Twelfth Sunday after Trinity

James 1.17-27; Mark 7.1-8, 14-15, 21-23

Today we are out of St. Paul's letter to the Ephesians and into the letter of James; and out of St. John's gospel and back into St. Mark's. And they are interesting readings today hanging around that one pivotal sentence in James - 'Be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves.

It reminds me of the story I heard about the vicar who stood in the pulpit one Sunday and preached his sermon. The next week he came to his sermon and he preached the same sermon over again. The people thought he'd just got confused because he was getting on a bit. The next week he preached the same sermon again and people began to get a bit concerned, wondering what was going on. After six weeks of the same sermon the churchwardens, having fielded lots of complaints from people finally came to the vicar, quite anxious, and asked him, 'vicar, do you realise you've preached the same sermon six times in a row?' The vicar said, 'Yes, of course.' So the churchwardens asked him 'When are you going to preach something different then, because the congregation are tired of hearing it and are complaining about hearing the same one over and over again?' The vicar replied, 'I'll preach a different sermon when there's evidence that you've taken notice of this one.' I can tell you from my own experience that it can be quite dispiriting, to say the least, when you stand in the pulpit week by week, month by month, and year by year and little, for some people at least, seems to change. But then I look at myself and challenge myself in the same way. So today's readings, as always, speak to me just as much if not more, to me as they do to you.

'Be doers of the word and not merely hearers who decieve themselves.' These are strong and challenging words. Jesus in St. Mark's gospel is saying to the Pharisees and to everyone else, when they call into question his disciples' behaviour, that what we hear has to go into the heart and make a difference there, and change us, within. And religious practice is useless and utterly pointless if it doesn't. Because true religion isn't about how many times you turn up at church in the course of a year, or about what we do in church in the worship; it's about how much you love others and especially those less fortunate than yourself, which can indeed be the person sitting next to you or in front or behind you. And here lies one of the greatest challenges. And doubtless we all fall down righthere. And that's why God invented forgiveness, streaming from Him, through the cross of Christ, to us first of all, before we even have the chance to offer it to our neighbour, because without knowing His forgiveness we can't offer it to anyone else, at least with any integrity. 'Forgiveness makes life worthwhile.' I read that just this last week and it hit home with me, I felt it to be true. Forgiveness, true forgiveness is from the heart. And that's where Jesus was pointing when he rhymed off the catalogue of what are commonly called sins at the end of the reading from St. Mark's gospel today. We all hang around most of these things, at least up in our heads from time to time, it's all a matter of degree. And most of us, for most of these might say 'There but for the grace of God go I.' That's why you can see people baying for the blood of paedophiles and child killers very often, even when they don't know them. I've often wondered why they do that and I think it's that psychological 'trick' of projection. It's because they know that they themselves may at some time have harboured, even subconsciously, the same sorts of thoughts, and they hate that in themselves, hate even the thought that they could think such things. And the hate is vented on those who openly manifest those sins. And Jesus is saying that we should remember that it's what's in the heart that's important and our religion has to work on our heart so that out of it comes love, in its different forms, notably in service to our neighbour, whoever our neighbour might be.

And we fall down in this regard from time to time, every one of us. Like a pendulum we rock backwards and forwards between outright sinfulness and grace, often without realising it. And it's so easy to do that, if we will admit it, to fall into that way of living where we are neither really one thing nor the other but keep swinging back and forth like the pendulum between sin and grace. And so as St. James says we are like those who look in a mirror and when we go away from it, forget what we've seen.

