All Saints Sunday

Ephesians 1.11-23; Luke 6.20-31

The time has come around again when we remember or call to mind many people. From now until 30th November we will be celebrating and commemorating many who belonged to the Church in their own day and age, whether it be as long ago as the Day of Pentecost itself or as recently as days or weeks ago. We do this for different reason but I hope that in doing so our thoughts and emotions won't just stay with them, but that we will find in them some example or inspiration for our own lives and for our own place as members of the Church, the Body of Christ.

We have thought before about what makes somebody a saint. The word is used in different ways. We tend to use the word to mean somebody who is of a particular character or personality, someone we would say who is holy. St. Paul used the term in respect of every member of the Church. But in doing so I think he had a particular sort of 'membership' in mind. It wasn't just people whose names appeared on a membership list, or who turned up day by day or week by week at worship. I think he had in mind those he would have called 'in Christ'; that is their whole lives were lived as if they were immersed in Jesus Christ Himself or that Jesus Christ controlled the whole of their lives. Another way of saying it is to say that they were immersed in the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit was the motivator in their lives. Certainly, they were people for whom Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth and the Life and not only that but they lived their lives in the light of that Way, Truth and Life, as best they could. And I think for me that's what a saint is.

Now I don't think that means that a saint is necessarily someone who lives a life of spectacular shows of goodness and holiness. To live your life with Jesus as the Way, the Truth and the Life is a very difficult thing, often meaning great personal challenge in the form of repentance as you try to live that Way, Truth and Life yourself. It could mean leading a very ordinary sort of life far away from the public gaze, being led by the Holy Spirit in conforming to Christ's own Way. Or yes, you could be called to be an Archbishop or a Pope. However the call to live Christ's Way shows itself in one's life, the important thing is how Christ-like one is becoming. Being a saint means daily turning to God, daily repentance, allowing the Holy Spirit to work His will in one's life. The saints prayer is 'Thy will be done' as it was Jesus's daily prayer.

Above all maybe the one thing that determines our saintliness; the one thing our saintliness can be measure by is what Jesus tells us in this extract from St. Luke's gospel this morning. The measurement begins with the words of the last statement. 'Do to others as you would have them do to you'. This has been known as the Golden Rule for centuries. It's not an easy thing to do as we well know. Our pride and ego, our grasping and selfishness get in the way of it. We want to get our own back, not give our own away, which is what this statement demands of us. But hard though that is, as a summing up of what has gone before it in this passage I think it is a bit weak. Because the ultimate measure of saintliness I think is how far we do what Jesus says at the beginning of this paragraph. And that is 'Love your enemies'.

We read and say this very often, the words of Jesus; 'a new commandment I give to you, that you love one another as I have loved you.' We read those words especially on Maundy Thursday. I wonder if you've ever stopped to ask yourself why this was a new commandment? Well, it's simply because Jesus loved His enemies and it was the first time that God had told people to love others in that way. Up to then it seems that the Old Testament way seemed to prevail - an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. So when Jesus came along, this was really new; this love your enemies. And doesn't it put a new perspective on our relationships with one another, with God and with ourselves? This is so demanding and so far reaching it seems almost impossible. And that's because it demands new levels of forgiveness, new levels never even thought of before and certainly never asked for. But this is what Jesus commands of all of us who would follow Him - love your enemies. And I would suggest that this is the true measure of saintliness, how well we have been able to love our enemies.

Today we celebrate all the saints down the millennia; all who have striven to become Christ-like, all who have striven to live the Way, the Truth and the Life; all who have striven to love their enemies. Some have done well in that. Some have done not so well. But all have done their best, which is all that God calls for in us. God knows we fail and fail fully and often. But He loves us and that love is shown above all in His forgiveness of us. And He asks us to do the same to others so that our names might go down alongside all those who've gone before us loved and forgiven by God.

