exultemus

Category: Uncategorized

  • Stones and Kingdoms

    Antony Gormley’s Sound II, Winchester Cathedral

    This is the text of a sermon preached at St Bartholomew’s, Warleggan and St Neot, Cornwall on Sunday 16th November 2025The readings were, Malachi 41-2a 2 Thessalonians 36-13 Luke 215-19

    Earlier in the year when my wife, Hilary, and I were on holiday in Hampshire we visited Winchester Cathedral. We’d never been there before and we were struck by how beautiful and how holy it was. Like many of our cathedrals it has a number of lovely chapels and tombs of bishops and dignitaries, including Jane Austen, from centuries past. There is the site of the shrine of St Swithun, a former bishop of Winchester who is responsible for the shocking weather of the summer most years. It has wonderful stained glass and marvellous statues, some ancient and some modern, including an inspiring sculpture in the crypt by Antony Gormley. We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to this wonderful cathedral. It is large and ancient and speaks of the faith of the builders and the permanence of the religion which it represents.

    A bit like the temple in Jerusalem which so impressed Jesus’ disciples.

    Jesus though has something for them, and us, to think about,

    All these things you are staring at now – the time will come when not a single stone will be left on another; everything will be destroyed.

    The permanence of the temple and all that it represents is illusory. Not a single stone will be left upon another. A time will come when the temple is no more. If even the magnificent temple cannot survive what else can fall? What can we depend on? What is reliable?

    The answer Jesus gives can hardly have been very encouraging to the disciples.

    Wars, revolutions, nation taking up arms against nation, earthquakes, plagues, famines. There will be terrifying events and signs from heaven.

    But, says Jesus, these events are not to be taken as signs of the end. We’ve already heard that the end will come at a time nobody expects.

    The time, though, is near at hand. Before the end Jesus warns that his followers will be arrested and persecuted. They will called on to justify themselves before kings and governors because of their faith in Jesus.

    Their resolve must be not to have prepared a defence but rather to wait until the time and trust that Jesus will give them an eloquence and wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to resist or contradict.

    Some will even be put to death but he urges them to persevere even in the face of betrayal by relations and friends and that perseverance will win them their lives.

    What are we to make of all this? How can any of this be relevant to us today?

    The first readers of Luke’s gospel will have understood that everything Luke records Jesus as saying here has already happened.

    The temple has been destroyed and Jerusalem razed by the Romans. Christians are already being routinely persecuted for their faith – Peter had been imprisoned, James was beheaded and Stephen stoned to death.

    The temple that had seemed so secure and enduring is now rubble, the security that Jerusalem had known has now gone, the things that had once appeared certainties now seem transient. There is no peace, no guarantee of anything. Everything is unpredictable.

    And what is so different in our own time?

    Nothing. There are wars in the Middle East, Ukraine, Sudan, Myanmar, Syria. There are natural disasters in Jamaica, Cuba and the Philippines. The world is facing a climate crisis which is already starting to affect many developing nations, and even the developed nations are seeing changes in their climate. There is persecution of Christians in many parts of the world.

    Jesus is describing our world as surely as he describes his own. The things that he says must happen fall into a category that we might describe as inevitable.

    This, says Jesus, is what we always have to deal with.

    It’s tempting to imagine that these words of Jesus are a prophecy, a prediction about what will happen in the future, in the time after his resurrection.

    But, as we read these words they do not feel so much like something about what will happen in the future as what we see happening in the world around us.

    And that surely is true in whatever time we live.

    Jesus is simply describing the world as it is – and always has been, and doubtless always will be.

    Jesus is telling his disciples – and us – that such events may be unpredictable but they are also inevitable,

    And when you hear of wars and revolutions, do not be terrified, for this is something that must happen first, but the end will not come at once.’ Then he said to them, ‘Nation will fight against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes and plagues and famines in various places; there will be terrifying events and great signs from heaven.

    All of this may not appear very encouraging. Perhaps hardly at all the sort of message we expect to hear from Jesus, but he has more to say following these words which are not in our gospel reading today,

    they will see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. When these things begin to take place, stand erect, hold your heads high, because your liberation is near at hand.’

    So with you when you see these things happening: know that the kingdom of God is near. In truth I tell you, before this generation has passed away all will have taken place. Sky and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

    We cannot be immune to the effects of these events in our world, but Jesus wants us to understand where we should look for all that is permanent, dependable and trustworthy, because that is not to be found in the world, not even in our great cathedrals, or castles, or kingdoms or empires.

    Jesus wants us to look to the kingdom of God to find hope, security and eternity.

    The world will never change – it is the way it has always been, and always will be. But Jesus offers us something different, something which can be relied upon.

    And that something is the kingdom of God which Jesus’ coming has inaugurated. The events that follow this in Luke’s gospel – the passion, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus are what make the difference.

    Remember how in John’s gospel Jesus says,

    Destroy this Temple, and in three days I will raise it up.

    The world offers only impermanence, uncertainty, pain and suffering. Human lea byders cannot be relied upon. Human enterprise is transient and unenduring.

    Jesus, though, offers something profoundly different. He opens for us the way into the kingdom of God. It is only in this kingdom that we can find the hope that the world can never offer.

    The warnings that Jesus gives in today’s gospel reading are intended to remind us to be aware that the world cannot offer us anything lasting or enduring – only God, and his kingdom are eternal. Stones crumble and are thrown down but only the word of God endures to eternity.

