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.

Sermon 13 The miracles of Jesus - Lucy Holt

.The Miracles of Jesus.

What is your favourite miracle?

Why?

At Little Fishes this week we were going to tell the children the story we had today of the feeding of the five thousand.

Before we had even got into church – I got out five bread rolls and put them on a plate and was just about to find the paper fish- when one of the mums said to me – oh I know which story we are having today.

The bread gave it away – it’s a familiar story isn’t it.

One which most people if they have had any Christian teaching however small, at school would know.

And we did tell the story and they enjoyed eating the bread rolls – in fact I have never seen so many little children so quiet with just a piece of bread to chomp on.

This week we are going to be looking at the miracles of Jesus in our readings.

The miracles are often very familiar stories to us, stories like the feeding of the 5,000 and Jesus walking on water.

But the problem with familiarity is that we can think we know them and we can fail to stop and see what new things we can be taught by them.

So this week as we do read these stories I want us to stop once more and look at what God might be saying to us through them.

And this morning I want to look at several things that we can see and question we can ask from reading the miracles of Jesus:

          Who Jesus is

          What were his priorities

          What is our response to this

Who Jesus is?

As we look at this passage today – what things are we struck with?

It’s pretty amazing really isn’t it – here is Jesus away from everywhere and surrounded by a huge crowd of people – over 5,000 if we count the women and children, and he is able to take 5 little loaves of bread and two fish and enable the assembled crowd to be fed to their fill.

This isn’t just some trickster who had a load of fish and bread stored on the hill just in case this arose.

This was an amazing miracle that revealed the truth about Jesus, that he had the power and authority over creation itself.

You see as we read the accounts of the different miracles this week – and hopefully it will spur you on to look at more of Jesus’ miracles as well – we can slow down to see what is it about Jesus that has been revealed.

I am certain that Jesus didn’t just perform the miracles we had recorded in the bible but there were many more people who received healing and wholeness when they came to him.

But the gospel writers have used their skill to show us different miracles that speak of different truths about Jesus.

That begin to reveal to us who this person was.

Most obvious in the gospel of John, but this is evident too in other gospels.

John speaks of the different miracles in his gospel as being signs.

Signs point to something, and John has carefully crafted his gospel to slowly reveal who Jesus is.

He starts with the wonderful description of the light coming into the world, and then slowly through the stories he has included in the gospel reveal who this light is.

So we see in Jesus’ first miracle in John – the water into wine, something about Jesus coming to change the old order of things – the ceremonial water jugs used for ritual cleaning into something really special- the best wine.

And this continues throughout the gospels as we see different miracles giving us more of an insight into who Jesus is.

The reading this morning – the feeding of the five thousand does just this.

We didn’t end the reading with the miracles but continued to hear a further conversation between Jesus and his disciples.

What is the question that is asked- who do you say I am? Jesus asked.

And we hear Peter’s reply – The Messiah of God.

This is a pivotal moment of revelation – and it is linked clearly with the experience of the miracle.

In John’s account of the feeding of the five thousand which we read in John 6 we see Jesus asking the question afterwards – are you following me because I can fill your stomachs?

And then he goes on to expand on what it means to feed on him spiritually and he makes the staggering statement – I am the bread of life- whoever eats of this bread will live forever.

So as we read the miracles of Jesus – stop and listen, see what this teaches us about who Jesus is.

Let Jesus ask you the same question that he asked Peter – who do you say that I am?

And like Peter perhaps once more we can see Jesus as the Messiah, the Christ, the Son of God.

And then as we read these miracles we also see something quite profound about Jesus priorities.

In the feeding of the five thousand what was Jesus response to the people.

The disciples were wanting to send the people away but Jesus even though it was getting late was still concerned for the people.

He had compassion on them- he probably realised that they wouldn’t find enough food in the surrounding villages- after all the day was getting late, even in our modern society a crowd of 5,000 people descending on the village shop is going to leave a great deal hungry!

So Jesus once more had compassion, he cared for the people not only for their spiritual needs but also for them physically.

Last week in the teaching of Jesus we were asked the question can we be unmoved by the teaching of Jesus.

And I want to suggest as we look at the miracles we are asked the same question.

You see as we see Jesus’ priorities often they are far away from our priorities and the affluence of modern society.

