Christmas Eve 2011

Happy Christmas. Here is what I will be saying at Midnight tonight as we celebrate the coming of Jesus Christ as the baby in Bethlehem.

At this time of year – we hear a great deal about tradition.

The celebration of Christmas brings with it traditions from different countries – like the Moravian christingle we had this afternoon,

Those from Germany will have likely celebrated Christmas and their gifts this evening rather than wait until tomorrow.

And then I am sure in your own home you have your own traditions and ways that you celebrate – whether it be what you eat,  when you open your presents, what you watch on TV, these traditions are part of our celebrations.

And then there are traditions which are like folk lore – everyone knows for example that Father Christmas is a jolly fat man, wearing a read coat with a big white beard.

Or is he? – actually he didn’t appear like that til 1931 when Coca-Cola used this imagery in their advertising campaign, so you could say that Coca-Cola made Father Christmas what he is today!

Tradition I think is good though as it gives us a focus and a sense of group identity – particularly in a family.

It helps us to know what to expect, but I guess it could also stop us from doing things in different ways – but perhaps that doesn’t matter too much as we celebrate together.

If tradition influences how we celebrate Christmas I wonder too if tradition has influenced what we think about the whole Christmas story.

Each year we hear it again but can we get away from our imagery of the story that we have learnt at school and by watching nativity plays, even by singing carols.

We have the image of the nativity in one way – the traditional way but actually has this stopped us seeing the truth at the centre of it all.

If we take away the tradition what are we left with?

Let’s look at the story again and see.

Well Mary was visited by the angel Gabriel and told she was going to have a baby – that’s fact that’s what is written in the bible.

But what we don’t know is what that Angel looked like- we see him with wings and a halo, because that is what the pictures we have seen look like.

But other accounts of angels in the bible where of visitors who looked quite normal – in fact it was only after they had come that it was realised they were angelic.

But behind the traditional angel is the truth – Mary was to have God’s son.

And then they go on a long journey to Bethlehem- and we are told on a donkey.

Or are we?- no mention of the donkey in the bible.

Makes a good carol though doesn’t it, we don’t know she didn’t but we also don’t know she did.

We do hear mention of another donkey in the bible though – when Jesus rode into Jerusalem to show he was the King of Kings, riding in to Jerusalem at the start of Holy Week in triumph and to is death on the cross.

The donkey the sign of his humility.

And then we have this wonderful picture of the Inn, perhaps in our mind some 1^st century Travelodge or Premier Inn.

The likely hood is though although the city was full because of the census the Inn wouldn’t have looked as we imagined.

The word for Inn used in the bible is the same as the upper room, it was likely to be just an extra room for lodging in an ordinary house.

And then what about the stable, well we imagine again – or tradition dictates a nice wooden structure.

The likely hood is though that Jesus would have been born in a cave under the house, that is where animals would have been kept.

And all we are told is that Jesus was born and laid in a manger – because there was no room in the Inn or upper room.

And then we are told that Magi – wise men from the East came to visit the new family.

Three of them? No three presents were given but we don’t know how many and we certainly don’t know their names.

We do know though that they followed the star which led them to see the Prince of peace lying in a manger.

So you see even in our celebration of the nativity we have added tradition to help us see the story.

Perhaps that is not a bad thing – but sometimes we need to take that away and see what is left.

Take away the images of tinsel angels, take away the donkeys and the wooden stables and three Kings in crowns and see what we are left with.

And actually we don’t need the extras because what we are left with is still an incredible story – an incredible picture of love and peace.

Here we have the young Mary willing to take on one of the most important roles in history, and heavily pregnant with her new husband beside her they make the long treck to Bethlehem.

There she gives birth and lays her new baby in a trough which is used to feed animals, likelihood in a cave.

And to announce the baby angels do visit Shepherds – the lowest of the low and the star does shine to show the way for he visit of those of more high esteem – wise men from the East.

This is the eternal truth of the incarnation – of God coming to earth to be with Man.

When you take away all tradition this is what we are left with – the miracle of God’s birth, the baby in the Manger the Christ child, God’s son.

The angels said these words to the Shepherds we hear in Luke’s gospel:

“Today in the town of David, a Saviour has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.”

The saviour of the world born without a huge fuss, born in the lowliest of surroundings but born to change the world forever.

When we strip back the reality and just see the miracle of the birth we see the incredible truth for ourselves – that Jesus crept into the world, with no amazing fuss.

He crept into the world, not demanding our attention, but awaiting our response.

He crept into the world, and showed us God’s love.

He crept into the world to be our Saviour, Mary may not have ridden on a donkey – but we know that Jesus did on his way for our salvation.

And as he creeps in to the world today – what is our response to him.

Just a nice story, something we traditionally read this time of year.

Or are we willing to strip back the tradition and be open to see the baby for who he truly is

–       and what is our response to him?

–       he may not demand a response from us, but he wants us to respond to him.

And if we do he can offer to us true Peace on earth, peace in our hearts and lives,  as we let him take a place in our lives and as we let his truth into our hearts and minds.

Sermon on Mary - 4th Sunday in Advent Luke 1: 26-38

One of the joys of my role as Vicar in Eton Wick and Dorney is going at this time of year to the nativity plays at the various schools I am associated with.

One of them I went to was truly wonderful this year – with the songs and actually the way the story was portrayed – but it did have a little hitch when Mary had been visited by the angel and was standing on her stage with her broom calling out to tell Joseph – who was no where to be seen and to the side you could just see a little Joseph on the side of the stage sat on his teachers lap – crying because he didn’t want to go on.

Quite often though it is the other way around – I heard the story of the Inn Keeper who had really wanted to be Joseph when Mary and Joseph knocked on the door and asked for a room he said quite loudly – well you can come in Mary but not Joseph cause I wanted to be him.

And then my friends little girl who dressed as a shepherd cried refused to go on the stage crying to her mum – But I wanted to be Mary.

I start with these stories because when we look at Mary and this story from Lukes gospel we can learn so much about calling and faith – and yet very often we can be like all these little children.

We can either not want to do it at all – or we can think for some reason we should be doing something else not really what God wants us to do.

So what can we learn from this account about faith and calling and how can we apply some of this to our lives today.

