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  • 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.

  • Where is your treasure?

    The text of a sermon preached at St Marnarch’s Church, Lanreath, Cornwall

    St Marnarch’s Church, Lanreath, Cornwall

    The readings were Hosea 111-11 Colossians 31-11 Luke 1213-21

    Watch, and be on you guard against avarice of any kind, for life does not consist in abundance of possessions.

    It is hard to imagine guidance from Jesus that could be more clearly directed to our own time than this. Our modern society is built upon consumption. We are continually urged to acquire more and better possessions.

    Our modern economy is considered successful only if it is growing. When we switch on the TV, or social media – Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, or walk through our town centres, visit the cinema, read a newspaper or a magazine we are bombarded with advertisements. According to these advertisements we all need a new phone, a new TV, a gigantic fridge freezer, a new car.

    We are consumers and, according to society, we need to own more and better possessions. Jesus’ response to the man in this morning’s gospel reading,

    life does not consist in abundance of possessions

    challenges this view in the strongest terms.

    The parable that follows reinforces the message, as does Jesus’ remark that rounds it off,

    So it is when someone stores up treasure for himself instead of becoming rich with regard to God.

    The danger of riches is very much a theme in Luke’s gospel. We are all familiar with the Beatitudes in Matthew’s gospel. Luke also records beatitudes of Jesus. But where Matthew has,

    Blessed are the poor in spirit, for the kingdom of Heaven is theirs,

    and,

    Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled,

    Luke, in his version of the beatitudes has,

    Blessed are you who are poor, for the kingdom of God is yours.
    Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be filled.

    and

    But alas for you who are rich, for you are having your consolation now,
    Alas for you who have plenty to eat now, for you shall go hungry.

    For Luke it’s just poor not poor in spirit, and hungry not those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.

    And many of the parables and sayings of Jesus that Luke records speak of wealth as a barrier to entering the kingdom.

    For where your treasure is, that is where your heart will be too. (1234)

    You cannot serve both God and money. (1613)

    How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God. (1824)

    But Jesus gives positive advice too about what to do with wealth.

    When the rich ruler comes to him and asks, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? Jesus tells him to keep the commandments, but adds, when he says that he has kept the commandments,

    You still lack one thing. Sell everything you own and distribute the money to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.

    There are a number of other references in Luke’s gospel to the importance of the giving of alms – supporting the poor through charity.

    Luke, in his gospel sees this duty as a part of acting with justice towards the needy and vulnerable.

    And this is surely the point that Jesus wants us to understand – that wealth is a blessing if it is used well. Selfish accumulation is wrong. It undermines God’s justice. We need to be aware of where our treasure lies.

    We should see our possessions as gifts to be used. We should see our wealth as something to be shared rather than hoarded.

    I don’t believe that Jesus is suggesting that we should be unconcerned for our security and comfort, nor does he require us to impoverish ourselves and live in poverty. But he does require us to understand that we have a responsibility, in God’s justice, to those who are in need.

    If we are indifferent to the needs of our neighbours; if we are unmoved by the plight of the hungry; if we look the other way when we see suffering then we are failing in our discipleship.

    If we are only interested in accumulation of wealth; in amassing possessions; in having the latest and greatest of everything then we are failing in our discipleship.

    The gifts we have are gifts to be shared for the benefit of others. If we’re artistic or musical we can share those gifts; if we have a gift of teaching we should teach; if we are good at leadership we should be a leader; if we can identify injustice in the world we should challenge it; if we are blessed with more than enough money we should help the poor and needy.

    Jesus’s teaching is very clear – particularly in Luke’s gospel.

    Indifference to the needs of those around us is sinful and a barrier to us entering the kingdom of God.

    Where we have been blessed by God we should share what we have. As Jesus said to the man in the crowd today,

    Watch, and be on you guard against avarice of any kind, for life does not consist in abundance of possessions.