As we look at the miracles of Jesus we see that those who were touched by Jesus were not necessarily the rich and the highly respected in society – sometimes we do see that for example when Jesus heals the daughter of Jairus.

But often the people that Jesus brought healing to where the outcasts and marginalised of society.

The blind beggar,  the ten lepers who would have lived outside the village,  the woman who had been bleeding for years.

And when we see Jesus healing we see his utter compassion for these people.

Time and time again when we see Jesus’ miracles we see his compassion for those who are marginalised and his healing brings wholeness not only physically but also enables people to re-enter the community.

I think this speaks very profoundly to us about God’s Kingdom priorities.

The healing ministry is so much bigger than simply praying for someone to be made better.

When we think of healing we need to think of wholeness, which includes not only physical healing, but care for the spiritual, psychological and also community needs of the individual.

So we carry out the healing ministry of Jesus when we are concern for the poor and marginalised in our society leads us to action – when we show practical care to others.

God’s Kingdom priorities are so different from the worlds and we need to be aware of these and in our actions show them.

As we read through the miracles this week – ask yourself the question how did Jesus respond to need – how can I?

What about our response to the miracles of Jesus?

When we look at Jesus miracles we see different responses.

We see large crowds following as we did in the account of the feeding of the 5,000.

And we see Jesus responding to their need.

But out of these 5,000 how many turned to Jesus?

We are not told, they experienced this miracle but did all of them realise the magnitude of it?

When we read the accounts of the miracles of Jesus we see different responses from people.

And surprisingly not all are positive.

We see the religious leaders respond quite negatively to Jesus as they are challenged by him.

They saw what he was doing, they must have heard the accounts of the miracles and they still failed to see who he was.

What about us- what is our reaction to the miracles of Jesus?

Are we still moved when we read them, do we believe that Jesus can still work miracles in people’s lives?

If we believe in a God who came to earth to transform our lives, then why wouldn’t he care still for us today and long for us to know the miraculous.

We need to trust in a God who does hear and answer prayer and longs to bring healing of body, mind and spirit to individuals.

We may not understand how this can happen but we do know that there are times when we see the miraculous happen.

Eg of Andrew White in Baghdad.

Miracles can still happen today – we are not to say how God can work in someones lives and we need to see the miraculous as not only healing physically but also healing emotionally and spiritually.

What we are called to do is to bring those we love to Jesus and lay them at his feet.

Just like the friends who lowered the man through the roof we offer those we love to Jesus and he asks of us – what do you want.

We may not understand the miraculous but we do know that God has power to transform lives, each of us knowing him for ourselves is a miracle in itself.

If we believe this then we should be able to put our faith in him to transform and renew people and situations, to have faith however little in His miraculous power.

So this week as you look at Jesus miracles – and even if you aren’t doing the E100 course perhaps have a look at some of his miracles again.

Ask yourselves these questions:

          Who is this Jesus that I see

          What are his priorities

          What is my response

Sermon 12 Jesus the Teacher - John Clark

Jesus the Teacher                                      Dorney and Eton Wick May 8^th 2011

Oliver James is a psychologist who spent nine months travelling some of the most prosperous cities of the world to establish what makes people happy. He discovered that our modern lifestyle has made many people really unhappy and he described their condition as ‘affluenza’. People today are preoccupied with four things: money, possessions, their physical appearance and celebrity. For them their lives were about ‘having’:  they wanted to be rich, they want to own smart cars or houses, to look special and to enjoy status. But they also discovered that however much they gained of what they wanted they were no closer to happiness. James said the key to happiness is not about ‘having’ but about ‘being’ – of how we understand ourselves, about how we relate to and care about others.

This week’s readings in our E100 series are on Jesus’ teaching. The marvellous opening passage which we had read to us in the second lesson gives Jesus’ own answer to the question, How Can I be happy?  His answers are so different to modern society’s. Some translations say ‘Happy are those who are poor...happy are those who mourn...But even better is the translation ‘Blessed’. To be blessed is to enjoy God’s favour; to be blessed is to be fulfilled; to be blessed is to be the person God made me uniquely to be. There is no greater happiness than that.