Well firstly we see in Mary an openness to hear what God was saying to her.

Tradition dictates that the Angel was a big very bright creature with wings and a tinsel halo!

But was he?

In our accounts of Angelic visitation we see angels appearing quite normal and often it is only afterwards that the individuals realised they had met with an agel.

When the angels appeared to Abraham – they looked just like ordinary people, in fact Abram and Sarai didn’t recognise who they were at first did they.

It seems to me that Mary must have been open to listen to God to be able to recognise that this was God speaking to her through the angel.

I think this tells us quite a lot about Mary and her faith in the God of Israel.

She was ready to hear and to respond to his word.

We don’t know what Mary was up to when the angel appeared to her- but we do know that she listened – the likely hood is that she was quite a busy person working in her home and getting ready for her wedding and yet she listened..

Mary must have had a life of prayer in some way to have listened to the angel.

She allowed time to hear the message amidst the noise around her of wedding plans and life.

So today what about us – would we be open to hear what God has to say to us even now in the midst of all the noise of Christmas.
And if God tried to talk to us  would we hear him.

It always amazes me who God can speak to us in so many different ways – but often it is like we are safely in our homes watching the TV ignoring the constant ring at the door bell – hoping it will go away.

Do we take time to switch off the noise and actually be open to how God may speak to us – through his word, through his creation, through that still small voice, even through an angelic word from someone else.

And when we do take time to listen are we prepared to hear even if what he has to say is quite a difficult thing for us.

What he said to Mary wasn’t an easy thing to hear.

But she listened and obeyed.

Is God trying to say something to us and are we open to listen.

And secondly not only did Mary recognise God’s voice- the voice of the angel but she also was willing and open to do God’s will.

I think this is incredible when we know the context that Mary found herself in and the implication of finding herself having a child when she was not married.

She would have laid herself open to all sorts of problems if Joseph too had not been willing to accept her pregnancy.
At the very least she would have been a social outcast in her society, at the very worst she would have been stoned to death for conceiving out of marriage.

But we have no account of her arguing with God’s messenger, no account of pleading for it not to be her put under this pressure,

Not she simply says – I am the Lord’s servant.

In many ways she had a trust in God which we can all learn from.

She entrusts her life into God’s hands to be used in whatever way he wishes.

And we see her used in the most extraordinary way – a journey to Bethlehem, giving birth in a stable, fleeing to Egypt with a young baby away from all her family support network.

And then of course later she was to stand by the cross and weep as she saw her son dying for the good of mankind.

Perhaps she had no idea what I am the lord’s servant was going to lead too in the future – but she said it and she entrusted her life into God’s hands with the faith that he would be with her to help and protect her.

Does this challenge us at all?

The little girls who want to be Mary in the nativity have really no idea what it’s all about do they – they want to be centre stage – and yet the reality of Mary’s life is fat from being the glamorous mother of our Lord.

Mary was open to God and God used her in amazing ways – her journey of faith must I am sure at times been tested to the limit but she was open to being used and willing- I am the Lord’s servant – can we say that, entrusting ourselves to be used by God in whatever way he wants.

And then finally I think we can learn from Mary in her ordinariness.

Often we do not think we are particularly good at anything and we compare ourselves to others in the church.

Perhaps we feel not so educated as others, or gifted in different ways.

Yet I think that Mary speaks to everyone of us here today.

I wonder what she would have answered if someone asked her what she was good at?

I am sure like many of us she may have said well I’m not very good at anything really – I’m just an ordinary person.

Possibly she did say this – we don’t know much about her – but we can surmise that she was probably not very well educated- that she came from a humble background – otherwise she wouldn’t have been marrying a carpenter.

In human terms she was very little- but God used her for one of the most important jobs in the history of mankind, to grow, develop and give birth to his Son.

What does Mary teach us – to be open and receptive to use the things that God has given us for his purpose.

God can use us as we are

In fact the more we are the people that God wants us to be the more he will use us.

When we are open to seek God – to listen to him and then to be open to what he may ask of us – then he will surprise us as he uses us for his service.

Mary teaches us this and we can learn so much from her.

So in the midst of all the noise this Christmas what is God asking of you, are you open to him and able to say – like Mary – I am the Lords’ servant – I am willing.

Amen

What we can learn from the prophets - Amos

With our present global financial crisis perhaps we can learn something from the Old testament Prophets. Here is my sermon from Sunday when we were looking at Amos. Particularly referring to Chapter 8.

Amos:

This is the third sermon in our short series of looking at the prophets and seeing what they have to say to us today.

In many ways the prophets are quite hard to come to terms with, they appear quite strange people even to their society of the day and yet, when we look at prophecy we see so clearly God speaking not only to the people of that day but to us now.

Think for a moment what you think is the key to the problems we have in our society today and in the financial system?

I’m not talking about complicated fiscal issues here – I am just thinking about basic human issues – what do you think?

Answers included: Greed,  materialism, spending more than you have etc.

Then look at that reading we had from Amos this morning – verse 4-5

The basic problems of society, stem from the same problems centuries on – greed and the desire for more and more…

So when we look at Amos and the other prophets we see some basic similarities between people and we can be challenged from what they have to say to us.

So lets think for a moment who this person Amos was.

Well what we do know about him is that he was probably quite an ordinary person, he wasn’t amazingly well educated, he wasn’t one of the prophets officially associated with the temple,

He grew up within an agricultural community and it is likely that he worked on the land in some way – some argue that he was infact a shepherd.

But we do know he had a call from God to speak out to the people of the time over a period of some 2 years, in around 750 BC.

So what is his key message in this small book.

Well it seems that a key theme within the book is that of the justice and righteousness.

He speaks to the people clearly on these subjects, and as he speaks to them there is a sense that they should know what he is talking about.

He doesn’t have to spell out why these themes are important – they just are.

The people should know why – because the need for both is so steeped within the history and experience the Israelite people have in their relationship with God.

The people of Israel knew their relationship with God was based on the covenant they had with him.
And this covenantal relationship was based upon the principles of justice and righteousness, they were central to this relationship.

And particularly the themes of justice and righteousness in the book of Amos are seen with reference to how they treat each other.