There's a story of a Zen Buddhist novice monk who goes to his teacher and ask 'What must I do to learn the truth?' and the teacher gives the novice a mirror. If we could only look in that mirror a bit longer and then seeing how we really are, first forgive ourselves, love ourselves then we are beginning to 'do' the work of God, we are beginning to turn our heart to God in love, not merely hearing that commandment of Jesus to love your neighbour as yourself. Remembering that to love your neighbout at all, you have to first love yourself. Which reminds me of that other story of the child who was given a puzzle of the world with thousands of pieces, to put together, by his father. The father was amazed that his son put the puzzle together very quickly indeed so he asked his son 'how did you complete the puzzle so quickly?' And the child said, 'well, dad, I noticed that on the back of the puzzle was the figure of a man, so I put the man together and then turned the puzzle over.' And of course the lesson there is that if you want to put the world right, even your own personal world, you have to put yourself right first.

You can't put your world right, from a religious point of view, from a Christian point of view, unless you put yourself right first, or at least begin to do so. And make no mistake this is very, very difficult. In fact it's the hardest of work in the world. That's why we all fall down from time to time, each and every one of us. That's why it's so much easier to listen to a sermon then forget it than actually do what you've been challenged with. But in God's great and amazing graciousness he forgives us, and that should drive us to our knees in thanksgiving if nothing else does.

The morning prayer readings for this morning contanin that wonderful section from Revelation chapter 3 were God says 'Listen, I am standing at the door knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to you and eat with you, and you with me.' That reading is pictured in that wonderful pre-Raphaelite painting by Holman Hunt of the Light of the World and which is pictured in the mosaic here in church at the entrance to the chapel; Jesus, the Light of the World, standing at the door of the heart and knocking. Answering that knock and then letting Christ into our heart is the first step to a new awareness of ourself, the first step to a new forgiveness of ourself and the first step to a new loving of ourself. And it's from that first step that all else flows. I first heard and responded to those words when I was 12 years old, and I've been opening and shutting the door ever since, if you see what I mean. Because it's so hard, day by day, week by week, year by year to let Christ be in your heart right at the heart of everything you are and do.

So these readings today, whilst so very challenging, offer us at the same time, a way to come closer in love to God, to come closer in love to one another, and most of all to come closer, in love, to ourself. And in that we see that to be doers of the word and not merely hearers is the best gift we could give both ourselves and everyone we live with.

Tenth Sunday after Trinity

Ephesians 5.15-20; John 6.51-58

I'm not usually given to making judgements in public about the state of society at large as I've got to the age now where I might just fall into the category of 'grumpy old man'. But the reading from Ephesians this morning reminded me of a news item I saw this week about Leeds City Council's measures to try and stem the culture of binge drinking in the town. If you saw it you'll remember that in clubs and pubs that want to sell cheap alcohol there has to be a queueing system just like at the post office or bank where only one at a time can step up to the bar. They can order just two drinks at one time and they are watched by six burly door keepers and two police officers, paid for by the club proprietor. It really made me rather 'grumpy' to say the least because I personally believe that it's not the responsibility of club and pub owners, nor the responsibility of the local council to take any measures to stop people drinking themselves into an early grave. It is solely the responsibility of the individuals themselves. We live in a society these days that's made it acceptable for individuals not to bear any responsibility towards themselves or their neighbours. 'You just live as you like and the council or the government or somebody else will pick up the tab' is the watchword. And if there's one thing that's wrong with our culture these days it's that.

Now that's as far as I'm going with my commentary on today's society. But it also drew me back to how our society at large has perceived Christianity, or anything to do with God, for a long time, as being simply a set of do's and don'ts and mainly - recalling the 10 Commandments - don'ts. But you see, it's not about do's and don'ts, Chrisitanity and God are about life and death - literally. Let me show it to you this way; and it bears very much upon what I've been saying over the last few weeks, for those of you who have been here, about these parts of St. John's gospel that we are reading.

Here we see the Jews getting things completely confused, and it was from that confusion that they drew their conclusion that Jesus was a heretic. In just the same way, people outside the Church draw conclusions about the Christian faith - because they are confused about it, and especially about the very basics of it. The readings this morning aren't about what we eat or drink, they are about our life, and on what basis we live it.

