Sermon. No easy peace. No easy welcome.

 Sermon. 2 July 2023. Trinity 4 (Year A)

 

Jeremiah 28:5-9

Matthew 10:40-42

 

Our readings today are easy. They bring us ease. They bring us ease because they are short (that’s part of it). And you are hoping they inspire a short sermon (let us see). The readings give us ease also because their meaning is simple. And they give us ease because their simple meaning is attractive.

 

Our first reading, from Jeremiah, tells us of prophets who speak of peace.

Our gospel reading shows us Jesus, who tells us how important it is to welcome and be welcomed. What is not to like? Here is easy ease.

 

Except, of course (and you were expecting this), it is not quite that simple. Most especially with Jeremiah, it is not that simple. With Jeremiah, the message is very different from how it seems, when put into context.

 

What has happened immediately before our passage is that the prophet called Hananiah has prophesied [Jer 28:1-4]. He is the prophet of peace. His message is that Gd has triumphed over the enemy of the people of the covenant. Gd “has broken the yoke of the King of Babylon”. Gd will bring back the exiles in Babylon, and the people of Judah will live in peace, in their own land. This is a powerful message. Feel the force of it. This is a prophecy about peace coming with victory.

 

Then. Then Jeremiah responds. First, he shares the ardent desire of Hananiah. He says: “Amen! May the LORD do so; may the LORD fulfil the words that you have prophesied.” But, Jeremiah then says: just notice how out of character this prophecy is. He doesn’t dress it up. He says: “The prophets who preceded you and me from ancient times prophesied war, famine, and pestilence against many countries and great kingdoms.” And so, he then says, as for “the prophet who prophesies peace, when the word of that prophet comes true, then it will be known that [Gd] has truly sent the prophet”.

 

Let me summarise. Jeremiah says:

“Dear Hananiah, the success you speak of would be lovely. It is scarcely what prophets tend to say, though. That doesn’t make it wrong, of course. But the thing is: we’ll believe it when we see it. We are right to be sceptical and say ‘we’ll believe it when we see it’.”

 

Jeremiah’s message is really against the prophet who presumes to speak of peace. And this is because Jeremiah’s message overall is that Gd’s people are going to be and stay in exile – to be in  a narrow place – for a long time to come. They need to bear that. They need to make the most of things. Without triumph . Without victory. Without ease.

 

And so to the Gospel. First let me reassure you. I am not saying that the message of the Gospel is the opposite of what it seems. But I am saying it is more complicated. It is not easy.

 

One part may already be clear. Jesus says it is a good thing to welcome a prophet. We have just reminded ourselves that prophets are typically people who bring bad news. It is a good thing to welcome someone who brings us bad news, who says things we find awkward, who says things that trouble us deeply, who says things which call us to action, action we would rather avoid. Can we welcome this welcome? That, I think, is a real challenge for us. A challenge for us as persons/disciples, as households, as church-in-this-place, and as a national Church.

 

Jesus also says it is a good thing to welcome a righteous person. To welcome a person who gets it right, who lives the good life. This feels like easier territory. Perhaps it is. I’ll add only that Jesus does not tell us to welcome the person who lives well in the ways that we live well, the person who sees things the way we see things. And we know (don’t we?) that there are people who we disagree with on nine things out of ten, who also live lives of goodness and holiness that we can only envy. The person who lives well, who is righteous, may – without even meaning it – shine a light on how we are not living well, are not living the good life. Can we welcome this welcome?

 

Again, Jesus says it is a good thing to welcome the little ones. Who are they? Babies, infants, children? I think they are included. But the term is broader than that. Let me put it this way: the “little ones” are those in need. Or better: the “little ones” are those who cannot hide their need, who come with their needs laid bare. Their needs are in your face. Their needs cry out for your response. For action, more action. Can we welcome this welcome?

 

We know, I think, that we are called to these kinds welcome, in our own place, in our own day.

We are called to welcome those who speak awkward truths.

We are called to welcome those whose lives show us the failings in our own lives.

We are called to welcome those whose needs cry out for help, now.

 

Brothers and sisters, you will make the links, the church links, the social links, and the political links. The links need to be made but I need not make them for you. My prayer is only that we reflect on our readings today, and find them (forgive me for this) anything but easy.

 

Amen.