In many ways in this book we see God’s anger and it appears like his patience is wearing thin with the people of Israel.

The passage we read this morning speaks very clearly like this. – the time is coming says the lord, when things will change..

And of course we have the ability of hindsight and know that it was not long after this book was written that the people of Israel were taken off into captivity by Assyria.

What is important though when we look at this book and other books where we see God’s judgement clearly indicated is that we see this also in relationship to God’s forgiveness.

When we look at the old testament we see it through the eyes of the new testament and the love and forgiveness shown to us by Jesus Christ on the cross.

So within the book of Amos generally there is a  sense of God getting very inpatient with the people because of their constant falling away from him.

And in response to that he speaks of the consequences.

One of these is clear from chapter 8 and I think this speaks very clearly to us today as well.

God says through Amos in verse 10:

The time is coming says the Lord God, when I will send a famine on the land, not a famine of bread, or a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the lord.

A famine of hearing God’s word – let’s think about that for a moment.

If we did not hear God’s word what would that mean to our society or world.

Not hearing God’s words would mean that there would no longer be a moral compass with which to guide our lives.

What would that result be:

            Breakdown of family life,

            Breakdown of community life

            Lack of concern for others,

            Self- interest abounding.

            Distrust of each other and violence,

            An individulalistic culture  and the list would go on and on.

And as we look at that list we see how much of that sort of thing goes on today.

Has God given us a famine – or actually are we causing a famine of God’s word.

If we live without reference to him then how is God going to speak out- will there be a famine of God’s word in our world.

God calls us to be his body on the earth and we have a duty then to also speak God’s word to others.

That’s not by standing on street corners – though some of us may be called to do this.

But by living our lives in such a way that God speaks out through our actions and through our words.

How often do we give a Christian viewpoint on a situation?

How often are we led to write a letter, to speak out in a conversation, to go and do something that we know is right.

If we are called to be Christ’s body on earth then we are called to be his voice box as well.

If we don’t speak then just as in Amos there will be a famine of hearing the words of the Lord.

So for me this is my first challenge from this passage today in Amos.

Then there are a few more that I want to suggest to us.

And the next concerns our worship.

            Verse 3 Amos says- the Songs of the temple shall become wailings in that day…

            Chapter 5: 21- I hate, I despise your festivals, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.

It seems quite strange to us that God seems so anti – worship,

After all is that not what we are called to do.

But God recognises that the worship is not truly of the heart because it doesn’t inform their behaviour.

This comes back to what worship is truly about.

Worship is not something we do once a week – but worship is about our whole lives.

We worship together to draw close to God and to encourage each other, to spend time with God,  but this is just one day one hour even of the week, for the rest of the week then our worship is in different ways.

We worship in how we serve God in serving others, we worship in our quiet times of prayer, we worship in how we have that conversation with another person who is in need, we worship in how we support each other and our families.

As we grow in our relationship with God we begin to see more and more of our lives as worship – we offer our bodies as a living sacrifice we say in the post communion prayer in our common worship liturgy.

For the people of the time of Amos they were getting it wrong because they were seeing worship as something separate – do we fall short in the same way.

Then we also see a challenge concerning justice and self interest.

The people were criticised for their attitudes to the less fortunate in their society.

Verse 6: buying the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals.

What is our attitude to justice.

We may say we care for the poor and marginalised in our society in the world but do we actually do anything about it.

We hear a great deal of talk about justice in our society – we hear talk of what I really want is justice – when some injustice has been done to someone else.

But actually do we really care about justice.

If we did then we would care about fair trade,  we would concern ourselves with issues of human trafficking, of the plight of the homeless, and many other issues.

Do we need to be reminded like the people of Israel of God’s concern for justice and act accordingly.

And how do we fare on a scale of one to ten of self interest?

What about how we view our money – do we give away to charity at the start of the month as a priority of our spending or the end when we see what is left.

I am sure we could all be challenged in many ways when it comes to thinking about self interest rather than thinking what God would want from us in principles of justice and self interest.

So we can see how even a book written to a people many thousands of years ago is still just as applicable today – we need to let Amos speak to us and challenge us once more.

Harvest sermon 2011

This was the sermon I preached for Dorney Church Harvest festival on 25th September. The reading was John's account of Jesus feeding the 5,000.

I was commenting to someone the other day that this Sunday was harvest here at Dorney;.

And the response was quite interesting – he said: you celebrate harvest but there isn’t much farming around here.

My response was such that actually there is a fair bit as we look around at the various things that are grown locally.

But in reflection I thought about the importance of us celebrating harvest generally.

I have never lived truly in the heart of a farming community – I was on the edge in the village we lived in when I was a curate –but I remember throughout my life that the celebration of harvest was important no matter whether we lived in the town or the country.

So why do we year after year celebrate.

And actually I think there are three clear reasons why which I want to point to this morning – firstly we celebrate because it shows our dependence upon God, and secondly we celebrate because it reminds us of our own harvest in life, and lastly we can use this time as a time of remembering our own part in God’s plan to meet the needs of others.

So firstly we celebrate because it reminds us of our dependence upon God.

When I was growing up one of my favourite television programmes was the good life.

If you remember it we saw the antics of a couple – tom and Barabara who gave up work to try to live the rural idyl, the only problem was that they were in suburbia

And they had to contend with their snooty neighbours.

For many as they watched this the idea of self-sufficiency seemed quite attractive.

Self- sufficiency – living off your own produce, and to an extent many of us do this today – we have wonderful examples in this church of home grown produce.

But self-sufficiency as an attitude rather than a lifestyle is something which has pervaded our culture and society.

Self- sufficiency – we live in our own homes, we work hard so that we can have the comforts that we enjoy.

We have the use of amazing technology invented by man which helps us to enjoy these things.

And in the midst of this we create an attitude that actually it is our right to enjoy these things because we have earned them.

A self-sufficiency that man is sufficient.

And in the middle of this self-sufficiency we forget to see anything about the person who has enabled us to reap these benefits, who has enables us to have all the blessings that we have.

We forget to see the God who has given us the intelligence to create technology, who has given us the created world to enjoy.

The God who enables the harvest of not only the land and sea, but also the harvests of mine, of factory, of the creative art of research.

