see when Jesus announces the kingdom he does so in actions – he reveals what happens as the Life of the Kingdom breaks out – but we don’t really want the Kingdom on these terms – because when you express it  in these terms, sick healed demons cleansed etc etc – these are things that we cannot do – so we re-express the Kingdom in terms of the church of what we think we can do. And we use the label Kingdom of God, or Gospel Work – as if this is what it is meant to look like – but when John the Baptist was in prison and asked if Jesus  was the one they were looking for – Jesus told his disciples ‘Go and tell John what you hear and see: ⁵the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers^* are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them.’ That is what the Kingdom looks like and it is at hand

Why is the church in such radical decline? Humanly speaking it makes No sense. WE are better educated than ever. WE are more precise in our planning than ever – my entire church life seems to be dominated by one strategic document after and other. WE still, despite many accounts, have more money than Ever – the church in the West is phenomenally wealthy – WE have incredible resources, fine buildings – WE are in many places still respected within our communities – WE have technological means of reaching the whole world with the message – we have Christian radio stations, we have . . . we have . . . we have . . . God AND we have all this all this other stuff, how on earth can we go wrong??? The problem must be we don’t have enough of it – SURELY??? More money , better technology, More careful planning . . .

And Jesus says  - ‘none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions’

Have you not known? Have you not heard?
   Has it not been told you from the beginning?
   Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?

. . .

Why do you say, O Jacob,
   and speak, O Israel,
‘My way is hidden from the Lord,
   and my right is disregarded by my God’?
²⁸ Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
   the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
   his understanding is unsearchable.
²⁹ He gives power to the faint,
   and strengthens the powerless.
³⁰ Even youths will faint and be weary,
   and the young will fall exhausted;
³¹ but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength,
   they shall mount up with wings like eagles,
they shall run and not be weary,
   they shall walk and not faint.

These words of Isaiah of the utter Glory of God are as a response to the Idolatry of Israel. The deepest most intractable sin of the human soul is Idolatry. And as Christians we are just as prone. For non believers of course it is very straightforward – it is to invest ourselves in that which is not God and for Christians, it is the same. Except we cover it up by saying What we need is God (well of course that goes without saying) AND . . . We may sing ‘You alone are my strength and shield – but it feels a lot better singing that when we have money in the bank, food on the table, several degrees from excellent Christian colleges, fine buildings,

Is 40:25 To whom then will you compare me, or who is my equal?

There is NO God AND!!! If we think there is we have not begun to comprehend the limitless majesty, the Grandeur, the Glory of God –If we for even a moment imagine ourselves sat in the courts of the Living God and imagine He is Not enough, imagine ourselves saying, AThank you Lord for loving us so – but we really need some money, or we really need some education . . .

Silver and Gold have I none . . . but in the name of Jesus of Nazareth, Get up and walk . . . and the man got up and walked - - and when the powers that be, Scandalised by this LIFE breaking out in front of them confronted the men . . . it was found that not only did they not have two cents to their name, but they were uneducated men. They hadn’t even been to theological college . . . Peter and John, pillars of the church, pioneers in the greatest missionary movement the world has ever seen and their only credentials? They noted that they had been with Jesus. And as when they had been with Jesus, they were still with him – living in the power of His Spirit, going where they were led – responding to what Christ was about and the Kingdom was breaking out left right and centre. You know we speak often of the presence of Christ with us, but . . .

St Paul when he goes to Corinth says For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified. And I came to you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling.

If in our hearts and minds we see Jesus doing these things and we feel the power of our inability, this is perhaps the greatest gift we might receive – that Nothing we have can avail us in proclaiming the Kingdom of God

As we think about Brockville Community church perhaps they are more gift to u than we might be to them. For they have seen so much Life with so few resources – and let us STOP right there and don’t think . . . well if they had more resources! They seem to have everything they need, no?

