Category: Sunday Reflections

A weekly reflection on the lectionary readings for Sunday

Proper 7, 3rd Sunday after Trinity

25th June 2023

Reflection (readings are below) 

 Things do not always go to plan. What we expect to happen, may not happen – or what we hoped wouldn’t happen, does happen. In that sense the Bible is honest: it relates stories where things do not go to plan, when the hoped for outcome doesn’t materialise. The Bible is upfront in relating how sometimes people are disappointed. They are faced with loss. They discover that life is going to turn out radically different to what they expected. They may have to go along with plan B. 

The background to today’s reading from Genesis is the earlier promise made by God to Abraham that he would be the father of a great nation – with descendants more in number than the stars in the sky or the grains of sand in the desert. He had already left home and family and travels with Sarah his wife to make a new home in Canaan – yet they had no children. Time passed and still they were no children. So Sarah suggests that to remedy this, Abraham should sleep with her maid Hagar. Abraham does, Hagar conceives and Abraham has the longed for son. More time passes, and we have the story related last week, when three strangers predict that Abraham and Sarah together will have a child, a son through whom Abraham will become the father of a great nation. Which plan has gone wrong? Has the path of destiny been changed? Or was this just one of those unpredictable events?

Some things in the world are predictable – water will always flow down hill because of the force of gravity. The sun will always rise in the morning and set in the evening. One day we will die. But many more things are unpredictable – will it rain today? When will Mount Etna next erupt? Will this cat catch that small bird?

Perhaps most unpredictable are the actions of human beings? Will they be kind to one another or will they be callous and unkind? Will they be generous or jealous? Will they be patient or angry? Will they hit out or will they go the extra mile to be helpful?

In Sarah we see someone who has become jealous, who is fearful that their plans may backfire, who perhaps feels that even her own position in the community is under threat? For these and many other reasons, Hagar and her son are made to suffer. It is not God who cause suffering, but flawed, imperfect humankind. 

The story is not all doom and gloom. Hagar hears God talking to her – is this the first time in the text of the Bible that we hear of God speaking directly to a woman? God speaks and Hagar is comforted; she sees that God is showing her a way out. When we are adrift, when we feel abandoned, it would b food to recall this story, to realise that God is always there even when things are not going well.

Paul describes baptism as a process of dying – of dying by drowning – which is not an image as readily embrace when we are being children to baptism. But is there not an honesty in remembering that life is not guaranteed to be free of pain and suffering, that there will be times when we are pushed to our limits? Paul sees baptism as part of a bigger picture, one in which we are united into both death and life with Jesus. Whilst Paul knows life is not free of suffering, he also knows it is never free of God! He knows, from his own experience, that there is a flip side to ‘dying to sin’ – that of experiencing a newness of life in which we are united in God. To quote the words from John’s gospel: ‘you will know that I am in My Father, and you are in Me, and I am in you’. (John 14:20)

Do I believe at face value all that is written in the Bible? No. Just as the world is a place of uncertainty and unpredictability, so I believe some passages do not reveal the complete truth. I do not believe that Jesus came to set son against father, daughter against mother. Why I do believe is that there are no situations where God is not present – although our ability to perceive God’s presence maybe flawed. 

Genesis 21:8-21

The child grew, and was weaned; and Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned. But Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, playing with her son Isaac. So she said to Abraham, “Cast out this slave woman with her son; for the son of this slave woman shall not inherit along with my son Isaac.” The matter was very distressing to Abraham on account of his son. But God said to Abraham, “Do not be distressed because of the boy and because of your slave woman; whatever Sarah says to you, do as she tells you, for it is through Isaac that offspring shall be named for you. As for the son of the slave woman, I will make a nation of him also, because he is your offspring.” So Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water, and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, along with the child, and sent her away. And she departed, and wandered about in the wilderness of Beer-sheba.

When the water in the skin was gone, she cast the child under one of the bushes. Then she went and sat down opposite him a good way off, about the distance of a bowshot; for she said, “Do not let me look on the death of the child.” And as she sat opposite him, she lifted up her voice and wept. And God heard the voice of the boy; and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven, and said to her, “What troubles you, Hagar? Do not be afraid; for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is. Come, lift up the boy and hold him fast with your hand, for I will make a great nation of him.” Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. She went, and filled the skin with water, and gave the boy a drink.

God was with the boy, and he grew up; he lived in the wilderness, and became an expert with the bow. He lived in the wilderness of Paran; and his mother got a wife for him from the land of Egypt.

Psalm 86:1-10, 16-17

1 Bow down your ear, O Lord, and answer me, *
for I am poor and in misery.

2 Keep watch over my life, for I am faithful; *
save your servant who puts his trust in you.

3 Be merciful to me, O Lord, for you are my God; *
I call upon you all the day long.

4 Gladden the soul of your servant, *
for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.

5 For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, *
and great is your love toward all who call upon you.

6 Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer, *
and attend to the voice of my supplications.

7 In the time of my trouble I will call upon you, *
for you will answer me.

8 Among the gods there is none like you, O Lord, *
nor anything like your works.

9 All nations you have made will come and worship you, O Lord, *
and glorify your Name.

10 For you are great;
you do wondrous things; *
and you alone are God.

16 Turn to me and have mercy upon me; *
give your strength to your servant;
and save the child of your handmaid.

17 Show me a sign of your favour,
so that those who hate me may see it and be ashamed; *
because you, O Lord, have helped me and comforted me.

Romans 6:1b-11

Should we continue in sin in order that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin go on living in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptised into Christ Jesus were baptised into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.

For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. For whoever has died is freed from sin. But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. The death he died, he died to sin, once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Matthew 10:24-39

Jesus said to the twelve disciples, “A disciple is not above the teacher, nor a slave above the master; it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher, and the slave like the master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household!

“So have no fear of them; for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known. What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops. Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. And even the hairs of your head are all counted. So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.

“Everyone therefore who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven; but whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father in heaven.

“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.

For I have come to set a man against his father,
and a daughter against her mother,
and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;
and one’s foes will be members of one’s own household.

Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.”

Proper 6, 2nd Sunday after Trinity

18th June 2023

Reflection (readings are below) 

“The harvest is plentiful but the labourers are few.”

