25 July 2021
10:00 | 
Posted by
Dr Platts |
On the feast day of St James the Greater, we came together at 10 am for a Parish Eucharist and for the first time in many months we had the joy of singing God's praises together as the congregation can now sing, and the choir was back to nearly full strength. What a wonderful sound to hear the church filled with voices raised! All this despite a very rainy day, much needed after the recent hot spell, but it did not dampen the enthusiasm, of the congregation, who remaining cautious continued to wear masks, use the hand sanitiser, and spread out over the pews in the church.
Father Roger was the celebrant, and in his sermon he talked about St James and the other Apostles and how as the gospel tells us working together is the way of the Kingdom, not looking for a position of authority.
The Choir sang the Alleluias of St James in the form of a communion hymn. The Sunday School has now finished for the summer. We were also treated to some beautiful flowers which had been part of the Wedding on Saturday.
Acts 11:27-12.2
A reading from the Acts of the Apostles.
At that time prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch.
One of them named Agabus stood up
and predicted by the Spirit that there would be a severe famine over all the world;
and this took place during the reign of Claudius.
The disciples determined that according to their ability,
each would send relief to the believers living in Judea;
this they did, sending it to the elders by Barnabas and Saul.
About that time King Herod laid violent hands
upon some who belonged to the church.
He had James, the brother of John, killed with the sword.
Matthew 20:20-28
Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew.
The mother of the sons of Zebedee came to him with her sons,
and kneeling before him, she asked a favor of him.
And he said to her,
“What do you want?”
She said to him,
“Declare that these two sons of mine will sit, one at your right hand
and one at your left, in your kingdom.”
But Jesus answered,
“You do not know what you are asking.
Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?”
They said to him, “We are able.”
He said to them,
“You will indeed drink my cup,
but to sit at my right hand and at my left, this is not mine to grant,
but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.”
When the ten heard it, they were angry with the two brothers.
But Jesus called them to him and said,
“You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them,
and their great ones are tyrants over them.
It will not be so among you;
but whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant,
and whoever wishes to be first among you must be your slave;
just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve,
and to give his life a ransom for many.”
Collect
Merciful God,
whose holy apostle Saint James,
leaving his father and all that he had,
was obedient to the calling of your Son Jesus Christ
and followed him even unto death:
help us, forsaking the false attractions of the world,,
to be ready at all times to answer your call without delay;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever.
Amen.
Sermon
St James. The name James seems to have linguistic links with Jacob. I think that we may have the baptism of a little boy called Jacob later in the year. Then, we had better not dwell on the fact that, in the Bible, Jacob was crafty. Eventually he was renamed Israel and had 12 sons, with the help of two wives and two other ladies. Jacob might not be altogether a role model for the little fellow! However, Jacob’s sons headed up the 12 tribes of Israel, and when Jesus founded his group of followers – the New Israel – he seemed to want it built on 12 apostles.
St James the Great, then, a prominent member of the twelve. He and his brother John were – like several of the others – fishermen. Two others were the brothers Simon, whom Jesus called Peter, and Andrew, who originally brought Peter to meet Jesus. You might be a bit sad for Andrew, because his brother Simon Peter became the most prominent in the 12, the other fishing brothers, James and John, formed an inner group with Peter, and Andrew was left out of that. The inner group were at the raising of Jairus’ daughter, the Transfiguration, and on Maundy Thursday in Gethsemane.
James and John, were hasty, and Jesus dubbed them ‘sons of thunder’. We see in our gospel that they, or their mother, - whichever account you read - had ambitions for them, and Jesus responds that Christian leadership is about sacrifice and service, not seeking status and power for yourself.
Undoubtedly, as in our first reading from Acts, James was martyred, which is why, of course, our furnishings are red today.
It can be tricky remembering the 12 apostles. They do not include important people like Luke the gentile missionary and major New Testament writer, or the great apostle Paul, whom Luke travelled with. There are even uncertainties about exactly who was in the 12, and we know little about some of them.
Personally, I remember them in three groups of four. Firstly, the two lots of fishermen brothers. Simon Peter and Andrew, James and John. Secondly, the two less prominent pairs, who have to share their feast day. We don’t know very much about them. That is Philip and James the Less and another Simon, not Simon Peter, and Jude. It seems that this James is called The Less not to detract from him, but because he was younger or smaller. Then we have the third group, the four who are left. Matthew and Bartholomew and Thomas and…. Judas. Apart from Bartholomew, who seemed OK, that group had the more controversial ones, Thomas, Matthew, and Judas. Judas who messed up.
The Church knew that Jesus was keen to have 12, to lead his New Israel, so – you remember – they carefully designated Matthias to make up the number, when Judas had gone.
Some years ago I showed my puzzle to the children. It went a bit like a lead balloon. You have 12 triangles of card each with the name of an apostle. They have symbols to prompt you to sort them out into the three groups. Each group of four would fit together to make a little star. You can envisage the fishermen brothers having something in common, fitting together. The four less prominent apostles might have hit it off together. The other group would be lively, with Matthew, the ex-tax collector being rather suspect, Thomas doing rather a lot of thinking for himself, Judas getting things wrong, and Bartholomew trying to make sense of them.
Yet Jesus did not call them to make three groups, but one. And the pieces of the puzzle will go on to form one big star. Jesus will put us in his Church, not just with those we would have initially chosen, but with those he gives us, in the hope we might all benefit in the end.
