Sermons

Customising WordPress

I once before took to the stage at the Cheltenham WordPress Meetup. At that time, my presentation was about making a child theme.

I spoke about the mechanics and all the possibilities a child theme might open up for the customiser. Some technical considerations were brought into view, but now I am speaking about customising a very different type of WordPress

Now we have the Gutenberg or Full Site Editor. This development has complicated WordPress even more (dare I say dirtied the output?), because of the extra code which the new editing tool adds.

I am not a developer – I do not use the command line, though I do like my very old html editor and delve into stylesheets and the html which make up a WordPress published page.

As many of you know I entered the WordPress realm because of a job I have had since 2010. I now update pages and publish post items from time to time for that customer.

This job came about because of my experience of electronic typesetting and database publishing, which began in the early 90’s and makes working in WordPress very comfortable, since I see it as basically a database publishing exercise – one which I say should be completed “elegantly” as my physicist
friends used to say – because elegant meant simple and clean.

My use of WordPress

I use WordPress as my everyday workhorse in my “office”. I can keep my own information in tables of the database, and have integrated these new tables into my instance of WordPress, just as many of the well-known plugins do. I have done this as a page not a plugin however.

We have to admit WordPress is a powerful database publishing solution. In my office WordPress I have set up simple book-keeping pages with spreadsheet-type outputs – simple sums. I keep my contacts in WordPress, whether full information on my customers, or merely the name of a supplier. This WordPress database can hold all the information I require for my simple business.

If I wanted to, I could publish this WordPress instance to pages on my public website so that I could use a smart phone to keep everything up to date. But, as I am a bit of a luddite and spend most of my time digging in gardens, I don’t do that. – After all, my phone may drop into the ditch I am digging and I could be out a £1000 electronic gizmo.

Now how do we do all of these customising things we do – do we rely on plugins or do we create new page types? This is the question which started off this presentation. At one of the most recent Meetup’s this question was asked and it stirred me to action – action which ended up with me standing here before you. The new editor helps set up pages within the site, a much easier way of doing this task rather than doing it somewhere else and importing the code onto the site in the right place.

Many ways to skin a cat

In my prepress days, the DTP program I used allowed many ways to do the same thing. In other words there were many ways to skin a cat. The same thing happens with php html and css. We can do the same things with different techniques.

We need to bear this in mind because WordPress can be used in many different ways to produce a page. I even toyed with using WordPress to make this presentation, but I fell at the first hurdle.

So I am using a combination of different techniques. As I have said there are many ways to use WordPress and to skin those virtual cats – sorry, I mean sites – with which we all have to deal. But the first thing we need to realise is this – WordPress is very simple.

Making use of WordPress

The paradigm WordPress uses is that of a simple database publishing program.

PHP gives us the material from our data store, html is the structured output of the material and css makes it all very pretty.

Gutenberg deals with how everything is presented, and this is where WordPress becomes very complicated. The new block editor allows us to style just about any part of the block as you all know from Elliott’s recent performance on this stage.

WordPress output has become very complicated, as you find out by using control+U in your browser. (Sorry, I am an inveterate PC man, but we can have that MAC-PC debate over a pint some time.) Or you can use the Inspector.

A post on SitePoint is apt here. An HTML structure gives us our content once we dig it out from the database which is at the heart of WordPress. See this SitePoint Newsletter post Learning html is the best investment I ever id

CSS selectors and html concatenated classes complicate things. They also allow us to beautify the site. – AT A COST.

Complicated

There are many classes introduced by the WordPress programmers which often make it very difficult to create custom css stylesheets. (In my darker moments I think, “Is this maybe the reason the block editor was introduced?”)

But the stylesheet seems to have been broken up now with Gutenberg. The use of a child theme had once simplified customisation of css because you just added the selectors and their modifications into the child theme’s stylesheet which takes precedence according to the rules of the Cascade. And you added your new selectors there as well. However, with the new editor, I am a little lost.

I think we should consider our paradigm a bit more because if we simplify WordPress’s methods, I am sure that the difficulty of letting the naive user, like me, loose with the full site editor shouldn’t be a problem, because we could find all the problems quite simply.

Most users only want to change how things look. Colours, sizes and different fonts – these are the things they want to customise. – They don’t want to be “developers”. – Pretty backgrounds. Bells and whistles bolted on top are what the ordinary user wants to change. The naive user does not want to get involved with WordPress programming.

Or have I got that wrong? Do users really want to get into php and database development? You have to answer that question, which may be entirely different to my reply.

An appraisal of WordPress

I would like to make make a descriptive appraisal of WordPress. There are wonderful points and some rather dubious practices within this extraordinary content management system of ours.

First of all, WordPress is backward compatible. This is a great benefit for developers and ordinary users. We can employ old themes within full site editing. Having said that, we need to rethink our use of this publishing paradigm.

I believe the K.I.S.S. mantra should be heeded. As Richard Bell pointed out a couple of meetings ago the simple php–html–css model which spawned WordPress has become very complicated, and necessarily so – that complication, however, is under the hood – a place the general user of WordPress on the internet does not want to look, because he or she says, all the bells and whistles usually work as expected on the surface – right out of the box
– after that famous five minute install.

For the user – not the developer – the model needs to be simplified. We should be able to find the complete stylesheet again, a stylesheet which controls the complete look of the site. It is not beyond the wit of programmers to use CSS properly for a whole site and to make it accessible.

I had been trying to do some simple css styling of a test page. I wanted to make the background a certain colour like green and the main content background white. Could I find the css selector? No, I could not do so immediately, and I skinned the cat another way – using the border style property. This worked well on the desktop version, but did not appear well on the mobile display. I think the selectors have become very complicated and don’t necessarily select easily – at least for me. Here I think the KISS mantra should be fundamental when we design our pages. I can understand the complication of WordPress html-css, but I don’t think it is always warranted.

In pursuit of simplicity and the elegance some coders pursue, I think the use of Repeatable Blocks is excellent, but they should create a class of HTML entities which are styled and the selectors placed in the stylesheet.

A corollary to these repeatable blocks is that Ad hoc Blocks (users’ blocks which are never repeated) should become styled inline, not hidden away somewhere difficult to find.

The simpler html–css model would make it easier to rationalise a website stylistically. You programmers could even let us, your naive users, loose in the full site editor without any fear. After all, if we messed it up badly, all of us should be able to find our mistakes and problems easily.

To conclude then –

This naive user learned about stylesheets in the print publication world as an electronic typesetter. The stylesheet is where the user works with WordPress. Let’s make it simple for everyone.

I am an innocent who has come to this table to share my experience with the hope that I might be able to make our experience less painful. Now it is over to you to talk about the current iteration of WordPress.

Some discussion points

• The creation of a new theme is seemingly impossible. WP at present places new elements in the database, not in the stylesheet. The php-html-css paradigm has been broken. Couldn’t we return to it? This came up in a discussion between some developers last month.
• Are we bolting too much onto the simple paradigm? Do we want a website to do too much – “conversion” is not the right term to use for fooling someone into buying something from your web site. We could use all of the javascript, the new css programmable properties, and so many other things in a way that is closer to the older and simpler paradigm of php–html–css.
• I was looking at the notion of “content” in my html editor. I found that usingp.mycontent::before
  {
  content : “this is my content”;
  }

  we could get closer to a fixed content and so emulate the repeatable blocks of the new editor. But that is just one way of looking at it.

  We need to get back to the simple standards as we have done in the past. After all, as those as long in the tooth as I am know, we don’t have to do MS Internet Explorer hacks any more, do we?