    Abundance of possessions brings only the illusion of security. Failure to share brings rejection from God’s kingdom.

  • Lord, teach us to pray

    This is the text of a sermon preached at St Tallanus Church, Talland, Cornwall on 27th July 2025

    St Tallanus Church, Talland

    Hosea 12-10 Colossians 26-15[16-19] Luke 111-13

    Lord, teach us to pray,

    When I was confirmed almost sixty years ago my parish priest gave me a little book,In His Presence– a sort of handbook of how to live a Christian life. It’s first instructions were about how to pray and to make prayer a central part of my discipleship. My prayers, it said, should follow the acronym,

    Adoration – love, adore and praise God

    Confession – we confess our sins and ask God’s forgiveness

    Thanksgiving – we give thanks to God for the blessings of our life

    Supplication – we pray for the needs of others or of ourselves

    ACTS, ACTS of worship

    Jesus here, in response to his disciples’ request, teaches his disciples what we know as the Lord’s Prayer. Although, this version, from Luke’s gospel is different to that found in Matthew’s gospel, the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples does everything we need to do in prayer.

    It defines the relationship that we have with God. It stresses our need for God and all that he provides for us. It leads us to beg forgiveness and reminds us of our responsibility to be forgiving of others ourselves. It pleads with God to be present to save us from times of test and temptation.

    And now in a little more detail.

    Luke’s version begins with the single word Father. There’s no invocation such as Almighty God, Heavenly King, Lord of Creation nor anything else that stresses the greatness of God compared to our own insignificance. It’s a title of God which emphasises the closeness of our relationship with him.

    When Jesus tells us to pray, Father, he is reminding us, every time we pray that we are in a loving relationship with God. Matthew’s version Our Father in heaven puts a little distance between us and the Father – still the relationship but God is a heavenly Father.

    We know that Jesus spoke often of God as his Father, and that he even used the word Abba which is similar to daddy. So, we know that this form of address is all about the closeness and tenderness of the relationship.

    God is a god to whom we can take our concerns, our problems and our most intimate worries, and who is ready to listen and show us the love that can build us up and heal us.

    Father, may your name be held holy,

    we know that holiness is an attribute of God, and the very act of praying reveals that we already hold God to be holy. We’re not praying that we ourselves will hold God holy, but that God will be held universally to be holy.

    This prayer is surely about God being revered for who he is throughout the world, so this prayer is a prayer to make God known and therefore is a challenge to us, and a statement of our intention to make God known.

    Father, may your name be held holy,
    your kingdom come;

    When God is known he will be acknowledged as King; his kingdom will come.

    Those of us who know God as Father and hold him holy are already members of his kingdom. When God is universally held holy the kingdom will also be universally present.

    Father, may your name be held holy,
    your kingdom come;
    give us each day our daily bread,

    Now we pray for what we need to live, but also to be disciples of Jesus. Each day in Luke’s prayer is different to Matthew’s today or this day. We ask that God’s provision of our needs is renewed day after day. It is about a covenant relationship between us and God. We call on the relationship, and commit to making God known. We pray for the spread of the kingdom and ask God to sustain us – physically and spiritually.

    Father, may your name be held holy,
    your kingdom come;
    give us each day our daily bread,
    and forgive us our sins,
    for we ourselves forgive everyone who is in debt to us

    we know that forgiveness can never be only something that we receive, but something that we must give too. Indeed, being forgiven is conditional upon us being forgiving. Showing forgiveness makes a huge difference in our world. It reveals the truth that resentment and vengeance are damaging to relationships and that forgiveness allows them to flourish. It heals our own relationships, but it heals the wounds in society too.

    Father, may your name be held holy,
    your kingdom come;
    give us each day our daily bread,
    and forgive us our sins,
    for we ourselves forgive everyone who is in debt to us.
    And do not put us to the test.