  • Love v Scripture

    The cartoon above appeared in the Church Times on 7th November 2025

    How we use scripture is crucial to our mission and to our personal growth in faith. It is one of the ways that God shapes us as Christians.

    For Christians scripture, the Bible, has authority. In the Church of England it is believed that scripture has authority for the establishment of doctrine (The Thirty Nine Articles of Religion, Article 6, Of the Sufficiency of the Scriptures). Nothing can be established as essential to be believed unless it can be justified by scripture. The faith as outlined in the Creeds fall into that category – they don’t require us to affirm anything that cannot be justified by scripture.

    That all seems very simple – we believe what scripture teaches us. Reading the Bible should tell us everything we need to know.. When we read the Bible it will clearly reveal the God-given truth to us. But, of course, it is never that simple.

    The moment we open the Bible to read it, in the privacy of our home or in the worship of the Church, we interpret what we read. We bring our own context to it.

    When preaching I often (almost always) say when trying to understand a biblical text that context is key. But I do not refer only to the context in which Jesus said the things he said, or did the things he did, but also in the context in which we read the text.

    It is almost always a mistake to read a verse from the bible in isolation. Think of John 13.14,

    If I, then, the Lord and Master, have washed your feet, you must wash each other’s feet.

    If we read that single verse and tried to apply it in our own lives even our Christian friends would think us a little odd. Out of context it is an instruction to literally wash each others feet; but in the context it is about becoming the servants of each other and about treating each other with humility and generosity.

    If I were to read that single verse with the wish to find out what Jesus wants me to do (my context for reading) then I shall want to be washing feet. But if I read it wanting to find out how Jesus wants me to respond to my Christian companions it will tell me so much more.

    This, broadly speaking, is the message that this cartoons gives. In the one case we would be using scripture to find out what love means. In the other we would be using love to determine what scripture means.

    This is just a single example but the point, I think is well made. The bible doesn’t so much tell us what love means, but love tells us what scripture means. Scripture reveals so much more when we come to it not looking for answers but for guidance; not so much looking for instruction as for clues as to how to work out our discipleship for ourselves.

  • A small first step

    Pope Leo XIV and King Charles III praying together in the Sistine Chapel

    On Thursday 23rd October 2025 King Charles III and Queen Camilla visited the Vatican. There they met with Pope Leo XIV. So much so ordinary you might think. But the King and Pope prayed together in the Sistine Chapel. The Catholic Pope, leader of the world’s Catholics and the Supreme Governor (not head) of the Church of England prayed together.

    Now you might suppose that a Catholic and an Anglican praying together is not so very strange at this point in our history – and you would be right; normally! But symbolically, at least, this is very significant indeed.

    There has been a deep division between Rome and the Church of England for around half a millennium, five hundred years. The division was caused by the Pope’s refusal to grant Henry VIII a divorce from Catherine of Aragon. Henry rejected the Pope’s authority and made himself head of the Church in England. Everybody knows that from their school history lessons.

    Of course, as always, it’s rather more complicated than that. There was a lot of political activity with Henry needing to form alliances and raise money to support his military ambitions. In addition, the same debates which were going on in the Reformation in continental Europe were also affecting Church life in England. Many of Henry’s leading church leaders were keen to see a reformation in England. The advice he received about how to gain his political ends will have served the interests of those who wished to see the Reformation take off in England.

    When Henry severed links with Rome he had no wish for the Church to change at all. He wanted the same Mass to be said, the same prayers, the same ecclesiastical setup. Hence the Church of England maintained much of its catholic practice. But it also underwent significant changes at the hands of Thomas Cranmer and other bishops of the time. Out went the Latin, in came the English Bible and liturgy, changes were made to the liturgy in the Book of Common Prayer, clergy were permitted to marry, traditional catholic doctrine was challenged and teachings closer to those of the reformers took its place.

    Catholics were persecuted in England and relationships were severed. It was not until the 19th Century that the temperature started to cool. The Second Vatican Council saw the Catholic Church become more open to dialogue with the Protestant and Anglican Churches.

    There are still many barriers to organic unity between the Anglican Communion and the Roman Catholic Church. These include some key doctrines of the Catholic Church, the ordination of women as priests and, especially, as bishops in the Anglican Communion. The readiness of Anglican Churches in north America, the United Kingdom and elsewhere to sanction the ordination of non-celibate homosexuals and to sanction same-sex relationships is a notable stumbling block for unity. However, things change, albeit slowly, in the Catholic Church and the same issues threaten unity within the Anglican Communion and the Church of England itself itself.

    So, to return to the prayers of King and Pope and its significance. No English monarch has prayed with the Pope (although the late Queen visited Rome and welcomed Pope John Paul II when he visited the UK) since the division with Henry VIII. When previous meetings took place praying together was not considered appropriate. That it is today reveals a greater openness to celebrate what we share in common. Perhaps too it suggests that we are prepared to start out on a path towards unity. It’s along way off yet but it cou;d the first small step.

    But symbolically it is a huge step forward. In the journey towards the unity of the Church, which is surely Christ’s will, it is a tiny, almost imperceptible step along that path. However, both Catholics and Anglicans know the deep significance of symbols – and that praying together is the surest path to unity.