Collect

Almighty God, whose Son Jesus Christ fasted forty days in the wilderness, and was tempted as we are, yet without sin: give us grace to discipline ourselves in obedience to your Spirit; and, as you know our weakness, so may we know your power to save; 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 for ever.

or

Heavenly Father, your Son battled with the powers of darkness, and grew closer to you in the desert: help us to use these days to grow in wisdom and prayer that we may witness to your saving love in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Post Communion

Lord God, you have renewed us with the living bread from heaven; by it you nourish our faith, increase our hope, and strengthen our love: teach us always to hunger for him who is the true and living bread, and enable us to live by every word that proceeds from out of your mouth; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Readings

Old Testament – Deuteronomy 26.1–11

Moses said to all Israel: When you have come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess, and you possess it, and settle in it, you shall take some of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you harvest from the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and you shall put it in a basket and go to the place that the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for his name. You shall go to the priest who is in office at that time, and say to him, ‘Today I declare to the Lord your God that I have come into the land that the Lord swore to our ancestors to give us.’ When the priest takes the basket from your hand and sets it down before the altar of the Lord your God, you shall make this response before the Lord your God: ‘A wandering Aramean was my ancestor; he went down into Egypt and lived there as an alien, few in number, and there he became a great nation, mighty and populous. When the Egyptians treated us harshly and afflicted us, by imposing hard labour on us, 7we cried to the Lord, the God of our ancestors; the Lord heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression. The Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with a terrifying display of power, and with signs and wonders; and he brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. So now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground that you, O Lord, have given me.’ You shall set it down before the Lord your God and bow down before the Lord your God. Then you, together with the Levites and the aliens who reside among you, shall celebrate with all the bounty that the Lord your God has given to you and to your house.

Psalm 91.1–2, 9–16

1    Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High ♦
and abides under the shadow of the Almighty,

2    Shall say to the Lord, ‘My refuge and my stronghold, ♦
my God, in whom I put my trust.’

9    Because you have made the Lord your refuge ♦
and the Most High your stronghold,

10    There shall no evil happen to you, ♦
neither shall any plague come near your tent.

11    For he shall give his angels charge over you, ♦
to keep you in all your ways.

12    They shall bear you in their hands, ♦
lest you dash your foot against a stone.

13    You shall tread upon the lion and adder; ♦
the young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.

14    Because they have set their love upon me, therefore will I deliver them; ♦
I will lift them up, because they know my name.

15    They will call upon me and I will answer them; ♦
I am with them in trouble, I will deliver them and bring them to honour.

16    With long life will I satisfy them ♦
and show them my salvation.

Epistle – Romans 10.8b–13

But what does it say?

‘The word is near you,
on your lips and in your heart’

(that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved. The scripture says, ‘No one who believes in him will be put to shame.’ For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him. For, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’

Gospel – Luke 4.1–13

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished. The devil said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.’ Jesus answered him, ‘It is written, “One does not live by bread alone.” ’

Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And the devil said to him, ‘To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.’ Jesus answered him, ‘It is written,

“Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.” ’

Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written,

“He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you”,

and

“On their hands they will bear you up,
so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.”

Jesus answered him, ‘It is said, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” ’ When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time.

Sermon on First Sunday of Lent

You may know that I enjoy mystery novels even more than my more academic and historical reading. One fictional character I find very engaging is Cadfael, a monk from the pen of Ellis Peters. I think you have all seen him on the small screen. I found a resumé of the characters which started my thinking for today’s ramblings.

Abbot Radulfus [is] the median, the ideal abbot, with whom Cadfael has a deep empathy and understanding. Both [prior] Robert and [the former abbot] Heribert also serve to show the cloistered and worldly perils, respectively, that Cadfael balances through his "constant war of conscience". Peters shows Cadfael at the heart of healthy, fulfilling monastic life, which may be flawed by its humanity but is well-intentioned. It is Cadfael, the fulcrum, who helps to maintain the health and perspective that overcomes crises of justice that arise from within and without the community. It may be argued that Peters creates him as a version of St Benedict’s vision of holy fellowship and service. (from Wikipedia, Cadfael)

I looked up Cadfael because I read another novel recently, one by Richard Coles, which began with a quotation from The Rule of St Benedict.

And so we are going to establish a school for the service of the Lord. In founding it we hope to introduce nothing harsh or burdensome. But if a certain strictness results from the dictates of equity for the amendment of vices or the preservation of charity, do not be at once dismayed and fly from the way of salvation, whose entrance cannot but be narrow. For as we advance in the religious life and in faith, our hearts expand and we run the way of God’s commandments with unspeakable sweetness of love. Thus, never departing from His school, but persevering in the monastery according to His teaching until death, we may by patience share in the sufferings of Christ and deserve to have a share also in His kingdom.

This description of a monastery as a school, when I read it along with the description of Cadfael in mind, sent me down the track of considering just what the religious life is. The monk who is separated from “the world” – that world in which we secular people live – this monk has a very intense life, surrounded only by others who have taken up that particuliar life, bound together with the vows of chastity, poverty and obedience. They chose that life of love and discipline, a life that leads to a full faith.

When I studied, I took a course about western monasticism. We looked at The Rule because it was the aim, the ideal, of all religious communities. It describes of a life of moderation, in which all help each other to share in that reflection of heaven upon earth, where love defines how people behave with each other. Benedict did not want to introduce anything “harsh or burdensome”. It is a life of quiet, there are no raised voices – but when voices do rise it is an emergency, or only demanded by the liturgy, when voices sing the praise of God.

Ora et labora. That is “the motto of the Benedictine order, signifying the importance of balancing spiritual devotion in prayer (ora) with physical labour (labora) in daily life.” (Wikipedia) All western monasticism is based on it. Every order is founded on The Rule – even those very radically different orders which say they won’t change because there is no deviation from The Rule in their way of life. They follow Benedict even if their order has its own peculiarities – for instance that silent order where there is no speech at all.

Richard Coles’ main character realises that whether you live in a secluded community or in the rough and tumble of “the world” you have to choose. For the monk it is the consistent choice of The Rule, a rule which fosters life in all its fullness, a rule which is set in a community which has only one goal, that of salvation for all. Those of us who have not chosen The Rule have to negotiate individual choices made by the people around us – and those choices may not be mutually beneficial, in fact they may be inimical to each other, becoming the cause of wars between nations or the disputes between groups in a community or even the arguments in the midst of families themselves. We might even think that personality problems signify the pull of one thing or another in an individual’s life.

The notion of choice, what the theologians call “free will”, is central to life. It is especially important in today’s political climate. Choice is central to everything we do – where we send our children to school, whether we take the bus or the car, who our doctor should be, everything has become a matter of our own personal choice.

We choose to act in particular ways – there is always a moment of selecting one thing over another. That moment is what the religious life is all about. Whether we have chosen “the cowl” or “the world”, we have to make that selection consistently, or else there is something radically wrong with the world in which we live and move and have our being. That free choice is the point on which our world ultimately rests. We must discern what that point is and we have to know that that point is where our religious sensibilities ground us.

Reading about Cadfael and studying The Rule of St Benedict will help us to discover how we can be authentic in our relations with other people. When we read about dubious characters, or see them on screen, don’t we get scared off behaving in those ways? Don’t we begin to see that the noble way of the good for its own sake is the only way to act? The actions of the wicked character in a novel remind us that we can be held culpable of the very same actions which we condemn as they unfold on the page as we read about them or on the screen as we watch them. We realise that no one is completely innocent when it comes to misdeeds, are they?

