Take up your Cross

Reading Matt 16:21 – end

Preamble

In the last Blog post we looked at a number of important Bible characters and discovered that they all had the same faults and failing that we all experience.

The above Gospel reading re-introduces us to one of those characters, Peter, and another of his gaffs. Jesus had previously asked his disciples the question, "Who do you think say that I am?" Peter had replied, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God."

Peter had seen all the great miracles, he had heard all the inspired teaching, he had seen how Jesus had dealt with the Scribes and the Pharisees and was convinced that Jesus was the one who had come to save Israel.

However, Jesus teaching to his disciples begins to take on a different theme. He now openly talks about handing himself over to those same Scribes and Pharisees, to suffering and death. All this is too much for Peter who takes Jesus aside and rebukes him – in other words he begins to tell Jesus off for even thinking this way. But Jesus tells him off for thinking about human things rather than the things of God.

But let us pause for a moment -are we not guilty of the same attitude. We praise God and declare him to be the Lord – we pray, "Thy will be done." and then we question when things do not seem to go the way we imagined.

Take up your cross

Let's read those words again: "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me."

What does Jesus mean by "take up your cross?" We often interpret it as meaning some sort of suffering. We ask someone who has a long standing medical complaint and they may well reply something like, "Well my dear, I must not complain, after all it is a cross I have to bear." This may be partially right but really Jesus was talking about something else. The clue is in the phrase, "Let them deny themselves." The cross we are all meant to carry if we are to be true Disciples of Christ is all about subjugating our will to that of God's. I believe that it is the hardest thing we are called upon to do. It is totally against our human nature which makes me and my will the centre of the world.

In 1943 a Psychologist of the name of Maslow produced a theory which he called the Hierarchy of Needs. Maslow believed that the most important needs where physiological (food, sleep etc.) followed by the need for safely – and this could include not only physical safety, but job security etc. This was then followed by the need to love and be loved and then the need for esteem and lastly the need for creativity. How people meet these needs varies from society to society and with time. For example, to the Victorian esteem came with class, today it seems to come with money and possessions.

Whatever we think of Maslow's theory it is easy to see that there are forces within us that keep on driving us in a certain direction. They are not wrong in the eyes of God, after all he put them there for our benefit, but there are times when the Will of God calls us to go against one or more of them. A good example is in our reading. Maslow says that one of our needs is safety. Peter was responding to that need by warning Jesus to stay away from Jerusalem. Jesus knew that God's will was that he put aside that need however much it pulled him in the opposite direction.

So then, taking up our cross in this fashion, bringing our needs and desires into line with the will of God, is both challenging and difficult. In fact it is the most difficult challenge we will ever face –so difficult that it cannot be a one off action. In Luke's version Jesus talks about taking up the cross daily. That is the only way it can be done.

Listening to God

How then do we go about taking up the cross?

There is really only one answer – listening to God, daily. It is fine coming to Church on a Sunday. It is fine listening to the words of the liturgy or the words of the sermon. It is fine going to the altar to partake of the body and blood of Christ – but that is just an hour or so in a week, the rest of which we often spend in meeting OUR needs.

Both as individual Christians and as a Church we really have to get to grips with this. As individuals how much time do we spend reading our Bibles and being quiet with God? As a Church have we ever taught people how to do that and do we supply both time and space so that people can?

Choosing Life

Of course we have to have the will and that is not easy. As I have mentioned there are forces that drive us. Jesus terms it as "wanting to save our life" that is putting me and my needs above everything else. If I do that I end up with nothing. On the other hand, the more I put that aside, the more I will experience what true life really is.

I think I know what all this means. Two years ago I was on retreat at Holy Island. After two days communing with God, it seemed that even the peace if the Island was too noisy. Just off the coast there is St Cuthbert's Isle a very small Island that is cut off for a lot of the day. I managed to wade across and had the island to myself. It was just me and God. Not long after being there it seemed that time and space ceased to exist and for a while I truly believe that I experienced what it really means to be alive. In fact I felt more alive than I had done in some time.

But experiencing God in that way is not just for the few. It is the right of all those who call themselves God's people. It is the right of everyone here.

Tomorrow is the beginning of September, in many ways it is the start of a new Church program. Perhaps this is an opportune moment for us to pick up that cross. To find new life where God is the focus and not ourselves.

Changes will not come overnight – carrying a cross is not easy – sometimes we may stumble – sometimes others will have to come to our aid and help us with the weight. The stations on the walls tell the story. But the reward is real life – the thing that the world seeks – but never finds and is open to you.

Just as I am

Readings: Genesis 37: 12-28

Romans 9: 1-5

Matthew 14: 13-21

These three readings introduce us to three characters – Joseph, Peter and Paul.

Firstly, our Old Testament reading introduced us to Joseph – made famous by Andrew Lloyd – Webber.

A couple of years ago we were all subjected to a programme where a group of wanabes battled it out to play his character in the West End. Yet Joseph was not the nice "boy next door" type – in reality he was your original self centred, precocious brat. Spoilt rotten by his father, full of his own importance it is no wonder his brothers hated him. I suspect he was far worse than the Bible lets on. It records the special coat that his father made and two of his dreams which were interpreted as his father, mother and brothers bowing down to him, but they were probably the tip of the iceberg. Most likely his brothers had been subjected to years of this stuff. Of course, that does not excuse their actions but it does explain them.