  • Hidden truths and parables

    Church tower of St Bartholomew’s, Warleggan

    The text of a sermon preached at St Bartholomew’s Church, Warleggan and at St Neot, Cornwall on Sunday 19th October 2025

    Today’s readings were, Jeremiah 3127-34 2 Timothy 314-45 Luke 181-8

    Why did Jesus use parables when he was teaching the crowds who came to hear him?

    Right now you’re probably thinking something like, He told colourful stories to teach us about the kingdom of God, or To reveal what God wants us to do and to be.

    But if that’s all he’s doing, why doesn’t he just tell us? Why doesn’t he say something like, The kingdom of God is like a place where everybody just gets on with each other, where everybody is supported and cared for by everybody else, where no one cheats, or lies, or hurts other people; be the sort of people who can make that happen, but he doesn’t; he tells us about a good Samaritan, or a prodigal son, or about the wise and foolish bridesmaids, or about sheep and goats, or, as this morning, about a corrupt judge and a persistent widow.

    There’s more to parables than telling us about the kingdom or about God. There are clues in the gospels to tell us why Jesus uses parables and we find one in Luke’s gospel when Jesus’ disciples ask him what the parable of the sower means, and he replies,

    To you is granted to understand the secrets of the kingdom of God; for the rest it remains in parables, so that

    they may look but not perceive,
    listen but not understand.

    So parables are used both to reveal and to hide the truth. Reveal it to those who are ready to hear but to hide it from those who are not.

    We might say that the truth of Jesus’ teaching is revealed only to those who are prepared to reflect upon what he says, to mull it over, to think deeply about it.

    Now, it has to be admitted that some parables are easier to understand than others – the good Samaritan and the prodigal son are pretty straightforward for us to make sense of, but others are much trickier.

    Today’s parable falls into that second category. It’s not immediately obvious what the truth is that is being revealed.

    At a first reading it seems as if Jesus is telling us that it is by pestering God in prayer that we get the response we want. But a moments thought tells us that this cannot be right. God cannot be badgered into doing what we want. Prayer surely doesn’t change God – it changes us!

    So we must look a little closer and think again and we see other themes, some of which we can easily relate to.

    The widow has clearly been cheated. We don’t know how. Perhaps she has been swindled in the market place, or a workman has failed to do the work that he promised and she paid for, perhaps a neighbour has borrowed a precious possession and now refuses to return it. Maybe an official has been exploiting her for his own gain. We don’t know and it doesn’t matter – she has clearly been wronged and it seems quite likely that someone with power has taken advantage of her vulnerable status as a widow. And now the judge is adding wrong to wrong. However, her persistence pays off and justice is granted.

    So we have a story with a satisfactory ending, but what does it teach us about God and about the kingdom?

    In the character of the judge we can surely detect a warning about what is not acceptable to God. His actions remind us that there are people who exploit the vulnerable and the needy. They use their power and authority for their own advantage and not for the good of the society In which they live. His actions remind us that there are many vulnerable people who can easily be taken advantage of and that those people deserve justice, support and care – no less true today than in the time of Jesus.

    It reminds us that God is on the side of the weak and powerless. He sides with the poor. This message is reinforced time and again in Luke’s gospel.

    In the parable of the prodigal son we can see, in the father, God with his readiness to forgive; we can see ourselves in the brother with his bitterness and jealousy. The lesson here seems clear. These associations that we make help us to get inside the story and make sense of it.

    In today’s parable, though, we cannot see God in either of the characters in the same way. He cannot be seen in the actions of the judge – God does not act so unjustly, nor does he withhold or delay justice in this callous fashion. So we have to conclude that this parable teaches us little about God or the kingdom. It seems more a case of teaching us what the kingdom is NOT like rather than what it is like. So we must look elsewhere.

    Neither can we very fruitfully put ourselves into the story. Doing so might give us some insight into how the judge and the widow experience the story but it’s not gong to provide a key to unlock the message for us.

    In the previous chapter Jesus has been warning his disciples what the Day of the Lord will be like.

    He’s warned his disciples not to be fooled by false alarms about the end. It will come at an unexpected moment, some will be taken, others left; it will be awful and sudden. Therefore they need to be in a continual state of readiness for it.

    This is the context in which he delivers this parable and Luke helps us to unpack its meaning by his introduction to it,

    Then he told them a parable about the need to pray continually and never lose heart.

    The widow is commended to us because of her persistence. She goes back to the judge again and again until he gives in and grants her the justice she deserves – even if it is not done out of the noblest of motives. He does it because he fears that she will wear him out with her persistence (although that phrase could mean that she might slap him in the face – the widow becomes, for the judge, a formidable and even terrifying adversary!)

    Her persistence reveals the same attitude that we need to prayer. Not because God needs persuading, but because we need not to lose sight of our final goal. The woman is entirely focussed on getting justice and so persists. We should be entirely focussed on our place in the kingdom, and our readiness for the Day of the Lord. The way to do that is through prayer – by continually putting ourselves in God’s presence, not because of what that does to God, but because of what it will do to us. And what it should do to us is to drive us to action. Prayer can never be a passive exercise.

    That constant prayer will ensure that we are always ready for the Day of the Lord. It will ensure that our focus, our attention is in the right place – on God and on responding to his love by the way we live and interact with those among whom we live.