Benedict was right when he reminds us that “a certain strictness results from the dictates of equity for the amendment of vices or the preservation of charity.” Don’t parents do this for their children? They constrain their children in their love to keep them safe. Don’t we in our working lives also feel the constraint of the HSE and our bosses and other workers? Don’t we conform to safety rules for the sake of good order, a “certain strictness” for the sake of the “preservation of charity”?

These Rules may be Common Law, Health and Safety, or those of Benedict. We follow them because ultimately they allow us to live out our love for one another. “As we advance in the religious life and in faith, our hearts expand and we run the way of God’s commandments with unspeakable sweetness of love.” As we go on in life that constricting red tape disintegrates and we are absolutely free to act for the sake of the other person.

I have come to the conclusion that the religious life is a reflection of how we live in the world and Lent can be the real expression of that reality. I would venture to say that we should stand with “Cadfael at the heart of healthy, fulfilling life”. If we realise that, whether in our out of the cloister, we are all living in that “school for the service of the Lord”, a school in which we all really do want to live, even if we might have forgotten the fundamental choice of love we made long ago. Let us use Lent to remember, and resolve ourselves to, that choice of love.

Amen

Collect

Almighty God, you have created the heavens and the earth and made us in your own image: teach us to discern your hand in all your works and your likeness in all your children; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit reigns supreme over all things, now and for ever.

or

Almighty God, give us reverence for all creation and respect for every person, that we may mirror your likeness in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Post Communion

God our creator, by your gift the tree of life was set at the heart of the earthly paradise, and the bread of life at the heart of your Church: may we who have been nourished at your table on earth be transformed by the glory of the Saviour’s cross and enjoy the delights of eternity; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Readings

Old Testament – Genesis 2.4b–9, 15–end

In the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, when no plant of the field was yet in the earth and no herb of the field had yet sprung up—for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was no one to till the ground; but a stream would rise from the earth, and water the whole face of the ground— then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being. And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east; and there he put the man whom he had formed. Out of the ground the Lord God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, ‘You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.’

Then the Lord God said, ‘It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner.’ So out of the ground the Lord God formed every animal of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all cattle, and to the birds of the air, and to every animal of the field; but for the man there was not found a helper as his partner. So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then he took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said,

‘This at last is bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
this one shall be called Woman,
for out of Man this one was taken.’

Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked, and were not ashamed.

Psalm

1    Praise is due to you, O God, in Zion; ♦
to you that answer prayer shall vows be paid.

2    To you shall all flesh come to confess their sins; ♦
when our misdeeds prevail against us, you will purge them away.

3    Happy are they whom you choose and draw to your courts to dwell there. ♦
We shall be satisfied with the blessings of your house, even of your holy temple.

4    With wonders you will answer us in your righteousness, O God of our salvation, ♦
O hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas.

5    In your strength you set fast the mountains ♦
and are girded about with might.

6    You still the raging of the seas, ♦
the roaring of their waves and the clamour of the peoples.

7    Those who dwell at the ends of the earth tremble at your marvels; ♦
the gates of the morning and evening sing your praise.

8    You visit the earth and water it; ♦
you make it very plenteous.

9    The river of God is full of water; ♦
you prepare grain for your people, for so you provide for the earth.

10    You drench the furrows and smooth out the ridges; ♦
you soften the ground with showers and bless its increase.

11    You crown the year with your goodness, ♦
and your paths overflow with plenty.

12    May the pastures of the wilderness flow with goodness ♦
and the hills be girded with joy.

13    May the meadows be clothed with flocks of sheep ♦
and the valleys stand so thick with corn that they shall laugh and sing.

Epistle – Revelation 4

I looked, and there in heaven a door stood open! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, ‘Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.’ At once I was in the spirit, and there in heaven stood a throne, with one seated on the throne! And the one seated there looks like jasper and cornelian, and around the throne is a rainbow that looks like an emerald. Around the throne are twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones are twenty-four elders, dressed in white robes, with golden crowns on their heads. Coming from the throne are flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder, and in front of the throne burn seven flaming torches, which are the seven spirits of God; and in front of the throne there is something like a sea of glass, like crystal.

Around the throne, and on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with a face like a human face, and the fourth living creature like a flying eagle. And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and inside. Day and night without ceasing they sing,

‘Holy, holy, holy,
the Lord God the Almighty,
who was and is and is to come.’

And whenever the living creatures give glory and honour and thanks to the one who is seated on the throne, who lives for ever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall before the one who is seated on the throne and worship the one who lives for ever and ever; they cast their crowns before the throne, singing,

‘You are worthy, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honour and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they existed and were created.’

Gospel – Luke 8.22–25

One day he got into a boat with his disciples, and he said to them, ‘Let us go across to the other side of the lake.’ So they put out, and while they were sailing he fell asleep. A gale swept down on the lake, and the boat was filling with water, and they were in danger. They went to him and woke him up, shouting, ‘Master, Master, we are perishing!’ And he woke up and rebuked the wind and the raging waves; they ceased, and there was a calm. He said to them, ‘Where is your faith?’ They were afraid and amazed, and said to one another, ‘Who then is this, that he commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him?’

Sermon on Second Sunday before Lent

A few weeks ago we heard about the events at the lake of Gennesaret, when the fishermen were called as disciples after they had hauled in the catch which almost overwhelmed their boats. This week we are back on the water. Today we hear about the storm which threatened to drown them all. We know about those gales, don’t we? When everything is upset, when the normal is overturned and we have to struggle through hell to the other side, we call out “We are perishing” in our despair.

But to whom do we call? Social influencers whom we have never seen, whose words drift by ethereally on our phones, who have no idea of the danger we perceive? We call out to these savants hoping for a solution to our impossible muddle of danger – we call out for aid and succour. “Whence cometh my help” we cry out with the psalmist because we feel we are perishing.

Again we are on the deep waters of life, begging for help. We are about to spill into the deep and, because we don’t think we can swim, we panic in the midst of chaos.

But, on the contrary, I am certain that we can make our way in these deep waters. We have an example of calm, don’t we? We have just read about a fellow who slept through such a storm which threatened destruction to so many. He just stood up and rebuked the chaos. He must have said, “Be still!”

They were afraid and amazed, and said to one another, ‘Who then is this, that he commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him?’

We are like that crowd in wonder. But I think we could do this as well, couldn’t we? We fear and are bewildered about everything which befalls us – we don’t understand this fellow’s power to calm the storms of the most tortured soul.

When we hear that other command, “Do not fear!”, we don’t have to fear. We should take courage and live through the event. We must listen to that voice and take heart. If we do this in the depths of our despair, we would understand that we can make it through everything. We might even have a faith, a belief that we can live in hope.

Some have gone through a terrible journey of life and yet they tell us a story of life in all its fullness. They are the heroes of legend and we praise them, don’t we?

Who can make it through the wicked evil of the hero’s quest? I would say, those heroes who are stilled and work through, with care, the vicissitudes confronting them. They have not panicked in the face of difficulty.

They calmly walk through the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune to emerge from the chaos of their epic journey to find themselves at home again, like Odysseus when he reveals himself to Penelope. He might have used his sword on all of her suitors but I think he eventually becomes the man at peace by his hearth. That pacific picture is what must inform us. The end of the quiet life with the beloved should inspire us to carry on with the fight against chaotic evil at every moment.

Jesus calls to us to have faith, to take courage, never to fear. He calls to the blessed in the beatitudes teaching from the precarious position of the boat, a boat which symbolises the precarious position of everyone afloat on the sea of troubles. I think Jesus teaches about the calm of faith by sleeping in the boat during that outrageous storm, that storm which threw everyone into disarray. “They” called to him and revealed the character of the crowd, tossed this way and that in what they saw as chaos because they did not know that they could stand up against the storm blowing against them.