If I asked everybody in Church today what you want most out of life you'll all probably say happiness or peace, above even lots of money because even though we know that money can make life a lot easier and more desirable and a lot happier in lots of ways, it's not in the end the key to what's good about life. No, happiness, peace, health, those are the things that you WILL choose. And those are what God and Christianity are about. And this is how I know.

When Moses was leading the people through the wilderness, after he'd received the commandments from God, there came a time, after many trials when God said to them 'look, if you do what I've laid down, a good, happy, prosperous and blessed life is guaranteed. If you don't do what I've laid down, the opposite will happen; you'll be in all sorts of misery all your life. So you can say that on the one hand there's life and on the other there's death. But it's up to you to choose.' That's how God laid it out before the people. And then he said something that was the key to the whole thing. He said 'you choose'. But actually, he was so for his people that he tried to persuade them in one particular direction and he said - Deuteronomy 30.19 'I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your desendants may live.' So you see, God put the responsibility on the shoulders of each and every one of the people. 'You choose'. One way life, the other way death. And that was it.

Each Sunday there's an appointed Old Testament reading and this week's tells of the time when God asks Solomon what he desires. God says, he can have anything he wants. And Solomon chooses to have wisdom, understanding between good and evil so that he could govern the people wisely. Again, God put the responsibility firmly on Solomon's shoulders. 'You choose' he said. And we read that the result of his choice wasn't only the gift of wisdom but he became the wealthiest man alive in very many respects.

St. Paul in our New Testament reading this morning isn't just having a go at binge drinking. He's pointing out that behaviour like that, is unwise and in reality it's death dealing, one way or another. It's a bad choice. And if you want a life that gives you good things then you need to make different choices. You need to take the responsibility of making better choices.

God, and Jesus show us and model for us a way of life that leads to health, wealth and prosperity of so may different kinds, a way of life that is joyful and peaceful in ways beyond our wildest imagining. But one that is available if we simply make the right choice. And then having made it, sticking to it, in faith and in trust that it is the right way, because by the mere fact of having to have faith means that these things don't come all that easily, but they do come, because God himself says, 'Ask and you WILL receive, seek and you WILL find, knock and the door WILL be opened.' And having made the choice we need to believe it through thick and thin and that's where most fall down, through lack of trust.

So you see it's not Christianity that brings war and mayhem and death and disruption as has been lied about down the centuries, it's simply peoples' bad choices and lack of faith. And the choice is yours, God hands that choice to you in every minute of every single day of your life. 'You choose!'

Ninth Sunday after Trinity

Ephesians 4.25-5.2; John 6.35, 41-51

As we've moved into St. John's gospel these last few weeks I've been talking about maturing in the faith, about making the daily decision to follow Christ and as St. Paul says to grow into the 'full stature' of Christ; and last week we thought about the childlike faith that God wants us to have but also about moving on by committing ourselves wholeheartedly to what Jesus teaches and preaches.

The dialogue between Jesus, the disciples and those who come to them to hear Jesus is centred at present around Jesus being 'the bread of life'. And in that we are thinking about Jesus being our spiritual nourishment. To the 'untrained' ear the words we read today from St. John's gospel don't sound very appealing, with references to eating and drinking Jesus's flesh and blood. But how else do you get over the point, and this image surely does, about Jesus and His Spirit being our spiritual food and drink, our spiritual nourishment. And just to push it home in a contemporary sense, it's often said these days that 'you are what you eat'. You might recall the tv advert for Green Giant sweetcorn and the two little boys eating it with great relish when they remember that saying. I expect they've only taken to heart the 'giant' bit. I don't imagine they'd want to grow up green. But the point is well made. If we are to be Christlike we need to be nourished by him. There have been huge theological debates about how this happens and especially in terms of the eucharist, which have raged for centuries, but for now we can let those pass us by and just take on this idea of Jesus himself being our spiritual food and drink so that we might become evermore like him and so grow into His likeness today.