    Because this is not just about being reflective and prayerful – this is about God’s justice and our response to injustice in the world. It is about being empowered by our prayer and making the kingdom present. Because our prayer means nothing if it changes nothing. It is about whether we stand with and for God – and especially with the weak and vulnerable – or with the world

    This parable is a challenge to us to pray continually and to make God and his kingdom present in the world today.

  • Increase our faith

    The Creation window in St Neot Church, Cornwall

    This the text of a sermon preached in the Church of St Neot, Cornwall on Sunday 5th October 2025

    The readings were, Lamentations 11-6 2 Timothy 11-14 Luke 175-10

    The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.”

    Surely as we hear the apostles’ plea that Jesus should increase their faith we have sympathy. If only we had more faith the things we could do; we could fill our church every Sunday; the ways we could change the world; the help we could give to those in need; the people we could heal; the peace we could bring to the world; how ready to forgive we would be; how easy it would be to plant a mulberry tree in the sea. Well, maybe that last one is not on the list of things we think we could do with more faith but Jesus seems to suggest that it would be possible if only we have faith the size of a mustard seed.

    Jesus’ response to the apostles’ request is clearly absurd – another example of his use of hyperbole. But he’s making an important point to them – and to us!

    Think of the context in which this exchange happens. Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem. He has been exercising his ministry in Galilee for almost three years. He has been travelling to Jerusalem by stages for, perhaps, several weeks. His disciples have been with him for all that time watching him and listening to him, learning from him and asking questions of him for the whole of those three years.

    In the verse before this morning’s gospel passage Jesus has told them,

    If your brother or sister does something wrong, rebuke them and if they’re sorry, forgive them. And if they wrong you seven times a day and seven times comes back and says, “I am sorry,” you must forgive them.

    It appears that this is what provokes the request for more faith. They feel that they have not enough faith to be able to forgive that often, that much. Indeed, Jesus is not telling them that forgiveness is easy, nor that it can ever be cheap to forgive – or receive – forgiveness. But he does want them to understand that forgiveness is a prerequisite for the faithful; it’s not negotiable – so they feel they need more faith to be able to fulfil that demand of ready forgiveness.

    We understand how they feel. We know that forgiveness is not easy – especially when we feel wronged time after time. If repentance appears only to be said and not sincerely meant it seems natural and right to withhold forgiveness – but remember, on the cross Jesus forgave his persecutors not because they were sorry but because they were ignorant of the wrong they were doing, Father, forgive them; they do not know what they are doing.

    There can be no excuse for being unprepared to forgive, so the apostles and we are wrong to believe that we need “more faith.” And that is what Jesus tells them when he says, If you had faith like a mustard seed you could say to this mulberry tree, “Be uprooted and planted in the sea,” and it would obey you.

    I don’t believe for a moment that Jesus intended us to take that literally.

    It’s as if Jesus is saying, What! You’ve been with me for three years. Are you saying that you do not even have faith the size of a mustard seed? It’s tiny. And even faith that tiny can uproot a tree and plant it in the sea.

    He’s saying that even a tiny amount of faith can achieve remarkable things. He’s telling us that we have enough faith to do the things that need to be done – even forgiving our brother or sister seven times a day!

    There are many things that we feel that we are not good enough to do for the Lord. There are things that we feel that we could do if we had a stronger faith, things we could achieve if only God would pour out his Spirit on us.

    But we’re wrong. We do have enough faith to do those things. We’re just using lack of faith as an excuse. It’s not lack of faith; it’s a lack of enthusiasm, a lack of energy, a lack of commitment, a lack of time – or making time.

    We always have an excuse for why we are not achieving the things that we feel we should be achieving. Always waiting for God to do something to help us to do what we know he wants us to do.

    That’s what this saying means – even the tiny amount of faith we have is enough to move mountains, if we’ll let it.

    This same thought appears also to drive the thinking of Paul when he writes to Timothy in this morning’s New Testament reading,

    I am reminding you now to fan into a flame the gift of God that you possess … God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but the Spirit of power and love and self-control.

    We know no details of exactly why this was written but it seems that Timothy needs to be reminded that he already possesses the gifts from God that he needs for the challenges that face him. Paul has already mentioned the faith that he has – handed down from his mother and grandmother, Eunice and Lois.

    Paul wants him to know that what he has is enough so, he continues,

    You are never to be ashamed of witnessing to our Lord … but share in my hardships for the sake of the gospel, relying on the power of God who has saved us and called us to be holy.

    Paul here encourages Timothy and reminds him of the God-given gifts he has but never suggests that he needs more – not more faith, not more gifts. What he has is sufficient. Although what he is called to do may not be easy it will not unachievable because he does not have the resources of faith, character or ability that he needs. It will be timidity or fear that holds him back.

    Paul and Jesus agree – those who have faith have the gifts they need to perform the service God requires of them. Lack of what God provides is not the cause of our failure to succeed in the tasks assigned to us; it is our inability to recognise and use those gifts. You might call it a lack of confidence.

    We have all we need. We just need to be confident in the gifts of God.

  • The baton is handed on

    The 106th Archbishop of Canterbury is to be the Right Reverend Sarah Mullally, the current Bishop of London, a post she has held since 2017. She will officially become the Archbishop of Canterbury and Primate of All England in January.

    She will be the first woman to hold the post of the most senior bishop in the Church of England.