Bible Sunday

Isaiah 45.22-25; Romans 15.1-6; Luke 4.16-24

I must confess that this morning's reading from St. Luke's gospel is one of my favourites and for purely personal reasons. It was the gospel passage set for the day on which I preached my first ever sermon. I was absolutely petrified. I remember hardly being able to move my arms so that all I could do was to just push my papers one over the other. Luckily, I'd read the sermon so many times beforehand that I almost knew it off by heart. Maybe I should remember that time rather more because it does emphasise what a very precious thing it is to expound the Word of God to His people. It is a huge responsibility. And that's because, first of all the preacher, in reading the gospel out loud stands in the place of Christ and then it's as Christ Himself that the preacher tries to explain what relevance the gospel has for us in this day and age, 2,000 years after Jesus first spoke the Word of God. It really is a terrible responsibility. And so it's with that in mind that I recall a former tutor telling us that if we can't preach then we shouldn't, that we should do something else instead, maybe get somebody else to do it. Sometimes I think there are probably days when we'd be better off without a sermon, especially when I'm not feeling all that well or when the inspiration has been just about zero. Unfortunately there is no get out clause because the canons of the Church of England say that the Incumbent must 'cause a sermon to be preached at least once on a Sunday in his church', unlike in the church I visited during my study leave where in 8 weeks there was only 2 sermons. On the other weeks, the readings and the rest of the liturgy were left to speak for themselves. But in the Church of England we place Scripture ahead of the other pillars, so to speak, upon which our church is built, the others being tradition, reason and experience. So we bring all of our Christian life to the scriptures for it to be tested there. God, through His written Word is the reference point for all of our Christian life. And that's why it is even more important, maybe, for us to get things right about how we see our Holy Bible and we interpret it and use it in our day to day Christian life.

Even though in the Church of England we give scripture this place above tradition, reason and experience we really must be very careful about how it fits in with everything else in the Church. If we don't do that we can use the Holy Bible to our own ends, we can use it and abuse it very easily. And that is done very much throughout much of the Christian world where individual interpretation is allowed. So when we come to reading and interpreting the Bible we have to remember one or two things.

First of all the New Testament in particular, the gospels, letters and the book of Revelation aren't a systematic history of the life of Jesus, the apostles and the churches. To quote the theologian Archimandrite Vasilieos (Hymn of Entry) 'the Gospel...is not a systematic exposition of Christian teaching, precisely because it is not concerned with teaching. Jesus did not leave behind Him a new philosophical system, not did He institute a mere religion. He left His body and sent His Spirit. And the Gospel consists of fundamental elements from the life of Jesus and the experience of the new community in Christ.' (End quote) With this in mind, I think we often come to the Bible expecting too much of it. We expect to find answers to every problem. And that is one reason why there is so much disagreement in the Church, the Western Church in particular about different issues. The Bible does contain objective Truth because it speaks of Jesus who is 'the Way, the Truth and the Life'. But it won't give you answers to questions on such things as stem cell research or euthanasia, well not so simply anyway. So what do we do then.

In cases such as these it's tempting to go to our own human reason to find the answers to our questions based on what we read in the Bible and we read into it our out of it the answers to our questions, on an individual basis. And our Church allows us very often to make up our own mind. However, we tread on a sort of quicksand there because we are filling the spaces between what we read in the Bible with our own opinions, ideas and beliefs which are all tentative and subjective. So what should we do as far as looking for answers to these questions where the Bible seems to fall short. Is the Bible actually lacking in these circumstances? And what does that mean for us when we have place the Bible in such a commanding position as far as determining our Christian life is concerned?

It's at times like these that we have to remember that the Bible was put together by the Church itself. All the different parts of the New Testament in particular were written by members of the Church under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and writings put together to form what we call the Canon by the Church under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. So the Bible was written by the Church and put together by the Church. In light of that it is for the Church to be the final interpreter of the Bible, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. We can certainly use the Bible for our own individual guidance, illumination, edification, correction etc. but the final arbiter in anything arising from the Bible must be the Church itself.

This can be difficult for us to follow, we who are used to and encouraged to make up our own minds in just about every area of our lives in this day and age. The danger of that is that all truth then becomes relative. What is true for me isn't necessarily true for anybody else but it is nevertheless true, we believe. And that belief characterises our Western world today.