Secondly, our New Testament reading centres on the writings of Paul.

Many Christians will not have a word said against Paul, and one has to admit that the Christian Church, as we know it, would not exist without him. Through Paul the Church both expanded and began to work out its theology as to the nature and mission of Christ. However, I can't help feeling that if I met him I would be more likely to give him a punch than a handshake.

I find Paul to be arrogant and boastful. Time and time again he says that he does not want to boast and then goes on about all the things he has gone through - with a sense of pride.

He writes that we are all one in Christ and that there is no Jew or Greek, male or female and then tells women to shut up in church and learn from their husbands.

He rows with Barnabas about taking Mark on a missionary journey, because he thought Mark was not up to the task and there is friction between Paul and the Church in Jerusalem.

And the thing that really gets me – in his letters he keeps on writing finally, and then goes on with another point.

Thirdly (I will not say finally) our Gospel reading is about Peter. If anyone suffered with foot and mouth disease it was Peter. He was always opening his mouth and putting his foot in it. "Put brain in gear before opening your mouth" never occurred to Peter. The Gospel reading is a classic example. The disciples are out in a storm. In the distance they see a figure walking on the water and the disciples, quite reasonably, think it is a ghost. Jesus seeks to comfort them and Peter utters "Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water." If you are charitable, one could say that Peter's words were a great statement of faith – if you are less charitable you may conclude that Peter has not thought this through. Even more so when he actually steps out of the boat and begins walking! But Peter was like that- one moment he could say profound things, the next it could be completely the opposite.

After the death and resurrection of Jesus, Peter figures in the Acts of the Apostles and we see the same pattern. At the house of Cornelius God shows him that there is not distinction between Jews and Gentiles. Peter defends that position at a council in Jerusalem but then Paul tells us that later on he has to tell Peter off for separating himself from Gentiles when he is eating.

There are other writings of the early Christian period that suggest that Peter party to a split between himself and James and that Peter actively discouraged the ministry of those women who had followed Jesus.

So why am I saying all this? Perhaps I have been a bit flippant at times? Perhaps I am being either uncharitable, expressing my own opinion, or both?

The reason I am doing it is to show that God uses us as we are with all our faults and failings, whether actual or perceived by others. Behind every Saint there is a story. David, who looks so benign in out of a window in our church was in reality a harsh disciplinarian. That did not stop God using him, just as it did not stop him using Joseph, Paul and Peter.

Do not think that to work for God you have to be perfect. There is no perfect Christian and no perfect Church. Billy Graham is quoted as saying, "If you find the perfect Church, don't join it as your will spoil it."

Going back to Paul- in his letter to the Philippians, after saying "finally" and going on about all the things he had done – he writes "Not that I have already obtained, or am already perfect" Paul knew he had faults. "For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want but the evil I do not want. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?" – "Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord." It does not come much stronger than that.

All these people lived in the past, but here today we are all charged with the same mission – to reveal God to those around us. It is not just the job of the Clergy, nor of Readers or any other licensed ministry within the Church, it the job of us all. It is an urgent task and despite what we may think people are open to God.

If Jesus had waited until he had got twelve perfect disciples we would not be here today. They all had faults and one was even a terrorist! Jesus takes ordinary people and works with them.

Those who know me know I'm a pessimist. I believe that if anything can go wrong it will. But when it comes to the ministry of the church I am completely optimistic. I believe we have an important role to play in our parishes and in our towns and cities. That role needs us all to be on board. Many already are. But if you're one of the ones who is thinking that you have to change before God can use you. Think again. God wants you just as you are. To him our faults can actually be strength. Paul wrote some good stuff after his finalies – Peter was the rock on which the church was founded, and Joseph rescued the emerging Israel from extinction. Who knows – saying yes today may well change the course of history.

Fishers of People

Palestinian Fishermen Today


A man wanted to start a new company, so he began poring over C.V after C.V. He selected ten people with great qualifications, hired them, and put them to work.

He could tell pretty quickly, however, that his company wasn't going to succeed. Two of the people he hired were always arguing about the right way to market their product. Three others spent all their time devising strategies but had no idea how to implement their plans. The others bickered with one another over product placement, accounting techniques, and goals and objectives. The man fired all of his employees and decided to start over. He asked himself the question, “What have I done wrong?” Perhaps he should have taken his example from Jesus.

When Jesus began recruiting disciples, he looked in rather unlikely places. Instead of in the synagogues, he looked in boats along the seashore. Instead of in the inner court of the temple, he recruited from the tax collector's booth in the outer courtyard. Instead of in the cultural centre it was of Judaism, the city of Jerusalem, he looked in the backwoods province of Galilee, derided as "Galilee of the Gentiles" by many of his contemporaries. The ragtag group of fisherman, tax collectors, political zealots, and others became a team of committed followers. Sure, they were sceptical at first. No one leaves a reliable job to pursue the poorly defined scheme of a wild-eyed madman.

