Low Sunday

Acts 2.14a, 22-32; 1 Peter 1.3-9; John 20.19-31

The royal wedding on Friday last was such a splendid occasion. It was a nice thing to have at a time when there's so much difficulty in the world. It lifted the spirits. In Easter week it was good to have something that for such a lot of people 'raised them up' again if the message of Christ's resurrection didn't speak to them and raise them up.

I came away from watching it on tv though with some mixed feelings. On the one hand commentators, even a distinguished historian were saying how the couples' relationship and their wedding, and how they relate to people, shows how much the Royal Family has changed in recent years. And there's no doubt they have. On the other hand the wedding wasn't much different from that of William's parents, grandparents and greatgrandparents at heart. It had all the hallmarks of privilege, status and wealth. None of that seemed to be compromised. And 'gettting up close' and shaking hands and smiling a lot, doesn't change that and the gulf that there is between the monarchy and their subjects; because despite democratic government that's what the relationship still is and it's preserved. That's the default, the fall back position. Because you can't do both. The way that Jesus put was to say that 'you can't serve God and Mammon.' There's no integrity in that. If you try to serve both, the cracks soon show and you eventually fall apart. If you try to be two different and divergent things at once, there's no integrity in it and eventually you break up and fall apart. Contrary to what Tony Blair said, there's no such thing as a 'people's princess'. It's being a princess that makes the princess not one of the people. And the whole sad story of Prince William's mother I believe was about her not being able to settle for being either one or the other; or that she wanted to be one thing when really she was another whether she liked it or not.

Now I'm only making this point, not because I have any issues with the monarchy or anything like that. I'm making the point to highlight what it means really to change. The royals have made a lot of cosmetic changes and have developed systems and behaviours so that they don't become even more discredited by and detached from their subjects. And all of those I think are good. But they aren't real change. Real change might have been signified at the royal wedding had all the male members of the royal household worn lounge suits for the wedding instead of military uniform. Do you see what I mean?

It doesn't really matter how the change comes about, but real change isn't cosmetic, it's not something overlaid. Real change turns in and issues from the heart. That's what repentance is all about. That's what repentance means. It means real change. And we see this this morning in Thomas and his encounter with the risen Lord.

You have to admire Thomas's honesty and openness. And he gives us permission, thank God, to ask for proof; 'unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.' Thomas wants proof. And he got his proof and wasn't at all judged for it. And really we shouldn't judge and think any the less of all those who say 'show me', 'convince me'. They are only expressing what most of the rest of us think or feel some times anyway. It's fertile ground for the devil. As I was sat later on Easter Day thinking about our worship and all that we'd affirmed I got really challenged as I thought about the fact that we'd proclaimed that somebody had risen from the dead. How could we do that in the light of reason? It's so incredible. How can it be true? That real doubt came home like a dart and was so clear. For a few moments it really unsettled me. Thank God it went as quickly as it came.

Thomas, faced with what was for him proof, had a change of heart and mind, something that went right to the very centre of his being and it was from there he changed. He believed and he changed. The believing was a change but undoubtedly it changed his whole life. We don't have any documentary evidence but we only need to look at his contemporaries and fellow disciples and disciples down the ages to know that Thomas would have changed in many different ways in his person and in his life as the implications of Jesus being 'my Lord and my God' came home.

Because that's what the resurrection of Jesus is about. It's about fundamental change. It's about heart, mind and soul change. It's not about making cosmetic changes in our life; moving the furniture of our life around to make it look a bit different. It's about radical, fundamental change. It's about coming out of the dark and death of the tomb and into the light of life. It's about change from journeying towards death to journeying towards life. And life in all its fullness, which is what Jesus promised.

But we can only make that journey if we make the change. We can only start to move away from death to the fullness of life if, like Thomas we fall on our knees at the feet of Jesus and proclaim him 'my Lord and my God'. And if we need proof that Jesus is risen to help us do that, we need look no further than the person sitting next to us or in front or behind us in church. No matter what we think or feel about those people they are our fellow disciples who have in their own way seen the risen Lord. They wouldn't be here if they hadn't. They are all the proof we need. The rest is up to us.

Alleluia. Christ is Risen!

Easter Day

Colossians 3.1-4; John 20.1-18

'Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead.' So writes St. John about 'the disciple whom Jesus loved', which we understand may be St. John himself. Whoever it is that at first hesitated at the entrance to the tomb before going in, shows us quite graphically what taking that step of faith and embarking upon the Christian life entails. And he shows us what it means to live the Christian life in it's entirety as well.