What happened to St James is a good question. He was killed in 44AD in Jerusalem by Herod Agrippa, as in the first reading today. An Armenian Cathedral in Jerusalem claims to have his head buried there, which seems reasonable.
By the year 700, - a great deal later,- the idea got around that James had preached as a missionary in Spain, before he was executed back in Jerusalem in the year 44. But he Church, on the whole, had not got as far as Spain by the time James died. St Paul doesn’t seem to have thought so, so it remains doubtful that James did visit Spain in those early years, before he was killed. The stories further say, that after his execution, James’s body got back to Spain by rather miraculous means, and is at Compostela, which – as we know – is a major pilgrimage site.
But focusing on God whilst making a special big effort to travel on a pilgrimage with others is no doubt a worthwhile thing to do, whether or not human remains are there. God is there.
St James was certainly there, in the Holy Land, chosen to be with Jesus, and then with the Church for well over a decade after the crucifixion, before he himself was executed. So it is right that we remember James.
Fr Roger
18 July 2021
8am Holy Communion
Ephesians 2:11-22
A reading from the letter of Paul to the Ephesians.
Remember that at one time you Gentiles by birth,
called “the uncircumcision” by those who are called “the circumcision”—
a physical circumcision made in the flesh by human hands—
remember that you were at that time without Christ,
being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel,
and strangers to the covenants of promise,
having no hope and without God in the world.
But now in Christ Jesus
you who once were far off have been brought near
by the blood of Christ.
For he is our peace;
in his flesh he has made both groups into one
and has broken down the dividing wall,
that is, the hostility between us.
He has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances,
that he might create in himself
one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace,
and might reconcile both groups to God in one body
through the cross,
thus putting to death that hostility through it.
So he came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off
and peace to those who were near;
for through him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father.
So then you are no longer strangers and aliens,
but you are citizens with the saints
and also members of the household of God,
built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets,
with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone.
In him the whole structure is joined together
and grows into a holy temple in the Lord;
in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God.
Mark 6:30-34, 53-56
Hear the gospel of outr Lord Jesus Christ according to Mark.
The apostles returned from their mission.
The apostles gathered around Jesus,
and told him all that they had done and taught.
He said to them,
“Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.”
For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat.
And they went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves.
Now many saw them going and recognized them,
and they hurried there on foot from all the towns
and arrived ahead of them.
As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd;
and he had compassion for them,
because they were like sheep without a shepherd;
and he began to teach them many things.
When they had crossed over,
they came to land at Gennesaret and moored the boat.
When they got out of the boat,
people at once recognized him,
and rushed about that whole region
and began to bring the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was.
And wherever he went, into villages or cities or farms,
they laid the sick in the marketplaces,
and begged him that they might touch even the fringe of his cloak;
and all who touched it were healed.
Collect
Lord of all power and might,
the author and giver of all good things:
graft in our hearts the love of your name,
increase in us true religion,,
noourish us with all goodness,
and of your great mercy keep us in the same;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever.
Amen.
10am Sung Mattins
Deuteronomy 30:1-10
1 And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath driven thee,
2 And shalt return unto the LORD thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul;
3 That then the LORD thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath scattered thee.
4 If any of thine be driven out unto the outmost parts of heaven, from thence will the LORD thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee:
5 And the LORD thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and he will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers.
6 And the LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.
7 And the LORD thy God will put all these curses upon thine enemies, and on them that hate thee, which persecuted thee.
8 And thou shalt return and obey the voice of the LORD, and do all his commandments which I command thee this day.
9 And the LORD thy God will make thee plenteous in every work of thine hand, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy land, for good: for the LORD will again rejoice over thee for good, as he rejoiced over thy fathers:
10 If thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law, and if thou turn unto the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul.
1 Peter 3:13-22
13 And who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good?
14 But and if ye suffer for righteousness' sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled;
15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:
16 Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ.
17 For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing.
18 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:
19 By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison;
20 Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.
21 The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:
22 Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him.
Address
Today brings a reading from 1 Peter - the 1st Letter of Peter. People may remember this year because of football, as they also remember 1966. I remember 1966 as the year that 1 Peter was one of two set books of the New Testament which some ordination candidates were required to study, with close reference to the Greek text. Happy days!
The first letter of Peter. In the early centuries, conventions about authorship were different from today. If you wanted to pay tribute to someone special, and felt that you had some connection with them, and were on their wavelength, or had been their disciple, or knew their friends, you might attach their name to a piece of your writing, without it being thought dishonest. Had people thought that Peter definitely sat down and wrote this short book, it would probably be on page 1 of the New Testament. No one seems to have attached Peter’s name to the main content until 200AD.
You have to judge date and authorship of this sort of writings by what is in them. And, indeed, judge their value, by what they contain and not by a label on the cover. Which other writers does the author seem to have read? When did those writers live? If the writer was the fisherman, Peter, arguably the very closest friend of Jesus, why doesn’t he quote Jesus and have special reminiscences, and how did the fisherman come to sound so educated? You also need to ask, what sort of society and period of history seems to underlie what you are reading?
1 Peter is set out as a letter. It has a short opening section. Then a long main section which seems to be someone’s sermon about the Christian life, addressed to people recently baptised in the very early years of the Church. Then there is a very dramatic change in tone and style, leading to closing words.
The passage we heard is part of the main section addressed to newly baptised Christians. It is smoothly written, but not overly down to earth. If you behave well, it seems to argue, no one much is going to harm you. That might occasionally happen, Christian slaves could be unjustly punished, but things will normally be alright. Good behaviour is going to be respected, generally. People are pretty decent.