Most of us enjoy stories about naïve amateurs who make bizarre mistakes. We chuckle knowingly over the man who complained about the performance of his new powerboat, only to have the marina staff discover that he’d launched the boat without taking it off the trailer, or the woman who mistook the CD-ROM drive on her computer for a retractable cup holder. We may laugh but the truth is that we have all been in similar situations – even in some eyes Jesus.

The Galilean fishermen, hard at work on their nets, may have recalled stories like that when the teacher from Nazareth asked to use one of their boats as a podium. A bit later they had proof of his ignorance when he told them to cast their nets in the deep during broad daylight. Perhaps then folks joked, "Those that can, do; those that can’t, teach."

Though the men never knew for sure if the huge catch of fish that resulted was a miracle of God or just dumb luck, it altered the course of their lives. Soon they became the amateurs and rookies. "Catching people," that’s how Jesus described their new vocation. They had no training for this new line of work. Indeed, in his other volume, Luke described two of them, Peter and John, as "uneducated and ordinary men"

But they soon learned that Jesus was more than he seemed at the outset. He spoke about forgiveness and acceptance to tax collectors, he answered the questions of sceptics, and he directed fisherman so that they could make a great catch of fish. Having won them over, he promised them greater accomplishments. When we encounter Jesus in our own lives, maybe we sometimes wonder why we were chosen. Surely there are others who could do the job better than I can. Certainly there are more persuasive speakers or or smarter people! But Jesus didn't look for followers among the socially elite, because his ministry was primarily among the common people. Jesus' success as a recruiter is exemplified by the fact that today, two thousand years later, the spiritual descendants of those twelve have grown into a huge multitude, two billion strong by some counts.

All this is well and good, but it’s all in the past – let us bring it up to-date. We can do that by simply asking ourselves the question – “Why did Jesus choose me?” Think for a moment – was it because you had a special talent, a brilliant C.V. that would make you one of the ‘high fliers’ in the business of ‘catching people.’ If Jesus stood here right now and said “Follow me,” would you make excuses that you were not the right person for the job?

The success of a movement that will turn the world upside down by means of a message, a "gospel," would seem to require orators and wordsmiths, not a bunch of unlearned people.

The secret lies in the net with which Jesus’ "fishers of people" will make their catch. It must be made partly of words. After all, the apostles and prophets did an awful lot of talking, and they left among their notes the principle that "faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." Moreover, they came to believe that God provided the words to say, and those words had remarkable power.

Nevertheless, how many people either then or now become followers of Christ solely through hearing or seeing words? Important as words are, the net that God hauls through this world, using former fishermen’s hands, has other knots and strands as well.

In the early 13th century there was a young man, the son of a merchant, who liked nothing better than going out with his friends and spending his father’s money. As his father was a cloth merchant he always had the finest of clothes. Like many young people he had no time for education and, to all accounts, was a little naïve. The only thing he could dream about was going to war and winning his spurs as a knight. With that in mind he bought a suit of expensive armour, way above his station in life.

Well he got his way and one day went off to war. However, things did not go to plan and he ended up captured and imprisoned for two years. This did not damp his ardour and he could not wait for the next occasion.

During his wait he spent his time walking around. Not far away there was an old church in much need of repair. He entered and started to pray. On the wall of the church there was a crucifix and it seems that the Christ was staring at him. He heard the words “Francis, build my church which you see in ruins.” Now what Jesus meant by the church was not the building but the organisation which was at that time becoming very decadent and corrupt. But I have said, Francis was very naïve and so set about on his own to collect stones to repair the church single handed.

Finally, have experienced the love of God towards him, Francis found he had changed. Shortly after he was walking past a leper colony. Lepers were the one thing that Francis hated, normally he would go miles out of his way to avoid them, but this day he seemed strangely drawn. As he got nearer one of the lepers met him and, instead of running away, Francis walked up and kissed him. Interestingly, Francis claimed that this was the moment of his conversion and not the incident before the cross. God’s love had entered Francis just as he was with all his faults an failings, and now it had been passed on to others.

The net that caught Francis was made of words, all right. Francis had attended church and knew some of the scriptures, but it was the love of God and the spirit of Christ that wove the words together and gave them strength proved the effective agents in this story.

That same net has hauled us, too, into the boat that Peter and the others learned to sail after that great catch in Galilee. Now our lives become part of the way God draws all humankind into the loving embrace that waits patiently while the boats work their way toward shore.

Finally, no night is completely lost that finds us hauled up on shore, face to face with the Amateur who once borrowed Peter’s boat to use as a pulpit, the one who has no day job, really, except to love us. And we have no other job than to love others in return, for that we need no qualifications.

Faith or Works?

It is some time since we have posted anything here. Somehow summer has slipped by.

The following is a sermon preached by me one the 3rd of September. I had not intended to publish it, but some people have asked for a copy, so putting it up here seemed the best option.

Dave

Faith or Works?

Readings: James 1-17 –end, Mark 7.1-8, 14-15, 21-23

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress and, and to keep oneself unstained by the world. (James 1-27)

For by grace you have been saved, through faith, and this is not of your own doing; if is the gift of God – not the result of works, so that on one may boast. (Eph 2-8)

Introduction

These to verses, to some extent, sum up the long standing debate in Christianity – just how are we put right with God? Is it by having faith in the person and sacrifice of Jesus, or is it by living a good and caring life?