But so many people, in this chaotic and uncertain world today are looking for objective Truth, they are looking for something they know to be the Truth that is eternal Truth, that it is Truth no matter what the day and age and no matter what your gender, race, colour, sexuality etc. etc. We have objective Truth in Jesus Christ. And it's the Bible that in the end speaks of Him. 'You search the scriptures for in them you think you will find eternal life; but they are they that speak of me' Jesus says in St. John's gospel. And the Church is the Body of Christ, the place where the Holy Spirit dwells. If we see the Church as purely a human organisation then we have a very impoverished view of the Church. The Church actually and really is the presence of Christ now, the Body of Christ and it's to that Body we need to go and to go with faith when we need answers in understanding the scriptures, which speak of the Truth which is Christ Himself.

So as we think of the scriptures on this Bible Sunday, let us give the Bible its honoured place in the Church, in our lives and in our Faith always remembering that it is the Bible that points us towards the Lord Jesus Christ in whom our live our lives and who is the Way, the Truth and the Life.

Harvest Thanksgiving

Deuteronomy 26.1-11; John 6.25-35

One of the abiding images of my childhood is going to church at Harvest Festival and seeing the church decked out with flowers and fruits and vegetables and all sorts of other reminders of the time of year. And especially the aroma in church that went with it. In those days, where I lived was much more rural than it is now and I remember helping with the harvest in early autumn and potato picking in October. School half term used to be called the potato picking holiday. Joining in the harvest itself and going to church to celebrate it was a very meaningful experience. Although I realised in my boyhood that it was a thanksgiving, what I didn't understand was the deeper meaning, the spiritual meaning and also the reality of the connection between ourselves and the world in which we live, the planet of which we human beings are given the stewardship. There didn't seem to be the worry about those things in those days because I think people felt and appreciated more of a connection with creation than they do now in this Western world. Even fifty years ago, people were much more aware of the bond between and our dependence upon the resources the earth provides, and our lives and livelihoods. And of course over the last 30 years or so we've been made vividly aware of the need to have a consciousness of the growing scarcity of the earth's resources and the need to take care of them.

But it's not just a matter of finding a balance between production and consumption and a living in harmony with creation. There is something much deeper than that, which this festival is all about. It's about the workings of the relationship between God, creation and humankind. Something which is fundamental to life itself, that goes back to the Creation. And it's here in the readings this morning.

In Deuteronomy we see that the people are reminded never to forget their history and God's part in it. At least once a year they are to think about and celebrate God's saving work, the ways in which, throughout history He has continuously upheld and supported them. And part of that remembering is to offer back to God a proportion of what He has given them along the way. And that proportion isn't just any old offering, any bits and pieces gathered together; but it's to be the first fruits, the very first of that which they have grown. And that offering is an act of faith in itself and so an act of love. It's an act of faith and love because in giving away what grows first you can never be sure that anything else is going to grow to replace it. Growing food in the first place is an act of faith but then giving away what comes up first is a step of faith which is an act of love.

But this is the sort of relationship God wants with His people, and the sort of relationship we should want as well. It's a part of our human selfishness to keep not just the first that we get but everything that we get for ourself. It's part of our fallen nature. But God didn't create us like that. He created us to live in a relationship of real love, putting the other before ourself. And the people's offering the first fruits of their labour is a reminder of that lost relationship and the beginning of a restoration of that lost relationship, it's a step in the direction of faith and so a saving act.

I wonder how many of us, out of our income, put a proportion of it first of all in God's direction, or do we give Him what's left over when we've seen to all our other commitments? The point is that God doesn't give us the left overs. He gives us Himself first. He does this in Jesus Christ. And this is where our faith in Christ comes in. When we give ourself to Him we find that He sustains us, that He Himself is our bread, our bread of life. And therein lies our example and our way of life as Christians.