And some of that likeness is recounted by St. Paul in his letter to the Ephesians and especially in that part of it that we've read this morning. St. Paul gives out this list both of instructions and characteristics of Christ likeness. What it means in terms of thoughts, words and deeds to be mature in the faith, remembering that we are continuing our reading from last week where St. Paul is talking about maturing in the faith. But I'd like to draw your attention to a sentence in the middle of this reading which gives the motivation for doing our best to align ourselves with these instructions and characteristics. Because it's necessary to know why we are being asked to do something especially if it's asking us to stretch ourselves somewhat and maybe to step out in faith in behaviour and thinking that seems at first difficult because it's not what might be called our natural inclination. And the sentence is this; and as I said, it's right in the middle of the reading - 'And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption.' Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked.'

Remember that St. Paul is talking to baptised Christians; people who have given themselves to the Christian way of life. They've made that commitment and so have set out on that road to growth in Christ, to maturity as Christians. So any behaviour that is alien to that way of life, that isn't congruent with what they profess, isn't just a lapse in standards or misbehaviour. It goes much deeper than that. It pierces right to the heart of their relationship with God. It grieves Him. And it grieves Him because it shows a lack of love for others and so a lack of love for Him. And that's why St. Paul goes on after the sentence right in the middle to talk about behaviour and speech and thinking that is and shows forth love for one another and for God.

So what we are being asked to remember is that when we follow the Christian way, we are not just living up to a standard, we are living a relationship, with God and with one another that has to be cared for and nourished and worked on, just as any relationship of love has to be worked on. And when things go wrong, repentance and forgiveness is the way that things are put right. And that putting right is a two way thing; repentance on the one hand and forgiveness on the other. That's how it works. We work to develop our relationships in love and in that way grow into the likeness of Christ, becoming mature in Christ, and when that goes wrong we are given a way of putting things right, again in a Christ like way, the way of forgiveness. And there is no other way if we are committed to the way of Christ. We can make all sorts of excuses and have all sorts of explanations for how we live and relate to one another but when it comes down to it, for Christians there is only one way, the way that does not grieve the Spirit of God, but delights Him.

Over the next couple of weeks as we continue to read this part of St. John's gospel we hear all sorts of arguments that arise out of peoples' misunderstanding and unwillingness to understand, but we'll leave that until then. For now we simply need to come to terms with what keeps us going in the faith, what keeps us moving forward in the Christian faith. And that is receiving our nourishment for our spiritual growth from God through Jesus Christ. And developing the awareness that we are building a relationship of love with Him and our neighbour, that is ever more precious as we build it, so that when it breaks down it is grieving to God. And that in itself should give us the will to always want to build one another up in faith so that we all come to the full stature of Christ, firm in faith and love for one another.

Eighth Sunday after Trinity

Ephesians 4.1-16; John 6.24-35

As you may have noticed, those who constructed the lectionary have got bored with St. Mark's gospel and have taken a detour for these few weeks into St. John's gospel. This gospel as I'm sure you are aware is quite unlike the other three. You could say and many do that it is more 'spiritual'. I'm not sure what people mean by that exactly because different people seem to define 'sprirituality' differently. But there's a lot of Jesus praying in St. John's gospel, whole chapters in fact, and because of that, much more seems to come through of his relationship with his heavenly Father. And so we tap into something of Jesus's own spiritual life. Because of that we seem to move out of the ordinary, every day course of things to something with much more depth. That's not to say that St. John's gospel is any less couched in daily happenings. The detail with which St. John describes things that happen, no less that the other gospel writers gives us cause to believe that these things really did happen. I suppose the modern parallel would be High Definition tv. St. John loses nothing in the sharpness and reality with which he describes events even though what comes across more than in the other gospels is the spiritual aspect of those events. So in St. John's gospel you could say we are seeing Jesus in 'high definition' compared to the other gospels. And that has been why this gospel, more than the others I think it's true to say, has had a greater impact on peoples' lives, many more of them moving nearer to God on reading it. So, this is serious stuff. It's for grown ups.