However, this debate is older than Christianity. In our gospel reading this morning, Jesus is confronted with the Pharisees. They wanted to know why Jesus was allowing his disciples to eat without washing their hands. Surely, anyone who claims to be religious and a good Jew should be following all the laws and traditions laid down. To the Pharisee, there were rules for everything, and only by following these rules could a person be considered righteous before God.

Throughout the centuries, the church too began to act this way. To put it simply: sin separated people from God; it was as if they had a large negative bank balance with God. To pay off that debt they not only had to have faith in Christ but to earn credits. They could do that by attending mass, going on pilgrimage to holy places and (surprise, surprise) giving money to the church. Even then, the debt was likely to be so large that the balance had to be worked off by torment in purgatory and by people paying for mass to be said for you soul.

All this changed with the reformation and the doctrine of ‘Justification by Faith.’ For a person to be put right with God they simply had to believe that Jesus was the Son of God and that by his sacrifice on the cross he had paid the debt of their sins. The cry of the Reformation became “Faith Alone.” Good work, though desirable, were not essential to the salvation of ones soul. Because of this Martin Luther, the so called father of the Reformation called the Book of James an ‘Epistle of Straw,’ because of its emphasis on works. This difference caused the split between Protestantism and Catholicism

To some extent, these two opposing view remain even today, nearly 600 years on.

The Biblical Argument

The question of faith alone or faith plus works is made difficult by some hard-to-reconcile Bible passages. In Romans 3:28, Paul states: we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law: but in James 2:24. we read: You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. Some see a difference between Paul (salvation is by faith alone) and James (salvation is by faith plus works). In reality, Paul and James did not disagree at all. The only point of disagreement some people claim is over the relationship between faith and works. As we have seen, Paul dogmatically says that justification is by faith alone (Ephesians 2:8-9) while James appears to be saying that justification is by faith plus works. This apparent problem is answered by examining what exactly James is talking about. James is refuting the belief that a person can have faith without producing any good works. So faith by itself, if it has no works is dead. (James 2:17). James goes on to emphasise the point that genuine faith in Christ will produce a changed life and good works (James 2:20-26). James is not saying that justification is by faith plus works, but rather that a person who is truly justified by faith will have good works in their life. If a person claims to be a believer, but has no good works in his life – then he likely does not have genuine faith in Christ (James 2:14, 17, 20, 26).

Paul says the same thing in his writings. The good fruit believers should have in their lives is listed in Galatians 5:22-23. Immediately after telling us that we are saved by faith, not works (Ephesians 2:8-9), Paul informs us that we were created to do good works (Ephesians 2:10). Paul expects just as much of a changed life as James does, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17)! James and Paul do not disagree on their teaching on salvation. They approach the same subject from different perspectives. Paul simply emphasized that justification is by faith alone while James put emphasis on the fact that faith in Christ produces good works.

For me the Biblical argument raises two fundamental questions? What application does it have for us today? Does it really affect life in the 21st century?

Does it really affect life in the 21st century?

If we believe, our salvation is by faith alone then it leads to a very self centred form of Christianity. Nowhere is this better demonstrated than in the Fundamentalist Christian groups in the United States. Their unerring belief that prophecies regarding God’s people Israel and major war in the Middle East which will bring about Christ’s return has lead them influence American politicians , including President Bush to give unwavering support to the Nation of Israel , a county that has ignored more United Nations resolutions than Sadam Hussain ever did. That support has lead to the subdegration of the Palestinian people and now the destruction of Lebanon as well as insecurity for many of the Israeli people. There seems to be little evidence of care for these people from these Fundamentalist groups.

Contrast that with the work of other Christians who are there on the streets of Lebanon, living with the people of the Gaza Strip, doing their best for the people of Iraq as their country slips into civil war. For these Christians, simply believing is not enough they feel called to help in some small way. Sadly, there voice is seldom heard in the corridors of power – what they do often goes un-noticed, but they have a firm belief that ‘faith without works is dead’ and that following Christ for them means ministering among the dispossessed.

What application does it have for us today?

The Church in England faces a huge challenge. Britain is one of the most secular societies in the western world. Why is that so? We are given many reasons, but it is fairly safe to say that a main cause is that we in the church have become inward looking. The Church of England a prime example. Just look at the agendas for General Synod for the past 30 years! It seems we are more worried about our own faith and how that works out in the church, than we are about what is happening in our parishes and the wider world.

What of St. David’s? We too face huge challenges in the future. Do we say to ourselves ‘Well my faith is Ok’ I’ll come along Sunday by Sunday and do my duty to God; I’ll even support other church activities. All very laudable, but if that’s all we do – if that becomes the sum total of our Christian commitment and all our efforts are put into maintaining the status quo at St. David’s – we should not be surprised when we become even less relevant to society outside.

However, If we begin to see St. David’s as the place where our faith in God is both strengthened and renewed, a place from which we can go out into the world so that we can not only bring the message of Christ but also work for him in whatever way he should choose, then St. David’s becomes more than a building and its presence in the parish extends further than the corner of Rocky Lane, its relevance along with the relevance of Christ grows.

Conclusion

Where do I stand?