    And finally, a prayer that we will not be put to the test, not tempted beyond what we can endure and resist. Luke is concerned, especially in his Acts of the Apostles, for those Christians who are not able to remain faithful and the prayer has Jesus telling us to pray not to be tested that we may remain faithful.

    The Lord’s prayer, as Luke records it (or, indeed, as Matthew records it), says all that needs to be said to reinforce and build up our relationship with God. It commits us to a deeply Christian way of living, and reminds us daily of God’s commitment to us.

    The Lord’s Prayer though is very much about our relationship with God. It’s all about getting that relationship right so that we can grow as faithful followers of the Christian way.

    What it doesn’t do is give a us a model for praying for others. However, it does make clear that we can take our needs and concerns to God, and that, because of the relationship we have with God, he is ready to hear and respond to those needs and concerns.

    If we are concerned about our neighbour who is housebound and lonely; if we are worried about our grandchild who is ill; if we’re anxious about our daughter’s difficult marriage; if we’re alarmed about the situation in Gaza; if anything at all, no matter how important or trivial it might be, we know that we can take those concerns to God in prayer and he is ready to hear us and will answer us – although how God answers prayer is whole other sermon.

    Lord, teach us to pray,

    When you pray, this is what to say:

    Father, may your name be held holy,
    your kingdom come;
    give us each day our daily bread,
    and forgive us our sins,
    for we ourselves forgive everyone who is in debt to us.
    And do not put us to the test.

  • Choosing the Better Part

    This is the text of a sermon preached at the Church of St Wyllow, Lanteglos-by-Fowey on 20th July 2025

    St Wyllow’s Church, Lanteglos-by-Fowey, Cornwall

    Amos 81-12 Colossians 115-28 Luke 1038-42

    There is a legend about Martha and Mary that was popular in the Middle Ages. It tells how, after the resurrection Martha and her sister Mary travelled to France where they preached the gospel. The sisters went to a small town which was being troubled by a dragon. Martha manages to slay the dragon and in doing so the whole town is converted to Christianity. On the same trip Mary sets up a monastery in a remote area of wilderness.

    Martha is an activist and Mary a contemplative.

    We see much the same being played out in this morning’s gospel reading. There’s no dragon, of course, and no monastery either but Martha is the doer and Mary the listener.

    A first reading of this gospel story appears to show Mary as the one who is making a right choice and Martha is the one who misses the point, and makes a poor choice. We instinctively feel sympathy for Martha, having to do all the work while Mary just sits listening to what Jesus has to say. But, have we got that right? Is that what this story is about?

    Our gospels recently have been considering what it means to be a disciple. Two weeks ago we heard how Jesus sent out seventy disciples to proclaim the good news. Last week we heard the parable of the good Samaritan revealing what it means to love God and neighbour. And this story of Martha and Mary is also about discipleship – although that is not how it appears at first sight.

    As Jesus enters the village Martha welcomes him to her home. As you would with a guest she makes him comfortable and sets about preparing a meal. Mary meanwhile settles herself down at Jesus’ feet and listens attentively to what he has to say. When Martha complains that she is being left to do all the work Jesus answers,

    Martha, Martha, you worry and fret about so many things, and yet few are needed, indeed only one. It is Mary who has chosen the better part, and it is not to be taken from her.

    All we are told about Mary here is that she sat down at the Lord’s feet and listened to him speaking. This description is typical of the disciple, the one who learns from the teacher. Mary is learning from Jesus in order that she might be active in witnessing.

    This is a theme in Luke’s gospel. We read about the disciple who builds his house on the solid foundations of rock, rather than sand and is praised (646-49). In the parable of the sower it is the seed that falls in the good soil that thrives and grows (815). Jesus speaks of his true family as being those who hear the word of God and do it (821). Jesus says, Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it in response to the woman who shouts to him, Blessed the womb that bore you and the breasts that you sucked (1127-28).

    It is clearly the duty of the disciple to learn from Jesus and then to act. Here it is Mary who is doing that as she sits at the feet of Jesus. But Martha is acting. She has practical activities which show her devotion to Jesus.