The harvest – the fruits of our labour – and in terms of my current thoughts, all those good things we could achieve if we create – grow – a sustainable, green, biodiverse-rich world, is immense. 

We could restore woodlands and forests, rivers and lakes and oceans – all things that have been achieved on the small scale and which could be scaled up given the will. 

We could insulate homes against heat and cold. We could ensure all homes have clean water, sanitation and a supply of renewable energy. We could provide communities with green spaces for relaxation and wellbeing. 

We could ensure a healthy diet for everyone with regenerative farming techniques and a shift from animals based to plant based foods.

We could provide efficient and accessible public transport. 

We could reuse and recycle the earth’s resources rather than over consuming them.

We could sustain local economies with local jobs, local shops, and local businesses. 

The list goes on … The Earth Overshoot project each year assesses the date when we have consumed a year’s worth of the earth’s resources, and this year it is 2nd August. The project sets out solutions too, and their website  features 93 case studies for numerous ways  – big and small – by which that date can be pushed back to 31st December. You might find the web site a source of hope.

It would all be possible if we had enough people asking for it, if we had enough people challenging governments and businesses to take the ideas seriously, if we had enough people – and companies – willing to commit to changing the way they live and work, if we had enough people – and banks, and pension funds – willing to invest in this change.

The harvest could be very plentiful but so far the labourers are insufficient. Let us then ask the Lord for more labourers – and be willing to be part of the recruitment mission.

Sometimes when we hear predictions about the future – whether they are positive or negative – we can feel that what we are hearing is unbelievable. Can we really believe that human activities – principally the consumption of fossil fuels – could lead to a 4C rise in temperatures? 

Can we really believe that climate change could lead to a rise in sea levels of a meter by the end of the century? 

Can we really believe that cutting our meat consumption will help save the planet? 

Can we really believe that switching from fossil to renewable energy could save the world £10 trillion?

Somethings do sound unbelievable – even when they are backed by facts! So perhaps we can empathise with Abraham and Sarah’s reaction when they are told they will, in their old age, have a son. 

Yet if we pause and reflect, we realise that both Abraham and Sarah have a track record of trusting and acting upon what God reveals. They have left their home country, and their extended family, and set out into the unknown, trusting that this is what God has asked of them and that God will always be there with them. When the disciples respond to Jesus’s call, and leave behind jobs, homes and families, they are placing immense trust in him. That is the trust we need to cultivate. Trust that if we follow God’s lead, we can make the good news of the gospel a reality. Trust that we can make the world a green and sustainable and life enhancing place. We can put our faith in the words of the Lord’s Prayer, in asking that God’s ways hold sway here on earth as in heaven, that God’s kingdom will be paramount. 

Sticking to that is hard, especially when the result are not instantaneous. Paul reminds us, in his letter to the community in Rome, that in the present state of world suffering is a reality but that enduring suffering does bring its own benefits of endurance and hope and love. 

So let us take heart, gird up our loins, and follow God’s lead. Let us be willing messengers of the good news encouraging other too to take heart. Let us be willing labourers so that the harvest will indeed be plentiful. 

Genesis 18:1-15

The Lord appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the entrance of his tent in the heat of the day. He looked up and saw three men standing near him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent entrance to meet them, and bowed down to the ground. He said, “My lord, if I find favour with you, do not pass by your servant. Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. Let me bring a little bread, that you may refresh yourselves, and after that you may pass on—since you have come to your servant.” So they said, “Do as you have said.” And Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah, and said, “Make ready quickly three measures of choice flour, knead it, and make cakes.” Abraham ran to the herd, and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to the servant, who hastened to prepare it. Then he took curds and milk and the calf that he had prepared, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree while they ate.

They said to him, “Where is your wife Sarah?” And he said, “There, in the tent.” Then one said, “I will surely return to you in due season, and your wife Sarah shall have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent entrance behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; it had ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I have grown old, and my husband is old, shall I have pleasure?” The Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ Is anything too wonderful for the Lord? At the set time I will return to you, in due season, and Sarah shall have a son.” But Sarah denied, saying, “I did not laugh”; for she was afraid. He said, “Oh yes, you did laugh.”

Psalm 116:1, 10-17

1 I love the Lord, because he has heard the voice of my supplication, *
because he has inclined his ear to me whenever I called upon him.

10 How shall I repay the Lord *
for all the good things he has done for me?

11 I will lift up the cup of salvation *
and call upon the Name of the Lord.

12 I will fulfil my vows to the Lord *
in the presence of all his people.

13 Precious in the sight of the Lord *
is the death of his servants.

14 O Lord, I am your servant; *
I am your servant and the child of your handmaid;
you have freed me from my bonds.

15 I will offer you the sacrifice of thanksgiving *
and call upon the Name of the Lord.

16 I will fulfil my vows to the Lord *
in the presence of all his people,

17 In the courts of the Lord’S house, *
in the midst of you, O Jerusalem.
Hallelujah!

Romans 5:1-8

Since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person– though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.

Matthew 9:35-10:8

Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and curing every disease and every sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest.”

Then Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness. These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon, also known as Peter, and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed him.

These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather 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.’

Proper 5 (1st Sunday after Trinity)

11th June 2023

Reflection (readings are below)

God tells Abraham that though him all nations will be blessed. What an amazing prophecy! And would it not be wonderful if through human actions and behaviour – through living righteously – all nations were be blessed? Is this what God is saying? If all Abraham’s descendants are equally righteous in their way of life, then truly all nations will be blessed – and to enact that prophesy we too need to live lives of righteousness!

Psalm 33 highlights for us some of the features of righteousness – ie rejoicing, honouring God,  seeking justice, and regarding God’s creation with awe and wonder. 

Can you legislate for righteousness? Laws can be useful for defining right and wrong, for setting limits – but laws can be inflexible and constraining, and they can be manipulated or misused. Currently there are a number of climate activists who have been found guilty of breaking the law not because their actions were felt to be disproportionate to the dangers they were protesting about, but because their motivation was not discussed. The judge had ruled that they would not be allowed to speak about the climate crisis even though that was the reason that they had undertaken the protest. The defendants were in effect prohibited from speaking the ‘whole truth’.  The jury were not allowed to hear the full facts of case nor were they allowed to determine whether or not the defendants’ actions were justifiable. 