The writer seems over optimistic, inexperienced, naive. No one who had known something like the 20th century Jewish Holocaust could write like that. But towards the end of the short book, it all suddenly changes. The style becomes hastier and more nervous. Do not be surprised by the fiery ordeal that has come upon you. Christians now are into something like the holocaust, a savage persecution. There were 10 periods of persecution in the Roman Empire before the Emperor Constantine became Christian in the early 300s AD.
We can perhaps pick out some useful ideas in the book.
We might think that there is health and health. We may well have known people with significant ailments or disabilities. In an obvious sense they were not fine. Yet in a deeper sense they might be very fine. Genuine, human people with attractive characters, somehow inspirational, and undefeated by their circumstances.
So, similarly, 1 Peter seems to say there is getting into trouble and getting into trouble. People can be harmed unjustly, persecuted, punished, for being decent Christians, but, in a deeper sense, they can also be unharmed and strong at a spiritual level. That, says the writer, is very different from being in trouble for criminal activity, which does go with spiritual harm and weakness. Furthermore, those good people who are punished unjustly, simply because they are Christians, have a special fellowship with Christ, the good person who suffered unjustly, and yet is alive and triumphant for evermore.
Two other ideas might stand out. If challenged about what we believe, we must be ready to give a proper explanation of our Faith. Be ready to give an account of the hope that is in you. Perhaps, for us, that means actually engaging with the Jehovah’s Witnesses if they come to our door undermining Christian ideas of the divinity of Christ, and misunderstanding God as the Trinity. Perhaps that means some studying first.
The other idea is, the one about us, as baptised Christians, being born again into a ‘living hope’ by the Resurrection of Christ. Sometimes we read that part at funerals. Living hope. You might think that all hopes were ‘living’, - had a measure of life in them. But there are hopes and hopes. We may work to make education, or the environment, or farming, or the legal system, or racial and religious freedoms, or even the Church of England, better in the years ahead. Which is commendable, although we might never live to see all the results. ‘Living hope’, on the other hand, is a hope for us, not so much for the future of society. We being personally linked now and forever to the Risen Christ, who is already beyond death.
Fr Roger
11 July 2021
Ephesians 1:3-14
A reading from the letter of Paul to the Ephesions.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who has blessed us in Christ
with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,
just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world
to be holy and blameless before him in love.
He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ,
according to the good pleasure of his will,
to the praise of his glorious grace
that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.
In him we have redemption through his blood,
the forgiveness of our trespasses,
according to the riches of his grace
that he lavished on us.
With all wisdom and insight
he has made known to us the mystery of his will,
according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ,
as a plan for the fullness of time,
to gather up all things in him,
things in heaven and things on earth.
In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance,
having been destined according to the purpose of him
who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will,
so that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ,
might live for the praise of his glory.
In him you also,
when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation,
and had believed in him,
were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit;
this is the pledge of our inheritance toward redemption
as God’s own people,
to the praise of his glory.
Mark 6:14-29
Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ accrding to Mark.
King Herod heard of the healings and other miracles,
for Jesus’ name had become known.
Some were saying,
“John the baptizer has been raised from the dead;
and for this reason these powers are at work in him.”
But others said,
“It is Elijah.” And others said,
“It is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.”
But when Herod heard of it, he said,
“John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.”
For Herod himself had sent men who arrested John,
bound him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias,
his brother Philip’s wife, because Herod had married her.
For John had been telling Herod,
“It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.”
And Herodias had a grudge against him,
and wanted to kill him.
But she could not,
for Herod feared John,
knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he protected him.
When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed;
and yet he liked to listen to him.
But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet
for his courtiers and officers and for the leaders of Galilee.
When his daughter Herodias came in and danced,
she pleased Herod and his guests;
and the king said to the girl,
“Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it.”
And he solemnly swore to her,
“Whatever you ask me, I will give you,
even half of my kingdom.”
She went out and said to her mother,
“What should I ask for?”
She replied,
“The head of John the Baptist.”
Immediately she rushed back to the king and requested,
“I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptiser on a platter.”
The king was deeply grieved;
yet out of regard for his oaths and for the guests,
he did not want to refuse her.
Immediately the king sent a soldier of the guard with orders to bring John’s head.
He went and beheaded him in the prison,
brought his head on a platter,
and gave it to the girl.
Then the girl gave it to her mother.
When his disciples heard about it,
they came and took his body, and laid it in a tomb.
Collect
Merciful God,
you have prepared for those who love you
such good things as pass our understanding:
pour into our hearts such love toward you
that we, loving you in all things,may obtaini your promises,
which exceed all that we can desire;
through Jesus Christ your ons our Lord,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever.
Amen.
04 July 2021
2 Corinthians 12:2-10
A reading from the second letter of Paul to the Corinthians.
I know a person in Christ
who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—
whether in the body or out of the body I do not know;
God knows.
And I know that such a person—
whether in the body or out of the body I do not know;
God knows—
was caught up into Paradise
and heard things that are not to be told,
that no mortal is permitted to repeat.
On behalf of such a one I will boast,
but on my own behalf I will not boast,
except of my weaknesses.
But if I wish to boast,
I will not be a fool,
for I will be speaking the truth.
But I refrain from it,
so that no one may think better of me
than what is seen in me or heard from me,
even considering the exceptional character of the revelations.