    There is no criticism implied of Martha. She acts and acts well in serving the meal. She is showing hospitality and welcome. She is meeting Jesus’ physical need of refreshment. She is showing him kindness.

    However, Martha is being distracted by all the things she feels that she needs to do. She needs to consider what is best to do – to rush around setting the table, preparing food and drink or perhaps to spend time with her guest, talking and listening. That is what Jesus reminds Martha about. Her challenge from Jesus is to consider what is distracting her, what is keeping her from exercising her discipleship well. It’s about getting the priorities right.

    But, we do not hear the end of this story. What does Martha choose to do now. Does she go back to the kitchen, muttering under her breath that no-one helps her, that she has so much to do, while Mary just sits at Jesus’ feet, and Jesus only encourages her, and nobody understands her. Or, does she pour the wine, put the nuts and crisps on the table and settle down next to her sister?

    We meet Martha and Mary again – in John’s gospel. When Jesus raises Lazarus it is Martha who comes out to meet him, and chides him for delaying his journey until Lazarus has died, but expressing faith that Jesus could have saved her brother. And, when told that Lazarus will rise again and that Jesus is the resurrection and life professes her faith in Jesus, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into this world. Martha has a strong faith. She knows who Jesus truly is – perhaps better than Mary.

    And again a few days later when Mary pours the ointment on Jesus’ feet and wipes them with her hair, it is Martha who has prepared the meal and has waited on them.

    Martha has a deep and strong faith, and puts her trust in Jesus, but she is also one of life’s busy people. She is a doer, she is driven and an activist. Mary, on the other hand, is contemplative, a listener.

    These are the two sides of the coin of discipleship. Contemplation, reflection, putting ourselves in the presence of Christ in prayer, silence and stillness is important. It is a necessary part of being a follower of the Way. But on its own it is not enough.

    We also need to be active. Caring for the needy, feeding the hungry, campaigning for justice, healing the sick, making people whole.

    The one without the other is an empty, incomplete faith.

    This story reveals the importance of the contemplative life but it does not raise it above the active life in importance, because both are needed.

    If we read this story of Martha and Mary as a rejection of Martha’s way and a promotion of Mary’s way we misread it.

    Most of us are either, by nature reflective and contemplative or busy and active. And most of us will focus on the one more than the other. That’s OK. But if we get distracted by many things, or become so engrossed in contemplation, we miss the point.

    If our contemplation and reflection does not lead us into action. And our activity does not drive us to prayer and contemplation we will be poor disciples.

    God is calling us to both, just as Jesus called Martha to both in this short story.

  • Peace, But Not as the World Gives

    This is the text of a sermon which was preached at St Neot on the Sixth Sunday of Easter

    These were the readings Acts 169-15 Revelation 2110, 22-225 John 1423-29

    Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives.

    We saw a few weeks ago that Jesus greeted his disciples, on the day of his resurrection, in the upper room with the words, “Peace be with you.” He did it again the following week when Thomas was present with them. Paul greets the churches he writes to with the word “peace.” He does so in his letters to the Romans, both of his letters to the church in Corinth, to the Galatians, to the Ephesians; in fact every one of his letters begin with that greeting. It was a conventional greeting among the Jews of his time, just like our, “How are you?”, “I’m fine.”

    In today’s gospel Jesus changes what that greeting means as he says to his disciples, Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives.

    What did it mean then? And, what does it mean now?

    When a Jew greeted a friend in the time of Jesus Peace be with you meant something very similar to How are you? It carried ideas of soundness of body, a hope that the person greeted is in good health, that all is well with them.

    But Jesus here extends its meaning, I do not give to you as the world gives. This is now not just a greeting, a way of initiating a conversation. It’s not just politeness. Now, it is about Christ’s gift to us.

    As always, we need to look carefully at the context in which Jesus offers this new gift to his disciples – and through them to us.