Faith. You may be the sort of person who has faith, but have never really expressed it other than in worship. You need to seek out what God would have you to do.

Works. It may be you’re the sort of person who is trying to work your way into heaven. You do marvellous things, but deep down there is a void that only God can fill.

Faith and Works. You need to make sure that you keep the balance right between the two. Having a soul friend who you can trust is one idea to make sure you do.

Sermon for the Transfiguration

Gill and I have just come back from Northern Ireland. Last Sunday we worshiped at Down Cathedral in Downpatrick, built, so they say, on the site where Patrick was buried and a place where Christians have worshipped for fifteen hundred years. Today’s building is very different from the original, being built in the early 19^th Century. We also visited a number of other sites. There was the Franciscan Friary just outside Ballycastle, long ruined and used for centuries as a burial ground, the ruined Cistercian Monastery, Inch Abbey and, almost by accident we stumbled on Temple Cooey, a holy well and the site where the obscure Celtic saint built a church in the late 7^th Century and today is a place of pilgrimage for the Catholic population.

Why am I mentioning these things? What have they to do with the Transfiguration?

Well, this Sunday is about change. The word Transfiguration means to change the outward appearance or figure. (You know what a figure is, that thing you constantly try to keep in shape after you turn about twenty-five. Slim-fast, yogurt Atkins diet you know the drill.) But to transfigure something means to change its outward appearance, not what it really is on the inside. Tadpoles become frogs, babies become adults, there is often an outward change, but the essence of the thing remains the same. All the site we visited have changed over the years, certainly in appearance and possibly in use, but, for me, all retained their core of holiness. To those attuned, they know they are standing on holy ground.

Jesus was nothing to look at in His day. Judas had to go up to Jesus and give him a kiss of greeting so that the soldiers would know which one he was! In Jesus’ life He was often overlooked. We hear almost nothing about Him for thirty years. He could get lost in a crowd. He died with common criminals. They rescued His body, but that was hardly unusual in the day. The prophet Isaiah even said that Jesus had no beauty that we should desire Him.

Now on this Transfiguration Sunday, we get a glimpse of Jesus from the inside. We no longer see him in the shadows, hiding behind the cloak of the dirt and muck of the world. Now it is broad daylight. Now we see Him as He truly is, God of God, light of light, very God of very God.

On that Transfiguration Day, the disciples saw Jesus and realized that He really is somebody that mattered. He is in fact much more than that: Jesus is the only somebody that matters. Hidden beneath the anonymity and ordinariness of a travelling Jewish rabbi was the King of King and Lord of Lords. All of the fullness of the Godhead dwelt bodily in Jesus Christ. God became man and now the disciples were getting a picture of how we will be transfigured in God.

Yet August 6, 2006 reminds us of another transfiguration. Sixty-one years ago flyers of the U.S. Army Air Corps dropped an atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima, Japan -- a profoundly dramatic event that forever changed the world. This cataclysm released such energy that a blue sky was transfigured into a blinding white light of an intensity never before witnessed.

To some, it seemed that hell itself had intersected with the earth that day. Fifty to seventy thousand people were instantly killed and countless other maimed and fatally injured.

For more than six decades we have lived with the reality that humans have the capacity to destroy every lifeform God so lovingly created.

Without going into details, on our visit to Northern Ireland we were reminded of the divisions and hatreds that have divided the people for so long. One wonders about places like Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine will ever cope in the future. Left to human devices, I doubt they ever will.

However, what is impossible for humans is possible for God.

One of fundamental beliefs of the Quakers is that 'there is that of God in everyone' There is a principle placed in the human mind which is pure & proceeds from God. It is deep and inward, confined to no religion nor excluded from any where the heart stands in perfect sincerity. (John Woolman, American Quaker, 1720-1772)

In you and me, somewhere in the core of our being, there is something of the Divine. God is not ‘out there’ but living in each one of us. Transfiguration for us is in allowing that Divine core to shine through. That is not an easy process and one which we will never complete in this life, but one small spark of God in one person can do more good than we can ever imagine.

Last Sunday, the text at Downpatrick was from Eph 3:20 “Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to do more than we can ask and imagine.” Whatever we imagine -God can do more.

It may be hard to accept that there is a Divine core within us – harder still to accept is that core exists also in out enemies. But because it does there is hope – when both sides touch the Divine everything and anything is possible.

So then Transfiguration is about change – not just the change that took place in Jesus on the mountain top, but the change that can take place in all. It is not a just a commemoration of an event in the life of Jesus but a picture of what is waiting for all of us.

The Transfiguration is also about hope – that when all the earthy shell with all its faults is dropped at the core is the Divine. It is that Divine which enables those things we think impossible to be possible. It is the hope for the world.

It is about opening ourselves up to hear the voice of God and his word for us. However busy Jesus created time and space for himself in order to hear his father’s words. Ought we not do the same?

I can do no more than to leave you with a prayer of St. Paul’s – again from Ephesians 3.

I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses all knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Now to him, who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, for ever and ever. Amen

Dave's Good Friday Sermon

Introduction

Today is a day set aside for reflection. The whole of our liturgy is solemn. The altar is bare. There are no flowers. We are quiet. Today we are invited to enter into the tomb and stay there. It is not a nice place to be. Because we know that Christ rose from the dead, we are looking forward to Sunday, for Easter. - However, to reach Sunday we need to also experience Good Friday. And what we do here today is, in many ways, reflected in our own lives.