Therefore, to keep me from being too elated,
a thorn was given me in the flesh,
a messenger of Satan to torment me,
to keep me from being too elated.
Three times I appealed to the Lord about this,
that it would leave me,
but he said to me,
"My grace is sufficient for you,
for power is made perfect in weakness."
So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses,
so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.
Therefore I am content with weaknesses,
insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ;
for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.
Mark 6:1-13
Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Mark.
Jesus came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him.
On the sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue,
and many who heard him were astounded.
They said, "Where did this man get all this?
What is this wisdom that has been given to him?
What deeds of power are being done by his hands!
Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary
and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon,
and are not his sisters here with us?"
And they took offense at him.
Then Jesus said to them,
"Prophets are not without honour,
except in their hometown,
and among their own kin, and in their own house."
nd he could do no deed of power there,
except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them.
And he was amazed at their unbelief.
Then he went about among the villages teaching.
He called the twelve and began to send them out two by two,
and gave them authority over the unclean spirits.
He ordered them to take nothing for their journey except a staff;
no bread, no bag, no money in their belts;
but to wear sandals and not to put on two tunics.
He said to them,
"Wherever you enter a house,
stay there until you leave the place.
If any place will not welcome you
and they refuse to hear you,
as you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them."
So they went out and proclaimed that all should repent.
They cast out many demons,
and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.
Collect
Almighty and everlasting God,,
by whose Spirit the whole body of the church
is governed and sanctified:
hear our prayer which we offer for all your faithful people,
that in their vocation and ministry
thay may serve you in holiness and truth
to the glory of your name;
through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever.
Amen.
Address
On the front cover of the church magazine we have a picture of the church, an attractive old building. Many years’ ago I was in touch with a church in Africa, and they sent me one of their calendars with a picture of their church. They held services in a rough looking tin hut. Not very photogenic (or photo hygienic as some would say). But you could hardly see the hut on the calendar, because in front of it were a hundred or more black faces. The people were the real church.
Many church buildings and some people’s homes are insured by the Ecclesiastical Insurance Group. Ecclesia is a Greek word for ‘church’ – that is ‘congregation’ – the people, not the building. And the word means something to do with being summoned, called out to turn up somewhere. We are those whom God has called out of the community to come together to think and pray and worship. Church is not so much a leisure activity which we fancy doing with friends and family – with the people we know and like. It is, rather, something God calls us to, and we may not always feel like going, to be with people we don’t necessarily know or choose, and may not always like. There is a bit of discipline needed for Christians.
One thing Jesus did, when he chose his 12 apostles was to get a mixture, who wouldn’t easily get on. Peter and the fishermen, who worked hard, would not like to be working with Matthew, who’d previously been a tax collector, and who’d had a comfortable life taking their money and giving it to the Romans, until Jesus called him to do something different, and told them all to work together nicely. James and John, those brothers, could be a bit hasty and ambitious. Jesus nicknamed them Sons of Thunder. And Peter was a bit hasty and a bit unreliable.
In the reading, Jesus is planning his mission, his plan to travel round and teach and preach and heal, and try to get people in touch with God his Father, to help them.
He tells his twelve apostles to go ahead in twos to local villages to tell people that they must think about God, and behave themselves, and get ready, because God was about to do something special now that Jesus had come.
Go ahead in twos. You can imagine it. One says, I want to go with Thomas, he has interesting ideas – no, you go with Philip like I told you to. Another says, I want to plan what I’m going to wear – plan for all eventualities, I look nice in so and so and it might rain. Never mind that, Jesus might say, – just get on with it.
The people in the east were hospitable to travellers. So if someone gives you food and accommodation, says Jesus, don’t say, to your partner, (or co-worker) ‘I’ve seen a big expensive house down the road, let’s leave these folk, we’ll get better food down there!‘
Don’t take a bag with you, bags were for putting things in that you had begged. Jesus’ helpers weren’t to be beggars. Have a bit of discipline, says Jesus.
We’ll end with two pictures of the church, the community of people. In a parish it should be like an extended family. An extended family will have children in it. If a parish has no children it is in trouble. A parish church needs people from all age groups. But if you have children at home, you have to take care of them and provide for them continually. You can never just forget about them for a bit. So it is in the Church. And the church is the place where you should be able to have friends of all ages.
The last picture is of the Church is being like a pilgrimage. There might be a lot of people on a long walk to some holy place for worship. You walk a bit talking with some others, then they might go ahead, or you might slow down, and you then spend time with some different folk you’ve come next to, who are heading to the same special place.
Church life is a bit like that. As a child in the 1940s, I remember being with a particular group of people, many of them born in 1800s. Then alongside other Christian people in 1950s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90, 2000s, 2010s and 2020s. Like on a pilgrimage, there were times of sharing, with particular people, then we or they move on.
It is the people who are the church, not the building. The church is gathered here today, but tomorrow, the real church, the people, will be all over the place. Or as the saying goes, the church is what you have left when the building burns down.
Fr Roger
27 June 2021
An overcast sky did not dampen our enthusiasm this morning as we were joined again by Fr Luke, the Archdeacon. In the lulls of the service, we could hear the joyous sounds of the Sunday School who were obviously having a great deal of fun in the Parish Rooms.
Joanna was able to get to the organ pre and post the service to play for us. A priest's eye view of the congregation in the time of Covid! We were all very safely socially distanced and masked, waiting for the service to begin.