    This saying of Jesus occurs in that long discourse in John’s gospel which takes place at the last supper. The discourse is Jesus’ valedictory words to his disciples; it prepares them for what happens after his resurrection.

    There are three key sayings of Jesus up to this point in this discourse in John’s gospel,

    I give you a new commandment: love one another; you must love one another just as I have loved you. It is by your love for one another that everyone will recognise you as my disciples.

    I am the Way; I am Truth and Life. No one can come to the Father except through me. If you know me you will know my Father too. From this moment you know him and have seen him.

    Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.

    Like so much of what he says and does the disciples can only fully understand when they look back after his resurrection. But although Jesus must leave them they will not be alone, that was Jesus’ promise to them,

    The Advocate, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all that I have said to you.

    And,

    Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives.

    We have the gift of the Holy Spirit, and the gift of Christ’s peace to make these sayings of Jesus not mere words but deep experiences for us in which these words of Jesus are truly fulfilled in our lives.

    The Holy Spirit will remind us and teach us all that we need to remember and know. (We’ll reflect more on this as we approach the feast of Pentecost in two weeks time.)

    The peace that Jesus gives is the very presence of God with us. It’s not the sort of peace that the world gives (an absence of conflict, noise and clamour), but a peace that only God can give. It is a peace which comes from our being the place where Jesus and the Father make their home. The peace which comes from having God dwelling in our hearts.

    This peace that God gives doesn’t simply wish us good health or wholeness – it makes us whole, it is healing, it is renewing, it forgives our sins, it puts us in a right relationship with God and with each other.

    When we share the peace in a few minutes we will be sharing the peace which God gives. It’s not just about wishing each other well it’s about healing our relationships and putting us right with each other – so that we can be right with God – as we read in the first letter of John (420b), whoever does not love the brother or sister whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. So to be put right with God we need to be right with each other. The peace which God gives does that for us.

    God’s peace means that we can love one another, as Jesus commanded. It means that we can truly know God and Jesus as the Way, the Truth and the Life. It means that we can become the place where God and Christ make their home.

    The peace which Jesus gives is a gift which transforms who we are, which makes us Christians and, most importantly, makes God present in the world through us. Each one of us.

    We are the dwelling place of God and of Jesus.

  • Making Sense of It All

    Having recently received the Bishop’s Permission to Officiate in the Diocese of Truro, and having a little more time on my hands, I thought that I should revive this blog. What follows is the text of a sermon I preached on the Second Sunday of Easter at The Church of St Neot, Cornwall.

    The readings for the day were, Acts 527-32 Revelation 14-8 John 2019-31

    Jabberwocky

    ’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
    Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
    All mimsy were the borogoves,
    And the mome raths outgrabe.

    “Beware the Jabberwock, my son!T
    he jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
    Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
    The frumious Bandersnatch!”

    He took his vorpal sword in hand;
    Long time the manxome foe he sought—
    So rested he by the Tumtum tree
    And stood awhile in thought.

    And, as in uffish thought he stood,
    The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
    Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
    And burbled as it came!

    He took his vorpal sword in hand;
    Long time the manxome foe he sought—
    So rested he by the Tumtum tree
    And stood awhile in thought.

    One, two! One, two! And through and through
    The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
    He left it dead, and with its head
    He went galumphing back.

    “And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?
    Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
    O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!”
    He chortled in his joy.

    ’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
    Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
    All mimsy were the borogoves,
    And the mome raths outgrabe.

    I’m sure that many of you will recognize that poem from Lewis Caroll’s Through the Looking Glass, and What Alice Found There. Nonsense poems, of which this, Jabberwocky, is one of the most well known, were popular at the time of its writing. Many of the words are made up, not real words at all – brillig, vorpal, uffish, frumious, manxome. And yet when we read the poem we understand perfectly what is happening. The story, if not the words themselves, makes sense.