So Harvest bring us back to that God – it brings us away from our self – sufficiency to once more see our dependence upon God

Our reading from John -= the feeding of the five thousand is a wonderful story in so many ways.

And in this story we see Jesus’s concern not only for the spiritual needs of the 5,000 but also his desire for them to be filled in the physical way as well.

So he takes what is offered and in response is able to meet the physical needs.

God cares for the whole person and he is the one who provides for all our needs, phyiscially, emotionally and spiritually.

And then secondly as we celebrate harvest we can be reminded of our harvests – what we produce ourselves,

What was your harvest like this year?

Ours was pretty lacking – we tried to grow things in the vegetable patch but because of lack of time and attention the only things we managed to grow were sunflowers and they were self seeded from the seeds we put out for the birds.

Our harvest was appaling.

Or was it?

When we think of our harvest we can think beyond just producing crops and fruit.,

The little boy offered what he had and Jesus used it amazingly.

We may not produce a harvest of fruit and vegetables but we do produce a harvest in what we do in our lives.

We can not separate our lives into the spiritual and the not so spiritual.

The Christian life is all about integration – we don’t just do our Spiritual bit on a Sunday when we come to Church or even occasionally mid week if we come to a prayer meeting or bible study,

Our Christian life impacts on all our lives.

So for each situation we face, each reaction we have to make, each conversation we are caught up in, we are aware of how our faith may impact and influence and determine how we react, what we say or do.

And if we see life in this way then at harvest we can offer too what we do to God to be used for his service.

We may not have very spiritual or vocational occupations, we may be retired but never the less we have a harvest in our daily life.

In some working lives it is easy to see what your harvest may be, if you work in schools your harvest could be seen as the development of those in your care.

For others it may be more difficult to see a harvest in this way, but if we think of the integration of our lives then how we react at work or with others then will be our harvest.

We can sow seeds of good will, we can sow seeds of understanding and of respect for others, seeds of grace as we do something we would rather not do, or we can sow seeds of distrust, seeds of begrudgingness as we do an activity we would rather not do.

The biblical principle of we reap what we sow is clear here.

We have choices about what we sow- just like the farmer can choose what plant to sow in his field, or we choose which vegetable to grow in our vegetable plot.

And thirdly harvest reminds us of our responsibility to share what we have and meet others needs.

Perhaps we think this is a token venture as we bring a few tins, and other bits.

But we forget how God can use what we have given to support and help others.

And in the same vein too this story of the feeding of the five thousand challenges us to think of how we can be used to meet the needs of those around us.
 a little detail that often gets overlooked in this story is this Jesus needs the little boy and the five loaves and the two fish.
How often do we pray for something – God do this, make this to happen, stop this happening. We pray for wars to cease, we pray for the hungry to be fed, and we pray for the sick to get better. 
But in this story Jesus doesn’t just magic up food out of thin air – he needs something from the 5000 – he needs something from us to work on. 
We pray for wars to cease – God will do great things in answer to our prayers – but we need to offer a loaf and a fish – what are we doing to make wars ceasing. Have we written a letter, supported a peace project, have we even found out what is really going on?
We pray for the hungry to be fed, and God will do great things in answer to our prayers – but we need to offer something ourselves. Have we given something away, have we supported one of the hundreds of charities which feed the starving, have we even found out where the starving are?
We pray for the sick to be healed, and God will do great things in answer to our prayers – but what do we do in support, care, understanding the medical profession, backing research. 
“Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat” Jesus says to Philip – or whenever we’ve prayed for this or that “And what are we going to do about it” Jesus says to us! Five loaves and two fish was not very much, but it was just enough for Jesus to work on! 

So this harvest we give thanks once again to God for his love for us and his provision of all our needs, we also offer ourselves to be used thinking of our own harvest and of how we can help to meet the needs of others too.

Amen

9/11 sermon The Prophet Jeremiah

This was the sermon i preached yesterday on the 10th Anniversary of 9/11. When i was planning the sermon series for the autumn i had not clicked that this sermon would fall on this day, but in preparation i couldn't believe how appropriate it was. Lucy 

Jeremiah – the weeping prophet.

Today we are starting a short series on the prophets – following our E100 series earlier in the year.

The prophets I think are quite difficult for us to relate to – because in many ways they are quite strange figures of jewish history, often displaying different behaviour to make a point and more often than not having to speak out strongly about what was going on in their day.

However, when we read the prophets we see so much of what they spoke of then having relevance for us today, and also so much of the prophecy that was for the people then not only still being applicable to us today – but in some ways we are still waiting for some of it to be fulfilled fully even today.

And Jeremiah is a good illustration of this point which we will be looking at this morning.

So who was the prophet Jeremiah

• Jeremiah was a prophet of God for almost 50 years
• Time period: 627 bc - 580 bc (48 yrs)

• Prior to this time period, the divided kingdom period existed; The Northern kingdom, known as Israel, consisted of 10 tribes; The Southern kingdom, known as Judah, consisted of 2 tribes. ( the two kingdoms had been united under David)
• In 722 bc (100 yrs before Jeremiah), the Northern kingdom was destroyed and carried off to Assyria. (Throughout the book of Jeremiah, he proclaims did you not remember what the Lord did to your brothers in Israel?)
• In 612 bc, Nineveh, the capital of Assyria was captured by the Babylonians.
• Therefore, Jeremiah was a prophet to the remaining kingdom, the Southern kingdom (Judah). Interestingly, Jeremiah prophesied during their last years and was present for their destruction and captivity by Babylon in 586 bc

• God clearly stated that Jeremiah's ministry would be very difficult and full of suffering:
• "Get yourself ready! Stand up and say to them whatever I command you. Do not be terrified by them, or I will terrify you before them... They will fight against you but but will not overcome you, for I am with you and will rescue you" declares the Lord. ( Jer 1:17-18)

• For almost 50 years, Jeremiah preached a very unpopular message of repentance to the people of Judah. For this same time period, there was no measurable change in their lives. (Can you imagine dedicating your whole life to a cause and having it fall on deaf ears ?)
• In addition, he was shunned, rejected, imprisoned beaten and persecuted - FOR 50 YEARS !!!!. He had few, if any, friends, no sympathizers to his cause, never married or have children because God instructed him not to (Jer 16:2) and lived a life marked by constant sadness. Consider 9:1 - "Oh, that my head were waters, and my eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people."

