This morning we came to church on a glorious spring morning, with blue skies and not a breath of wind, quite a contrast from recent times!
Father Roger was the celebrant at our Eucharist and we very much held in our prayers the people of Ukraine as they battle their invaders. This is the last Sunday before lent and will be having a Eucharist and imposition of ashes ar 7:30 on Wednesday to mark the start of the 40 days.
The Choir sang the Ave Verum in the setting by W.A. Mozart, one of our favourite pieces, and we had coffee in the rooms after the service.
The Lent course, following the Diocesan programme, will be held in the rooms on the following Wednesdays at 7:30:
Wednesday 9th March
Wednesday 16th March
Wednesday 23rd March
Wednesday 30th of March
Wednesday 6th April.
If you would like to join us please sign the list in the church so we can prepare enough leaflets. If you are only able to come to one or two of these dates, that is no problem as the course is designed for personal and for group study. If you come and get the course leaflet you can join us as and when.
Also on the Horizon is the Treasure Hunt on the 19th of March in the afternoon at 2:30pm, also please sign up in the Church, individuals or families can take part, and there is Pirate Treasure to be found!!! Bring a picnic tea, hot and cold drinks will be provided.
2 Corinthians 3:12- 4:2
A reading from the second letter of Paul to the Corinthians.
Since we have such a hope,
we act with great boldness,
not like Moses, who put a veil over his face
to keep the people of Israel from gazing at the end of the glory
that was being set aside.
But their minds were hardened.
Indeed, to this very day, when they hear the reading of the old covenant,
that same veil is still there, since only in Christ is it set aside.
Indeed, to this very day whenever Moses is read,
a veil lies over their minds;
but when one turns to the Lord,
the veil is removed.
Now the Lord is the Spirit,
and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
And all of us, with unveiled faces,
seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror,
are being transformed into the same image
from one degree of glory to another;
for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit.
Therefore, since it is by God’s mercy that we are engaged in this ministry,
we do not lose heart.
We have renounced the shameful things that one hides;
we refuse to practice cunning or to falsify God’s word;
but by the open statement of the truth we commend ourselves
to the conscience of everyone in the sight of God.
Address
This Wednesday we come to Lent, and will soon be hearing of Jesus' temptations, and the opposition and rejection that he met. And in due course his execution - and resurrection. Before the tough part starts, today, on the Sunday before Lent, we read of Jesus' Transfiguration, saying that - however else it may appear at times - Jesus is actually successful, Godly and glorious. One of Dr Allan Jenkins, our former Priest-in-Charge’s, favourite themes, was 'Jesus our example'. We are being told in our Gospel today that following Jesus' example, in a successful, Godly and glorious way, may be tough, and sometimes look to the world like failure. The reward of faithfulness might look, for a while, like betrayal and a crown of thorns.
We – most of whom have met many Lents and Easters - will have that idea well enough, but perhaps not rush to take it on board. Much easier to admire Jesus, be thankful for him, than to actually follow him in a way which is potentially very costly. It was always such. Jesus' first friends, who first met these ideas, were very naturally shaken and uncertain.
If we follow part of Luke's Gospel, chapter 9, from which we read, we can see how Luke portrays this.
Jesus is on a journey to fulfil his vocation. He is on a journey heading for death and resurrection in Jerusalem, and his disciples, alongside him, are journeying on a steep learning curve, trying to understand, and to do the right thing with their own lives. And we, too, are on a journey, both through life and through our discipleship.
We might begin in Luke chapter 9 with the feeding of the 5000. Immediately we are put into a vast scenario. Moses, 1200 years' before, has been the greatest, receiving the Commandments and leading the Exodus towards the Promised Land. In his time, God fed his people in the wilderness with manna in time of need. Now, in time of need, God feeds the 5000 in the wilderness through Jesus. Is Jesus an 'A-lister' like Moses - or perhaps something even more?
Then we read of the incident at Caesarea Philippi. Jesus asks the disciples what they reckon about him, and Peter, usually hasty, replies that he is the Messiah, the Christ. A huge statement, to which Jesus does not directly respond, but says he is to be rejected, suffer and die, before a more positive ending. To the disciples this is quite shattering. For their people, the expectation was that the Messiah would be unstoppable, a great success, sweeping all, before him. Certainly not get into trouble and be done to death like a criminal. And to make things worse for the disciples, Jesus says that they can expect a tough time too, and will have to constantly make a brave decision, as to whether or not to continue to follow him, and to keep to a challenging path towards the sort of fuller life with God which Jesus seems to embody.
After all of this, the Transfiguration is described. Jesus seen truly good and glorious, and somehow greater than Moses and Elijah. Moses who'd been the main man, up till now, and Elijah the great prophet of many centuries ago, who was to return when the Messiah was at hand. Even now at Jewish Passover meals each Spring, the Jews, - still hoping for their Messiah, - open the door and pour a cup of wine for Elijah, who never shows up. But for us the Messiah has come.
Jesus talks with Moses and Elijah about his forthcoming ‘departure’, that is ‘exodus’, that is ‘death’, which he is going to undergo in Jerusalem. The picture is of a new and greater Moses, leading a new Exodus, to a greater Promised Land.
It is all a tremendous religious experience for Jesus’ friends. In this case, just the inner group of Peter, James and John. They may be hoping that the special experience won't end in a hurry. But as with all good religious experiences, we cannot stay there, and must get on with life, living in the light of the special time. Jesus' friends come down from the mountain and are immediately brought down to earth, into a situation of great suffering and need, which they find they can't help: their ministry meets apparent failure. So, the sufferers have to seek Jesus' help, and disciples will often need to continue to do so too. Jesus chose a significant number of fishermen for his 12 apostles, and it might seem that he did so because fishermen, in their fishing are well used to persevering through frequent times of failure.
So today, a realistic preparing for Lent. As Archbishop Stuart Blanch was wont to say at the beginning of Lent: May God deny you peace, but grant you victory.
Fr Roger
10:00 | 
Posted by
Dr Platts |