    Let’s turn our attention now away from Jabberwocky and to today’s gospel reading.

    This story, like almost all of the stories of Jesus following his resurrection has elements which make it appear at first sight to be nonsense. Here it’s the sudden appearance of Jesus, who the disciples know was dead two days ago, in a locked room.

    But to us it’s a familiar account which contributes to our understanding of who Jesus is and what God has done for us through Jesus’ death and resurrection. The first appearance recorded here, on the day of the resurrection, tells of Jesus coming to the disciples in the locked room and greeting them with the words, “Peace be with you” and showing them the marks of his crucifixion in his hands and side – the symbols of his suffering and death.

    He commissions them, “As the Father sent me, so am I sending you.” and breathes the Holy Spirit into them, giving them authority to forgive sins.

    The second appearance begins similarly. The disciples are again all locked away in the room and Jesus appears and greets them with the same words, “Peace be with you.”, but this time Thomas, who was absent the first time, is now with them.

    Thomas is the one who cannot believe what the others have told him, “Unless I can see the holes that the nails made in his hands and can put my hand into his side, I refuse to believe.” To Thomas, what the others have told him is just nonsense. It is impossible that Jesus should be alive; it is not possible that he could just appear behind a locked door; it is absurd that he could have spoken with them, or said to them anything at all; he must be just a ghost, a figment of their grieving imaginations – not that Thomas believes in ghosts. It’s just a sort of mass hysteria.

    And on the second occasion, a week later, Jesus’ whole purpose in appearing would seem to be to draw Thomas in with the other disciples from doubting to believing. He needs to understand that their report is not nonsense. He wants Thomas to be able to make sense of what he has heard. And so he shows him the marks of the nails, he invites him to put his hand into his side. Thomas’s response is profound, “My Lord and my God!” as everything suddenly makes sense for him.

    What had seemed so much nonsense when his friends told him about the first appearance now makes perfect sense. Of course, Jesus is alive. He’d told them that he would rise again – and they hadn’t understood. He’d spoken about the three days – but they didn’t know what he was talking about. He’d prepared them for this moment: the moment when they see Jesus as Lord and God – for doubtful as Thomas had been it is Thomas who first sees the whole truth. His acclamation of Jesus as Lord and God makes sense of everything for the other disciples as well.

    All the things that Jesus had said, all the things that Jesus had done now make sense for Thomas, and not only for Thomas but for Peter and John and Mary Magdalene and the others as well. Everything has fallen into place.

    And, what is true for Thomas and the disciples is true for us too. This insight that Thomas has is what makes it all make sense for us too – and not just the resurrection itself, but everything that Jesus was doing during his life among us.

    If you read through John’s gospel – and if you never have I thoroughly recommend that you do – it is hard to make sense of all that is happening. There are all these lengthy discourses rather than the pithy parables of the other gospels. They’re clearly important but not always easy to make sense of. There are fewer miracles, but they seem more significant than in the other gospels. They’re clearly meant to teach us something, but we’re not quite sure what.

    It’s only when you get to this moment, in the twentieth chapter (and this is probably where John originally finished his gospel. Chapter 21 feels like a later addition, perhaps by John or a disciple), that everything really falls into place. As Thomas says, “My Lord and my God!” the whole of the gospel makes perfect sense.

    The wedding at Cana when Jesus turns water into wine – because he is the Son of God, having authority over all creation.

    Jesus throws the money changers and the pigeon sellers out of the Temple, because it is his Temple that is being defiled.

    Jesus’ long meeting and discussion with Nicodemus, where we learn that God loved the world so much that he sent his Son into the world, not to judge the world, but so that the world might be saved makes perfect sense when we realise that Jesus is God.

    The raising of Lazarus. Again we can only make sense of it because we know that Jesus is God, the Lord of life.

    And so on.

    Everything, read in the light of Thomas’s realisation that Jesus is Lord and God, makes perfect sense. It is the key to what God is doing in the life and death and resurrection of Jesus.