2 Corinthians 8:7-15
A reading from the second letter of Paul to the Corinthians
You excel in everything—
in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in utmost eagerness,
and in our love for you —
so we want you to excel also in this generous undertaking.
I do not say this as a command,
but I am testing the genuineness of your love
against the earnestness of others.
For you know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ,
that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor,
so that by his poverty you might become rich.
And in this matter I am giving my advice:
it is appropriate for you who began last year
not only to do something but even to desire to do something—
now finish doing it,
so that your eagerness may be matched by completing it
according to your means.
For if the eagerness is there,
the gift is acceptable according to what one has—
not according to what one does not have.
I do not mean that there should be relief for others and pressure on you,
but it is a question of a fair balance between
your present abundance and their need,
so that their abundance may be for your need,
in order that there may be a fair balance.
As it is written,
"The one who had much did not have too much,
and the one who had little did not have too little."
Mark 5:21-43
Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Mark.
When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side,
a great crowd gathered around him;
and he was by the sea.
Then one of the leaders of the synagogue named Jairus came
and, when he saw him, fell at his feet
and begged him repeatedly,
"My little daughter is at the point of death.
Come and lay your hands on her,
so that she may be made well, and live."
So he went with him.
And a large crowd followed him and pressed in on him.
Now there was a woman
who had been suffering from haemorrhages for twelve years.
She had endured much under many physicians,
and had spent all that she had;
and she was no better, but rather grew worse.
She had heard about Jesus,
and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak,
for she said,
"If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well."
Immediately her haemorrhage stopped;
and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease.
Immediately aware that power had gone forth from him,
Jesus turned about in the crowd and said,
"Who touched my clothes?"
And his disciples said to him,
"You see the crowd pressing in on you;
how can you say, "Who touched me?' "
He looked all around to see who had done it.
But the woman, knowing what had happened to her,
came in fear and trembling, fell down before him,
and told him the whole truth.
He said to her,
"Daughter, your faith has made you well;
go in peace, and be healed of your disease."
While he was still speaking,
some people came from the leader's house to say,
"Your daughter is dead.
Why trouble the teacher any further?"
But overhearing what they said,
Jesus said to the leader of the synagogue,
"Do not fear, only believe."
He allowed no one to follow him
except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James.
When they came to the house of the leader of the synagogue,
he saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly.
When he had entered, he said to them,
"Why do you make a commotion and weep?
The child is not dead but sleeping."
And they laughed at him.
Then he put them all outside,
and took the child's father and mother and those who were with him,
and went in where the child was.
He took her by the hand and said to her,
"Talitha cum," which means, "Little girl, get up!"
And immediately the girl got up and began to walk about
(she was twelve years of age).
At this they were overcome with amazement.
He strictly ordered them that no one should know this,
and told them to give her something to eat.
Collect
O God, the protector of all who trust in you,
without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy:
increase and multiply upon us your mercy;
that with you as our ruler and guide
we may pass through things temporal
that we lose not our hold on things eternal;
grant this, heavenly Father,
for our Lord Jesus Christ's sake,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever.
Amen.
Sermon (a precis)
So much has changed in the las 15 months. We are now awkward when meeting people. A hand is held and withdrawn. Is it safe? How do we greet one another? 15 months ago nothing was more normal that a handshake. We can now meet our freinds and families, but still not able to give each other a hug. This pandemic has made us shy about expressing love. Human contact may mean the giving or receiving of disease!
As we emerge from this, our recent habits should not damage us as we move forwards. Our gospel reading todays involves touching, the woman touches Jesus's robe, Jesus touches Jairus's daughter's hand. The touch of Jesus gives healing and life.
What can we learn from this as we re-emerge? The bleeding woman was "unclean" and would have been "untouchable", ostracised, and even divorced if she were married. Anyone who touched her would also have beeen unclean. The reasoning behind this is due to God's laws as outlined in Leviticus, given by God to the Isrealites. If they followed God's rules, He would care for them. Jairus wouldl have known the rules, but they were not sifficient for the life of his daughter. The way we touch things cannot save us, we can only be saved if we are touched by God. Through Jesus's poverty, we may become rich. God with us. Jesus became man as we say in the creed. God literally walks among us. He shared our humanity with us so we could share in him.
The woman was healed by her faith and that same faith als us. We cannot touch Jesus's garment, but we do receive the bread, his body, and receive him in the Eucharist. In this, nothing seperates us from Jesus's touch. We can become instruments of God's healing.
Fr Luke
20 June 2021
This morning, on a very rainy Sunday morning we met at 10 am for Mattins. Unfortunately Joanna was unwell, so we had a said service. We wish her better soon. Father Roger took the service and preached, you can read his excellent sermon at the end of this post. We heard in the notices some details of the St Mary's Market which will be held on the 10th of July. We have been unable to hold the Fete again this year due to the covid regulations, so we are having a Market selling home made produce, plants, books and sundries on July the 10th. More details are in the Parish Magazine and will appear here soon!!
We left the church having enjoyed the change of a said service, but looking forward to music again next week!. Father Luke, the Archdeacon will take the 10 am service next week which will be a Eucharist, do come along and meet him!
Meanwhile at Sunday School the young people were making boats and gingerbread figures of Jesus and thinking about Jesus calming the storm.
8am Said Communion
2 Corinthians 6:1-13
A reading from he second letter of Paul to the Corinthians.
As we work together with Christ,
we urge you also not to accept the grace of God in vain.
For he says,
"At an acceptable time I have listened to you,
and on a day of salvation I have helped you."