Marks Gospel is dominated by one word –Immediately – immediately this, immediately that – life here – life there – healing here – storm stilled there – resurrection here – demons cast out there – hungry fed here. The Kingdom is amongst you – breaking out  - present in the risen Christ. Jesus will not let them settle – to go back to their boats – the disruptive Life of God is breaking into the world and there is no time or space for careful though reflection or planning. You just have to go with Jesus. As Andrew told me, Brockville is at the point where they are being overwhelmed by opportunity

Imagine for a moment what that must be like – imagine if you will what it was like to be with Christ in his mission (they are one and the same) –not the wonder of it – we can all sit back and go how wonderful – but enter into the sheer bemusement of the Apostles – the profound disorientaiton. When Love comes to town – Everything we thought we knew is thrown into disorientation – what we thought was up was down, what we thought was down was up – what we see as weakness is strength and strength weakness. The disciples saw so much they could do under their feet – but Jesus was moving on - ‘Everyone is searching for you.’ They said -  He answered, ‘Let us go on to the neighbouring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do.’ And he went throughout Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues and casting out demons.

May God give us the grace to know our helplessness – to lay down all those things we thought we so indispensable - go with Him, and do likewise

Amen

Sermon for All Saints

All Saints

2011

The Beatitudes

God is in the business of making something beautiful of us if we will but let Him, and to that end, like a pearl being cultured we all need and should be very grateful for the bits of grit God sends our way.

Jilly was one such bit of grit for me and over several years of parish ministry God used her to work on me. Whenever she came my way, I knew I was in for it. There was something in her bearing, the way she pulled herself up and thrust her shoulders forward, like a bull ready to charge that said “You’re in for it, . . . Again”

On the occasion I have in mind, it concerned a play we were putting on at church. Actually it wasn’t a play, it was a dramatic monologue about Joseph, wonderfully portrayed as he mused on his lot as, well as a bit player in the drama of Salvation. St Joseph and his apparent marginality to the Story of Salvation, gives us much to think about, but another time – for there wasn’t time. Jilly was heading to me like an express train and that meant Trouble. “Have you seen this poster Vicar?!!” She never that I remember referred to me by name. If she was in a good mood it was “My Dear”, if she wasn’t it was Vicar – Have you seen this poster “the Lot of Joseph – a Bloke’s rough deal” – Fancy, calling St Joseph a bloke!! Is there no deference left in this society of ours? I shall most definitely not be going! And off she stormed, probably to tell everyone else that they shouldn’t go either and that calling a St a Bloke, was The Last Straw!!

Jilly, like many others I guess, liked her Saints to be somewhat above the common herd – those whom we can look up to, as if gazing adoringly from afar, someone who will do this whole Christian thing for us so that we who are less worthy may by their efforts sneak in at the last. As if there were two types of Christian, the Saints and then the rest of us, ‘blokes and lasses’ as we said in the Northern English Idiom, as it were muddling along – but you mustn’t confuse the two. Saints had the best seats booked at the heavenly banquet and hopefully we might sneak in on their coat tails. If you like, Saints and common or garden Sinners.

But . . . I think that in some small way she might have a point in her complaint. The word Bloke in Jilly’s ears spoke of disrespect of trying to pull St Joseph Down to Earth – to make him one of the common crowd – like us. And we do like to do this don’t we – to bring people down to Earth. I mean , think of the way we treat Celebrities in our culture, in newspapers and on the television – it seems we like nothing better than to point to imperfections, to knock people of there perch, and we do the same in the church.

If you don’t think so then let me ask you what comes to mind if I say St Peter? My guess is that unlike many of our forebears in faith, our dominant images of Peter are actually pretty negative. I myself have said that I give thanks for Peter, because he is always getting it wrong. Peter is rash, arrogant, and in the end denies Christ – and that is the way we like him, because it affirms us in all our rashness, arrogance and denial. It enables us to trot out the old story ‘we’re all sinners’ Yet, that is to ignore half of Peter’s story, it is to ignore the transforming effect of the Death, Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus upon Peter and his life.  We prefer Peter the Christ denier to Peter the bold preacher and martyr.

The Death, Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus changes Everything, it transforms Peter and it is intended so to Transform us. A few weeks ago I invited you to look in the mirror and see there a Baptised person. To be Baptised is to be immersed in the Death, Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus – and the whole of the New Testament is a call to live in the light of that, to live in the New Reality that Christ has Brought into being.

It is a commonplace that ‘we are all sinners’ – yet that is not what the Scriptures call Christians, not what those who have been immersed in the Death Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus. No. Universally in the New Testament, these people are called Saints. Paul addresses many of his letters ‘To the Saints’ in such and such a place. When he writes to Rome and Corinth he says ‘to those who are called to be saints – Nowhere in Scripture are Christians referred to as Sinners, rather they are referred to as what they are Saints, if Saints in the making, if still being changed from one degree of glory to another, the focus is the Glory and Not the Shame.