What does it mean to enter into the tomb?

Suffering in all its forms is part and parcel of our existence. Many of us are still grieving at the death of friends, relatives and members of our congregation. We have only to turn on our television to hear the cries and the anguish of parents as the children they love turn to drugs and violence. Some of us will have walked with others as they experienced breakdowns in their marriage relationships or as they have faced serious sickness. We have witnessed the cruel effects of war and the disquiet that uncertainty brings on all of us, particularly with the possibility of terrorist acts. Over the above all this is the fear of our own death. This is all part of entering into the tomb. No wonder we do not want to even think about such issues. It is not pleasant. We would rather bury them away in the background . The very thought of them can make us fearful and afraid. The famous Russian writer Solzhenitsyn often repeated these words. "The man who has no fear is no hero. The person who faces and overcomes fear is the hero." In Christ we are able to overcome those fears.

The great news is that Good Friday affirms that we are not alone in the tomb. Jesus is there. In the Letter to the Hebrews, the author says, "We have not a God that is incapable of feeling our weaknesses with us, but we have one who has been tempted in every way that we are." (Heb 4:14-16) For us who believe, the Crucified Christ is not a sign of shame, of defeat, or hopelessness, but "is the wisdom and the power of God" (1Cor 2:24).

The Apostle Paul understood this quite well. One of his famous phases is "when I am weak, then I am strong". This is one of the great paradoxes of Christianity. It seems to me that there is a bit of a contradiction here. You cannot be weak and strong at the same time. You can either be weak or strong. Paul would reply, that during his times of anxiety and fear, he would feel weak and he would have been ready to give up. However, he always remembered that in the midst of his difficulties, Jesus is always present. Relying on Him rather than on what was going within him or around him, Paul would rally forward with renewed strength and commitment.

God has no favourites and the same thing happens to us. When we face and walk in the midst of our difficulties with Jesus Christ on our side, then we also become strong. Suffering enables us to become more discerning and we tend to seek values that are life-giving rather than follow the most recent opinion polls. Suffering can make us more sensitive and open to other people's hurts and needs. We tend to become more appreciative of what we have and who we are. We become more appreciative of our life. We take less for granted those who are dear to us. In short we take stock of who we are and move on with greater wisdom, maturity, understanding and openness.

Moreover, we become strong because we come to an understanding that ultimately we depend totally on God. As humans, we are limited. We are not perfect. We do not know everything. We do not have the answer for every question. Certainly confronted with suffering we understand how poor in spirit we really are. This is the time when we throw ourselves in the arms of this God who is there with us in the tomb.

Good Friday is the day when Jesus is reminding us that he is constantly putting his arms around us when we are physically, psychologically, emotionally and spiritually in pain, and saying, "I know you are hurting, I know you are puzzled. I know that you feel like panicking. Courage, you are not alone. Do not give up. You will grow through this. Come on let us keep going. I am with you and I will not leave you".

Conclusion

So, on this Good Friday we are reminded of the tomb. We are reminded of the suffering of our Saviour. We think too of our own suffering and the suffering of the world.

But on this Good Friday we know that there will be an Easter Sunday, that the suffering of the tomb will turn to resurrection and triumph. We are partakers of the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead that Easter Morn.

Read Romans 8:11-17

Walking the Way of the Cross

Read: John 12:20-33

Introduction

In this Gospel reading we see beginning the Passion journey of Our Lord. A journey that will lead eventually to the cross.

John 12 represents a major turning point. If we turn back just one verse to John 12:19 we read the following:

The Pharisees then said one to another, “You see you can do nothing. Look the world has gone after him!”

In many ways this is their final rejection of Jesus and his ministry. It echoes the opening words of the Gospel “He came to what was his own, and his own people rejected him.” John 1:11

Contrast that with the opening verses of our reading "Now among those who went up to the festival were some Greeks. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee and said to him, “Sirs we wish to see Jesus.” Here we have recorded a group of Gentiles actively seeking out Jesus. Was Jesus waiting for this moment? Certainly when Jesus hears of their arrival he answers with the words “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.”

I believe this is a great turning point. Up to now Jesus' ministry is to his own people. Now from this point forward he is going on to die for the sins of the whole world. Here our salvation begins!

Jesus' talk is now turns to the world and all its inhabitants; not just the people of Judea to whom he has previously ministered “Now is the judgment of this world, now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw ALL people to myself.” (verses 31-32)

Here we see the death of Christ as the realisation of God's plan. Christ on the cross draws all people to himself. The Greeks wanted to see the man Jesus, the cross of Christ draws people from all over the world not only to see, but be saved through him.

Salvation

How then do we become part of that salvation?

To return to the beginning of John's gospel we read:

“But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave the power to become children of God.” (John 1:11)

So then, belief that Jesus is the Son of God, is the way into salvation. But salvation is more than that, it about turning around and living life differently from before.

Jesus' own word point the way.

“Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their lives in this world will keep it for eternal life.” (verse 25)

What is Jesus saying? John Donahue, a Jesuit priest writes:

Those words may seem jarring to an age that is only too aware of the dangers of self-loathing and lack of self-esteem. “Loving life” in John - means a preference for “the world” and the human glory that can blind a person to God's love. Hatred of one's life means rejection of the claims of the 'world' and the willingness to serve and follow Jesus. This becomes explicit in the next saying “whoever serves me must follow me”

Surely this is the whole point of the Lenten season. To examine again our attachment to the world and our commitment to Christ. It is a struggle – it is not easy. The attraction of the world and all it has to offer, pulls at us every day. It is easy to want what the world offers, to want the recognition that can be ours, only if we give it our full attention.

However, we are not alone in our struggles. This is exactly the same struggle that Christ faced.

I see the Greeks in this reading as a symbol of the glory that the world has to offer. On one side we have the adoration of the people on, the other the road to the cross. Jesus chooses the latter.

In our reading from Hebrews, we heard about the Priestly role of Christ. In Hebrews Chapter 4 we read:

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathise with our weakness, but one who in every respect has been tested as we are -

We are not alone. Christ, having given himself on the cross, having risen on Easter Day, now sits at the right hand of God and prays for us in our journey.

So, as we come to Passiontide – as we hear of the events that lead up to his crucifixion – as we make that journey with Christ, in many ways we reflect our own journey and our own struggles.

? The pull of people who demand our attention even when we don't feel like giving it.

? The praise of others that turns into hatred when we don't do things their way.

? The grief we feel. when friend of many years desert us and, even worse, betray us.

? The anger of those who do not see eye to eye with us.

? The callousness of the state which often gives lip service to justice but in reality carries out the will of those with power and influence.

? The times when it seems that we are carrying the weight of the world on our shoulders.

Conclusion

Being a Christian is not easy. It is not about taking soft options. It IS about living our lives in a way that will often bring us into conflict with the world. It does not isolate us from the pain an suffering that is part of the human lot – at times it may even make it worse. But we do have the knowledge that Jesus has trodden the path before us and the rewards that are his will one day be ours.

Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus. Who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made of himself of no reputation, and took on himself the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient onto death, even the death of the cross. (Phil:5-9 KJV)

Cleaning out the Temple

This is another of my Lenten Sermons which I share with you all.

On the wall of our church, near the doorway to the hall, hangs a copy of ‘Light of the World, a painting by the pre-Raphaelite artist Holman Hunt. It is a picture of Jesus, patiently waiting outside a door to be let in. Its inspiration is the bible passage “Behold, I stand at the door and knock.” It was a painting that graced many a Victorian or Edwardian home. I first remember seeing it hanging outside my Sunday school room when I was five or six. It is a painting that is in stark contrast to our Gospel reading this morning.

When Jesus entered the temple he discovered people selling cattle, sheep and doves to the pilgrims who needed them to make their obligatory sacrifices. Those pilgrims also needed to change their Roman coinage into Jewish money in order to pay the temple tax. So Jesus comes fact to face with the money changers.

Was Jesus surprised that they were there? I don't think so. He had visited the Temple when he was twelve and had probably done so on a number of occasions since. He would have been quite aware of what was going on. This would not have been a spare of the moment act

Jesus deliberately plaits a whip out of the reeds on the ground, thrashed the animals from the temple, scattered the coffers of the money changers, and overturned their tables: "Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father's house a marketplace!" Later the Gospel writer remembered Psalm 69:9 and attached a sense of prophetic fulfillment to the event: "Zeal for your house will consume me."

The picture this scene paints of Jesus is one completely different from the one in Hunt's painting. However, the truth is if we really dig under the surface of the Gospels, we meet a quite different Jesus to the one we expect. Some of you may remember the last time I spoke and how revolutionary we saw Jesus’ visit to Levi and how it broke all the religious, moral and social codes of the day. I called Jesus a revolutionary. What could be more revolutionary than Jesus’ act that morning in the temple.

Reading various commentaries on this incident, most, not unnaturally, concentrate on Jesus’ motives for his outburst. Some see in his actions, justification for their own. Not unsurprisingly, the reformers use this incident to justify their own destruction of the statues, paintings, stained glass etc. of the pre Reformation church. However, when questioned, Jesus says nothing at all about his motives..

However, one commentary did strike my attention because it was so different from the others.

“ I read the cleansing of the temple as a stark warning against any and every false sense of security. Misplaced allegiances, religious presumption, pathetic excuses, smug self-satisfaction, spiritual complacency, nationalist zeal, political idolatry, and economic greed in the name of God are only some of the tables that Jesus would overturn in his own day and in ours.” (The Journey with Jesus: Notes to Myself, Daniel B. Clendenin, Journey with Jesus Foundation.)

For the Jews the temple was more than a place of worship – the place where God dwelt. The temple had become a symbol of national pride. They saw themselves as the one people who had access to God; what is more they had his presence right there in the temple. The Romans may think themselves special, but they knew they special – They had God. Nothing of the outside is allowed in, that is why the money has to be changed – God does not want anything inferior, and the Romans are inferior. The whole of their national identity was wrapped up in the Temple. We remember how the Americans reacted with the destruction of the Twin Towers in New York. Could you imagine the shock when Jesus mentions the destruction of the temple.