Becoming a Christian, or making that decision at some point in your life to commit to the Christian way of life is an awesome decision. Not least because you are committing yourself to following not so much a set of rules or an ethical or moral code, but to following a person, the man, Jesus Christ. That's what the disciples we read about, both the men and the women did. They answered the call of Jesus - 'follow me'. He didn't say, 'do what I tell you and make sure you stick to it'. He said 'follow me'. And then He went on to describe to His disciples and others what that means. And it probably means something like this.

At first you are hesitant. Like John at the entrance to the tomb. Answering the call of Jesus Christ can be very threatening. You don't know what you are letting yourself in for. But you don't get anywhere hanging around outside. The only way you'll satisfy your curiosity is to go in; to take that step. And it's a step into the dark. Or into the light, depending upon how you perceive it for yourself. It's certainly a step into the unknown.

And then when you've taken that step you very often encounter so much that's incomprehensible. Christians subscribe to all sorts of fantastic ideas and concepts, some of which seem quite impossible and incredible, like Jesus dying and then rising from the dead. Christians seem to subscibe to a way of life that it's impossible to live out and they aren't very good at it, most of them. But again, St. John shows us the way here in this gospel reading. It says that 'he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand'. If you are going to be a Christian you have to believe first. And it's only when you believe that you begin to understand. You understand slowly, or in fits and starts, over a life time and even then you haven't finished understanding. Always there's something that challenges reason. And that's because it's a mystery you are believing in and a mystery that you are trying to understand. The mystery is God and God in the flesh, Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world, and His Spirit, giving you life.

I get more amused these days than angry when atheists tell us that Christianity is rubbish. How do they know? It's like saying my car is rubbish and never getting in and driving it. It's just like that, so simple. It's so simple they don't see it. And you don't have to be an atheist. Just plain ignorance does it all the time. All those people who say religion is rubbish, Christianity is rubbish, Church is rubbish. How do they know? Oh yes, of course, lots of them have been to church, for an hour or two in a life time. And they think they know enough about it to make an informed opinion, and opinion that makes them disbelieve. And so, their disbelief denies them the life of such great riches. If they find out anything, they find out that the Christian way is difficult, it's really hard. There is no soft option.

And that's because when Jesus says 'follow me' he wants you to follow him to his death and yours. And by that I don't just mean your physical death. I mean the death of your ego, the death of your own will. Because just as Jesus follows His Father's will, He's calling us to do the same. And remember in the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus found that so difficult, because it meant for Him, facing the cross and accepting the inevitable. And if we follow Jesus Christ, we find that we too have to face our cross, we have to carry it and then nail our own self, our own will to it. That's what Jesus meant when He said we have to carry our own cross. And giving up your self, giving up your own will is personal to you and different from everybody else. Now do you see why people turn away? Now can you see why they rubbish our faith? Because it means if they follow it they'll have to die.

And the only thing that carries us through this is the Spirit of God walking with us and empowering us to do it, being there with us in the highs and in the lows. And the Spirit is there because it's the Spirit that's given to us in our baptism, specially for this whole Christian life. Without the Spirit of God we can't do it, without the Sprit of God we can't follow Christ. Because it's as we walk through this life, carrying our cross and believing, it's only then do we begin, do we begin to get a glimmer at first of understanding. It's as we really carry our cross and crucify our own will in favour of God's will like Jesus did, that the dawn begins to break on our understanding of what Jesus resurrection means. Just like it dawned upon the disciples slowly that Jesus was in fact risen, bodily from the grave, and what it meant for them at its deepest. It meant that death in the end didn't win; that Jesus, by dying himself, had overcome it, He had trampled it down. So St. Paul, later on could say 'Oh death, where is your sting? Where, O grave, is your victory?' And then the understanding becomes clearer because you realise that only God could do that. Having created the body, only He could free it from death and raise it again.

And the most wonderful thing is that God, through Jesus Christ, did it for us. Out of His love for us, gave His life for us so that we too might not die but have with Him again that relationship given to Adam and Eve at their creation and before they grasped at being gods themselves.

And this is Good News. This is the Gospel. And it's Good News we celebrate today, the Day of Days and it's Good News that we will dedicate a child to today in her baptism and that those of us already baptised and whether we are far along the road of following Jesus Christ or have newly taken up the journey, we'll rededicate ourselves today.

Alleluia! Christ is Risen!

Palm Sunday

Philippians 2.5-11; Matthew 21.1-11

I believe that the message of Palm Sunday is a very simple one for Christians. The message is simply an invitation held out by Christ to all who think they are able to, from those who are confident, to those who feel they only have a ghost of a chance, to follow Him through the events that we shall follow this week here in church in our worship. He's inviting us to follow Him from His entry into that sacred city of Jerusalem, His entry that we celebrate today, through His trial and death and on beyond that to His resurrection. For as we have said before; as Christians we don't follow or live by a set of moral rules and an ethical code; not in the first instance anyway. We follow a person, that person being a man, Jesus Christ. And it's as we follow Him, through all the events of His life but especially those we hear about this week, as we follow Him and give our lives over to Him in faith and love, He becomes our Lord. And we discover with that, that He is already and always has been, our Saviour.