Righteousness is a different kettle of fish. Righteousness – what is right and good – is responsive to the circumstances, is flexible and adaptive, is un-constrained, is life enhancing.

Today’s gospel tells of Jesus calling Matthew to ‘follow me!’. Perhaps initially it was a literal call – follow me to the place where we are going to dine  together. Ultimately it was a call to be righteous, a call to follow the lifestyle, the example, of Jesus. 

Jesus demonstrated in his life his willingness to be disruptive of social norms and traditional expectations. He would eat with sinners, with outcasts, with those who were disrespected, because God’s love is for everyone and  therefore God’s call is that we love everyone. If the social norm is not loving, is not caring of others, then disruptive action is the right response.

We are called by God to follow Jesus, to love our neighbour – whoever or whatever they are – without compromise. And if that means disrupting social niceties,  then that is what we are called to do. It is by being righteous, rather than simply law abiding, that we will be a blessing for all nations.

Genesis 12:1-9

Now the Lord said to Abram, “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. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. Abram took his wife Sarai and his brother’s son Lot, and all the possessions that they had gathered, and the persons whom they had acquired in Haran; and they set forth to go to the land of Canaan. When they had come to the land of Canaan, Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. Then the Lord appeared to Abram, and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. From there he moved on to the hill country on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to the Lord and invoked the name of the Lord. And Abram journeyed on by stages toward the Negeb.

Psalm 33:1-12

1 Rejoice in the Lord, you righteous; *
it is good for the just to sing praises.

2 Praise the Lord with the harp; *
play to him upon the psaltery and lyre.

3 Sing for him a new song; *
sound a fanfare with all your skill upon the trumpet.

4 For the word of the Lord is right, *
and all his works are sure.

5 He loves righteousness and justice; *
the loving-kindness of the Lord fills the whole earth.

6 By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, *
by the breath of his mouth all the heavenly hosts.

7 He gathers up the waters of the ocean as in a water-skin *
and stores up the depths of the sea.

8 Let all the earth fear the Lord; *
let all who dwell in the world stand in awe of him.

9 For he spoke, and it came to pass; *
he commanded, and it stood fast.

10 The Lord brings the will of the nations to naught; *
he thwarts the designs of the peoples.

11 But the Lord’s will stands fast for ever, *
and the designs of his heart from age to age.

12 Happy is the nation whose God is the Lord! *
happy the people he has chosen to be his own!

Romans 4:13-25

The promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith. If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. For the law brings wrath; but where there is no law, neither is there violation.

For this reason it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham (for he is the father of all of us, as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”) —in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. Hoping against hope, he believed that he would become “the father of many nations,” according to what was said, “So numerous shall your descendants be.” He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was already as good as dead (for he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, being fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. Therefore his faith “was reckoned to him as righteousness.” Now the words, “it was reckoned to him,” were written not for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be reckoned to us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was handed over to death for our trespasses and was raised for our justification.

Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26

As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth; and he said to him, “Follow me.”

And he got up and followed him. And as he sat at dinner in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and were sitting with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” But when he heard this, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.”

While he was saying these things to them, suddenly a leader of the synagogue came in and knelt before him, saying, “My daughter has just died; but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.” And Jesus got up and followed him, with his disciples. Then suddenly a woman who had been suffering from haemorrhages for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his cloak, for she said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be made well.” Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And instantly the woman was made well. When Jesus came to the leader’s house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion, he said, “Go away; for the girl is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him. But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl got up. And the report of this spread throughout that district.

Trinity Sunday 

4th June 2023

Reflection (readings below)

Young babies in the early months do not realise that they and their mother are separate beings. Obviously in time they come to realise that their mother is not simply an extension of their body, but that they are each separate beings.

Many mums and dads may expect their role as parents to be time-limited. As their child passes the ages of, say 16 -or 18 or 21 – they realise that being a parent is for life. They will never not be mums and dads!

In fact, as John Donne wrote, ‘No man [no person] is an island’. We are all interdependent beings relying on each other for love, protection, nourishment, purpose, identity etc. The interdependency and interconnectedness of human relationships should not surprise us on this Trinity Sunday. Today is the day when we reflect in particular on the nature of God that has been revealed to us: the one in three and three in one. The one who is both God and Father – a word which we would now understand to include  mother or parent. The one who is both God and Son, who is both human and divine. The one who is both God and Spirit, who was hovering over the waters of creation and is the gift that came at Pentecost. The trinitarian God is the God of relationships, of co-creating, of co-working, of co-inherence (meaning the participation of the three persons in one God).

We see in the Trinity the ideal that we should be showing in our human relationships. Sadly we don’t always manage to create and maintain fair relationships between one another. Our interrelationships are marred by injustice and the abuse of power. We have frequently and repeatedly failed to follow the way of Jesus – of love and compassion, of truthfulness and justice, of healing and restoration. Yet that is our vocation and it is a way of living that we are called to share with the whole world.

The passage from Isaiah reminds us that God is not just the creator of we humans, but of the entirety of the earth. And again it should therefore not surprise us that just as we are interdependent on our fellow humans, so following God’s model of being, we are share an interdependent and interconnected relationship with the rest of creation. 

We are beginning to understand that without a sizeable population of pollinating creatures – insects, birds, beetles – many of the food crops we depend upon will not survive. We are beginning to understand that without a healthy population of worms, beetles, and subterranean fungi, the fertility of the soil will diminish and with it, our harvests. We are beginning to understand that without large and biodiverse woods and forests, the carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere will rise and exacerbate rising temperatures that lead to fatally adverse weather patterns. 

I say ‘beginning to understand’ for just as we have failed in so many of our human relationships, so we have failed in so many of our relationships with creation as witnessed by the climate and ecological crises. We need to learn how to live in active cooperation and harmony with all of creation. We need to observe and learn of the interconnected relationships that exist between all parts of the ecosystems we share. We need to learn where we fit in – how we can actually benefit from being part of these interdependent systems. We need to appreciate that just as in the Trinity we see a pattern for how we should live our lives, so in the Trinity we can see the pattern for how all of creation thrives together.

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with us all. Amen.

Isaiah 40:12 -17, 27 – end

Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand
    and marked off the heavens with a span,
enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure,
    and weighed the mountains in scales
    and the hills in a balance?