Have Salt In Yourselves and Be At Peace

 

Sunday 26 September, Trinity 17, Year of Mark

 

Saying Sorry (Prayers of Penitence)

Father, you make each of us unique,

but we go astray with the crowd.

Lord, have mercy.

Lord, have mercy.

 

Christ, you call us all to a unique way,

but we choose set habits and comfort.

Christ, have mercy.

Christ, have mercy.

 

Holy Spirit, your breath brings forgiveness and change,

but we stay stuck with resentments and fears.

Lord, have mercy.

Lord, have mercy.

 

Numbers 11:4-6, 10-16, 24-29

 

James 5:13-20

 

Mark 9:38-50

 

Reflection (Sermon)

 

If you struggled to get one message from today’s Gospel, do not worry. You need not blame yourself at all. It happens quite often that a gospel passage is a combination of things. A mix. A muddle, even.

 

So let us begin with the end. With salt.

 

You know about salt in the Bible, I am guessing.

There is a phrase which is pretty well-known, even these days.

Christ says: “You are the salt of the earth.”

(He says it once,

by which I mean that it’s only recorded in Matthew’s Gospel, Matt 5.15.)

And we think we know what this means.

It means that we as Christians don’t have to try to rule the world.

Rather, simply by getting on with being Christians,

by living Christian lives,

we’ll be making a subtle but powerful difference to the world,

just like a bit of salt can make a meal.

 

This is important, and true.

But it’s fair to say it can feel like it’s a burden.

How Christian we are – how we are Christian – is what saves the world!

That has to be a tall order, doesn’t it?

Sometimes – sometimes – we will - in this or that regard – fail,

and that must be pretty serious.

We may even remember that in Matthew

the promise that we are the salt of the world comes with its own threat:

“but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltness be restored?

It is no longer good for anything

except to be thrown out and trodden under foot…”.

If we hear these words, it would be amazing if we weren’t a little unsettled.

 

But!

 

But today the message is a little different.

Rather, the difference is small in some ways, and total in others.

In Mark, Jesus says something I am not sure

Christian hearers and readers have ever understood:

“For every one will be salted with fire.”

If you know what it means, tell me afterwards.

Then comes the warning about salt losing its saltness.

Then comes a command, a command from Jesus Christ:

 

“Have salt in yourselves,

and be at peace with one another.”

 

Mark 9.49 Πᾶς γὰρ πυρὶ ἁλισθήσεται.

50 καλὸν τὸ ἅλας·

ἐὰν δὲ τὸ ἅλας ἄναλον γένηται, ἐν τίνι αὐτὸ ἀρτύσετε;

ἔχετε ἐν ἑαυτοῖς ἅλα

καὶ εἰρηνεύετε ἐν ἀλλήλοις.

 

That’s not a phrase of Jesus that is so well known. So let us pay attention to it now.

 

Jesus says: “Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”

 

What might Jesus mean?

 

Jesus is saying, it seems to me, that there is a quality within us, as Christians.

A quality of character.

A quality within us, and also a quality

in our behaviour, in our living, our acting.

This quality is not all of us.

This quality may not be what we are best known for.

But it flavours our life, our being.

Like salt flavours a meal.

 

This way of thinking about salt isn’t so much a stern commandment

to be Christians without reserve - or else.

This is more a promise that, by sticking to Christ,

Christ will make a difference to who we are.

We don’t have to work ourselves up into making a difference.

 

We simply have to let Christ be Christ in our lives.

(There will still be plenty to do. Don’t worry!

It’s just that those tasks will flow naturally

from the taste of Christ’s love within and between us.)

 

Something else may be said.

In the Gospel Jesus himself gives us a hint as to

what this quality, this salt, this salty quality is.

The salt we have within and between ourselves is linked intimately with…

with peace:

“Have salt in yourselves… be at peace with one another”.

 

Here I am reminded of some other words, words of a saint,

St Seraphim of Sarov (in Russia) [1754-1833].

He said: “Get a peaceful spirit, and thousands around you will be saved.”

 

I’ve repeated quite a lot in this reflection,

but I will make no apologies for repeating this:

“Get a peaceful spirit, and thousands around you will be saved.”

 

Brothers, if ever there is a message for this place,

and for all places like this one,

surely it is this.

Surely this is the message, the promise, the truth

that can truly encourage all Christians in this place.