With all the schools now on holiday, this week is most definitely a holiday for many. And quite a few will be missing from our congregation today because of that. But for we Christians, this week is no holiday, this week is the most important week of our whole year. This week is Holy Week. And it's a week that we can best answer that invitation held out to us by our Lord to follow Him, by giving ourselves to reflection and prayer whether we be at home or away, at work or on holiday. We can take more time out even just a few minutes more each day to read and think about the last days and hours of Jesus life and of His resurrection.  And we can come to church, to the worship more often this week as we have an act of worship every day. Each of our services on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday are services of reflection and penance, asking nothing of you but to ponder your relationship with God and your walk with Him. Maybe you can make connections with what we thought about before Lent began and our preparation for it as we heard those words of Jesus in His Sermon on the Mount. Or you might like to think about how you've engaged with Lent itself and what the season has revealed.

As we make our way through Maundy Thursday and Good Friday we pay more close attention to the events of the closing hours of Jesus life before His death. And with this we can ask ourselves what meaning they have for our own lives, how we respond to what is happening to Jesus. And we do that because every year it's as if it were happening for the first time, because in God's time there is no time and the events, stretched out into time are happening continuously. The world is created and redeemed simultaneously in God's time. In human earthly time they are separate events. So on a cosmic scale Jesus is for ever being betrayed, being crucified, dying and being raised. And that's why these 'event's are meaningful for us, because they are for us as real as they were to those around Jesus 2,000 years ago. So what does in mean for you for your Lord and Saviour to be put to be betrayed and put to death now, for you, because that's what is happening when you come to worship, we aren't just remembering something that happened a long time ago to other people.

And then on Holy Saturday night shortly before midnight we shall begin our Easter proclamation, having first blessed new fire and lit our Paschal Candle and heard the story of the creation of the world and the redemption of God's people. At midnight we shall proclaim the resurrection and receive the Holy Communion of Easter. Finally on Easter Day we will celebrate the resurrection all together united as one body with the Lord in our midst, just as the disciples, gathered as one body, were visited by the risen Jesus in that upper room and where later Thomas would fall to his knees and proclaim Jesus as 'my Lord and my God'.

And so we'll come to the end of this Holy Week with heart, mind, body and soul renewed and resurrected along with the risen Christ. But we'll only understand, we'll only KNOW what all of this means, what the point of it is, if we've accepted the invitation that's on offer today, this Palm Sunday, to follow Jesus as closely as we can through the whole of this week. And that will be difficult for all of us because as we do follow closely it's only then do we recognise the times when we betray Jesus and leave Him deserted for things and people more attractive to the fallen human heart and mind. And it's at those times that we need to fall on our knees, ask His forgiveness, which will be given, and proclaim Him - 'My Lord and my God.' It will be a difficult journey but one that's worth doing because it's a journey that leads to new life, to life in all its fullness, to resurrection life.

Lent 4 - Mothering Sunday

1 Samuel 1.20-28; Colossians 3.12-17; John 19.25b-27

This fourth Sunday in Lent is traditionally known as Refreshment Sunday or Mothering Sunday. It's a day on which we can rest and relax from our Lenten discipline. During a long journey, which Lent is, we need times of rest to gather energy to complete the course and so the Church gives us this day to do just that.

Historically, on this day, people would go from their parish churches to worship at the Mother Church of the diocese or at least of the locality. Most of the parishes around this town sprung up from All Saints in the town centre. And we have the hang over of that in the way in which most church people around the town tend to refer to All Saints as 'the' Parish Church. So I guess on this day if we were keeping to the tradition we would all go to All Saints for our worship. Anyway, I'll leave that thought with you. The way things are going with the forced reduction in stipendiary clergy numbers hereabouts, that might become a regular feature and not too far off! But in the meantime we are glad to be able to come here to celebrate Mothering Sunday and relax a bit from the rigours of Lent.

As this is Mothering Sunday, I'd like us to reflect for a few minutes on the place of the Church in our lives. And there's one thing we need to get out of the way before we go any further. The Church's celebration of Mothering Sunday is about the Church and has nothing whatever to do with our own mothers or the secular celebration of Mother's Day. But inevitably that celebration has crept in and overtaken the Church's celebration. Mother's Day, whilst a lovely time for some, for other women and for some children, is a very difficult and painful time, and we don't need to go into that. It's for the Church always and on such a day as this in particular to show it's love for all and not just to single out particular individuals.