The thing about being a follower of Christ is that we are meant to give ourself first to Him, the first of all we are to Him. I wonder how many of us, for instance, mentally and physically, tag our prayers and our churchgoing onto the end of all we do, when in reality those things should be the first of all we do, the most important thing in our life, the part that's not negotiable at any price? I wonder how many of us see our Christianity as something added to our lives rather than everything in our lives being added to our life in Christ? Do you understand what I mean? I can put it this way. Is our life in Christ as important as our breath or our heartbeat, both of which have to happen first if we are to live?

Well, that giving of ourself first to Christ isn't simply an offering, it's also a celebration and a restoration of our life before the fall of Adam. When we live that way, when we offer the first of ourself to God, we are then in a 'right' relationship with God. We are getting the living of our life the right way round. And then we begin to realise and reap the goodness, the grace and the love of God for us. We can only experience God's grace when we live our life in Him the right way round, when we live it by faith so that the offering of our life to Him is the first of our offerings.

Then and only then do we see and know what Jesus means when He says 'I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty'.

18th Sunday after Trinity

2 Timothy 1.1-14; Luke 17.5-10

One of the wonderful things about these particular letters of Paul to Timothy which are amongst what are known as the pastoral epistles, is how much they are loaded with very positive encouragement. We have some indication from the pastoral letters of the trials and tribulations that St. Paul has gone through in his ministry and the fact that he also writes from prison here and there. But those difficulties some of them very severe, along the way never stop him from being so very positive about the gospel he believes in, positive about the power and presence of God and positive about the whole enterprise of spreading the gospel far and wide. Here is a man who believes with the whole of his being, who loves God as God commands him to, with all his heart, mind, soul and strength. So that when Paul writes to those who are feeling the strain of living the gospel, of teaching and preaching, his own determination and zeal come shining through to lift up his hearers. Such is the way and the voice in which he writes to Timothy.

It's pretty obvious that Timothy is feeling the strain. St. Paul remarks on having seen Timothy in tears. But then he goes on to metaphorically pat him on the back because he says he is reminded of Timothy's faith, a faith which he inherited from his grandmother and his mother. I wonder how many of us inherited our faith from our mothers and grandmothers? And then Paul goes on, having reminded Timothy of the depth of his faith and the extent of it too in that he shares it with so many others; he goes on to encourage Timothy to 'rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands'. And he goes on to remind Timothy that God's spirit isn't a spirit of cowardice but a spirit of power and love and of self-discipline. Do you see how encouraging these words must have been to Timothy? Maybe there have been times in our lives when we've felt really down simply because the demands of our life and work have become tedious at best and heartbreaking at worst. And maybe someone has come along, a family member or friend who has helped us to take heart, to remember all that we've achieved, helped us believe in ourself again and believe in God again and lifted us up. I remember a colleague saying that when he is encouraged by others, he's twice the man he was before. Maybe we've all felt that sometimes. I hope so.

And then St. Paul goes on to build on that encouragement by helping Timothy not to be ashamed of the gospel, no matter what the suffering. He must continue to have faith in the power of God who called them both to the work they are doing and who in the end will save them. And it's a hard thing but St. Paul is content to suffer because it was God himself who called him to the work. So it's the highest of callings and because of that St. Paul is prepared to trust God entirely. And he wants St. Paul to have the same mind. And we are reading that today because as Jesus' disciples we are to be of the same mind.

And the gospel reading reminds us in rather less dramatic ways that to have faith often simply means to carry on despite the demands of the calling. And that there is no let up in the calling. There is no rest in our work for God. And that work is first and foremost to believe in God and in Jesus Christ. Because upon that work of faith IN God is built all our work for Him in the Church and in the world. Without that work of faith IN God we are nothing. It reminds me of the saying of St. Silouan of Mount Athos - it is one thing to speak of God; it is quite another thing to know God. Knowing God is what faith is all about because we can't have faith in God if we don't know Him.

So today we are reminded, each and everyone of us to rekindle the gift of faith that God has given us day by day and to keep on in faith whatever the life of faith brings because that is God's first and foremost call to each of us who calls himself a Christian, work that is simply our duty as Christians but a duty from which all else flows.