See, now is the acceptable time;
see, now is the day of salvation!
We are putting no obstacle in anyone's way,
so that no fault may be found with our ministry,
but as servants of God we have commended ourselves in every way:
through great endurance, in afflictions,
hardships, calamities,
beatings, imprisonments, riots,
labours, sleepless nights, hunger;
by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness,
holiness of spirit, genuine love,
truthful speech, and the power of God;
with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left;
in honour and dishonour,
in ill repute and good repute.
We are treated as impostors, and yet are true;
as unknown, and yet are well known;
as dying, and see—we are alive;
as punished, and yet not killed;
as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing;
as poor, yet making many rich;
as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.
We have spoken frankly to you Corinthians;
our heart is wide open to you.
There is no restriction in our affections,
but only in yours.
In return—I speak as to children—open wide your hearts also.
Mark 4:35-41
Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Mark.
When evening had come, he said to his disciples,
"Let us go across to the other side."
And leaving the crowd behind,
they took him with them in the boat, just as he was.
Other boats were with him.
A great gale arose, and the waves beat into the boat,
so that the boat was already being swamped.
But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion;
and they woke him up and said to him,
"Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?"
He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea,
"Peace! Be still!"
Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm.
He said to them, "Why are you afraid?
Have you still no faith?"
And they were filled with great awe
and said to one another,
"Who then is this,
that even the wind and the sea obey him?"
Collect
Almighty God,
you have broken the tyranny of sin
and have sent the Spirit of your Son into our hearts
whereby we call you Father:
give us grace to dedicate our freedom to your service,
that we and all creation may be brought
to the glorious liberty of the children of God;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now nad forever.
Amen.
10 am Sung Mattins
Deuteronomy 11:1-15
1 Therefore thou shalt love the LORD thy God, and keep his charge, and his statutes, and his judgments, and his commandments, alway.
2 And know ye this day: for I speak not with your children which have not known, and which have not seen the chastisement of the LORD your God, his greatness, his mighty hand, and his stretched out arm,
3 And his miracles, and his acts, which he did in the midst of Egypt unto Pharaoh the king of Egypt, and unto all his land;
4 And what he did unto the army of Egypt, unto their horses, and to their chariots; how he made the water of the Red sea to overflow them as they pursued after you, and how the LORD hath destroyed them unto this day;
5 And what he did unto you in the wilderness, until ye came into this place;
6 And what he did unto Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben: how the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their households, and their tents, and all the substance that was in their possession, in the midst of all Israel:
7 But your eyes have seen all the great acts of the LORD which he did.
8 Therefore shall ye keep all the commandments which I command you this day, that ye may be strong, and go in and possess the land, whither ye go to possess it;
9 And that ye may prolong your days in the land, which the LORD sware unto your fathers to give unto them and to their seed, a land that floweth with milk and honey.
10 For the land, whither thou goest in to possess it, is not as the land of Egypt, from whence ye came out, where thou sowedst thy seed, and wateredst it with thy foot, as a garden of herbs:
11 But the land, whither ye go to possess it, is a land of hills and valleys, and drinketh water of the rain of heaven:
12 A land which the LORD thy God careth for: the eyes of the LORD thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year.
13 And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love the LORD your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul,
14 That I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil.
15 And I will send grass in thy fields for thy cattle, that thou mayest eat and be full.
Mark 5:21-43
21 And when Jesus was passed over again by ship unto the other side, much people gathered unto him: and he was nigh unto the sea.
22 And, behold, there cometh one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name; and when he saw him, he fell at his feet,
23 And besought him greatly, saying, My little daughter lieth at the point of death: I pray thee, come and lay thy hands on her, that she may be healed; and she shall live.
24 And Jesus went with him; and much people followed him, and thronged him.
25 And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years,
26 And had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse,
27 When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment.
28 For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole.
29 And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague.
30 And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes?
31 And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me?
32 And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing.
33 But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth.
34 And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.
35 While he yet spake, there came from the ruler of the synagogue's house certain which said, Thy daughter is dead: why troublest thou the Master any further?
36 As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he saith unto the ruler of the synagogue, Be not afraid, only believe.
37 And he suffered no man to follow him, save Peter, and James, and John the brother of James.
38 And he cometh to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and seeth the tumult, and them that wept and wailed greatly.
39 And when he was come in, he saith unto them, Why make ye this ado, and weep? the damsel is not dead, but sleepeth.
40 And they laughed him to scorn. But when he had put them all out, he taketh the father and the mother of the damsel, and them that were with him, and entereth in where the damsel was lying.
41 And he took the damsel by the hand, and said unto her, Talitha cumi; which is, being interpreted, Damsel, I say unto thee, arise.
42 And straightway the damsel arose, and walked; for she was of the age of twelve years. And they were astonished with a great astonishment.
43 And he charged them straitly that no man should know it; and commanded that something should be given her to eat.
Address
When we have two substantial passages of Scripture read, it is hard not to try to speak about them. For Matins, once a month, we are on a different scheme of readings from the other weeks and using a four-hundred-year-old translation.
Our first reading has us with the ancient Jews, who have escaped from Egypt, and got their Ten Commandments. They are promised that if they stay on the straight and narrow, keep the Commandments, they will come to their Promised Land, where the climate will be better for their crops than it was in Egypt. A land ‘flowing with milk and honey’ was a happy vision. Some ancient garden designers from other Eastern cultures fancied four streams - rills - of wine, water, milk and honey. If you behave you will prosper, seems to be God’s message for the Jews. But in due course they would come to question that.