Who has directed the spirit of the Lord,
    or as his counsellor has instructed him?

Whom did he consult for his enlightenment,
    and who taught him the path of justice?
Who taught him knowledge,
    and showed him the way of understanding?

Even the nations are like a drop from a bucket,
    and are accounted as dust on the scales;
    see, he takes up the isles like fine dust.

Lebanon would not provide fuel enough,
    nor are its animals enough for a burnt-offering.

All the nations are as nothing before him;
    they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness. 

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’?

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.

He gives power to the faint,
    and strengthens the powerless.

Even youths will faint and be weary,
    and the young will fall exhausted;

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.

Psalm 8

O Lord, our Sovereign,
    how majestic is your name in all the earth!

You have set your glory above the heavens.

Out of the mouths of babes and infants
you have founded a bulwark because of your foes,
    to silence the enemy and the avenger.

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
    the moon and the stars that you have established;

what are human beings that you are mindful of them,
    mortals that you care for them?

Yet you have made them a little lower than God,
    and crowned them with glory and honour.

You have given them dominion over the works of your hands;
    you have put all things under their feet,

all sheep and oxen,
    and also the beasts of the field,

the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea,
    whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

O Lord, our Sovereign,
    how majestic is your name in all the earth!

2 Corinthians 13:11-13

Finally, brothers and sisters, farewell. Put things in order, listen to my appeal, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the saints greet you.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.

Matthew 28:16-20

The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

The Feast of Pentecost

28th May 2023

Reflection (the readings are below)

The day of Pentecost was not a day to be forgotten. For the disciples it must initially have frightening – to have the sound of violent wind fill the house and then to see what looked like tongues of fire. Yet it must have been amazing, astounding, to be so full of the Spirit that they could not help but be eloquent, loquacious, inspired, outspoken ….

And I wonder if it was any different for the crowd that had gathered. What has first caught their attention, caused the, to stop and stare? Initially bewildered and then – like the disciples – inspired, overcome by the message they were receiving. A message that somehow spoke directly to each one, no matter where they had come from, no matter what was their personal agenda – each of them heard a message that directed at them and which answered their need –  and maybe answering a need they didn’t know they needed! That surely is the power of God’s message, the power of the good news, that whoever you are, wherever you are it will have a pertinent message for you.

That day of Pentecost must have seemed magical! But I suspect that we all have message, a story, we could tell about God’s deeds – whether it was about something that happened in our lives, some event or place that was very significant, some word or image or phrase of music that spoke so,powerfully to us of God. And just imagine if we all told out stories – surely we would find that our story would ring a chord with someone else, that our story would speak eloquently to another about the presence of God.  We seldom tell these stories because we don’t imagine that we could be a channel for God’s Spirit. 

If like me you have a passion for the environment, can you take a leaf out of the psalmist’s book? Can you celebrate and sing praises to God to express your joy and awe that God’s creation is so amazing, so prolific, so life enhancing? The psalm reminds me that sometimes we have to let God’s creature be and just stand back in wonder! 

I only occasionally cut the grass at home, so it is without any effort I take part in No Mow May. This afternoon I counted five different types of grass – as the seed heads form you get to see what a variety there is. I also noted plantains with a white flowering frill around their seed head; golden buttercups (replacing the golden headed dandelions that flowered earlier); wild sorrel; common daisies and ox eye daisies; cat’s ear daisies -also yellow like a dandelion – and the tiny mauve flowering small-flowered cranesbill. 

Maybe for someone that vision of God’s biodiverse creation would be the message that warms their hearts and fire them up for action as citizens of God’s kingdom here on earth.

Acts 2:1-21

When the day of Pentecost had come, the disciples were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. Amazed and astonished, they asked, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs– in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.” All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” But others sneered and said, “They are filled with new wine.”

But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, “Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:

`In the last days it will be, God declares,

that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh,
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,

and your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams.

Even upon my slaves, both men and women,
in those days I will pour out my Spirit;
and they shall prophesy.

And I will show portents in the heaven above
and signs on the earth below,
blood, and fire, and smoky mist.

The sun shall be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood,
before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day.

Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’ “

Psalm 104:25-35, 37

25 O Lord, how manifold are your works! *
in wisdom you have made them all;
the earth is full of your creatures.

26 Yonder is the great and wide sea
with its living things too many to number, *
creatures both small and great.

27 There move the ships,
and there is that Leviathan, *
which you have made for the sport of it.

28 All of them look to you *
to give them their food in due season.

29 You give it to them; they gather it; *
you open your hand, and they are filled with good things.

30 You hide your face, and they are terrified; *
you take away their breath,
and they die and return to their dust.

31 You send forth your Spirit, and they are created; *
and so you renew the face of the earth.

32 May the glory of the Lord endure for ever; *
may the Lord rejoice in all his works.

33 He looks at the earth and it trembles; *
he touches the mountains and they smoke.

34 I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; *
I will praise my God while I have my being.

35 May these words of mine please him; *
I will rejoice in the Lord.

37 Bless the Lord, O my soul. *
Hallelujah!

1 Corinthians 12:3b-13

No one can say “Jesus is Lord” except by the Holy Spirit. Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.

For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptised into one body– Jews or Greeks, slaves or free– and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.

John 20:19-23

When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

7th Sunday of Easter

21st May 2023

Reflection (readings are below) 

On Thursday, Ascension Day, I took part in a fund raising event for Glassdoor, in which we took the lift to the top of the Arcelormittal Orbit (an 80+m tall sculpture cum icon). The view from the top was stunning, looking out over the immediate locality of the Olympic Park and all the new local developments colleges, a new V and A, sports facilities. Then to the south the Canary Wharf development, and to the west the city where St Paul’s dome was visible as a little blip between tower blocks, whilst to the north the landscape was more open. Fundraisers have to involve some sort of challenge and this one was to abseil down. Helmeted and harnessed, you have to throw off your inbuilt fear and lean back over the void and begin to walk down. There is only 3 foot of vertical surface before you have only thin air. At this point you have to push off with your feet, tip forwards and belay the rope to lower yourself down. You have to trust that all that has been put in place to ensure your safety will do just that!