    The world will say to us that this story is just so much nonsense. And they’re right – in a way – but so wrong too.

    It is when we have come to know that Jesus is our Lord and our God that we can truly understand these events.

    Without this knowledge, that Jesus is Lord and God, the whole story is as much nonsense as Jabberwocky. It makes no sense.

    When Thomas realises who Jesus truly is, he understands the whole truth about Jesus, about God and about himself.

    This is the moment too when all of the disciples finally come to understand who Jesus is. But the moment that we see and confess that Jesus is Lord and God is the moment when everything becomes clear to us. Of course Jesus is risen from the dead. Death cannot defeat God because God is true life! Jesus overcomes death because he is God!

    Unless we can see and proclaim with Thomas that Jesus is “Our Lord and our God!” the whole series of events that we celebrate at Easter are just a load of nonsense. They make no sense. It is impossible. It could not happen.

    Jesus’ response to Thomas’s exclamation is, “You believe because you can see me. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.” is a blessing on us who believe, but is also a constant reminder to us that the resurrection only makes sense to those who see it through the eyes of faith.

    When we understand in the very depth of our being that Jesus is Lord and God we receive this blessing of Christ.

    That blessing is to be the ones who know that Jesus has defeated death and that, through his death and resurrection we share in his eternal life and are called to share our faith and bring hope and salvation to the world.

  • A lot has happened …

    … since I last wrote a blog for this website. A lot has changed, and change makes us afraid but also gives us opportunities.

    I last wrote at the beginning of the restrictions first imposed upon us at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. None of us could have predicted exactly how things might of turned out – still less how some of them have actually developed!

    So – a couple of personal notes first. The first summer of Covid was interesting for me. I learnt new skills as I started to prepare worship while our churches were closed. Each week a recorded a video service which I put online. The first recordings were very rough and took ages to put together. The process got quicker and, I hope, more slick! The most satisfying to produce were the ones for special occasions – Holy Week, Easter, Christmas, Harvest, Remembrance Sunday. Generally though, it got harder and harder to produce services every week and it was a huge relief when we were able to start worshipping in church again – even though the church services looked and felt very different from how they had been before Covid.

    Then, towards the middle of 2021 I was diagnosed with bowel cancer. At the start of August I had a part of my bowel removed and the resulting biopsy revealed the need for chemotherapy. That completed I needed to protect myself from infection so was out of circulation for a good while.

    During that time I decided that the time was right to retire – it was only few months earlier than I would have take that step anyway. A few months later my wife and I moved to a home in Cornwall in order to be a little closer to some of our family. We’re settling in really nicely now, getting to know our way around. I’m settling into church life again – as a congregation member at St Neot’s Church near Liskeard. We’ve been busy making a number of repairs to our bungalow and are about to start redecorating. Soon I shall ask the Bishop of Truro for permission to officiate – as long as my health remains good and the cancer does not recur.

    Enough of me. Now to look a little more widely.

    There can be no doubt that Covid has had some major effects on the churches. Many are getting back to normal, some have grown, some have contracted but I’m sure that all have been challenged and have been changed. Covid, of course is still with us and will be for years to come. It will come in waves, which we will manage but there will be times for all of our church communities when they will be challenged afresh to rethink how they minister in those communities.

    We heard that in the National Census of last year those who self-identified as Christians were in a minority for the first time. This was hardly a surprise – the numbers have been heading downwards for many decades. As a result there have been calls for the Church of England to be disestablished. I’ve long thought that establishment has been something of an anachronism at the end of the twentieth and the beginning of the twenty-first centuries. Disestablishment is now, I think inevitable. This is now a nettle that the church should grasp and soon it should actively seek disestablishment rather than waiting for it to be forced upon it. I am sure that being disestablished will open as many doors as will be closed for the church. Seeking it ourselves means that we can more readily shape the transition and choose the church that we become. It is, I am sure, or can be, a real opportunity for growth.