When we have Psalm 37 at this service, we say or sing, ‘I have been young, and now am old : and yet saw I never the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging their bread.’ We never see the good, or their families, in trouble. But it surely doesn’t work like that – the good and their children can meet undeserved suffering. Many who are persecuted, or who are refugees, will know about that.
One of the classic texts is The Book of Job. Job behaves well, yet he meets disaster after disaster, and the tale and the discussion go on for 42 chapters. ‘You must have been naughty’, say his so-called comforters. God is punishing you. ‘O no, I haven’t been naughty’, says Job. The argument goes on. In the end, Job decides that he should stick with God faithfully, although he is unaware of misbehaving, and still can’t explain his undeserved suffering.
Jesus, of course, is the spectacular example, of the good being badly treated, although he was following a good cause and trod a path to glory.
We tell our children not just to behave, but to keep out of trouble. Keep out of trouble, primarily, I think, because, if they see something wrong happening, they most likely do not have the maturity to tackle the situation.
Jesus did not keep his head down, and he encouraged his followers to hunger and thirst after righteousness, to want and work for right to prevail. With the assurance that those hopes will be met in the final scenario. And those who long for things to be right will find themselves in tune with the Almighty.
The poet A E Housman was an atheist, and thought Jesus was badly mistaken when he didn’t keep out of trouble: Jesus would not ‘leave ill alone’. He wrote the poem The Carpenter’s Son, very much referring to the Crucifixion.
“Here the hangman stops his cart:
Now the best of friends must part.
Fare you well, for ill fare I:
Live, lads, and I will die.
“Oh, at home had I but stayed
‘Prenticed to my father’s trade,
Had I stuck to plane and adze,
I had not been lost, my lads.
“Then I might have built perhaps
Gallows-trees for other chaps,
Never dangled on my own,
Had I but left ill alone.
“Now, you see, they hang me high,
And the people passing by
Stop to shake their fists and curse;
So ‘tis come from ill to worse.
“Here hang I, and right and left
Two poor fellows hang for theft:
All the same’s the luck we prove,
Though the midmost hangs for love.
“Comrades all, that stand and gaze,
Walk henceforth in other ways;
See my neck and save your own:
Comrades all, leave ill alone.
“Make some day a decent end,
Shrewder fellows than your friend.
Fare you well, for ill fare I:
Live lads, and I will die.”
Thank heaven that Christ, and our medical workers, and police and firefighters, and peace-keeping forces, and environmentalists, and aid workers, haven’t left ill alone, but bravely and usefully addressed it.
In our second reading St Paul is having tricky time on a sea journey. Like Christ, he upset some of the Jews and got arrested by the civil authorities. As with Christ, the civil authorities didn’t find him guilty of anything. When he was about to be flogged, he mentioned that he was an unconvicted Roman citizen, and they couldn’t lawfully treat him like that. As he had played that card, he had to take the hazardous voyage to Rome to have things resolved.
God moves in mysterious ways. When Paul arrived, he was put under house arrest for two years, in a rented house. So … he was able to continue to minister fairly freely at the very heart of the Roman Empire, following his earlier extensive missionary work. There are 27 books in the New Testament. Of them, Paul very certainly wrote seven, and has been linked, often precariously, with another seven. He was probably martyred in Rome in Nero’s persecution in 64AD.
Looking to Christ, Paul knew that goodness and Godliness does not necessarily bring an easy life. Trying to do the right thing with God and for God, and accepting the cost of it - not just keeping your head down - will emerge as the best thing in the long run. Or final Kingdom, as we call it.
Fr Roger
13 June 2021
It was a beautiful early summer morning this Sunday when we met for our Parish eucharist at 10 am. The Church Yard Working Party have done a great job of tidying up the churchyard and it was looking particularly lovely in the sunshine. We are on our journey through Trinity now, and the Gospel told us of one of Jesus Parables, the story of the mustard seeds. In his sermon Father Roger discussed the use of Parables in the Gospels and how they make us work hard to deeper understanding of the Good News. You can read his words below. Our Covid Choir sang hymns and as an anthem 'Fairest Lord Jesus' a traditional hymn, set to a Silesian folk tune.
We left church after the service to enjoy the beautiful weather, refreshed and spiritually renewed.
 |
| the Covid Choir |
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| Socially distanced congregation |
2 Corinthians 5:6-20, 14-17
.A reading from the second letter of Paul to the Corinthians
Brothers and sisters,
we are always confident;
even though we know that while we are at home in the body
we are away from the Lord—
for we walk by faith, not by sight.
Yes, we do have confidence,
and we would rather be away from the body
and at home with the Lord.
So whether we are at home or away,
we make it our aim to please him.
For all of us must appear before the judgment seat of Christ,
so that each may receive recompense
for what has been done in the body,
whether good or evil.
The love of Christ urges us on,
because we are convinced that one has died for all;
therefore all have died.
And he died for all,
so that those who live might live no longer for themselves,
but for him who died and was raised for them.
From now on, therefore, we regard no one
from a human point of view;
even though we once knew Christ
from a human point of view,
we know him no longer in that way.
So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation:
everything old has passed away;
see, everything has become new!
Mark 4:26-34
Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Mark.
Such a large crowd gathered around Jesus
that he got into a boat and began to teach them using many parables.
Jesus said,
"The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground,
and would sleep and rise night and day,
and the seed would sprout and grow,
he does not know how.