            The old Sinner mould is discarded at Baptism and a new shape of life is given to grow up into – and our pulling the Saints Down is I think a Symptom of our refusal to undertake the demanding work of Growing up into the Saints we have been made by our Baptism into the Death, resurrection and Ascension of Jesus. It is a refusal of the gift of Life – once more as back in the garden – hiding from God. Trying to undo his work – you see We like to pull our Saints down, but God is in the business of lifting Sinners up.

I guess for many of us – that work of allowing ourselves to be made into Saints has stalled. I know it often can do so in my life. The Jilly’s of this world, those ‘who are sent to try us’ as those of old wisely put it, are not understood as God’s gift to us. Our first response to them is not ‘How is God using this to create something beautiful in me?’ but often ‘why doesn’t God get them out of my way??’

And in pondering that we may perhaps come to see that in truth there is no way but the way of Love as Jo began to reveal to us last week – but in particular, Love of God and this is exemplified for us in Jesus. His Death, resurrection and Ascension, open the way, and He is the Way. Perfectly expressed in the Beatitudes – these express what it means to keep the first commandment – and they express the Life of Christ.

Blessed are the poor in Spirit – those whose only hope is God

Blessed are those who mourn – whose only true comfort is God

Blessed are the meek – who allow themselves to be led by God

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst – for the Life of God

Blessed are the merciful – who are revealing the Life of God

Blessed are the Pure in heart – who only have eyes for God

Blessed are the peacemakers – who are involved in the work of God

As we look out upon the world – we see so much that is wrong and we fail to see so much more. Wars, rumours of wars, economic collapse, environmental degradation on a level that suggests that the planet may soon wish to spew out those who were sent to till and keep it. We may well look out at all of that and say – how on earth can being made into Saints help any of that?? What this world really needs is millions of . . . Saints. In other words it needs people who are wholly given over to God – Living Sacrifices which is the meaning of our baptism. Our immersion in His Life.

What this world needs is the Life of God – by baptism You and I are made part of the church, the Body of Christ in the world – we are called to be Saints and to live this New life we have been given in Christ, and thus to be God's transforming Life in the World.

The Beatitudes express the Life of Christ, they express The Way we are to go. They express this total devotion to God, or as we have it – they express what it means to Love God with all our heart soul, mind and strength.

            When we think of the Great Commandment – we tend to focus on the second, not the first – If I say Love to you, you will almost certainly think about how do I Love my neighbour as myself rather than How do I love God with all my heart and soul and mind and strength? Yet we struggle to answer the question ‘How do we love our neighbour as ourselves’, perhaps because we have not begun to try to answer the first question ‘How do I love the Lord my God with all my heart and soul and mind and strength?’. It is only when we begin the work of Loving God with all we have and all we are – learning and living the beatitudes and trusting his work in us  - that we begin to learn what it is to Love our neighbours

My sister Jilly, for by baptism that is what she is, had a point. Saints are distinctive, they stick out, they are not the same, they have stepped out of the common herd. As Jesus sits down to preach he sees the crowds, His disciples Came to him, they began the walk to being Saints. The disciples step out of the crowd. In a culture where True distinctiveness that goes beyond narcissistic ‘Self Expression’ is Very Rare, this is a Hard Call, it is easier to try and drag the disciples back into the crowd than to follow them – it is easier to look at the Saints and say, come back down to earth to be Sinners with us, than to hear them say ‘No. You too have been raised with Christ – come to be Saints with us!’

Our brothers and sister in Christ are God’s gift to us in this Way of Christ - for they are God’s grit to our pearl, as we are to theirs. Seeing them as gift transforms everything, and I am glad to say that Jilly and I parted on better terms than we’d met as we’d both been grit to one another as God did his work on each of us.

Saying ‘I am a piece of Grit’ as we look at our brothers and sisters and at ourselves in the mirror is not a good idea. Perhaps if we saw them as God sees them – that when he looks on us He sees Christ. That they are in Christ, Saints – all Saints our eyes might be opened to that which we are also in God’s eyes, ‘they are Saints and I too am called to be a Saint’ – In Loving God with all we have and all we are – our eyes are fixed on Him – all we see is Him, when we look at others and when we look at ourselves. All Saints, for the Salvation of the World and for the Greater Glory of God.

Amen