There in a corner of the boat lay the solution to all their fear of that moment. They had to call upon the solution. They had to rouse Jesus from slumber. When Jesus stood up, he spoke up against the perceived chaos. “Be still!” he said and that “Be still,” calms everything, especially our jangling nerves. I suggest we look to a solution far beyond the immediate, beyond the everyday perception of the crowd’s solution to any of our problems.

I would suggest we look to those invisible goods which belong to all, if we would but reach out to grasp them. They are there with us as we panic about everything. When the disciples feared for their lives, they called out “We are perishing!” – and so do we. We call out to God in those times of desperate fear, when we are at the edge. Don’t we now say “OMG”? In our anxiety, however, we do not take stock of our selves to find that reserve of calm, just as the disciples in that boat in the storm do not look to Jesus hidden away in sleep in the corner.

Our salvation lies hidden in our lives. We may not even recognise it as we panic in existential anxiety. We have to listen to the voice of Jesus as he commands, “Be still!” If that voice “commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him,” what can that voice do for us? What benefits can we receive if we were to listen?

Imagine if we were to listen and obey this command, “Do not fear!” What a different life would be ours if we turned away from the panic of the crowd and heard the voice of our heart! Jesus speaks to us in that stillness.

That is the miracle we all long for, isn’t it? But we get sucked along with the crowd. We don’t listen to the voice of our conscience. Rather we listen to the chattering confusion of the masses. We would rather speak about the weather to keep matters of moment at bay. We don’t want to think long and hard about that silence at the core of our being, that silence which challenges the crowd’s noisiness.

There in the corner lies our salvation. In the midst of our panic it lies sleeping. If only we would waken it, if we were to listen to that silent commanding voice, we would not panic – we would enjoy life in all its fullness, that life we pervert because we are too greedy to share with anyone, that life we silence in our existential anxiety as we listen only to the crowd’s distracting noise.

Let us not fear the silence of those corners where salvation sleeps unconcerned about the distractions of storms, the high winds of panic, the overwhelming seas, those nets full of struggling fish, the slings and arrows of humankind’s struggling with each other. Let us share the gift of life in all its fullness, the gift we all have in its abundance if we were to listen to its silent call, the call of loving friend and enemy alike. It is a commanding call, if we were to hear that still small voice of fearless calm, which “commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.” Were we to listen to such a voice, that calm would be ours as well, so that we shall share life in all its fullness through loving care.

Amen

Collect

O God, you know us to be set in the midst of so many and great dangers, that by reason of the frailty of our nature we cannot always stand upright: grant to us such strength and protection as may support us in all dangers and carry us through all temptations; 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 for ever.

or

Lord of the hosts of heaven, our salvation and our strength, without you we are lost: guard us from all that harms or hurts and raise us when we fall; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Post Communion

Go before us, Lord, in all we do with your most gracious favour, and guide us with your continual help, that in all our works begun, continued and ended in you, we may glorify your holy name, and finally by your mercy receive everlasting life; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Readings

Old Testament – Isaiah 6.1–8 [9–13]

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the hem of his robe filled the temple. Seraphs were in attendance above him; each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. And one called to another and said:

‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory.’

The pivots on the thresholds shook at the voices of those who called, and the house filled with smoke. And I said: ‘Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!’

Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding a live coal that had been taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. The seraph touched my mouth with it and said: ‘Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out.’ Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’ And I said, ‘Here am I; send me!’

[And he said, ‘Go and say to this people:

“Keep listening, but do not comprehend;

keep looking, but do not understand.”

Make the mind of this people dull,

and stop their ears, and shut their eyes,

so that they may not look with their eyes,

and listen with their ears,

and comprehend with their minds,

and turn and be healed.’

Then I said, ‘How long, O Lord?’ And he said:
‘Until cities lie waste

without inhabitant,

and houses without people,

and the land is utterly desolate;

until the Lord sends everyone far away,

and vast is the emptiness in the midst of the land.

Even if a tenth part remains in it,

it will be burned again,

like a terebinth or an oak

whose stump remains standing when it is felled.’

The holy seed is its stump. ]

Psalm

1    I will give thanks to you, O Lord, with my whole heart; ♦

before the gods will I sing praise to you.

2    I will bow down towards your holy temple and praise your name, because of your love and faithfulness; ♦

for you have glorified your name and your word above all things.

3    In the day that I called to you, you answered me; ♦

you put new strength in my soul.

4    All the kings of the earth shall praise you, O Lord, ♦

for they have heard the words of your mouth.

5    They shall sing of the ways of the Lord, ♦

that great is the glory of the Lord.

6    Though the Lord be high, he watches over the lowly; ♦

as for the proud, he regards them from afar.

7    Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you will preserve me; ♦

you will stretch forth your hand against the fury of my enemies; your right hand will save me.

8    The Lord shall make good his purpose for me; ♦

your loving-kindness, O Lord, endures for ever; forsake not the work of your hands.

Epistle – 1 Corinthians 15.1–11

I should remind you, brothers and sisters, of the good news that I proclaimed to you, which you in turn received, in which also you stand, through which also you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the message that I proclaimed to you—unless you have come to believe in vain.

For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to someone untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace towards me has not been in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them—though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. Whether then it was I or they, so we proclaim and so you have come to believe.

Gospel – Luke 5.1–11

While Jesus was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret, and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, ‘Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.’ Simon answered, ‘Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.’ When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break. So they signalled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, ‘Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!’ For he and all who were with him were amazed at the catch of fish that they had taken; and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. Then Jesus said to Simon, ‘Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.’ When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him.

Sermon on Fourth Sunday before Lent

We read this morning “and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God.” – Is this something we can say about any crowd today? Who today presses in to listen to anyone else, let alone anyone in a pulpit speaking about the word of God?

These are hard questions. These are questions which we have to ask about ourselves. Do each of us come to church to open our minds and hearts to God’s word? Do we hear that ineffable echo of conscience when we still ourselves and wait patiently with the Quakers and Shakers in silence? Or does the word of God assault us in the majesty of the liturgy as bells ring out reminding us of the incarnation and incense rises with our prayers to the heights of heaven in our ancient and beautified cathedrals and grade one listed churches?

Where is “the crowd” this morning? Have we failed to bring to life the word of God as the prophets of old did? Have we not enlivened our lives so that the crowds would come to join us as people did in the camp revival meetings of a Wesley or a Billy Graham? Does the crowd even want to raise its consciousness of the created world around it and how the crowd affects the environment? There are so many questions the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church must raise in each person, but does the crowd feel interrogated by such silent enquiries which the churches of the world pose?

These are questions which must assault us as believers of the Word of God. These are the doubts which I think should be at the forefront of our minds as we consider our lives in the world, as we show our care for our neighbours.

When I let my conscience have control, I despair – I realise that I have not loved my neighbour as myself, and consequently I have not loved God perhaps at all. My sinfulness is ever before me, accusing me of a greedy selfishness at every moment. However, I do not feel I belong in the crowd which presses against me, keeping me away from the word of God. Today there are no crowds pressing ahead to listen eagerly to anyone who purports to speak for God. I begin to wonder, are there no prophets today? Do our leaders only speak words the crowd wants to hear, are our preachers only anodyne mouthpieces of the crowd. No one stands firm on the edge of the world pointing to the sacred and rejecting the profane. Is there no one to confront the stultifying comfort of a life without conscience?

I could wonder if our bible verse is actually a reflection of the reality of the time when Jesus dwellt among us. This thought may be outrageous for many, but they it does occur to everyone at some point, doesn’t it? Just as we wonder about the accuracy of news reports today, was reporting of events any better two thousand years ago?