    The first woman was ordained deacon in the Church of England in 1987, priest in 1994 and the first bishop in 2015. Bishop Mullally was one of the first women to be ordained bishop, as Bishop of Crediton (in the Diocese of Exeter), in 2015. Before ordination she had been a nurse and was the Chief Nursing Officer for England and Wales.

    This appointment is good news.

    Why? For a number of reasons, some to do with Bishop Mullally’s personal gifts and strengths and some to do with what it says about the Church of England at this time.

    The Archbishop elect has shown herself to be a more than capable bishop. She is evidently a person of deep and strong Christian faith. It is what drives her and she is an able communicator. She is pastoral. The London diocese can be a difficult diocese to minister to – it is large and very diverse, socially, theologically and liturgically. She has been a calm leader bringing people together and encouraging unity between and within churches and communities. She does not obviously represent any of the factions within the Church of England, neither evangelical nor Anglo-Catholic, not slavishly conservative nor liberal. She takes the middle ground (a particularly Anglican position). But she is not without strong convictions – she has led the Church’s response to the Assisted Dying Bill in the House of Lords and argues cogently and passionately against its implementation, opinions formed in her nursing career and as a Christian.

    She will bring these gifts, and no doubt much more besides, to her ministry as Archbishop. And they are gifts that the Church of England will need as it grapples with deep divisions over its response to the proposals around the issue of the marriage of same sex couples; as it continues its reviews and shows a real commitment to doing safeguarding well and supporting the victims of abuse appropriately; as it challenges the far right’s abuse of Christian symbols and faith; as it continues to fully integrate women into its ordained ministry, and more besides. But, above all, perhaps, she will need to inspire the whole Church to the confidence in the gospel required for real growth.

    What does this appointment say about the Church of England? There is no doubt that the appointment of Bishop Mullally is a huge vote of confidence in the ministry of women in the Church. From the ordination of the first woman as deacon to the appointment of the first woman as leader of the Church of England only forty years have elapsed. Although, women’s ministry is still opposed by some that ministry is now widely accepted and valued.

    I was ordained into a Church which had no ordained women in its ministry, and God willing, I shall live to see Sarah Mullally enthroned as the first woman Archbishop of Canterbury, a successor to 105 men who form a line back to St Augustine of Canterbury in 597.

    The role she will take on is a challenging one and if she is to rise to that challenge she will need to be the woman of prayer and faith she has shown herself to be. But she will also need the support of the whole Church – and many outside it – and not just support and good wishes but our prayers.

  • Counting the cost

    St Bartholomew’s Church, Warleggan, Cornwall

    This is the text of a sermon preached at St Bartholomew, Warleggan and St Neot, Cornwall

    The readings were Jeremiah 181-11 Philemon 1-21 Luke 1425-33

    Anyone who comes to me without hating father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, yes and even life itself, cannot be my disciple.

    How can Jesus possibly mean exactly what he says here? This saying appears to go against everything we believe Jesus to be about. And it certainly opposes everything that we believe about family ties.

    Let me say right at the start that I don’t have a definitive answer to these questions so what follows will be me thinking through this saying and its context in Luke’s gospel to see where that leads me, thus, perhaps leading you to think it through with me. Maybe we’ll come to different conclusions – but that will be OK.

    The key, nearly always, to understanding fully what Jesus is saying in the gospels is to look at the context in which he says it.

    Jesus, in Luke’s account, is travelling towards Jerusalem. On the way he meets many people, some of them are in need of healing – a couple of weeks ago we heard of the woman in the synagogue healed of her back problem, followed by teaching about the Sabbath; some come to him with questions – the lawyer who asks what he must do to inherit eternal life, and he is told the parable of the Good Samaritan; some offer him hospitality – we heard the story of Martha and Mary, with its message about choosing the better part; crowds follow him and he teaches them – and this saying appears in one such moment as Jesus receives hospitality from a leading Pharisee.

    But overarching it all is the fact that Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem, which he visits only once, during his ministry, in the synoptic gospels – which means that Jesus, for Luke, is already on the way of the cross. This provides urgency to all of his teaching. There is no room for misunderstanding.

    A tighter focus reveals that already during the meal Jesus has told the guests about how we should take the lowest seat at a feast to avoid the humiliation of giving way to someone more important; he’s warned about only inviting people to a meal who will be able to return the invitation; he’s related the story of the wedding guests who were rejected because they were too occupied with other things and lost their place at the banquet to people dragged in from the streets and alleys and the surrounding countryside.

    The warning here is clear – take care that you do not lose your place in the kingdom. It’s easy, says Jesus, to find yourself missing out if you aren’t fully focussed on what is important.

    We should read this mornings gospel in the context of this urging to act in a way that ensures our place in the kingdom.

    And what follows this saying is as important to our understanding it as what has preceded it. Immediately following it Jesus says,

    No one who fails to carry the cross and come after me can be my disciple.

    Then follow two parables about counting the cost of the decisions we make about how we live as disciples of his.

    First there is the story of the person who is planning to build a tower. Unless he sits down and calculates the cost of the materials and labour he may find himself unable to complete it. Failure to do so could result in being mocked for his foolishness. There is more to be lost than the tower.

    And then there is the story of the king who goes to war. He’ll need to consider whether with his smaller force he can resist the stronger army marching against him – and, if not, he’ll try to negotiate a peace. The outcome of not counting the cost could be disastrous.

    There is now, as he journeys to Jerusalem, an urgency about Jesus’ message. So, here he employs, I think, a little hyperbole.