This is probably why Jeremiah is sometimes known as the weeping prophet.

SO what can we learn from him:

I want to start with looking at a bit of theology which we see clearly in the prophets but quite clearly in Jeremiah – which will then help us to look to how we can apply this to our lives today.

We went to the cinema the other day and as we waited for the film to begin we were tempted with previews of other films coming up.

The most dramatic moments or the most romantic moments of the film used by the filmmakers to try to tempt us to come back and watch the complete film at a later date.

IT gave us a foretaste of what it was about – but we didn’t realise the whole story – and wouldn’t until we paid the extra money and came back at a later date.

We get foretaste of a lot of things – from tasting wine before it is served to bits of nibbles in a supermarket.

Foretaste helps us to see what the real thing is going to be about.

And in the Christian life a similar thing happens too.

Throughout the Christian life we get a foretaste of the Kingdom of God – but we won’t really experience it entirely until we share it with God in eternity.

This is the now and not yet theology that we work with all the time.

Yes we can know God now, but we will experience it even more fully in the future – the not yet.

The now and not yet of the Kingdom of God.

This theology of the Kingdom of God is something which is quite hard to understand.

The prophets encapsulate this as what they were saying was so much now and not yet.

NOW – because what they were saying was so much for the then and now.

So with Jeremiah we see him strongly prophecying to the people of Judah about what would happen to them unless they came back to God.
We then see then in exile and yet again Jeremiah’s prophecies were for them about restoration,  not only nationally but also of their relationship with God.

The passage from Jeremiah 31 that we had read is just one of such passages – we see this in the context of the people of Israel being in exile in Babylon

But underlying all the prophets is the theme of not yet as well.

Because so much of the prophecy that we see within the old testament is not only pertaining to the people of that day – but is also pertaining for the future.

That’s why it is there for us to see – it is not merely like reading history when we read the prophets but it is reading things that apply to us, hope that is there for us as well as for the people of Israel.

And this passage from Jeremiah today is just that. – the promise of restoration for the people then – the now as it where and the not yet – the time is coming says the lord when I will make a new covenant – and this is a message for us all, the promise of the relationship with God – a new covenant, which of course we see through Jesus Christ.

So I want us to dwell for a few moments on this new covenant – and then move on from that a bit to see how this idea of now and not yet can be seen for us and one particular application for our lives.

The promise of the new covenant is one which would have been radical for the original people to have heard this message.

Principles of the Old covenant-

            Law – the 10 commandments and the levitical law

            Sacrifice – to be made for atonement for their sins

            Meeting with |God – only through the levitical priest who could enter the inner temple

Principles of the new covenant

            Law- I will write it upon their hearts – no longer an external thing but something internal  -

Meeting with God – no longer restricted - the presence of the Holy Spirit will be upon all people

From other prophecies we also get a hint that this is wider than just Judah and Israel – the people of Israel, but here we get a sense of the two being united once more – of being restored once more.

So the prophecy in Jeremiah was talking about restoration of the people of Israel from captivity in Babylon, but also pointing clearly to a new way of God.

A new covenant – a new relationship that was going to be not only for Israel but also for the rest of the world.

When we look at this with the wisdom of knowing the new testament we can only see this in the light of Jesus Christ and what he achieved on the cross.

So in the prophecy of Jeremiah we see the promised restoration of Israel and the promised restoration of God and all mankind

But as I was thinking about what to say today and the implication of the promise of restoration I was also led to think about it in terms of the now and not yet of this all, - we know God now we will know him more fully, we experience God now but we will experience him more fully.

And as I dwelt on this I thought it had huge implications with how we today handle what we are going through and that actually the weeping prophet Jeremiah can teach us a lot about living with this tension in how he handled the suffering he had to experience in his life;

Today is the 10^th anniversary of 9/11.

I should imagine that all of us can remember quite clearly what we were doing on that day – where we were when we heard the news of the dreadful atrocities that happened at the world trade centre and other places around the United States.

When we look back we all probably still ask the question why – yet when we look back we also can realise that for many people they are still living with the consequences of that day – the suffering continues – whether or not it is the relative of one who lost their life on that day or the British servicemen we recently saw on the expedition with Prince Harry in the arctic – there to prove they could carry on despite dreadful injuries incurred in Afghanistan.

Suffering is something which we all live with to a greater or lesser extent.

It is something which I am sure most people including Christians struggle to understand.

What can we learn from Jeremiah – the prophet who is often called the weeping prophet because of his own experience of suffering.

Restoration will happen – one day – that is the hope that we hang on to as Christians.

God will restore us to a place where we will know complete healing not only of individuals but of the world – i saw a new heaven and a new earth  Revelations 21.

This is promised in Prophecy in both the old and the new testament.

We will be restored – and this is important when we pray for healing or for God to reach into a situation.
Sometimes we are so focused on the now that we forget to think of the not yet- we are so focused on healing this side of heaven that we fail to see restoration/ completeness as knowing God for ourselves in heaven – the not yet

And then what about those unanswerable questions?

God doesn’t cause our suffering – why does he allow it to happen ?

Time and time again in the psalms and in the prophets we see them asking why is this happening to me.

And time and time again we see the response of faith – the realisation that we don’t understand it but we can live with that uncertainty resting in the arms of God.

Jeremiah is a marvellous example of this for us, we know his life was characterised by suffering, pain,  loneliness in human terms, but we know that he was sustained by the undying promise he spoke of restoration and his faith in the God for whom he spoke.

We see clearly when we read Jeremiah that he had undying confidence in God and his promises and that his situation forced him to personally find solace and strength in God alone.

For him the now meant he realised God’s anointing on his life, his sustenance through the suffering but also the promise of the not yet the promise of restoration in the future.

For us  Jeremiah challenges us to see the now in our own situation and also the not yets.

This is the challenge of faith for us as we cope with our own issues and minister to those who are suffering in many different ways, to acknowledge what may be happening with God Now but also what we may have to wait to see in the future  - the not yet., a tension that may test our faith.