Did the crowds really press in upon him as the gospels described? Did they fill the plains waiting to be fed with the word of God, or is it only the bread and fish they wanted? Did they really follow him all around Galilee to listen to what he had to say? Did they really force him onto that lake in order they might hear him speak? Or, you might ask, did they gather in the temple and synagogue to listen to him speak about God his Father? What about those words from Isaiah – did they truly understand they were fulfilled in Jesus the Christ? Do we?

I wonder whether we take on those words Jesus spoke as if they were our own? Do we really try to get as close as possible to the word of God as we go about our everyday lives? These are all questions which perplex me every moment of the day. I think they are the sort of questions which provoke cold chills in the dead of night, in those hours when our conscience really does raise its head and ask those very real, and very difficult, questions about ourselves and the way we live.

However, there are those among us who do seek the word of God in their lives – they do want to change the world, to bring heaven to earth and earth to heaven. Don’t we ourselves do so? Don’t we pray daily “thy kingdom come, thy will be done”? These are our best moments, when conscience and action are united into the single entity of faithfulness. Each of us can, and do, call upon God and press forward to listen to those ineffable words which give us life, words of meaning – the message conscience repeats whenever we listen to it.

This is what conversion really is, when we listen and act on, and for, the word of God. Conversion can be a steady state of being, if we let it, if we strive for it.

But that “crowd” is all around us and bullies us into sometimes very inappropriate behaviour. The crowd deadens our senses. We do not see and we do not hear, even though Jesus has hope that those who have ears will hear and those who have eyes will see. – Jesus knows they will know what truth reveals, that they will understand that love is the only motive we should have, getting back to that one commandment Jesus gave us – if you truly love me, you will love one another.

I think, generally, we are living in an age devoid of care for one another. There are also, I believe, the odd examples who do care. – There are Mother Teresa’s in the world. They surround us with their love, but they are not public figures (we need only look at our public leaders, don’t we?). These privately-living saints do not have days named after them, do they? You may know of saint, cloistered away behind their houses’ walls, sending out their parcels of love. We have experienced this, haven’t we? So, I think, we do live in the hope which Jesus had for the world.

While we do live in faith, in that hope Jesus had, we often fail to be publicly accountable for the love we actually want to share with everyone. I am convinced that it only takes practice to become more loving. The love I want to share is what I have experienced. My wife has taught me what true love is, for I am loved. My parents taught me about care because they cared for me. I have made my own mistakes in sharing the love, but they are mine and I repent of these most grievous faults. The love I have been given does inform my life. This is the love Jesus talks about in his parables, especially when he depicts God as the loving father.

We may have experienced all this love imperfectly, just as we try to care and fail. We must admit that fact to ourselves and the world, the fact of our missing the mark of love. I think we all know what we want to accomplish. – I think even the crowd longs for the openness of a true, open friendship, what Paul describes as αγαπη.

Amen

Collect

Almighty and ever–living God, clothed in majesty, whose beloved Son was this day presented in the Temple, in substance of our flesh: grant that we may be presented to you with pure and clean hearts, by your Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

or

Lord Jesus Christ, light of the nations and glory of Israel: make your home among us, and present us pure and holy to your heavenly Father, your God, and our God.

Post Communion

Lord, you fulfilled the hope of Simeon and Anna, who lived to welcome the Messiah: may we, who have received these gifts beyond words, prepare to meet Christ Jesus when he comes to bring us to eternal life; for he is alive and reigns, now and for ever.

Readings

Old Testament – Malachi 3.1–5

See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight—indeed, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears?

For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap; he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the descendants of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, until they present offerings to the Lord in righteousness. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years.

Then I will draw near to you for judgement; I will be swift to bear witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired workers in their wages, the widow, and the orphan, against those who thrust aside the alien, and do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts.

Psalm 24.[1–6] 7–10

[1    The earth is the Lord’s and all that fills it, ♦
the compass of the world and all who dwell therein.

2    For he has founded it upon the seas ♦
and set it firm upon the rivers of the deep.

3    ‘Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord, ♦
or who can rise up in his holy place?’

4    ‘Those who have clean hands and a pure heart, ♦  
who have not lifted up their soul to an idol,
nor sworn an oath to a lie;

5    ‘They shall receive a blessing from the Lord, ♦
a just reward from the God of their salvation.’

6    Such is the company of those who seek him, ♦
of those who seek your face, O God of Jacob.]

7    Lift up your heads, O gates;
be lifted up, you everlasting doors; ♦
and the King of glory shall come in.

8    ‘Who is the King of glory?’ ♦
‘The Lord, strong and mighty,
the Lord who is mighty in battle.’

9    Lift up your heads, O gates;
be lifted up, you everlasting doors; ♦
and the King of glory shall come in.

10    ‘Who is this King of glory?’ ♦
‘The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory.’

Epistle – Hebrews 2.14–18

Since, therefore, the children share flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared the same things, so that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death. For it is clear that he did not come to help angels, but the descendants of Abraham. Therefore he had to become like his brothers and sisters in every respect, so that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make a sacrifice of atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself was tested by what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested.

Gospel – Luke 2.22–40

When the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord, ‘Every firstborn male shall be designated as holy to the Lord’), and they offered a sacrifice according to what is stated in the law of the Lord, ‘a pair of turtle-doves or two young pigeons.

Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; this man was righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit rested on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. Guided by the Spirit, Simeon came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him what was customary under the law, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying,

‘Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.’

And the child’s father and mother were amazed at what was being said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, ‘This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed – and a sword will pierce your own soul too.’

There was also a prophet, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, having lived with her husband for seven years after her marriage, then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshipped there with fasting and prayer night and day. At that moment she came, and began to praise God and to speak about the child to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.

When they had finished everything required by the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favour of God was upon him.

Sermon on Candlemass

Today we are celebrating Candlemass, the end of the Christmass–Epiphany season, the day when Jesus was presented in the Temple, when Simeon declared the words we know as the Nunc Dimittis, revealing yet again the magnificent mystery of the incarnate Lord. And we are told that Mary’s heart would feel a sword piercing it because the destiny of the child was “the rising and falling of many” and making known “inner thoughts”. I suppose Simeon was warning those parents that the life of a prophet was to be their son’s. It would not be one of sweetness and light, but the pain of self knowledge was to be his fate – that this child was going to stand against the ignorance of the crowd for the sake of humanity’s salvation in the truth, a stance which too often calls forth opposition in every sort of way.

This is the signal event of Jesus’ life in the gospel of Luke, never mind the birth narratives, for he then sums up his childhood with these simple words. “The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favour of God was upon him.” Thirty years of life summed up in one verse. A rather slim recounting of the whole of experience in a youth’s life.

I suppose we have to say that there is no official biography for Jesus. Jesus never published his memoirs. None of the gospels tell the full story of Jesus’ life from his birth through his death to his resurrection. Of course there are all the sayings and miracles, but they are not in one place and they are not all the same in all the material we have about Jesus. In fact there is only one reference to Jesus the Christ in official records outside of Christian literature, at least that is what my teacher used to say.

Even christian records are quite different, the birth narratives diverge drastically, one talks of shepherds, the other about magi, and two of the books do not speak of Jesus’ early life at all. They all agree that Jesus died on the cross, crucified. They all tell of the miraculous resurrection appearances, but each narrative takes on a different character in each gospel.

I suppose it should be no surprise that the lectionary calendar is also confused. Two weeks ago we heard about the miracle at Cana, the week before that we considered Christ’s baptism. The week before that we heard about the visit of the three kings. This week we hear about Jesus’ presentation in the temple. There is no chronology in the gospels nor in the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church’s liturgical year. You could say we have a confused narrative concerning Jesus Christ.