    He says that we cannot be his disciples unless we hate our family. Matthew too has this message, but he softens its impact a little,

    No one who prefers father or mother to me is worthy of me. No one who prefers son or daughter is worthy of me. Anyone who does not take the cross and follow in my footsteps is not worthy of me. (Mt 1037)

    But whether it’s the harsh words we find in Luke’s gospel, or the gentler words in Matthew’s the message is clear.

    Jesus wants us to be understand that there is nothing more vital than we should be aware of the cost of discipleship.

    He surely does not mean that we should literally hate our families, but he does mean that we should take into account the cost of being a disciple – that there is a cross to be taken up. And that being a disciple means joining Jesus on the journey to Jerusalem that is for him – and for us – the way of the cross.

    The cost of discipleship is not insignificant and requires real sacrifice on our part. Just as Jesus is now focussed, in Luke’s gospel, on his journey to Jerusalem and the cross, so we must be clear about our own direction of travel as disciples.

    It means making sure that we are getting our priorities right – including our relationships. And how often has Jesus shown this to us recently – in his teaching about the Sabbath; in his teaching the lawyer about what it means to love your neighbour; in his teaching Martha what it means to take the better part.

    Today we learn that our focus must always be on our discipleship and accepting the cost of that discipleship which is bearing the cross with Jesus.

    Our gospel today ends,

    None of you can be my disciple without giving up all that you own.

    Any attachment we have that gets in the way of our ability to be fully committed as disciples needs to be let go. True discipleship comes at a cost.

  • Turning worlds upside down

    This is the text of a sermon preached St Tallanus Church, Talland, Cornwall on Sunday 24th August 2025

    St Tallanus Church tower

    Today’s readings are, Jeremiah 14-10 Hebrews 1218-29 Luke 1310-17

    One Sabbath day he was teaching in one of the synagogues, and there before him was a woman who for eighteen years had been possessed by a spirit that crippled her.

    So far, so normal for Jesus. Teaching in the synagogue as is right for a prophet on the Sabbath. But this is no ordinary Sabbath day because Jesus is about to transform it, and make it day for turning lives upside down.

    For the woman, a healing she can hardly have been able to imagine possible after all this time.

    For the president of the synagogue a humbling experience, but also an opportunity to have his own life transformed by the truth which Jesus has come to reveal.

    For the people witnessing these events a day they will never forget because they have seen God’s power at work before their very eyes.

    Let’s take each in turn.

    The woman has come to the synagogue as no doubt she did Sabbath after Sabbath. Perhaps, many years ago she had hoped that her prayers to be delivered from her suffering would be answered. But now, eighteen long years on she no longer dares to hope. No doubt she’s heard about Jesus and the miracles he has performed, but she expects nothing; she’s just a woman that nobody takes any notice of. Why would Jesus be any different. She doesn’t approach him; she doesn’t ask him to heal her; she’s just there to hear what he has to say.

    But she’s mistaken. Jesus spots her in the congregation, calls her over and says to her, Woman, you are freed from your disability. He lays his hands upon her, she is healed and so gives glory to God.

    More of her in few moments.

    Now, the president of the synagogue becomes angry. Perhaps he had been looking forward to hearing Jesus speak; he’d heard such a lot about him. Was this new teacher all he’s been cracked up to be? Or is he just another teacher with strange ideas, who needs to be put in his place?

    He turns on the woman and Jesus, criticising both, There are six days when work is to be done. Come and be healed on one of those days and not on the Sabbath.

    He’s thinking of the fourth commandment, Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. For six days you shall labour and do all your work.

    Jesus, though, is not having this misuse of the commandments. In a way reminiscent of his saying in Mark 2, The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath, he rounds on the president of the synagogue – and probably those of the congregation nodding their heads in agreement with him, Hypocrites! He asks whether there is anyone there who does not untie their ox or donkey on the Sabbath and lead them to water. How is that OK but, and Jesus chooses his words carefully here, it is not OK for this woman to be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?

    At this the president and Jesus’ adversaries are put to shame.

    And of the people who are present we are told only that they were overjoyed at all the wonders he worked. Not concerned now about what he should or should not do on the Sabbath but delighted at the wonderful works of God which he does through Jesus.

    Jesus has done more for this woman than just healing her of her disability. He has given her value. He has restored to her a sense of her own self-worth. He has brought her out of her exclusion from society and allowed her to become someone again.

    The society in which she lived put little value on women generally. But Jesus challenged that attitude frequently in his ministry. First, he noticed her in the synagogue. She would have been very used to being disregarded, not noticed and ignored. She was a member of society who had no value, who could contribute nothing. Her disability meant that she could not fulfil even the role of a woman of the time.

    Not only does Jesus notice her but gives her a value to equal any man in the synagogue that morning, when he said to the president, This woman, a daughter of Abraham. She is a descendant of the Patriarchs – Abraham, Isaac and Jacob – equal to any man; a member of the people of Israel; a Jew. She matters to God, she matters to Jesus. The very least she deserves is to be loosed from her bonds just as the ox or donkey are. But now she has dignity; she has value in God’s eyes and that is what Jesus has truly restored to her.

    Jesus has turned her life upside down. From a disabled person, dependent on the generosity of others to a person of real value who can once again be independent, someone who can contribute to the society in which she lives. From being a person of no account to being the equal of anyone in the eyes of God.