When I was growing up I was taught, rightly or wrongly that as God is our Heavenly Father, so the Church is our spiritual mother. God is the one who creates us, if you like, and the Church is the one who nurtures us. You can't press those images too far theologically but I, personally, think that they are very useful images. St. Augustine referred to the Church as 'Mother Church'. The Church is referred to by St. Paul as the Bride of Christ, as well as being Christ's Body. And so it's right that we should think of the Church first and foremost not as an organisation or an institution, as we do secular bodies. But we should think of the Church as something living, something organic, a 'divine-human organism' as Metropoloitan Hierotheos refers to it. (The Mind of the Orthodox Church) Only if we think of the Church in this way, as a living body of which we are a part and that nurtures us, nutures our own body, mind, soul and spirit are we saved from thinking of it in worldly ways, ways in which we think of all, simply human organisations and institutions. Because the Church is fundamentally different to any other organisation.

If we see the Church in this way, as a place where we are nurtured in our life as disciples of Christ, as members of His Body; as people who, as St. Paul says, have their lives 'hid with Christ in God', then we come to it first and foremost to let it change us, to let it form us in the way of Christ. Being part of the Church, and having the Church as the Body of Christ, our spiritual mother, we see it as a place where we first of all put aside everything that wells up out of our own ego. We put aside our own selfish and self-possessed opinions, points of view, agendas, beliefs, versions of truth and we let the Church nourish and sustain, inform and fashion our opinions, points of view, agendas and beliefs. And we let ourselves be open to THE Truth - Jesus Christ, THE Way, THE Truth, THE Life. So that in the end we can pray along with Christ Himself - 'not my will, but thy will be done'.

Far, far too much do we come to the Church with our own beliefs and opinions and expect the Church to change for us, in little ways and in big ways. We expect the Church to accept unreservedly all of our own idiosyncracies, particularities and peculiarities and accomodate them equally alongside everybody else's. This is not how it's meant to be. There's a very real sense in which when we come to this place we should leave our 'self' outside the door so that we can discover God. Because the one thing, the ONE thing that stops any of us discovering God is our overbearing 'self'; that in us that clamours and screams to make the world and everybody in the world the way that IT wants them to be. And you only need to read the gospels and listen to Jesus and time and time again you will hear Him say, 'that's not the way it is, neither in the Church nor indeed in the world. That's not God's way, that's not My way.'

You hear people say that they believe in God but they don't like 'organised' religion; they don't like the Church. What I believe they mean by that is that they don't like being told what they are supposed to believe. Spirituality for them is some airy-fairy, nice feeling of otherworldliness that can be good or indeed pure evil. The trouble is, if it's of your own discovery how do you discern whether or not it is good, true and genuine, or evil. How do you know it's something objective or just your imagination? Again, it's their self that won't let them listen and understand and take on Truth which is objective Truth, they'd rather listen to their own subjective truth.

When we are baptised we are baptised into the Body of Christ, baptised into the Church and from that day on we are meant to become disciples of Christ as His Spirit works in us. We give up everything, in a sense to follow Him and be nurtured by Him through the Church. Jesus reinforces this when He says that we have to take up our cross and follow Him, when we have to put God before anyone or anything else. So as a member of the Church, being a disciple of Christ is meant to be the number one priority in our life. Everything else comes behind Him or lower down the list.

That on the face of it, is hard to take and hard to understand. However can we put Jesus first in this day of so much competition from so much outside us including our families and friends? And it's hard to take BECAUSE we don't understand. We don't understand because we don't know God. If we knew God, then we would understand. Well we get to know God as we become disciples of His Son, our Saviour. When we live our lives in accordance with Jesus' commandments and His teaching. That's what the first disciples did. And they handed on the teaching to others and it's been handed down to us.

And you know they gave their life for this teaching, they gave their lives for Christ. That's what He means when He says that we must put Him first. All of these paintings of saints we see around us today aren't just there for decoration. They are there to remind us that we are called to be disciples of Christ as they were. For them, God was more important than their heartbeat; the Church was more important than their own breath. It was God that gave both to them anyway.

When we look at ourselves today, we should be asking ourselves is God more important than our heartbeat? Is the Church more important than our own breath? If not, then we have work to do. We may never be called on to die for our Faith or for the Church as other saints have done, but we tread the same path in the same direction as they did when we are followers of the same Christ. We tread the path to God. And we tread it together, not on our own. We tread the path to God together as members of the one Body, the Church; the Church of which we are a part and which nurtures us as a spiritual mother. And there is nobody asking us to do that except God Himself. This idea of organised religion is nonesense, it's an excuse made by those who haven't even the courage to open themselves to hear the one true God calling to them, as He does contantly. Only Christ says 'follow me'. Only Christ says 'come and see'. And it's for each one of us to answer that call, the call to go further and further and deeper and deeper into God with every passing day.