So on the anniversary of 9/11 I want to end with a reading written after the atrocities of the world trade centre, acknowledging that even when things were so awful God was there, just like Jeremiah himself experienced.

Meet me in the stair well!

You say you will never forget where you were when you heard the news on September 11, 2001. Neither will I.

I was on the 110th floor in a smoke filled room with a man who called his wife to say "Goodbye." I held his fingers steady as he dialed. I gave him the peace to say, "Honey, I am not going to make it, but it is OK ... I am ready to go." I was with his wife when he called as she fed breakfast to their children. I held her up as she tried to understand his words and as she realized he wasn't coming home that night.
I was in the stairwell of the 23rd floor when a woman cried out to Me for help. "I have been knocking on the door of your heart for 50 years!" I said. "Of course I will show you the way home - only believe on Me now."
I was at the base of the building with the Priest ministering to the injured and devastated souls. I took him home to tend to his Flock in Heaven. He heard my voice and answered.
I was with the Firefighters, the Police Officers, the Emergency Workers. I was there, watching each brave step they took.
I was on all four of those planes, in every seat, with every prayer. I was with the crew as they were overtaken. I was in the very hearts of the believers there, comforting and assuring them that their faith has saved them.
I was in Texas, Kansas, London. I was standing next to you when you heard the terrible news. Did you sense Me?

I want you to know that I saw every face. I knew every name - though not all know Me. Some met Me for the first time on the 86th floor. Some sought Me with their last breath. Some couldn't hear Me calling to them through the smoke and flames; "Come to Me...this way...take My hand." Some chose, for the final time, to ignore Me. But, I was there.