    The president of the synagogue has been challenged by Jesus to see his faith differently. He can never again see things just in black and white – good and bad; valuable or worthless; man or woman, lawful or unlawful.

    He can no longer use the law as the sole justification for the way he acts. He must now consider the effect of his actions on others. He cannot condemn the healing of a woman on the Sabbath simply because it’s the Sabbath. He must weigh up what is the right thing to do in the sight of God, asking is there a higher demand than keeping the letter of the Law? Is his response to God to be seen in obedience to the Law or in caring for others?

    He has much to reflect on. His life can never again be the same because Jesus has changed that for ever.

    The crowd too will be challenged by what Jesus has done. They may have enjoyed the spectacle of a miraculous healing and a row with the synagogue president, but they will have needed to reflect on all that has happened. Jesus did not do this for their amusement. Jesus has shown them too a different way of living which puts the needy and vulnerable at the forefront of their concerns.

    It cannot be just a morning’s excitement. It must be a moment which changes the way they think about the world and about God.

    This is more than a story about Jesus healing a woman who has been disabled for eighteen years. It reveals to us how an encounter with Jesus, however brief or, apparently insignificant can change our lives for ever. It was not just the woman who was in need of healing – it was everybody in that synagogue on that Sabbath day.

    We believe that we encounter Jesus in our worship this morning. In what ways are we in need of healing? How will he turn our lives upside down today?

  • Peace, which passes all understanding

    This is the text of a sermon preached at St Wyllow’s Church, Lanteglos, Cornwall on Sunday 17th August.

    The readings were, Isaiah 51-7 Hebrews 1129-122 Luke 1249-56

    The Churchyard Cross at St Wyllow, Lanteglos

    Do you suppose that I am here to bring peace on earth?

    I guess if Jesus were to ask us this question today we would probably answer, Yes! and with some certainty; after all when his birth was proclaimed by the angels they promised in their song to the shepherds of there being, on earth peace among people of good will.

    And we think immediately of Jesus as the Prince of Peace. We think of the words of the blessing that we so often use, The peace of God which passes all understanding. We think of the peace that we share in our celebration of the eucharist.

    We are so used to thinking of Jesus as the one who brings peace to us that this passage that we heard read today from Luke’s gospel falls strangely on our ears. It seems really odd, not quite right, to think of Jesus as the one who brings dissension, disharmony and division. That is not how we believe it should be; and yet, this is what Luke tells us that Jesus said.

    And here we are presented with these challenging sayings of Jesus,

    I have come to bring fire to the earth.

    Do you suppose that I am here to bring peace on earth?

    …from now on, a family of five will be divided: three against two and two against three.

    It’s easy to gloss over passages such as this when we’re sat at home reading the gospel in our armchair. Today though it is our gospel reading, it sits at the very heart of our worship so we have to notice it and think about it.

    At the end of this passage Jesus challenges his hearers with the words,

    How is it you do not know how to interpret these times?

    Perhaps that is where we should start. How do we interpret the signs of our times? What do we make of the world of which we are part?

    Jesus has already given us clues in Luke’s gospel. If you look at the context in which this saying appears we will see warnings about being ready for Jesus’ coming, advice about the right attitudes to wealth and the importance of almsgiving.

    There have also been warnings about the importance of avoiding hypocrisy, and not behaving like the Pharisees.

    Everything in Jesus’ world is not straightforward. The world is messy and people’s priorities are not always in the right place.

    Of course, all of this sounds familiar to us in our own time. Our world is messy too.

    It will be a common experience for you to have had conversations with colleagues, friends or neighbours about the state the world is in. We live in times which make positivity difficult; and despair easy to fall into.

    Wherever we look we are more likely to see anxiety than hope. And we certainly find that agreement about anything seems unattainable. Ours is not a society in which discussion brings any consensus. Divisions appear to be more and more deeply entrenched – with no obvious way out. We seem to find it increasingly difficult to be able to agree to disagree.

    And that does not feel a million miles away from what Jesus is talking about here,

    …from now on, a family of five will be divided: three against two and two against three.

    Is he saying to us, This is how the world is? You have to decide what is the right thing to do; the right person to be. And, that will set you apart from the world, from your family, your friends, your neighbours.

    Jesus is preparing his hearers to be set apart from the world. The division he is talking about occurs because his way is always in conflict with the way of the world. We cannot be his followers unless we are prepared to stand apart from the world.

    Indeed, this was often the experience of the earliest Christians. Although we read in the Acts of the Apostles and in Paul’s letters of families, or households being converted it was surely at least as common for individuals who chose the Christian way to be rejected by their family, or their synagogue, or their community.

    The Jews were suspicious of Christians and the governing Romans were wary too of the impact on good order that large numbers of converts might have.

    So this saying about sowing division might be included here by Luke to reassure those Christians who were living through this very experience – Jesus understands what you might be going through, he predicted it, even to the point of division within families..

    Perhaps, when Jesus speaks of bringing fire to the earth we should think not just of the destructive force of fire, but of the positive effects of fire as well.

    Often fire in scripture is spoken of in the context of judgement or purifying. And again it is an image of the coming of the Holy Spirit, as we see in Luke’s other work, the Acts of the Apostles.

    So, has Jesus come to bring peace to the earth? Or is the peace he has come to bring to be found somewhere else?