“Get a peaceful spirit, and thousands around you will be saved.”

 

Is it easy to get a peaceful spirit, and hold onto it,

day in, day out, year in, year out?

No.

But the insistence here is that it is possible.

 

Another thing, just as important:

that difference, that saving, that salvation, may not be obvious.

You, the peaceful one, may not know – you may not have the first idea –

about the impact you are having.

That matters not.

That – bluntly – makes no difference.

 

So I say: here is the command which is also a promise.

I offer it to you, now.

For now. For all times.

 

 

Have salt in yourselves.

 

Be at peace with one another

 

Get a peaceful spirit,

 

and thousands around you will be saved.

 

 

Amen.

Prayers for the World and for All Needs (Intercessions)

 

May peace come. May it start with me.

 

God of peace, give us a peaceful Spirit.

Bless Graham and Jane, our bishops,

and all who bear leadership in our diverse churches.

Give them a clear vision and a warm heart.

 

May peace come. May it start with me.

 

God of peace, give us a peaceful Spirit.

Bless all who bear leadership in the world.

We renew our prayers for the peace of Jerusalem…

and for peace with freedom with justice with forgiveness

throughout your world.

 

May peace come. May it start with me.

 

God of peace, give us a peaceful Spirit.

Bless this place,

and all who live or work or visit here.

Give courage and calm and change

to all who are struggling here,

with drugs, or gangs, or ways of living which do not work.

 

May peace come. May it start with me.

 

God of peace, give us a peaceful Spirit.

Give the peace of wisdom to those who care

for those who are ill. or know dislocation of any kind.

Make yourself known as the Healer you are

to those we now name in our hearts….

 

May peace come. May it start with me.

 

God of peace, give us a peaceful Spirit.

Give a peaceful death to all who will die today,

especially those who will die

unprepared, in agony, alone, in war, or at their own hand.

Draw further into your light those who have shaped us and have died,

whom we may name now…

 

 

May peace come. May it start with me.

 

God of peace, give us a peaceful Spirit.

Guide us all, each your unique disciple.

 

May peace come. May it start with me.

 

 

Intercessions, 22 October 2017

Intercessions. 22 October 2017. St Michael and All Angels. Little Ilford.

O Gd who gives us life,

may we treat our lives as gift.

Yours, O Gd, is the greatness and the power.

Keep your Church mindful of your gentle and life-changing rule, 

reckless with regard to its own power and privilege,

committed always to giving a voice to the voiceless,

for your love knows no partiality and is fiercely for all. 

Guide… 

Bless our sisters and brothers 

marking the ending of the Divali festival in these days.

O Gd who gives us life,

may we treat our lives as gift.

Yours, O Gd is the glory, the splendour and the majesty.

We thank you for the brilliance of the beauty of the created order,

for the creativity of galaxies and cells,

for the loveliness of autumn changes. 

We pray for clement weather for us, these islands, and for all. 

We ask for blessing on all who fear, 

for whatever reasons, the lengthening nights.

O Gd who gives us life,

may we treat our lives as gift.

Everything on heaven and on earth is yours, O Gd.

Bless with wisdom and your Spirit’s disturbance

all who have power and influence. 

Guide our government and parliament, 

our MP and councillors. 

Strengthen peacemakers and challenge warmakers, 

as we renew our prayers for the peace of Jerusalem…

for the peace of Mogadishu…

For peace with justice, freedom and mutuality

in all the nations of Europe, from Spain to the Czech Republic… 

O Gd who gives us life,

may we treat our lives as gift. 

All things come from you, O Gd.

May your Spirit rest on this our parish, our Borough and our city.

Guide all who work here for the common good

Renew and refresh the mission of this our Froud community centre,

that it be a place to turn to, a place of hospitality and real-life assistance. 

Bless all who work in our hospitals and emergency services, our nursing homes and our support services.  

May we truly be a community, seeing always the image of Gd in one another. 

O Gd who gives us life,

may we treat our lives as gift.

Of your own do we give you, O Gd.

Confident of your love and care,

we offer all those we know living with sickness,

pain, loneliness or dislocation of any kind. 

Be with them as the Healer you are. 

Among them, we pray by name for…

O Gd who gives us life,

may we treat our lives as gift.

Yours, O Gd, is the greatness and the power.