The high level view distant landmarks stayed with me for what seemed like along while – perhaps because I wasn’t daring to look down! As I neared the ground however,  roads, people, trees  etc resumed their more normal size and filled once again my frame of vision. It was, in a sense, coming back to earth – ie reality – with a bump! The excitement of the descent (even it had had its moments of fear) was over. I wonder if that is how the disciples felt when the angels tell them to stop looking up to heaven and get on with life where they are. 

I think ascension-tide was tough for the disciples. They have been on such a roller coaster. For a couple of years they have been on a mission with Jesus, treading the roads up and down between Galilee and Jerusalem, watching Jesus heal people, perform miracles and outwit legal-minded scribes; putting up with with no regular place to sleep or eat just so that they can be constantly in his presence, soaking up his wisdom and teaching; beginning to grasp at the enormity of who Jesus was – the Messiah, the Son of God. Then overnight their hopes had been dashed as they saw Jesus arrested, tried and executed. In fear they had tried to hide away. With disbelief they were asked to accept that the Jesus who had died, had also risen from the dead. With increasing joy and hope they began to understand that they did have a future, that Jesus was their conquering hero, that this time there would be no turning back! And yet, only forty days later Jesus is once again confusing them with his words. No, he can’t predict the future for them; no he doesn’t know what the outcome is going to be, nor the timescale – that bigger picture is all in God’s hands. Instead Jesus is telling them that they are going to  receive – at some as yet unspecified time in the future – new powers with which they (not Jesus) will bear witness to the gospel to the ends of the earth. And with that, Jesus once more disappears from their sight. 

The disciples are being asked to take a lot on faith! They are to carry out a mission without knowing the final outcome. They are going to be equipped with an as yet unknown power. They have been given a taste of heaven, and yet they are being asked to return to their old room back in Jerusalem. 

The nine days between Ascension day and Pentecost, is a time of uneasiness, of uncertainty but also of expectation. A time when the bigger picture is not yet apparent, when the final outcome is not yet known. 

I find similar mixed emotions when I try and get my mind around the climate crisis. I know enough to know that it is a big problem. I know enough to know we could as human race, rectify damage we have caused but only if we all act together to change the way we live at a global level. And I know that as one individual I cannot effect that global change. I can only make changes at the level of the individual. Yet I also believe that God desires salvation and fullness of life for creation. I have to trust that God sees and knows the bigger picture. I have to trust that God can use my efforts, however small, to good effect. I have to accept that I am not called to be the total solution but rather I am called to live and work alongside my fellow beings – and to do so not in my power, but in the power that God gives.

Acts 1:6-14

When the apostles had come together, they asked Jesus, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” He replied, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a sabbath day’s journey away. When they had entered the city, they went to the room upstairs where they were staying, Peter, and John, and James, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. All these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, as well as his brothers.

Psalm 68:1-10, 33-36

1 Let God arise, and let his enemies be scattered; *
let those who hate him flee before him.

2 Let them vanish like smoke when the wind drives it away; *
as the wax melts at the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God.

3 But let the righteous be glad and rejoice before God; *
let them also be merry and joyful.

4 Sing to God, sing praises to his Name;
exalt him who rides upon the heavens; *
YAHWEH is his Name, rejoice before him!

5 Father of orphans, defender of widows, *
God in his holy habitation!

6 God gives the solitary a home and brings forth prisoners into freedom; *
but the rebels shall live in dry places.

7 O God, when you went forth before your people, *
when you marched through the wilderness,

8 The earth shook, and the skies poured down rain,
at the presence of God, the God of Sinai, *
at the presence of God, the God of Israel.

9 You sent a gracious rain, O God, upon your inheritance; *
you refreshed the land when it was weary.

10 Your people found their home in it; *
in your goodness, O God, you have made provision for the poor.

33 Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth; *
sing praises to the Lord.

34 He rides in the heavens, the ancient heavens; *
he sends forth his voice, his mighty voice.

35 Ascribe power to God; *
his majesty is over Israel;
his strength is in the skies.

36 How wonderful is God in his holy places! *
the God of Israel giving strength and power to his people!
Blessed be God!

1 Peter 4:12-14; 5:6-11

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that is taking place among you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you are sharing Christ’s sufferings, so that you may also be glad and shout for joy when his glory is revealed. If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the spirit of glory, which is the Spirit of God, is resting on you.

Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you. Discipline yourselves, keep alert. Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour. Resist him, steadfast in your faith, for you know that your brothers and sisters in all the world are undergoing the same kinds of suffering. And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, support, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the power forever and ever. Amen.

John 17:1-11

Jesus looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all people, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed.

“I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them. And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.”

6th Sunday of Easter

14th May 2023

Reflection (readings below)

Breathing is something we all do, all of the time, whether we’re asleep or awake, a newborn baby or as old as the hills.and as often as not, something we do without thinking. It’s a natural reflex. We do it subconsciously, without a thought. 

Yet if you have ever been to a yoga class or taken part in a guided meditation, you may have been invited to focus on your breathing. To feel the breath come in through your nose, followings it’s flow down into your body and feeling it lift your belly. And then to focus on the out breath, the air returning up through your body and out through your nose or mouth. Sudden,y you are much more aware of your breathing, its  sound, its feel, it rhythm. It can be a surprisingly calming and enriching experience!

Focusing on something, being more aware of it, can be a positive experience. Think of painting hanging on a wall – it can be just something we glance at. Or it might be that someone invites us to look at more carefully. It might be that someone can illuminate for us something about the making of the picture, about the artist or the circumstance. It might be someone can point out to us something interesting about the way the composition is structured, or about the symbolism of items or colours that have been used. Once our attention has drawn to the painting we may see it in a new, fuller and more rewarding way.

The same can be true of a poem, a piece of music, a piece of engineering, a landscape – once we know more about it, so our interest and enjoyment can be enhanced. 

I wonder if the same can be said of God? Whether or not we know God, whether or not we are aware of God, God is nevertheless always there. Whether or not we believe in God, God’s presence is still there, God’s power of life is still actively operating. God doesn’t need our awareness or our acknowledgment to be exist, to be God. This is something of what Paul is trying to articulate in his conversation with the people in Athens. He is doing it tactfully – not condemning them for not knowing God in a personal way, but affirming their endeavours to name that which can seem unknowable. (And who of us can say we truly know God? Often our own knowledge of God is vague or sketchy or misguided. I no longer think he is a white haired, bearded old man who is apt to throw thunderbolts. Indeed I don’t think he is a ‘he’ although at times ‘father’ or ‘dad’ can be a useful metaphor).