Nevertheless from this muddle arises a corporate body of faith, a community of great diversity – sometimes even at odds with itself – and yet it has an historical longevity. The Church has lasted two millennia despite its history and its hopes – despite its internal divisions.

We can understand why Jesus’ biographical narrative is spotty. Don’t we tell each of our own stories in the same way? Episodes appear and disappear at random as we narrate our own history. At one time we tell it this way, at another we tell it in a different way. It depends on the audience whom we are addressing with our story. You could say we are our own “spin doctors” – we tell the narrative for our own lives as we need to. We don’t have to rely on biographers nowadays, since we are all on FaceBook and we tell our stories in the best possible way there, don’t we? We don’t have to rely on another writer to tell everyone about us hoping against hope that that particular narrator will make us look good. Instead, we do that for ourselves now. Our FaceBook pages remain forever in the ether of the internet and we have created them. They are our gospels, the good news of our very own selves – they are out there in our very own words. They are like the four gospels telling the muddled tale about the person who has appeared on them. The gospels are FaceBook pages in their own peculiar way – just as my pages are the gospel about myself according to me.

Being out there is not all sweetness and light, is it? We have done our best to show ourselves off . We have spun our stories so that we look so very fine. But what happens when people begin to reflect on the story we tell about ourselves. What happens when someone looks a little deeper than the surface revealed by social media? What if one of my beloved NT scholars were to look at my social media output? Would I remain the hero of my imagination and the stories I tell about myself? Or would I appear to be something completely different than the person I portray as myself?

It becomes our turn to be interrogated and interpreted by the readers of our pages, just as Jesus is interpreted by all of us when we open the good book. What do you think the crowd makes of the tales we tell of ourselves? Are we the heroes we think ourselves to be, or do we actually seem to be the villains the crowd may consider us to be?

The difference between our own self understanding through a social media presentation and how others see us, can be very stark. Sometimes we don’t see ourselves in the reflected image we propound. When we overhear a conversation concerning ourselves, do we recognise the person who is subject to that gossip and story-telling? – I suppose the saying we never hear good of ourselves when we eavesdrop is actually true.

So just how does our own understanding of our selves differ from the understanding others have of us? How do we appear to others? How do we appear to ourselves?

Those biblical scholars, whom I revere, took up at one time what was called “the quest for the historical Jesus”. One of the longest and most intricate investigations concluded that they could all be likened to someone looking down into a deep well which is so dark but there is a disk of light at the bottom. On that quest, deep down there, in the well, we see an image. That scholar concluded that the image may not be the authentic and historical Jesus, but it certainly does reflect ourselves as we portray Jesus.

That quest evaluates the records we have and comes to a conclusion, always speaking to the present, always formed by the interests of the time, addressing the meaning we find because of the methods we employ.

These limitations of method and the strictures of self-awareness are what we have to remember when we write on our own FaceBook pages and tell stories about others. I can only hope that when people tell stories about me, they might be uplifting, and when I talk about others, whether friends or not, I will be generous and encouraging as I portray them as they are of me.

Amen

Collect

Almighty God, in Christ you make all things new: transform the poverty of our nature by the riches of your grace, and in the renewal of our lives make known your heavenly glory; 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 for ever.

or

Eternal Lord, our beginning and our end: bring us with the whole creation to your glory, hidden through past ages and made known in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Readings

Old Testament – Isaiah 62.1–5

For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent,
and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest,
until her vindication shines out like the dawn,
and her salvation like a burning torch.

The nations shall see your vindication,
and all the kings your glory;
and you shall be called by a new name
that the mouth of the Lord will give.

You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord,
and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.

You shall no more be termed Forsaken,
and your land shall no more be termed Desolate;
but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her,
and your land Married;
for the Lord delights in you,
and your land shall be married.

For as a young man marries a young woman,
so shall your builder marry you,
and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride,
so shall your God rejoice over you.

Psalm 36.5–10

5    Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens ♦
and your faithfulness to the clouds.

6    Your righteousness stands like the strong mountains, your justice like the great deep; ♦
you, Lord, shall save both man and beast.

7    How precious is your loving mercy, O God! ♦
All mortal flesh shall take refuge under the shadow of your wings.

8    They shall be satisfied with the abundance of your house; ♦
they shall drink from the river of your delights.

9    For with you is the well of life ♦
and in your light shall we see light.

10    O continue your loving-kindness to those who know you ♦
and your righteousness to those who are true of heart.

Epistle – 1 Corinthians 12.1–11

Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. You know that when you were pagans, you were enticed and led astray to idols that could not speak. Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says ‘Let Jesus be cursed!’ and no one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by the Holy Spirit.

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.

Gospel – John 2.1–11

On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, ‘They have no wine.’ And Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come.’ His mother said to the servants, ‘Do whatever he tells you.’ Now standing there were six stone water-jars for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to them, ‘Fill the jars with water.’ And they filled them up to the brim. He said to them, ‘Now draw some out, and take it to the chief steward.’ So they took it. When the steward tasted the water that had become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward called the bridegroom and said to him, ‘Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now.’ Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.

Sermon on Second Sunday of Epiphany

An epiphany is a moment when we understand everything, isn’t it? – the moment when God appears in our lives and we “get it”. The story about the wedding at Cana is a moment when God appears, we get the miracle that just happened. But just what is it that we “get”? I want to ask, “Are we swayed only by miracles? Is the fact that Jesus transformed lots of water into wine the only thing that brings us to faith?” This water-into-wine is a wonderful revelation, but is that the only ground on which we stand? What would happen if we no longer believe in miracles?

I remember a song by Hot Chocolate from many years ago, sung with such vigour and hope as “I Believe in Miracles”. Even though it was also called “You sexy thing”, I think it speaks to what a miracle does in one’s life. It certainly describes what the miracle of love does in life – what it has done in my life, and yours? … We need to do a little translation of this song before we can fully address the miracle of love as it enters our lives.

Many of us may have gyrated on the dance floor to the pure joy of this or some other song as it blasted from the wall of sound at some venue of our youth which we now remember with fondness. We may have even met our partners as we sang those words with Hot Chocolate playing as the background to our hopes and desires.

The chorus of the song must be cleansed of the prurient – we need to take the song’s base sex out of our considerations, for we have to ponder worthy subjects while in church. The chorus sings

    I believe in miracles
Where’re you from?
You sexy thing
I believe in miracles
Since you came along
You sexy thing

For the words, “You sexy thing”, I think you can hear “You are my life”, or “You are my love”. At least that is how I want to elevate the meaning of this song. This translation of the prurient is in line with the reinterpretation of the bible called “demythologisation”, a project begun a century ago by biblical scholars, who asked “How can we believe in these biblical miracles in the age of the electric light?” Why should we demean ourselves by considering only the flesh? Can’t the miracle of falling in love be seen in the whole of life, body and soul?

So, in order to consider the miracles we have experienced, let us return to the miracle of love, the care between people. That is the only miracle of which I have any experience. What about you? Some lines from that Hot Chocolate song deserve to be considered in terms of the great commandment of loving one another. The good Samaritan could be seen as the figure addressed in these lines:

Where did you come from?
How did you know I needed you?
How did you know I needed you so badly
How did you know I’d give my heart gladly
Yesterday I was one of the lonely people
[Now you are loving me.]