I did not place you in the Tower that day. You may not know why, but I do. However, if you were there in that explosive moment in time, would you have reached for Me?
September 11, 2001 was not the end of the journey for you. But someday your journey will end. And I will be there for you as well.
Seek Me now while I may be found. Then, at any moment, you know you are "ready to go." I will be in the stairwell of your final moments.
~~~ God ~~~

Written by: Stacey Randall

Sermon 15- The Church is Born - Lucy Holt

Sermon preached on 28th May 2011 

Readings Acts 2: 37-47 Matthew 16: 13-20

I often get quite upset when I go to meetings and hear about church growth.

There is always such a despondency around – the statistics are quite frightening when they talk about how many churches will close in the future,  how few people there will be to run them and lead them.

It can be quite a difficult thing to hear.

Difficult because on a personal level it is quite depressing to think you may not have a job in the future!

But more than that I find it difficult because it goes against what I entered the church in the first place for, 

It takes no account of the transforming place the church has in society, in education, the transforming place the church has in the lives of individuals and communities.

I honestly believe that the church is God’s plan for the world to know Him and to make Him known, and that is an awesome responsibility and an awesome task for us to be the Body of Christ in the world.

And so this morning it is great to go back to basics and to see what the Church is all about through the eyes of the early Christians.

And this week those who will be reading the E100 will be looking at the growth of the early church.

So I want this morning to look at the marks of the early church – and perhaps we can then use them as a check list to see where we are as the church here in 2011.

Let’s start by looking back at the sort of disciples we saw when they were working out what had happened in the garden tomb.

All the accounts of the resurrection appearances appear to point to a confused and worried group of people.

They were locked in an upper room, they went back on their fishing boats, they were downcast as they walked to Emmaus.

This is a group of people that were so unsure as to what had happened, that were frightened and afraid, confused and bewildered.

But how do we see them in our reading from Acts this morning – transformed.

They were bold in their declaration of the good news of Jesus Christ,

They were bold in living their daily lives in community with other Chrisitans.

They were totally transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit that they received on the day of Pentecost.

And the sort of  Church we see here is one of growth,  what always strikes me from this reading is growth – 3,000 new believers, the Lord adding to their number daily those who were being saved.

This transformation was not just for the disciples who had followed Jesus in his earthly life but was now transforming the lives of others.

Peter was bold in his preaching and 3,000 people were baptised! – just one sermon!

Then we see a transformation into their lives as a community too.

It is radical what we see in terms of how they lived together.

We are told they had all things in common – they shared all their possessions

They lived a very different life from others around them, they were distinct and became a real community of believers.

And as we read through this week we will see other examples of them in witness and in community together.

So what can we learn from them,  in terms of Church growth today?

Well I think there are some key points that we need to look at and then ask ourselves questions about as the Church in 2011.

Firstly, they were filled with the Holy Spirit.

If we were to read back from the passage in Acts we would see the amazing account of Pentecost.

We of course will be celebrating that in our church’s in just 2 weeks time.

The power that they had to go out and to tell others about  was the power of the Holy Spirit.

They were not doing it in their own strength but through the strength of God, the power of the Holy Spirit.

When the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost they saw what they thought was fire, they heard what seemed to be like wind.

Wind and fire- both things that can comfort but can also transform.

Gentle wind blowing on a hot summers day can make us feel comfortable and relax,

The fire in the grate on a cold winters evening we can sit and warm ourselves and be comfortable again.

But both have the power to transform too don’t they, the fire that burns to such intense heat that elements of metal can be transformed, can be purified.

The wind that sweeps through and bends and sometimes breaks trees.

I am sure we are more comfortable with the first thoughts about wind and flame than the second.

The second is worrying because it can disturb our lives and turn it upside down.

And as we look at the Holy Spirit in this way I am sure we are comfortable with the first thoughts too.

We all like the thought of the Holy Spirit being with us – to bring God’s comfort to us, to help us in our daily lives.

But are we prepared to let the Holy Spirit come and change us, to transform us and our church.

The early Christians lives were not necessarily comfortable but they were transformational.

As we see the readings this week we see the Holy Spirit taking them to unsure and uncomfortable places,

Stephen standing up for his faith and being stoned to death,

Peter and John arrested but carrying on preaching.

Phillip drawn close to an Ethiopian official.

They were bold because they were filled with the Holy Spirit of God and they were willing to let themselves be taken to unexpected places not in their own power and authority but in the power and authority of the Holy Spirit.

The question that leaves me with is am I?

So the early church was filled with the Holy Spirit, but secondly they were also centred on Jesus.

If we go back to the gospel reading we see very clearly the importance of the church being centred on Jesus.

Jesus says to the disciples who do people say that I am?

They give various answers but Jesus persists- but who do you say that I am?

And we hear Peter’s amazing reply – showing a depth of insight that he probably wasn’t even aware of at the time-

You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.

Jesus replies on this rock – I will build my church.

In other words Peter’s words are the rock on which the church is founded – that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God.

And we see the centrality of this in the life of the early church, in how they lived together in what their priorities were.

We see central to their lives together was the re-enactment of the sacrifice of Jesus as they shared bread and wine together.

When they go out to heal and to preach – whose name do they quote- they don’t do it in their own name but in the name of Jesus Christ.

So Peter and John say to the man at the gate – in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth get up and walk.

We see clearly they are doing everything in Jesus’ name, not on their own but in the power of the Holy Spirit and in the name of Jesus Christ.

He is totally central to all they do.

It is so easy to forget this in our lives together.

Yes Jesus is hopefully central to our worship as we meet together and celebrate his death and resurrection for us.

But how often do we in other things forget to put him central, forget to seek his will and just think of our own good ideas.

We need to be challenged by the early Church to get back to basics and to ensure that we are doing things in his name and not our own.

And then thirdly the early church had community and the centre of their lives.

We see this wonderful account of their lives together in Acts 2 and in other places in our readings we will see the importance of community for them.

They lived a communal life as we have already spoken of.

But what about us, how important is our community life.

I do think that the community of the church is more important than we realise.

By sharing community we learn from each other, we support each other, we pray and grow together.

But creating community takes time and effort.

            Reading from Rick Warren. - The purpose Driven life - which speaks of the effort needed to make community in terms of spending quality time with each other.

We have seen in recent weeks examples of our community life being strengthened, how we worked together for the fun afternoon, how we shared lunch together at Eton Wick last week for Christian Aid.

Can we continue to do this – can we all take a part in building community.

How about inviting someone around for a cup of coffee or even a meal, getting to know each other at a deeper level.

And then lastly and most obviously when we think of what we can learn from the early church about church growth – it is this – witness was a priority to them.

Those in the early church were constantly going and telling others about Jesus.

They didn’t just sit in their buildings waiting for others to come to them, they went out and spoke of their faith.

I am sure not every one they spoke to turned and wanted to know more, but we do know that many did.

We see examples of this in our readings this week.

And this wasn’t easy for the early Christians.

They didn’t have a safe ride with this – when they were persecuted it wasn’t just a bit of teasing or mocking for their faith – it was being sent to jail, being stoned to death.

And yet they carried on because witness to them was a priority.

We can build a wonderful community of love and fellowship, we can have wonderful worship, uplifting liturgy in our beautiful well kept buildings BUT unless we are prepared to see witnessing to our faith as a priority then our churches will not grow.

The early church witnessed in how they lived their lives but in what they said as well – we need both.

We need to share the love of Christ in many ways BUT we need to share the love of Christ.

As Paul said we always need to be able to give an account of that hope that is within us, and that is US personally not someone else.

We need to pray for the Holy Spirit to lead us and to direct us in how we witness, and then we need to follow his direction.

This is the responsibility of us all!

So going back to the beginning, the statistics for the church of the future are frightening so what are we going to do about it, bury our heads in the sand and pretend it isn’t happening.

OR – perhaps we can go back to basics like the early Church and follow their priorities.

            Being led and challenged by the Holy Spirit

            Having Jesus at the centre of all we do

            Building a strong and vibrant community

            And seeing witnessing to God’s saving love as a priority in all we do.

Sermon 14 - The Cross of Christ - Janet Binns

Eton  Wick & Dorney     22/05/2011