Over recent months at St. Andrew's we've put a great deal more effort into working with the children that come here week by week both to church and in the school. The work with children at St. Andrew's has always been of a very high quality and high standard, it's just that we've invested rather more time and resources recently so that they have the opportunity of expressing what God means to them in our worship in a bigger way. It's had quite an impact both on themselves and on us adults especially. Most people have been delighted and moved, one way and another by the work the children have been doing and by the worship that they lead. It's been terrific. And it's strange how adults are really moved by anything that the children do, either here in church or in school. I've often wondered why the children have such an impact. I suspect it's because as much as anything they remind we adults of our childhood, they remind us of our long lost innocence, and there'll be all sorts of emotions that come along with that. I've noticed that adults in church seem to respond much better to simple, child-like things than to what you might call 'grown up' things. And I think that's because many adults, mature though they are in years, despite coming to church for many years, never actually mature in the faith or in their spirituality. It shows in different ways especially in our life together as the Church. And that's a pity. And it's not what God wants.

No matter how much we yearn for our childhood, St. Paul reminds us, as he does today in his letter to the Ephesians that God calls us to maturity in the faith. He says 'The gifts he gave were..... to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, TO MATURITY, to the measure of the full stature of Christ. We must NO LONGER BE CHILDREN......But speaking the truth in love, we must GROW UP in every way into him who is the head, into Christ....' St. John shows us the 'full stature of Christ' as St. Paul puts it and St. Paul says it's like Christ that we should grow up to be.

Now you may say that Jesus said we must accept the Kingdom like little children and when speaking of children he said that the Kingdom of God was theirs. Yes, that's true. But what he meant for us was that we are to accept the Kingdom as children accept things, usually with wonder, awe, curiosity and faith. Children trust, far more than adults and its that trust that Jesus asks us to have. But having done that we are to grow in the faith, we are to grow in our spirituality and grow in our spirituality just as we do bodily and psychologically.

And it will show in what we do - 'the work of God' as St. John calls it. 'Then they said to him, 'Master, what must we do to perform the works of God?' Jesus answered them, 'This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.' It's as simple as that. Just believe. But its simplicity is its difficulty too. To see and understand what the work of God is that Jesus is talking about we need look no further than the Sermon on the Mount. There isn't time this morning to read through it but when you get home read it in St. Matthew's gospel from the beginning of chapter 5 and then ask yourself how far your thinking, belief and behaviour correspond to what Jesus says there. For the closer you get to that the more mature in the faith you can call yourself.

And that's just the outward expression of what's going in inwardly in that relationship with the Father. How mature is that? How much faith do we actually put in God. How does our faith measure against that of Jesus because St. Paul says that Jesus is the measure. And this is grown up stuff. It's what we hope our children, given the opportunity we are giving them, will eventually aspire to. And it's what we all should aspire to, without exception. There isn't one of us that is exempt from growing to maturity in Christ. None of us is exempt from 'putting away childish things' as St. Paul said elsewhere and growing in faith. And so when we see the children doing things in church, yes we should be delighted by them and our hearts should be warmed by them but at the same time we adults need to ask ourselves how far we have moved on from those childish things. We need to ask ourselves if we have grown at all.

And if we haven't it's never too late, never too late to begin to have more faith, never too late to believe, to trust that bit more what for instance we read in the Sermon on the Mount and in other places in the Bible. For note what Jesus says right at the end of that Sermon in Matthew 7.24ff - He who hears these words of mine and ACTS on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on rock. That's the sort of faith we are to mature into as followers of Jesus. It's that sort of faith we are to teach the children about so that they too might grow into it and themselves be part of a build up the body of Christ for theirs and the next generation after them.

So as St. Paul says, let us no longer be chidren, tossed to and fro and blwon about by every wind of doctrine, by people's trickery, by their craftiness and deceitful scheming. But speaking the truth in love, grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ.

Seventh Sunday after Trinity

This sermon will appear when I've fished my notes out of the filing cabinet aka rubbish bin!