Aren’t these words exactly what the injured man must have thought when he was picked up and cared for by the Samaritan? Here I am in dire need, lying as dead in the road and someone has come to alleviate my pain. I could go on to say

Where did you come from, angel?
How did you know I’d be the one?
Did you know you’re everything I prayed for?
Did you know, every night and day for?
Every day, needing love as satisfaction
Now you’re giving it to me

These lines speak of love as the solution to the problems of life, lifting us up from the desolate isolation of pain. The Hot Chocolate’s song is highly charged, and set with sexual imagery, but we Christians can rise above all that squalid versification to see how it speaks to a refined and noble reality. That reality is confused in life, isn’t it? We are told of the great gulf between the spiritual and the material, that they cannot co-exist – but they do! Our lives attest to their admixture. Paul’s letters and so much christian prose and poetry try to keep these realms separate, that the slings and arrows of the physical deny the spiritual. So many writers demand a rejection of a part of our very own selves, don’t they? However, I don’t think we have to reject the body, but we do have to purify how we behave in the world.

I have to say that it is possible for us to understand the flesh and raise it above the venal. We connect with our loved ones physically – when a touch becomes a caress. – This is clear when we hug our children and our partners – that is quite simply how we express our carnality spiritually, how we are incarnate spiritual beings. All long for that embrace which covers any loneliness with a belonging to one another, when I and my love become one altogether completely. That is what a child feels when the child’s mother kisses a hurt better – that connection of hearts in touch.

This is the ultimate in safe-guarding, isn’t it? People caring with the whole of their being for another, particularly with someone who is vulnerable – like their own child. Don’t we speak of love in terms which encompass the whole of life, that body and soul are wrapped up together in the act of caring for the other with unconditional love. Again, I say this is safe-guarding in its purest form. When the Samaritan picks up the forlorn, almost dead person, does he do it with any other intention than that of helping that virtual corpse back to health and life? I cannot imagine any other motive. Can you?

I am using language much like the language of the Song of Songs, aren’t I? It is the poetry of love. The bible is not averse to speaking in terms of the body and corporal reality along with the spirit, the soul – I think miracles make the point the bible is all about, that we are in the world, confused as we are about body, mind and spirit.

Somehow all of this confusion about just what we are, how we are in the world – flesh, body, mind, spirit – gets straightened out. In an epiphany it all makes sense. This is the real miracle. That ultimately we understand through love, how love unites the whole of our lives through our connection with the other. The Hot Chocolate song, I would like to say, can express that highest experience of love, if we work at it, if we make that translation into the whole of our lives. And we need to do this. We need to work out just how the miracles enter our lives and become that epiphany moment.

Don’t we confess this through the words of the gospel of St John, that the word was made flesh and dwellt amongst us, just as each one of us dwells in the world as incarnate beings. As incarnate beings like the Samaritan and the I of the Hot Chocolate song, let us love one another as we love ourselves. Let us dwell amongst our contemporaries with that joy understanding miracles gives us. I would like to think that love is a miracle even greater than turning water into wine for it abides forever.

Amen

Collect

Eternal Father, who at the baptism of Jesus revealed him to be your Son, anointing him with the Holy Spirit: grant to us, who are born again by water and the Spirit, that we may be faithful to our calling as your adopted children; 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 for ever.

or

Heavenly Father, at the Jordan you revealed Jesus as your Son: may we recognize him as our Lord and know ourselves to be your beloved children; through Jesus Christ our Saviour.

Post Communion

Lo rd of all time and eternity, you opened the heavens and revealed yourself as Father in the baptism of Jesus your beloved Son: by the power of your Spirit complete the heavenly work of our rebirth through the waters of the new creation; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Readings

Old Testament – Isaiah 43.1–7

43Thus says the Lord,

   he who created you, O Jacob,

   he who formed you, O Israel:

Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;

   I have called you by name, you are mine.

2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;

   and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;

when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,

   and the flame shall not consume you.

3 For I am the Lord your God,

   the Holy One of Israel, your Saviour.

I give Egypt as your ransom,

   Ethiopia and Seba in exchange for you.

4 Because you are precious in my sight,

   and honoured, and I love you,

I give people in return for you,

   nations in exchange for your life.

5 Do not fear, for I am with you;

   I will bring your offspring from the east,

   and from the west I will gather you;

6 I will say to the north, ‘Give them up’,

   and to the south, ‘Do not withhold;

bring my sons from far away

   and my daughters from the end of the earth—

7 everyone who is called by my name,

   whom I created for my glory,

   whom I formed and made.’

Psalm 29

1    Ascribe to the Lord, you powers of heaven, w
ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.

2    Ascribe to the Lord the honour due to his name; w

worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.

3    The voice of the Lord is upon the waters;
the God of glory thunders; w
the Lord is upon the mighty waters.

4    The voice of the Lord is mighty in operation; w
the voice of the Lord is a glorious voice.

5    The voice of the Lord breaks the cedar trees; w
the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon;

6    He makes Lebanon skip like a calf w
and Sirion like a young wild ox.

7    The voice of the Lord splits the flash of lightning;

the voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness; w

the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.

8    The voice of the Lord makes the oak trees writhe and strips the forests bare; w
in his temple all cry, ‘Glory!’

9    The Lord sits enthroned above the water flood; w
the Lord sits enthroned as king for evermore.

10    The Lord shall give strength to his people; w
the Lord shall give his people the blessing of peace.

Epistle – Acts 8.14–17

Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the
word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. The two went down and prayed
for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit (for as yet the Spirit
had not come upon any of them; they had only been baptized in the name
of the Lord Jesus). Then Peter and John laid their hands on them, and they
received the Holy Spirit.

Gospel – Luke 3.15–17, 21, 22

As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in
their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, John answered
all of them by saying, ‘I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful
than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He
will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing-fork is in
his hand, to clear his threshing-floor and to gather the wheat into his
granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.’ 

Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized
and was praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon
him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are
my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.’ 

Sermon for the Baptism of Christ

Did your mother or father ever say to you, “You are my Son [or Daughter],
the Beloved [Child born to me]; with you I am so well pleased”? If our
parents have never said this to us, their children, how can we expect anyone
else to express such love? Indeed, how can we proclaim our love for anyone
else?

Life is not full of affirmation, is it? We ourselves often fail to appreciate
all of the people around us. This is the sort of thing that happens all
the time. This is the sort of thing we ought to safe-guard against. All
of us must examine our behaviour daily to see whether we have failed those
who have come into our daily orbit, whether it is the fellow who delivers
the post, or the doctor who delivers a life-changing health report. We
must commit our time with others fully. We need to speak with them with
a care–full witness to our encounter. I think we should be able to take
the post deliberately in our hand and mean that anodyne “Thank you,” as
the postie departs.

Little things make the world the place it is. We all know that is true,
don’t we? We remember the little things people have done, and perhaps our
conscience pricks us when we remember some of the little things we have
done. Perhaps our conscience disturbs us because we have not done anything
for others.

John was preaching that we are to make a way in the desert for our King.
He was preaching for a conversion of the heart – he preached about a true
turning to God, and I would say that this new person, the converted heart,
was an appropriate person for that acclamation our parents never made about
us. But it is something God from heaven declares about Jesus. John also
delights – for John rejoices in his cousin as he rises from the waters
of baptism just as everyone hears that thunder rolling around the hills
as a commendation of this fellow.