Bible reading:  Luke 22 14-23 & Acts 1 1-11

Title : Remember me

 Application:  When “do this in remembrance of me” becomes an active reality of lives

1.       Introduction

-     In the romantic drama Remember Me, the character Tyler, a rebellious young man living in New York City

-     There’s been some tragedy in his life that has separated his family

-     Tyler’s relationship with his father is strained and difficult.

-     Tyler doesn't think anyone can possibly understand what he is going through, until one day through an unusual twist of fate he meets Ally

-     Love was the last thing on his mind, but as her spirit unexpectedly heals and inspires him, he begins to fall in love with her.

-     Through their love, he begins to find happiness and meaning in his life. But soon, hidden secrets are revealed

-     and the circumstances that brought them together slowly threaten to tear them apart.

-     Remember me is an unforgettable story about the power of love, the strength of family, and the importance of living passionately, treasuring every day of one's life.

2. Remember Me

-          The words I want us to focus on this morning are the words remember me.

-          Jesus’ words to his disciples ‘do this in remembrance of me’ What it meant to his disciples then and  What does it mean to us today when we join in Communion at the Lord’s Table?

-          

-         I don’t know about you but one of the things I cherish in life is the ability to remember.

-          Article: God gives us memories so that we can have roses in December. But I have to admit that I haven’t got the greatest memory and in order not to forget I have to write things down. Especially those things which are important.

-          I wonder how the disciples felt when Jesus said these words. Do this in remembrance of me

-          

3. Hebrew vs English translation

-         When I was at college in addition to Theology and Ministry we were offered the opportunity to learn Hebrew.

-         It’s important to learn Hebrew especially those words which are commonly used in church.

-         Hebrew meanings and English meanings are often quite different

-         Let’s look at the word remember it doesn’t mean in English what it means in Hebrew. But in order to understand what remember means in Hebrew it’s important that we understand the difference between the Hebrew and English meaning for the word forget.

4.      To Forget.

-         To forget in English means merely to have an idea or notion slip out of your mind.

-         Whereby to forget in Hebrew means to annilate a person to obliterate and blot out completely.

-         As we read through the Old Testament when the Israelites cried out to God not to forget them. They didn’t mean, remember us once in a while.

-         They meant don’t destroy us don’t annilate us don’t blot us out.

-         It’s obvious then that to forget in Hebrew is not to do with putting ideas and notions out of our mind but to do with the active realities of our lives. The things we do.

5.      To Remember

-         In the same way to remember is not to recall to mind ideas and notions but to do with the active realities in our lives.

-         In Hebrew terms to remember is to bring a past event into the present so what happened in the past becomes a living and active part of our lives.

-         In other words to remember is to bring a past event into the present so that what happened in the past continues to happen now .e.g.  Royal wedding street parties

-         When the Israelites are urged to remember the deliverance from slavery of their forefathers centuries earlier they aren't being urged chiefly to recollect a historical facts;

-         They are being urged to live the same reality themselves hundreds of years later.

6.      The Lord’s supper

-         And so two thousand years after Jesus words’ do this in remembrance of me the same words continue to be said at communion tables in churches across the globe. Jesus first said these words at the last supper to his disciples.

-         When he spoke, he didn’t mean “think of me every now and then, especially whenever you celebrate the last supper with bread and wine,

-         Pause for a kindly though about me.

-         What good would that have been? We remember our Lord only when we come to communion.

-         When Jesus spoke these words what he meant was ‘my sin bearing death was your salvation.

-         As often as you eat and drink at the Lord’s Table, make my sin bearing death an active part of your life now.  So that the forgiveness I give you epitomises every aspect of your life.

-          

7.      The way we remember now

-         This way of remembering I venture to say is very different to the way we remember today. When we remember we merely bring to mind the idea and notion of an event.

-         But when the Hebrew forefathers spoke they meant something much stronger, they meant that what happened in the past continued to be a present and active life changing reality.

8.      God Remembers

-         Over and over the Hebrew bible insists that God remembers. God remembers his covenant; God remembers his holy promise; God remembers his steadfast love; God remembers his mercy.

-         All of these things ultimately amount to the same thing. God's covenant is his bond with us.

-         Of his own grace and truth God has bound himself to his people. He will never quit on us out of weariness or give up on us out of frustration or spurn us out of disgust.

-         He has pledged himself to us.

-         To be sure, in his gracious pledge to us, he wants us to reciprocate; as he binds himself to us we are to bind ourselves to him.

-         Nevertheless, even though we break our covenant with him he never breaks his covenant with us.

-         Our gratitude to him may be as changing as our moods; nonetheless, his graciousness towards us is unwavering.

9.      God forgets

-         Since God is God his memory must be exceedingly good; in fact, is there anything God doesn't remember?

-         Does God have a photographic memory, remembering everything forever? The truth is, God is supremely good at forgetting; he loves to forget, literally "loves" to forget.

-         A minute ago I said that to forget, in Hebrew, doesn't mean to let something slip out of your mind accidentally; to forget is to annihilate deliberately, blot out, obliterate.

-         To God's people who humble themselves penitently before him, says the prophet Isaiah, God declares, "I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my sake, and I will not remember your sins."

-         The prophet doesn't mean that God has absentmindedly lost track of his people's sin.

-         He means that God has forgotten their sins in the Hebrew sense of forgetting. God has blotted out the sins of repentant people; their sin is no longer the active reality of their existence before him; it no longer determines their standing before God; it no longer precludes their intimacy with him.

-         God is marvellously forgetful when repentant people come to him.

10.  Lord remember me

-         Of course we know that we need God to remember for we want his mercy to be the active reality in our lives.

-         Remember the dying Criminal crucified alongside Jesus, as he gasp his last breath. Lord remember me when you come into your kingdom. 

-         When Jesus remembers us he makes our need, our desperate need of pardon and new life, his preoccupation his all-consuming concern which becomes the active reality of his life. Do this in remembrance of me.

-         And he expects us to remember others in the same way.

-         Paul tells the Christians in Galatia that they must remember the poor. To remember the poor, everyone knows by now, isn't to recall them to mind, or even to think charitably about them.

-         To remember the poor is to make the reality of their poverty an active ingredient in our discipleship.

11.  What does it mean to us

-         In this Benefice, Deanery, Diocese we may ask the question who is the poor? Because although we acknowledge that there are some who are economically disadvantaged there is virtually no one who would be classed as economically destitute

-         In ancient Israel the poor were classed as the vulnerable i.e. the widows the orphans the sojourners, those who were especially defenceless.

-          When Paul urges us to "remember the poor" he means that the plight of those people who are especially vulnerable; these people may not be financially poor at all.

-         Nonetheless, we are surrounded with people who are extraordinarily vulnerable, unusually defenceless, even though they may be wealthier than us.

-         It's not difficult to find people who are financially adequate yet who are emotionally vulnerable, psychiatrically vulnerable, racially vulnerable, ethnically vulnerable, physically vulnerable, and intellectually vulnerable. And of course those who are spiritually vulnerable are everyone, in fact.

12.   What should we do?

-         Then what exactly are we to do as we "remember" such people? There is no pre-packaged system; there is no assured formula or step-by-step program of remembering the poor.

-         One thing we must do, however, is simply welcome and cherish those who are vulnerable, defenceless, in every respect.

-          

-         We had a community event last week, people commented that it didn’t cost much at all in terms of money.  But it was a time of family togetherness fun laughter and enjoyment. How do we remember the day e.g. name a few activities

-         Reminder: Jesus’ words….Do this in remembrance of me.

-         When does the activity day become an active reality of our lives?

-          

13.   Who are the poor among us

-         In Eton Wick and Dorney who are the poor among us. The single mother left to bring her children on her own.

-         The child who is intellectually challenged and is tormented by other children. The elderly man or woman unable to go out any longer and so spend much of their time alone at home.

-          

-         The single person who have found living in a couple oriented society almost a form of solitary confinement.

-         The spiritual impoverished who wonders what life is about anyway.

-         Whom do you and I know to be especially vulnerable and defenceless?

-         These are the people with whom our lives must interact, for only as their vulnerability becomes an active reality of our lives are the poor remembered.

-          

14.  Finally

-         The boy in the story I read at the beginning was vulnerable in many ways until he found the power of love and it changed his life. It is the power of Jesus love for us why our sins are forgotten obliterated, blotted out.

-         Like the needy man on Good Friday all that any of us can do ultimately is to cry “Lord remember me” and know that our Lord Jesus will do precisely that. Remember each of us when he come into his Kingdom.