 Martin Lloyd-Jones suggests that the qualities Jesus refers to in the Beatitudes are the qualities which mark out the life of every Christian. In that sense they are a litmus test to prove the work of God within us. They are acquired qualities which flow from the transformation God is undertaking in us. Jesus is speaking of a dissatisfaction at the core of our being about how hopeless we are spiritually; of a deep yearning to confront the ways in which we fall short; He is saying we should enjoy a way of living which does not seek our own way but respects the needs of others ahead of our own; a spirit of forgiveness which is always merciful and which goes on and on being merciful; a deep-seated yearning to be the very best God wants me to be; to be someone who transforms difficult situations to bring peace when all around there is conflict; he speaks of a deep inner battle to live out our best for Him. We may be frustrated by our failure to achieve all this but we know in the depth of our being that it is what we are made for. The Beatitudes are both a challenge and a promise.

When we study the teaching of Jesus we discover

1.     That Jesus had a radical message.

In Africa my missionary friends and I would spend hours debating whether to give to beggars in the street. But what does v 41 say? ‘Give to the one who asks you’. Our Tanzanian friends often asked to borrow from us and we would refuse on the grounds that they would be unable to repay. But what does Jesus say in v 41 again: ‘Do not turn away the one who wants to borrow from you’. We were offended when someone stole the second coat that Jesus said we should have given away; we were quick to see the errors in others and miss our own complacency. And I am sure that we were not alone.

I read a biography of St Francis while in Mvumi. He sought to live precisely the kind of life which Jesus speaks of in the Sermon on the Mount. I was embarrassed because I knew I was not prepared to trust God like St Francis by giving away my possessions, or to trust him to clothe me like the flowers and or feed me like the birds of the air. Too often as Christians we can dabble with what Jesus has to say, cherry-picking the bits which we can live with but explaining away the more difficult and demanding passages. I warn you all as we read the Sermon on the Mount you will be excited by his challenge and thrilled by his words, but too often be unmoved by the radical demands He makes of us.... Do we love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us? Do we store up treasures in heaven or like me in the attic or on the shelves: do we take pleasure in feeling superior to others as we judge them?

2.     Jesus also had a radical method

He was a master story teller who made everyday experiences come to life unearthing great spiritual truths using a method which a parent uses with his children. I have an eight year old niece and occasionally she asks me to read to her to go to sleep. It never ceases to amaze me that she seems to fall asleep so quickly or is it she feigns sleep to escape the tedium of my stories! Jesus was not like that: his stories pulse with humanity and humour and compassion – I am sure we all have our favourites. Who cannot be moved by the remarkable kindness of the Father when his son has squandered his fortune; or by the willingness of the Good Samaritan to take such personal risks to help a stranger; or the perseverance of the Shepherd when he searches and searches for that single sheep that went astray; that poor widow with no possessions who sweeps her house to find the coin she has lost. I don’t know if you know Van Gogh’s marvellous picture of the sower throwing seed under a massive gold sun, but Jesus‘ words clearly resonated with him too. His stories require us to see ourselves in the picture and to make the appropriate response.  They keep coming back into our minds to challenge or inspire or unsettle.

3.     But most importantly Jesus lived out the teaching which He gave.

He lived a blameless life in an inspiring and attractive way.

He attracted a group of fishermen to leave their nets to follow Him. Wherever he went He drew people to Himself - outcasts and sinners, the sick, the disabled, the mentally ill, children. He attracted scholars like Nicodemas, the self-satisfied like the rich young ruler, foreigners like the centurion. He was a charismatic leader because he lived the life of poverty and dependence on God he himself taught; he turned the other cheek when he was mocked and scourged; he offered love and friendship and not judgement and criticism.

But our Faith does not see Jesus as an example that we should follow, but rather a friend to change us. I am a hopeless romantic and I loved the Royal Wedding. There was a clear sense that both were in love and their union together would enhance each other so that each was better for having given themselves to the other. In Colossians, Paul speaks of ‘Christ in you, the hope of glory’. Jesus may make radical demands; he may challenge and inspire, but there is nothing worse than to demand of us the unattainable. The promise of Jesus the Teacher is that He will live His risen life in us so that the qualities which we see in the Beatitudes and in the Sermon on the Mount become the characteristics which mark  out our lives as we spend time with him. It may take at least a lifetime to make the changes but how blessed shall we be.

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