Thinking of metaphors, of names for God, I find it interesting that in the passage from John’s gospel, the Greek word “Paraklēton” is translated in so many different ways depending which version of the Bible you read: 

  • phonetically as Paraclete, 
  • Comforter – which might suggest a warm scarf or one of those  security  blankets we might have had as a child, but might equally might suggest the warm embrace of a loved one,
  • Advocate – someone to speak up in our defence, to present our character in the best possible light,
  • Guide – someone showing us the way, but not just showing the way, but explaining to us what is we are seeing as we journey, (think of London’s Blue Guides)
  • Helper – which now a days has perhaps the connotation of a daily cleaner, someone to pick up after us, or equally someone who  an step in when our efforts fall short. It can a.so suggest team work.
  • Counsellor – someone who will advise us on the best course of action, maybe a heavenly sort of civil servant
  • Intercessor – someone praying or pleading on our behalf
  • Perhaps less often, as a Consoler,
  • Or, jumping ahead to the feast of Pentecost, as Holy Spirit.

Etymologically the word ‘paraclete’ has two parts ‘para’ meaning alongside or around, and ‘kalein’ meaning to call or shout out: a shout out for help or assistance.

What Jesus is offering to his disciples, his friends, sounds exactly like what they were going to need in the aftermath of Jesus’s death, and what we certainly need today – a constant, at hand, source of comfort, support and guidance. Like our breathing, God is – and always has been – a constant presence; it’s just we need to be reminded to think about God. Like the painting – or like the scenery around us – God is and has always been there but until someone – like Jesus, like Paul, like St Francis, like the current Pope – invite us to look more closely, to see the underlying stories, the intricate details – we may miss out on the greater depth and joys that comes from an intimate relationship with God. This is what the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, offers us – the opportunity of a deep, close and intimate relationship with the ever-present God. Throughout the gospels Jesus is introducing us to God – God as the Son, God as the Father, and in today’s reading,  God as the Spirit. It is something he does expertly because he is God making God real to us.

Acts 17:22-31

Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, “Athenians, I see how extremely religious you are in every way. For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, ‘To an unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things. From one ancestor he made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him—though indeed he is not far from each one of us. For ‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said,

‘For we too are his offspring.’

Since we are God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the deity is like gold, or silver, or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of mortals. While God has overlooked the times of human ignorance, now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will have the world judged in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”

Psalm 66:7-18

7 Bless our God, you peoples; *
make the voice of his praise to be heard;

8 Who holds our souls in life, *
and will not allow our feet to slip.

9 For you, O God, have proved us; *
you have tried us just as silver is tried.

10 You brought us into the snare; *
you laid heavy burdens upon our backs.

11 You let enemies ride over our heads;
we went through fire and water; *
but you brought us out into a place of refreshment.

12 I will enter your house with burnt-offerings
and will pay you my vows, *
which I promised with my lips
and spoke with my mouth when I was in trouble.

13 I will offer you sacrifices of fat beasts
with the smoke of rams; *
I will give you oxen and goats.

14 Come and listen, all you who fear God, *
and I will tell you what he has done for me.

15 I called out to him with my mouth, *
and his praise was on my tongue.

16 If I had found evil in my heart, *
the Lord would not have heard me;

17 But in truth God has heard me; *
he has attended to the voice of my prayer.

18 Blessed be God, who has not rejected my prayer, *
nor withheld his love from me.

1 Peter 3:13-22

Now who will harm you if you are eager to do what is good? But even if you do suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear, and do not be intimidated, but in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be ready to make your defence to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and reverence. Keep your conscience clear, so that, when you are maligned, those who abuse you for your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if suffering should be God’s will, than to suffer for doing evil. For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison, who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water. And baptism, which this prefigured, now saves you– not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers made subject to him.

John 14:15-21

Jesus said, ”If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.

”I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.”

5th Sunday of Easter 

7th May 2023

That first Easter the risen Jesus who was seen and heard and touched was the ultimate sign of the resurrection. Now some 2000 years later what are the signs we might look for to confirm the ongoing validity of the resurrection? What signs of new or renewed life do we see that point to the power, the glory of God? 

Today’s psalm reminds us that in God we can find our refuge when life seems set against us. In our relationship with God we can find strength that offers solidity and ensuring support. This is the God of our salvation, the God of mercy and love. How and/ or where do we find this God? In our churches, in our communities, in our homes?

At what point do we realise that we are part of that community, that place, that home, that makes the living God a risen reality? When over the last weeks we have read in the Book of Acts of the new community of Christians that was growing larger by the day, eat and worshipping together, sharing their wealth with each other, we were witnessing the resurrection, the new life being nurtured in the follower of Jesus. This community – nascent church – was a place of refuge and security for the believers. It enabled people like Stephen to stand up for what he – for what they all – believed. It gave them the confidence that they were God’s children, that God was with them in this life and the next, and that in neither had they anything to fear. 

As described in the Letter of Peter this was a church, a spiritual dwelling, built in the sure corner stone that was Jesus. And on that corner stone, the followers of Jesus, the first Christians, were its walls: living stones. And now in the 21st century we are the current generation of living stones that create the spiritual dwellings, the communities, where the risen Christ is to be found. We are called to be the places of safety and refuge in what feels like an increasingly conflicted world. 

Today’s readings tell us both that Jesus is the corner stone on which we have been established, and that Jesus as ‘the Way, the Truth and the Life’ is the means – the route map, the philosophy, the blue print  – by which we can be built into the church. 

For the early church of the Book of Acts, the church being built needs the capacity to confront other religious groups who were unwilling to accept Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of God. They needed people who could preach to the crowds and talk to the authorities on this issue. They needed people who were willing to be arrested and even executed for the cause. They also needed people who could lead the church, both in terms of resolving disputes and ensuring a fair distribution of resources to meet people’s daily needs, as well as those who could lead in terms of worship, teaching and discipleship. They needed people who could explore new strands of  theology relevant to the changing circumstances in which they lived, and in this capacity they needed people who could peer into the future and see what lay ahead and what the challenges might be. In all this, they guidance came from their relationship with Jesus.