    During this year the Church of England will debate at General Synod whether it should change its continual practice and solemnise same sex marriages. I am sure that the change will be hotly debated, but it looks as if the time is now right. Other Western churches of the Anglican Communion have already taken this step, other churches in England already conduct such ceremonies. There will be hard discussions to had within the church and with other churches in the Anglican Communion who cannot sanction such a move, but we, as they, need to exist within our environment and be culturally relevant to our society. Our refusal, so far, to sanction such a change has made the church appear uncaring, judgemental and callous to our society.

    So, much has changed, for me and for the Church. Much will change in the year ahead. All we can do is own the change and use the opportunities it offers us. And we can only achieve this if we are prepared to do it with faith and trust in the God who always shows us the way, always walks with us, and always loves us and calls us to love him and his people. With God we have nothing to fear and can hope in everything.

  • Keeping the faith in a time of challenge

    Keeping the faith in a time of challenge

    Now seems a good time to take up blogging again. It has been far too long – almost three years – since I last posted here.

    A good time – because everything feels different at the moment. Because of the restrictions imposed upon us because of the coronavirus Covid-19 our churches are closed, public worship is no longer possible, pastoral ministry as we have traditionally known it is restricted to a remarkable degree. But there is much more than that.

    Is there an existential threat to the Christian faith because of these restrictions? (See The Spectator, Will coronavirus hasten the demise of religion – or herald its revival?) It’s probably too early to say, but there are those who have suggested that the Church of England cannot survive the closing of its churches, the suspension of its worship and the stopping of most of the ways in which it interacts with its parishes – no weddings, no baptisms, funerals strictly restricted, no pastoral visiting, no social events, no community service. Except it doesn’t really feel like that.

    The response of the churches has been to go online with their worship, something that has been largely well-received by their congregations. A number of churches are live-straming their services, others like the Five Crosses Benefice have chosen to pre-record services which are then broadcast via Youtube or similar platforms. Clergy are trying to strike a balance between what is already familiar to worshippers, used to being in church on Sunday, and using the possibilities that the internet and video-editing software offers them. The services need to feel the same but cannot recreate the experience of worshipping with a congregation. Some of those live-streaming are using live chats on Facebook or Youtube and feeding these into the worship  – requests for prayer, greetings of the peace, sharing news or simply trying to replicate the social experience of attending church on a Sunday.

    Some people have spoken of the way in which their attention to what is being shared in the online services is heightened. Others who have been unable to get to church due to age or infirmity appreciate being able to access worship from their church in a way that has been denied them until now. And surely, the shared act of receiving the worship thus offered is creating a sense of unity and togetherness that is denied us by the restrictions imposed upon us.

    But what of those believers who have no access to the internet? A number of our, mostly (but not exclusively) elderly church members either have no access to these online services or lack the skills to access them with confidence and comfort. The same is true of many who are disadvantaged in our society. Many clergy are printing material and distributing it to those they know who are unable to access the online worship – prayers, reflections on the readings, excerpts from the Sunday worship, news from the parish. We are all asking, Is that really as much as I can do?

    And although we may not be able to hold our coffee mornings, or bible study or prayer groups, or lunch clubs or children’s clubs we are still able to minister to our communities in positive ways. Shopping for our isolated neighbours, picking up the phone and chatting with them or saying a prayer. We can still contribute to our local food bank, either by donating food or with a gift of money.

    None of this seems truly adequate – but that is, at least, partly because it is not what we’re used to. Comments made suggest that what the churches are doing is welcomed and positively received. It is contributing to a feeling that the churches are still very much alive and that we have not withdrawn because there is nothing we can do.

    At the end of all this we should ask ourselves, What did we do that made a difference? What could we continue to do? How have we been renewed and reinvigorated by this experience?

    It’s hard to see how at the moment, but the church might be very different after the coronavirus – and that difference might make us better.