You give us mortal human beings 

that greatness that comes from a boundaried life well-lived,

and at death you draw us yet closer to you. 

We pray for all who have died and have shaped us,

all who will die today,

especially those who will die

in agony, alone, unprepared or in war or violence,

and among those whose year’s mind occurs in these days…

O Gd who gives us life,

may we treat our lives as gift.

Yours, O Gd is the glory, the splendour and the majesty.

Show us the measure of your glory 

which you would have us enjoy and share with others,

as we live as the disciples you are calling us to be. 

O Gd who gives us life,

may we treat our lives as gift.

Intercessions, Advent 2.

Interecessions for the Second Sunday of Advent

John the Baptist cries out: 

'Prepare the way of the Lord'

V: God, we wait for you.

R: In you is our hope.

God our Father, the Heavenly One,

you call us to prepare your way.

We ask for your blessing upon your Church.

Free us from self-regarding trouble-makers,

but give us the true prophets we need,

in the spirit of John the Baptist,

and at whatever cost 
to our customs and comfort.

Guide Justin our Archbishop,

Stephen our Bishop

and Peter his bishop for us;

Fr Brian and all who minister to us.

V: God, we wait for you.

R: In you is our hope.

God our Father, the Heavenly One,

you call us to prepare your way.

We ask for your blessing upon your world,

that it urgently seeks and eagerly finds the ways of peace.

We renew our prayers for the peace of Jerusalem,

and the peace of Damascus, Beirut, Baghdad,

and all places of conflict, terror, and emnity.

Guide our Parliament, and our Armed Forces,

and all people of influence,

that they and we work for the common good,

and for the sustainable future of this globe, your creation.

V: God, we wait for you.

R: In you is our hope.

God our Father, the Heavenly One,

you call us to prepare your way.

We ask for your blessing upon our parish, borough and city.

May there be peace, tranquillity and good will on our streets.

Challenge those in danger of falling in love with violence

as a solution to anything.

Guide the leadership of the Froud Centre,

our councillors and all people of influence in this place.

Give your loving assistance to all who fear the dark and the cold;

all for whom Christmas is a threat and not a delight;

all who are homeless, insecurely housed, lonely or isolated.

Warm our hearts to do your will, in practical ways, in this place.

V: God, we wait for you.

R: In you is our hope.

God our Father, the Heavenly One,

you call us to prepare your way,

you who are our Healer.

Console and shelter those in our nation

currently caught up in floods.

We ask for your prayers for all who are longing for healing,

as they are unwell or experience dislocation of any kind.
And by name...

V: God, we wait for you.

R: In you is our hope.

God our Father, the Heavenly One,

you call us to prepare your way,

you who are eternal

and who love us with an eternal love

conquering death.

We ask for your prayers for all who will die today,

especially those who will die alone, unprepared, in agony or in war.

Among those who have died recently...

and those whose year's mind occurs around this time...

V: God, we wait for you.

R: In you is our hope.

God our Father, the Heavenly One,

you call us to prepare your way.

Now and in the week ahead

so prompt each of us, as your disciples,

to be ready to prepare and walk in your way,

the way you set out for us.

V: God, we wait for you.

R: In you is our hope.

Merciful Father...

'We enjoyed you!' Sermon on the overcoming of death

Sermon. Trinity 4 2015 (Year B). St Michael and All Angels.

Wisdom of Solomon 1.13-15; 2.23

2 Corinthians 8.7-15

Mark 5.21-43

There's so much in today's Gospel reading. But I don't know if you realise that the First Reading shares some theme(s) with the Gospel. It's intended to. One of those shared themes might be this: death and the overcoming of death.

Hear again:

[First reading:] 'God did not make death and he does not delight in the death of the living.'

[From the Gospel, Jesus said:] 'The child is not dead but sleeping.'

'He took her by the hand and said to her: “Talitha qum!” Which means little girl get up.'

Or little one, rise – rise - as if/as in from the dead; both the Hebew (qum) and the Greek use the normal language for resurrection.

Death and the overcoming of death. It is good for us to think of these things, because death will come to us all, whether we face up to that or not. However, we also need to think of death because our news reports are drenched in talk of the taking of life, of death by killing. When we now hear of Tunisia, Kuwait or France (and there are other countries getting less publicity), we will not think of lovely holiday destinations of various degrees of exoticness. Our stomachs may tighten, and we fear news of new atrocities. Not only of killing, but of brutality, of people chopping heads off and displaying them on spikes! Lord, have mercy!