As living stones of the 21st century church, here in the UK, we need to be confront various issues including the climate crisis, the cost of living crisis, the lack of integrity and responsibility shown by the government, the refugee and asylum crisis, the bio-diversity crisis, the lack of global justice and the failure of rich countries to help the poorer ones – to name a few.

Do we as a church have people who can talk to the authorities and to the wider public on these issues? Do we have people who are sufficiently well versed in the sciences and in the art of rhetoric? Do we have people who were willing to be arrested and imprisoned for these causes? Do we have leaders administer communities sympathetically, leaders who can ensure a fair distribution of resources to meet people’s daily needs?  Do we have leaders who can lead in terms of worship, teaching and discipleship such that they reflect the crisis of the current age? Do we have  people who can explore new strands of  theology relevant to the changing circumstances in which we live? Do we have people who can peer into the future and see what lies ahead and what the challenges might be. 

In all this, can we seek  guidance from our relationship with Jesus?

Acts 7:55-60

Filled with the Holy Spirit, Stephen gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. “Look,” he said, “I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!” But they covered their ears, and with a loud shout all rushed together against him. Then they dragged him out of the city and began to stone him; and the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul. While they were stoning Stephen, he prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he knelt down and cried out in a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he died.

Psalm 31:1-5, 15-16

1 In you, O Lord, have I taken refuge;
let me never be put to shame; *
deliver me in your righteousness.

2 Incline your ear to me; *
make haste to deliver me.

3 Be my strong rock, a castle to keep me safe,
for you are my crag and my stronghold; *
for the sake of your Name, lead me and guide me.

4 Take me out of the net that they have secretly set for me, *
for you are my tower of strength.

5 Into your hands I commend my spirit, *
for you have redeemed me,
O Lord, O God of truth.

15 My times are in your hand; *
rescue me from the hand of my enemies,
and from those who persecute me.

16 Make your face to shine upon your servant, *
and in your loving-kindness save me.

1 Peter 2:2-10

Like newborn infants, long for the pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow into salvation— if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.

Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight, and like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in scripture:

“See, I am laying in Zion a stone,
a cornerstone chosen and precious;

and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”

To you then who believe, he is precious; but for those who do not believe,

“The stone that the builders rejected
has become the very head of the corner”,

and

“A stone that makes them stumble,
and a rock that makes them fall.”

They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.

Once you were not a people,
but now you are God’s people;

once you had not received mercy,
but now you have received mercy.

John 14:1-14

Jesus said, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way to the place where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”

Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves. Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it.”

4th Sunday of Easter

30th April 2023

Reflection on the readings (see below).

Today’s readings feature what it is to be radical. 

The story in Acts tells us of a lifestyle that even today we would consider to be very radical. We wouldn’t really have enough trust in each other, to sell up and share all that we own. We would be worried that others would take us for a ride, living off our wealth and deprive us of any enjoyment. 

The writer of Acts notes that it is this radical lifestyles that makes the new faith in Jesus Christ so attractive. 

We might summarise this radical lifestyle as: Live in the present. Don’t hold onto things against the future; share and enjoy what you have now. Have regard for one another’s needs. And in all this praise and worship God.

We might hear Psalm 23 as a description of what is it like to be on the receiving end of such a radical way of living:- to be cared for, to be provided with what you need whether that is food and drink, rest, reassurance or companionship. And again the response is to praise and worship God. 

Returning again to the lifestyle envisaged in Acts, it seems as if it could never be a reality for us because we are too afraid of what we might loose – the sacrifice would be to great. Yet as Christians we are happy to acknowledge the sacrifice that Jesus made, the sacrifice that gained for us the opportunity of just such a new life. The writer of 1 Peter calls us to follow Jesus’s example, to be willing to suffer loss and hurt if it will bring in the kingdom of God. To do so is to be in the care of Jesus the Good Shepherd. Jesus knows our weaknesses, our lack of confidence, our inability to trust and take risks. That same Jesus knows that, like sheep, we will often go astray and, as the Good Shepherd, he is always going to come after us to rescue us. With Jesus in charge, can we somehow find the strength and desire to radically alter our lives so that everyone can benefit? 

If we look around us we see a great need for a better way of living, a better way of making daily life work. Here in the UK we hear of people whose income doesn’t allow them to buy even the food they need, whilst at the same time we hear of business leaders, city brokers, and celebrities whose weekly income would exceed the annual income of others. We hear of people who cannot afford to heat their homes, while at CEOs and shareholders (including several Anglican dioceses) reap the profits of soaring oil prices. Looking globally we can compare the subsidies given to the UK’s oil and gas sector, and the sums paid to contractors to keep refugees out of our country, with the diminishing sums the UK spends on overseas aid. Looking globally we see countries with far smaller economies suffering from droughts and floods and soaring temperatures, all triggered by the climate crisis which our continued exploitation of the fossil fuel economy has caused.

How are we going to get out of this mess? In John’s gospel Jesus describes two different ways of accessing the sheepfold and its resources. On the one hand there are the thieves and bandits who ignore the way into the sheepfold that has been designed by the Shepherd. Instead  find their own way in. They want to make a quick buck,  stealing the sheep. They have no interest in the long term management and wellbeing of the flock. The Shepherd in the other hand manages the flock by paying attention to the way the fold is designed. The Shepherd spends time getting to know the sheep and building up a trusting relationship with them. And as a consequence the herd thrives, enjoying abundant life.

If the sheepfold were our planet, the place where we live, is it better that we are looked after by thieves and bandits who ignore the ways in which the planet is designed? Or is it better that we are led by the Shepherd who is in tune both with us and the planet? Those of us who can see the damage that the thieves and the bandits – the self seeking multi nationals, the asset strippers – are causing should speak up. We should call out the damage that is being caused by those after a fast buck, and the suffering that is being endured as a consequence. We should be ready to call for a radical way of living. We should be ready to make sacrifices that will benefit us all.

Acts 2:42-47

Those who had been baptised devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

Awe came upon everyone, because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles. All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.