    Although these words appear deeply challenging and disturbing, they also bear a significant degree of positivity.

    There will be division – it’s inevitable; there will always be people who are not ready to hear the good news and accept it. There will always be persecutors, critics and doubters.

    The fire of judgement will reveal those who are found wanting and who will be rejected; but there will be many who are filled with the holy fire of the Spirit and those who are cleansed and renewed by it.

    So, there will be peace on earth – for those who welcome it. But not everybody will. Those who make the wrong choice will pay the price for their poor decision. But Jesus here is warning us that the choices we make matter.

    Psalm 34 has encouraging words for us,

    Turn aside from evil and do good.
    Seek after peace and pursue it.

    The Lord turns his eyes to the righteous,
    and his ears are open to their cry.

    The Lord turns his face against the wicked
    to destroy their remembrance from the earth.

    When the righteous cry out, the Lord hears,
    and rescues them in all their distress.

    (Ps 3415-18)

    Whether Christ brings peace on earth depends on the choices we make. The peace is there for us if we are ready to see and seize it.

  • Keeping our eye on the ball

    This is the text of a sermon preached at St Nun’s Church, Pelynt on Sunday 10th August 2025

    St Nun’s Church, Pelynt

    The readings were, Isaiah 11, 10-20 Hebrews 111-3, 8-16 Luke 1232-40

    Where your treasure is, that is where your heart will be too.

    When I was learning to play cricket, a sport at which, for all my enthusiasm, I never really excelled, it was drummed into me that I should keep my eye on the ball. It was good advice too, even if I did occasionally fail to follow it. Taking one’s eye off the ball could result in a dropped catch or the ball whizzing past to the boundary, or, if batting, the dreadful clatter of wickets might well follow quickly. But there was more personal danger too. The cricket ball is very hard, and moves at pace; taking your eye off the ball can be very painful!

    In this morning’s gospel reading Jesus is giving his disciples similarly urgent advice. Indeed, so urgent is his advice that he repeats various versions of it three times.

    Where your treasure is, that is where your heart will be too.

    Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes.

    You must stand ready, because the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

    Jesus is clearly urging his disciples to remain focussed, to keep alert and always to be watchful. We need to ask though what exactly is it that we need to be so prepared for. And, it is not just one thing.

    The first of these warnings is not about something unexpected. It is a warning about being focussed on the right things. Having assured his disciples that the Father has given the disciples the kingdom Jesus continues to warn them of the conditions on which the kingdom is bestowed,

    Sell your possessions and give alms. Get yourselves purses that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys.

    This is a development of last week’s warning that life does not consist in abundance of possessions, and the message against storing up wealth for ourselves rather than becoming rich with regard to God.

    Luke’s gospel has a great deal of emphasis on the dangers of hoarding riches rather than using them for the relief of poverty.

    Here we are clearly warned to amass our treasure, not in worldly wealth, but in heaven. And the way to do that is through giving alms, charity to relieve poverty and protect the vulnerable.

    Although we have the kingdom given to us it is a gift we can easily lose it by neglecting our duty, as Christian believers, to care for the poor and vulnerable in our society.

    The second warning is to keep awake for the return of the master from the wedding feast. Traditionally, this passage has been interpreted as urging us to be ready for the second coming of our Lord – and that is certainly the main focus.

    But it is what Jesus says that the master does when he arrives that I want to reflect a little on today.

    The master does not demand his servants wait on him, but he will do up his belt, sit them down at table and wait on them.

    This is a radical saying from Jesus. It is a complete reversal of the roles of servant and master. This surely recalls a saying of Jesus that comes a little later in Luke’s gospel (2227),

    For who is the greater: the one at table or the one who serves? The one at table surely? Yet I am among you as one who serves!

    Although the anticipation of the second coming is clear, we do, perhaps, see here too a reference to what happens when Christ comes to us in the sacrament of holy communion. Here he, our Lord, serves us as we rejoice in his presence among us.

    So it may be that Jesus is warning his disciples to be ready to welcome him in the sacrament.

    So this brief paragraph might have a double meaning for us, as for the readers of Luke’s gospel nearly two thousand years ago.

    And when Jesus talks about the master’s coming in the middle of the night, or when it is nearly dawn is he warning us that there could be moments when he will arrive unexpectedly – perhaps in the guise of someone in need?

    The third warning is very similar to the second. It seems a strange warning though. Clearly the emphasis must be on the unexpectedness of the Son of man’s coming, for surely we do not dread it in quite the same way as we might dread the appearance of a thief in the night.

    I think that the point Jesus is making is that being unprepared for his coming would be as disastrous for us (and possibly more so) than failing to secure our home against burglars. Perhaps Jesus is telling us to be as concentrated on protecting our place in the Kingdom as we are on protecting the place where we live.

    These three brief sayings contain much for us to consider. Are we focussed on the right things? Is our concern more for ourselves and our own comfort and security than it is for others? Particularly, are we using the gifts that we have been given in the service of the poor and needy, or are we simply storing them for a rainy day?

    Are we committed to being ready for the time when Christ comes to us? Not just at the second coming, but in the sacrament, and in the needy, broken or lonely.

    Is our life directed towards the Kingdom of God, or are we so consumed by the needs of this life that we neglect our place in God’s kingdom.

    These sayings of Jesus remind us to review our priorities and make sure that our heart is in our heavenly treasure, and not distracted by our earthly concerns.