Of course the same attitude that was found in Israel can be found in all ages and amongst all races. At its worst it can be found in the Nazi movement and its ideas of the master race. But in its lesser form by groups who believe that their way is the only right way, or their church is the only true church.

If Jesus acts in the temple tell us anything it is this. God is not interested in our great buildings, however special they are. One day the great cathedrals of this land will fall. Look at the Monasteries!

God is not interested in our National Pride, our history and how great we see ourselves in the world. Nations come and nations go. All the great empires of the past are fallen. Even western culture will have its end.

What God is interested you and me. – We are the true temple

“Do you not know that you are God's Temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?” (1 Cor3:16)

“For we are the temple of the Living God” (2 Cor 6:16)

If then, we are the Temple of God, what goes on inside? This lententide we need to ask ourselves some hard questions

• Do we see ourselves as superior to those around?
• Do we have a false sense of security in our own powers?
• Do we presume we are always right?
• Have we allowed the World and all its values to invade our innermost quiet.
• Have we become greedy, not only for money but for our share of the earth's resources?

Jesus once told a parable.

Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ‘God I thank you that I am not like other men – robbers, evildoers, adulterers – or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all that I get.’

But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God have mercy on me a sinner I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. (Luke 18: 9-14)

It is no accident that the prayer of the Tax Collector is displayed on our back-cloth during lent.

Is that prayer our prayer?

Are we willing to cleanse the temple - or will Jesus have to come and do it?

Revolutionary Christianity

The following are notes from a sermon preached by me on Sunday 19th February 2006. Dave

Readings: 2 Corinthians. 3:1b-6 Mark 2:13-22

Text: who has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of letter but of spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. (2 Cor. 2:6)

Introduction:

Jesus was a revolutionary. Not that he took up arms against the established authorities, but in the sense that he challenged the accepted way of thinking. It was a challenge so strong that those in power sought to get rid of him. When they could not ridicule him in from of the people with their questioning, they set him up and had him put to death by the Roman Authorities.

Jesus

Our Gospel reading from Mark gives us an early glimpse into Jesus ministry and a hint of things to come.

It is said that there are two things in life that are certain – death and taxes. No one it seems likes the tax man. But what if that tax man was collecting money for an occupying force. How would we feel if the Germans had won the last war and one of our number was collecting our money to support the Reich? That’s exactly the position in which Levi found himself, he was doing very nicely collecting taxes for the Romans and, most likely, keeping some of it for himself. Jesus could well be eating a meal paid for by extortion. No wonder the religious leaders of the day did not like it. To make matters worse, it was not just Levi who was there, but a whole group of other tax collectors and people considered ‘not acceptable.’

Perhaps the Pharisees could cope with one renegade preacher, but to make matters worse he was starting to collect a group of people around him and these did not come from the ‘better’ part of society. Soon they were to include people like Levi himself (Matthew) Simon who, if not a terrorist himself, certainly supported them and Judas, who we are told was a bit ‘light fingered.’

Finally, these people seem to confirm all that the Pharisees think about them by not fasting when they are supposed to. I can hear the ‘I told you so’ now.

The Early Church

At the start, the church also lived the revolutionary life – revolutionary in that it was different from those people around them. Some chose to sell up and give their money to the poor. Others opened their homes for public worship. Rich people and slaves could be found worshiping together. (quite revolutionary in its day when all public worship was done in the temples and synagogues.) In the end Christian’s refusal to worship the Emperor as a God, brought them into conflict with the ruling powers and many paid with their life

The Church in History

All through history there have been people in the Church who have challenged the accepted order. For me, Francis is one such person, but there have been many others who have challenged the society in which they lived and made a radical difference.

Our Church

Let me ask a question. Knowing Jesus’ style of revolutionary ministry, how does it make me feel? But more to the point – If the church were to adopt the same style of ministry today where would I stand – with Jesus or with the Pharisees?

I think they are hard questions. I have to admit that my first reaction is to lean towards the Pharisees. In a way they represent respectability, comfort and a sense that I am part of a historic tradition. Yet there is another reaction deep within myself that say that is wrong.

Recently I read these words in a book call ‘A Condition of Complete Simplicity’ by Rowan Clare William It’s a book mainly for Franciscans, but I believe its words apply to everyone who follows Christ. In that sense I have changed the words Francis and Franciscan for Christ and Christian. Of present world conflicts she said:

Christians are called to live an incarnational presence in the world. Anyone who walks in the footsteps of Christ is lead into the middle of all the mess caused by evil and suffering. He refused to shy away from painful confrontations with reality, but insisted that God’s voice can and must be heard in every situation.

Perhaps the costliest part of a Christian vocation is to recognise that it is not only the victims but also the perpetrators of violence and terror who are our brothers and sisters

All very revolutionary. – could you, could I sit down and eat with the terrorist? In a very real way that is what Jesus did.

Conclusion

This brings me back to our text. – who has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant.

Although Paul wrote these words in support of the ministry of the apostles they apply to all of us. Each and every one of us has a duty to minister Christ to those around us. We are called to minister the New Covenant that there is acceptance for all, saint and sinner. We are all called to be revolutionaries.