The earth produces of itself,
first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head.
But when the grain is ripe,
at once he goes in with his sickle,
because the harvest has come."
Jesus also said,
"With what can we compare the kingdom of God,
or what parable will we use for it?
It is like a mustard seed,
which, when sown upon the ground,
is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; 3
yet when it is sown it grows up
and becomes the greatest of all shrubs,
and puts forth large branches,
so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade."
With many such parables he spoke the word to them,
as they were able to hear it;
he did not speak to them except in parables,
but he explained everything in private to his disciples.
Collect
Lord, you have taught us
that all our doings without love are nothing worth:
send your Holy Spirit
and pour into our hearts that most excellent gift of love,
the true bond of peace and of all virtues,
without which whoever lives is counted dead before you.
Grant this for your only Son Jesus Chrsit's sake,
who is alive and reigns with you
in the unity of the Holy Spirit
one God, now and forever.
Amen.
Address
A congenial Gospel reading – plants, one of my passions. And ‘parables’, - the word links to Maths, parabolas, another of my favourites. y = ax2 + b, that sort of thing. But we must spot the main issue here. These stories might be parables about plants, but they are Jesus’ “parables of the Kingdom”. It is the Kingdom of God that we must have an eye to!
Jesus speaks about the Kingdom using many parables. The thing about a parabola in maths is that it is a curve which heads for a certain line, but never gets there. As it approaches, it veers off and turns back away again. So - a parable points to something, but doesn’t get there and spell it out – we have to think out where Jesus is pointing.
The Kingdom is obviously about the world, and people, being in line with what God wants. We look at the world, and look at ourselves, and look at the Church, and think, ‘O dear!’ Things don’t seem ideal, maybe rather depressing. But these parables today are actually meant to encourage us.
One of the crops I like to grow, in a small way, is early potatoes. As long as the soil is in reasonable shape, you plant the seed tubers, and – apart from perhaps keeping the frost off the shoots, if needed – you don’t do a lot, and get on with something else. It seems that nothing special is happening. But, but, the new potatoes develop, and when they are ready, we’re very interested then, and actively enjoy the crop, as I’ve been for the last week or so.
Our first parable is along those lines. The man sows seed; he doesn’t seem to do anything very special, but, in due course, - great! A valuable crop has been arriving. When it’s come, the man is suddenly active and excited, enjoying the harvest.
In the second of today’s parables, the tiny seed gradually becomes an impressive plant. How did that happen? We’re not sure. We may have planted a seed, but probably haven’t done anything very special towards the big successful outcome.
So, in each case, a low-key, apparently insignificant action, followed by very little action, remarkably delivers the goods.
Jesus, it seems, is speaking of himself, and his friends and the Kingdom of God which he announces. On the face of it, Jesus is an untrained disloyal Jew going round with a group who are very far from being the leaders or scholars of their society. Jesus may see himself and his few followers as looking like a very unpromising new little group to have the momentous job of announcing the Kingdom - the great new stage of all of humanity’s life with God.
But Jesus was very likely familiar with a passage in the prophet Ezekiel, a picture about God making a very big tree grow from a very unlikely little cutting, - so that birds will come to nest in it. That picture is about God restoring the nation’s life - beginning in a very small unpromising way.
The passage from Ezekiel goes like this:
‘“This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will take a shoot from the very top of a cedar and plant it; I will break off a tender sprig from its topmost shoots and plant it on a high and lofty mountain. On the mountain heights of Israel I will plant it; it will produce branches and bear fruit and become a splendid cedar. Birds of every kind will nest in it; they will find shelter in the shade of its branches. All the trees of the forest will know that I the Lord bring down the tall tree and make the low tree grow tall. I dry up the green tree and make the dry tree flourish. ‘“I the Lord have spoken, and I will do it.”’
Ezekiel 17:22-24
So Jesus’ parable of the mustard seed might be Jesus teaching that what he and his friends, - at first sight few and insignificant, - what they bring, is nothing less than the Kingdom, the great new stage of life with God. Jesus may well have known that when Ezekiel spoke about the unlikely little cedar cutting growing huge, he had hoped God would bring a great new stage of things. Ezekiel had wanted to inspire hope and confidence in God around the time the Jews were exiled in Babylon nearly 600 years before Jesus. Assurance that God can work through small beginnings.
We may well get exasperated with the Church. The whole Church has long been very divided. I find the deep divisions in the Church of England, which have now become institutionalised, and, seemingly, made permanent, - I find that inappropriate and painful, on a daily basis. In the Church some grapple with unfair workloads whilst others seem not to be contributing. Financial constraints seem to destroy sensible and appropriate clergy staffing and decent patterns of worship in many places. Clergy training moves in questionable directions. There are moves by some to try to get the bishops’ pay cut and one diocesan bishop has met a rebellion! But we must soldier on as best we may. The parable seems to say that, - in spite of all - ‘It’s essentially alright – God is accomplishing things – persevere and try to see the good’.
Remember, too, that – as in a conflict - the frontier of God’s Kingdom is never static. It advances and retreats, and its boundary runs through our very selves. We, as individuals will not often be completely on the side of the angels!
There is a quote somewhere, which, I can’t find, to the effect that the Church has an uneasy history, and many and obvious current flaws, but it is only through the Church that any of us has received the Gospel, and it is only through the Church that future generations will receive the Gospel. We have to hang in, and we should do so with real hope.
Fr Roger
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