Psalm 23

1 The Lord is my shepherd; *
I shall not be in want.

2 He makes me lie down in green pastures *
and leads me beside still waters.

3 He revives my soul *
and guides me along right pathways for his Name’s sake.

4 Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I shall fear no evil; *
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

5 You spread a table before me in the presence of those who trouble me; *
you have anointed my head with oil,
and my cup is running over.

6 Surely your goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, *
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

1 Peter 2:19-25

It is a credit to you if, being aware of God, you endure pain while suffering unjustly. If you endure when you are beaten for doing wrong, what credit is that? But if you endure when you do right and suffer for it, you have God’s approval. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you should follow in his steps.

“He committed no sin,
and no deceit was found in his mouth.”

When he was abused, he did not return abuse; when he suffered, he did not threaten; but he entrusted himself to the one who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that, free from sins, we might live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. For you were going astray like sheep, but now you have returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.

John 10:1-10

Jesus said, “Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.” Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.

So again Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”

Third Sunday of Easter

23rd April 2023

Today’s gospel tells of two disciples who – even though they had heard tell that some people were saying that Jesus had risen from the dead – had decided to give up on the mission Jesus had launched and to go home. They were sad, disheartened and despondent. Staying longer in Jerusalem was pointless. The transformation of their futures that Jesus had promised was not going to happen. There was going to be no dynamic shift in power between those in authority and those who were followers of Jesus. 

In many ways there despondency echoes my own despondency about the likely hood of a climate safe future. I may hear stories that tell me that elephants can transform their ecosystem making it more climate friendly. I may hear tell that this year remembrance poppies will be plastic free. I may read of growing sales of electric cars. But none of these gives me the confidence that radical change is going to happen.

What was it that overturned the feelings, the attitude of the two disciples?

We hear that as they walked they were joined by a stranger who first of all patiently listens to their sorrows and  complaints. He then patiently goes through the scriptures explaining how they point out that the messiah was destined to suffer before establishing an era of glory. These words, this careful dissection of the Bible doesn’t seem of itself to convince the two disciples -although it does pique their interest such that they invite the stranger to continue the conversation over supper. Rather it is seeing Jesus blessing and breaking the bread that transforms them. It is this personal, intimate action that sets their hearts ablaze with confidence, that overturns their understanding of what has happened to Jesus, that transforms their state of mind. 

Now they are in doubt that a) Jesus has risen from the dead, and b) that all that he promised of a transformed and glory filled future was an achievable reality!  Not words but actions,  not theory but experienced love is what is important. Filled with a new born fervour, the two disciples hot foot back to Jerusalem. They want to share their news, they want to be with the Jesus-friends, they want to be part of this soon to be transformative movement. 

These two disciples are not alone in their experiences. The passage from Acts reports that in a single day 3000 people wished to join the movement. One wonders what was the message that Peter preached that won over so many hearts. From the brief description, it embraced forgiveness -freedom –  from their sins, the power of the Holy Spirit, and an escape route from a corrupt age. Or maybe it wasn’t so much what Peter said, as the people’s experience of fellowship with the growing band of Christian disciples. 

Reading on in Acts we hear that this newly formed (but growing) community shared what they had in common. Those who were poor and struggling perhaps to find food and accommodation,  were provided for without having to endure the steep prices and unfair practices of corrupt traders and landlords. Those who were widows with no family no longer had to live in a world that ignored them. Those with wealth no longer has to worry about it being lost or stolen. Those who were ill no longer had to go with out care,  or subject themselves to unscrupulous quacks. The growing Christian community cared for everyone, shared resources, treated people with an equity that was not depended on being the right sex, the right skin colour, the right family background. This was a counter-cultural and highly attractive community. This was surely the salvation that converts desired. 

Can we offer the same sort of salvation in our generation? How can we create communities and groups where we feel the love and fellowship that those first disciples experienced? How do we create or take advantage of opportunities to share with one another and with ‘strangers’ – those who are not regular church goers, or traditional believers? How can we make worship a personal experience and a community experience of being in the presence of God? How do we begin to live lives that are counter to the unfair practices of our current world? Lives that provide for those without, befriend those who are bereft or lonely, stand up for those who are disadvantaged or dispossessed?

I don’t think the answers are straightforward or will come easily, but they will be resonate of the Easter message is one of renewal,  transformation and joy. 

Acts 2:14a,36-41

Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd, “Let the entire house of Israel know with certainty that God has made him both Lord and Messiah, this Jesus whom you crucified.”

Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and to the other apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?” Peter said to them, “Repent, and be baptised every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him.” And he testified with many other arguments and exhorted them, saying, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” So those who welcomed his message were baptised, and that day about three thousand persons were added.

Psalm 116:1-3, 10-17

1 I love the Lord, because he has heard the voice of my supplication, *
because he has inclined his ear to me whenever I called upon him.

2 The cords of death entangled me;
the grip of the grave took hold of me; *
I came to grief and sorrow.

3 Then I called upon the Name of the Lord: *
“O Lord, I pray you, save my life.”

10 How shall I repay the Lord *
for all the good things he has done for me?

11 I will lift up the cup of salvation *
and call upon the Name of the Lord.

12 I will fulfil my vows to the Lord *
in the presence of all his people.

13 Precious in the sight of the Lord *
is the death of his servants.

14 O Lord, I am your servant; *
I am your servant and the child of your handmaid;
you have freed me from my bonds.

15 I will offer you the sacrifice of thanksgiving *
and call upon the Name of the Lord.

16 I will fulfil my vows to the Lord *
in the presence of all his people,

17 In the courts of the Lord’S house, *
in the midst of you, O Jerusalem.
Hallelujah!

1 Peter 1:17-23

If you invoke as Father the one who judges all people impartially according to their deeds, live in reverent fear during the time of your exile. You know that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without defect or blemish. He was destined before the foundation of the world, but was revealed at the end of the ages for your sake. Through him you have come to trust in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are set on God.

Now that you have purified your souls by your obedience to the truth so that you have genuine mutual love, love one another deeply from the heart. You have been born anew, not of perishable but of imperishable seed, through the living and enduring word of God.

Luke 24:13-35

Now on that same day two of Jesus’ disciples were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognising him. And he said to them, “What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?” They stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?” He asked them, “What things?” They replied, “The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him.” Then he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?” Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.

As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. But they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.” So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognised him; and he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?” That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. They were saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!” Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.