Clearly people are coming under evil influences to see violence as the answer to everything. That they have a duty to commit vile acts of violence, wherever and however they can. That they must teach others this too. That this pleases Gd even. We might add they fall in love with their own rightness, and that they get addicted to violence. Many, but my no means all of these people call themselves Muslim and say they're acting in the name of true Islam - not least when they kill other Muslims.

But to take a step back: it is not that this is a uniquely violent and violence-loving period in world history. In saying that, I am not saying 'things aren't that bad, just relax'. Quite the contrary. I am saying that there has always been violence and brutality in the world, including on industrial scale. This is scary and heartbreaking and unbearable. But there are two things we are forbidden to do.

The first is we are forbidden to take comfort (or add to our fears for that matter) by falling into prejudice against our Muslim neighbours, or against the 1-2 billion Muslims in the world. I wish the media would not speak about 'Islamic State' as they are not an Islamic. IS murderers revel in their violence. They film themselves killing people, quickly and slowly, and put the films on social media set to music. Apparently (I think one should not watch but I read from others) their film-making skills are high. 

Let us not do them the service of thinking they act out of piety. What they're saying is really: 'Look what a big boy am I! Look how frightening I am! My team are bound to win, and compared to me, you are not worth anything.' Let's be clear: Islam is against all of that. Alongside all the quotations in the Qur'an about peace and good relations, it is also the case that humility – against self-aggrandisement - is a cardinal virtue in Islam.

The second thing we are forbidden to do is despair. Violence will not win. Again, from the Wisdom of the first reading:

'God did not make death, and he does not delight in the death of the living. For he created all things that they might exist; the generative forces of the world are wholesome and there is no destructive poison in them.' 

So the world and its people were and are made, at heart, wholesome. How can we find and draw strength from that wholesomeness?

Well, let us think of another act of terror, which it seems was committed by an American White-Supremacist terrorist, in Charleston South Carolina. If things are as they seem (and no one has yet been found guilty), it seems that Dylann Roof entered the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, attended Bible study for an hour, and then shot nine of the people there dead. Apparently he thought that to make white people stronger, you have to kill black people.

Once he was arrested, the families of those he had killed had chances to speak directly to him. Did you hear or read it? What they say, repeatedly is 'I forgive you. My family forgives you.' Extraordinary. This has nothing to do with politeness, niceness, softening or indulgence. But something profound about the Christian faith, and something revolutionary.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e26Eysq22Yg]

Now, please don't mishear me. What I am not saying is that if someone kills your nearest and dearest, it's your Christian duty to say to them: 'I forgive you'. It's not, because forgiveness means six or seven different things, and some are acts of will, and others are inclinations that come only over time, and after internal conflict. The only form of forgiveness Christians must offer is (and this is what the word literally means): 'I forgo – I forgo any instinct or plans for vengeance. The cycle of vengeance stops here.' (That is, of course, what is revolutionary about it.)

And another family member said this to the man (here I warn you I may do a bad American accent and I may cry):

'We welcomed you Wednesday night in our Bible study with open arms. You have killed some of the most beautiful people I know. Every fibre in my body hurts. But as we say in Bible study, we enjoyed you. And may Gd have mercy on you.'

'We enjoyed you.'

I think what this wonderful Christian woman is saying may be something like this: I do not seek vengeance. And I am not going to re-invent history. Evil though your act was, it does not define you. Because we already had enjoyed your presence. We saw in you some of the wholesomeness that is at the heart of all creation, and we did what we could do to honour it. We refuse to take that back because of your actions. Through all the pain, through all that we are dealing with in living after your still-most-definitely-evil act, we say we were right. At the heart of our faith is the idea of welcome, and we enjoyed you. 

Let me add if we don't enjoy the people we welcome, heaven is going to be a form of hell. Of course, that can be hard. (Leaving aside sin, we are all very we are different.) But our faith trains us in the ways of welcome and the enjoyment of the another. Gd trains us in the ways of welcome and the enjoyment of the other, if we let Gd.

This – welcome and enjoyment of the other - is what will drive violence out of the world. This is the overcoming of death. May it come speedily and in our days. Amen.