Perhaps we never heard that peal from the heavens at our baptism. We might
even lose track of the voice of God in our lives – or we don’t hear the
Word of God in the scriptures as it directs us this way and that, away
from temptation and keeping us from evil. It is clear that we fail so very
often, isn’t it? We pray, off and on, with the Desert Fathers, “Have mercy
on me, Lord, for I am a sinner,” as we attempt to clear our conscience
and reconcile ourselves with God and neighbour. That, I would say, is the
moment of baptism. We turn to God as the words of the baptismal liturgy
say. However, God doesn’t stay in only one place the whole of our lives.
We have to keep our eye on, and our ear out for, God. The ancient Church
had a terrible time with idolatry, when it became fixated on one image
of God. You remember those passages in the Bible, don’t you? You may even
remember that the Church has been torn apart many times by the vexed question
of images in the church. The Protestants wanted churches without decoration
at all – just white walls and clear glass windows. There should be nothing
to distract our attention when we attend to worship. The Quakers go even
further, not even a pulpit or a preacher – just silence in a white room
with light streaming through clear glass windows.

Baptism is to wash everything away which gets in the way of God for our
lives – to cleanse us of anything that could distract our attention away
from the most profound reality in our lives, a reality we too often forget.
I think we have turned away from that fascinating and terrifying reality
of the holy – I suppose we are just like Herod and all of Jerusalem in
the Epiphany reading last week, when the Magi asked about the whereabouts
of the newly born king. We have to wash away all that fear, to sit quietly
in that fascinating silence of purity, in order to attend to our ownmost
possibility. — Baptism is when we present ourselves as the beloved child
in whom the parent should be well pleased. The child must work hard for
that reality, as does the parent. Both must present themselves to each
other. The child must say, “Here I stand in the infinite possibility of
purity, ready to make my way in this world.” And the parent must be able
to say, “You stand innocently before me, my child in whom I am well pleased,
and I shall let my beloved child go forth in hope.”

Baptism is the sign of a conversion, when we strip away all that is not
conducive to the new life we have appropriated – the purity which descends
with the waters of a divine bathing. Baptism is symbolic of that absolutely
different quality of life we realise in the depths of our being upon conversion.

The depth of life in all its fullness is what we experience in these profound
existential moments, when the whole of life presents itself completely,
when we open ourselves up to the whole of life without any barriers between
self and the reality of existence. We experience our ownmost possibility
at that moment of conversion. Baptism confirms it within the tradition
in which we find ourselves, whether it is the simplicity of the silent
Quaker meeting room or the complexity of a rococo cathedral with crowds
and music swelling all around. Wherever we experience it, it is most profound,
but at the same time it is so ephemeral. It comes and overwhelms and it
leaves us exhausted and perhaps even empty.

That is the moment of danger – the moment after the exhilaration of conversion
– that period of exhaustion. What will fill that emptiness? We have worked
so very hard through our baptismal preparations, the converted now must
build a new life, taking on the new habits of virtue, forsaking a life
which may have been habitually vicious.

Did anyone listen to the Breakfast programme on Radio Three on New Year’s
Eve? Hannah French, the presenter, catalogued so many little rituals in
different places of the world. The Japanese eat “long meals” consisting
of long noodles to symbolise longevity. In other places Buddhists tone
bells in their temples to cleanse the world of bad spirits. In some of
our own churches the bellringers fired the bells at midnight to announce
the New Year’s commencement, probably for the same effect as the temple
bells in Asia.

Life is symbolic in so many ways, these signs should point us to the depth
of our lives and the heights of joy to which we should aspire. Baptism
is the moment when we should feel the weight of symbols in our lives, with
our conversion a sign which announces itself to the crowd which presses
upon us from all sides. We have to stand in that new quality of being,
shining as lights in the world where darkness attempts to overcome us.
In the baptism which reveals our conversion, we have revalued our lives,
those new lives which we offer to share with our neighbour through love,
those new lives which should say, “You are my beloved friend with whom
I am pleased.”

Amen

Collect

O God, who by the leading of a star manifested your only Son to the peoples of the earth: mercifully grant that we, who know you now by faith, may at last behold your glory face to face; 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 for ever.

or

Creator of the heavens, who led the Magi by a star to worship the Christ–child: guide and sustain us, that we may find our journey’s end in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Post Communion

Lord God, the bright splendour whom the nations seek: may we who with the wise men have been drawn by your light discern the glory of your presence in your Son, the Word made flesh, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Readings

Old Testament – Isaiah 60.1–6

Arise, shine; for your light has come,

   and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.

For darkness shall cover the earth,

   and thick darkness the peoples;

but the Lord will arise upon you,

   and his glory will appear over you.

Nations shall come to your light,

   and kings to the brightness of your dawn.

Lift up your eyes and look around;

   they all gather together, they come to you;

your sons shall come from far away,

   and your daughters shall be carried on their nurses’ arms.

Then you shall see and be radiant;

   your heart shall thrill and rejoice,

because the abundance of the sea shall be brought to you,

   the wealth of the nations shall come to you.

A multitude of camels shall cover you,

   the young camels of Midian and Ephah;

   all those from Sheba shall come.

They shall bring gold and frankincense,

   and shall proclaim the praise of the Lord.

Psalm 72.[1–9] 10–15

[1    Give the king your judgements, O God, ♦
and your righteousness to the son of a king.

2    Then shall he judge your people righteously ♦
and your poor with justice.

3    May the mountains bring forth peace, ♦
and the little hills righteousness for the people.

4     May he defend the poor among the people, ♦
deliver the children of the needy and crush the oppressor.

5    May he live as long as the sun and moon endure, ♦
from one generation to another.

6    May he come down like rain upon the mown grass, ♦
like the showers that water the earth.

7    In his time shall righteousness flourish, ♦
and abundance of peace till the moon shall be no more.

8    May his dominion extend from sea to sea ♦
and from the River to the ends of the earth.

9    May his foes kneel before him ♦
and his enemies lick the dust.]

10    The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall pay tribute; ♦
the kings of Sheba and Seba shall bring gifts.

11    All kings shall fall down before him; ♦
all nations shall do him service.

12    For he shall deliver the poor that cry out, ♦
the needy and those who have no helper.

13    He shall have pity on the weak and poor; ♦
he shall preserve the lives of the needy.

14    He shall redeem their lives from oppression and violence, ♦
and dear shall their blood be in his sight.

15    Long may he live;
unto him may be given gold from Sheba; ♦
may prayer be made for him continually
and may they bless him all the day long.

Epistle – Ephesians 3.1–12

This is the reason that I Paul am a prisoner for Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles – for surely you have already heard of the commission of God’s grace that was given to me for you, and how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I wrote above in a few words, a reading of which will enable you to perceive my understanding of the mystery of Christ. In former generations this mystery was not made known to humankind, as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit: that is, the Gentiles have become fellow-heirs, members of the same body, and sharers in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

Of this gospel I have become a servant according to the gift of God’s grace that was given to me by the working of his power. Although I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given to me to bring to the Gentiles the news of the boundless riches of Christ, and to make everyone see what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things; so that through the church the wisdom of God in its rich variety might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was in accordance with the eternal purpose that he has carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have access to God in boldness and confidence through faith in him.

Gospel – Matthew 2.1–12

In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, ‘Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.’ When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. They told him, ‘In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet:

    “And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for from you shall come a ruler
who is to shepherd my people Israel.” ’

Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, ‘Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.’ When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure-chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.

Sermon on Epiphany

Today we are celebrating Epiphany, when we remember the arrival of the three kings in Jerusalem and Bethlehem. But like in the whole of Advent and even Christmas Day, everything is disrupted. We say, “There is a new King!” And with this King, everything we expect, everything that is normal in this world, has been brought into question. Change is clear when we read that the magi said,

‘Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.’ When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him …

A king has been born. These wise men from the East had seen his star rising; they followed it to where it stopped – near Jerusalem, at Bethlehem. Being sagacious, these magicians went straight to the head of state to ask about this newly born king – they boldly asked the leader of the region in which they found themselves, “Where is the child-king?” After all, it was only polite to do that. So, why did Herod become frightened? Why was the whole of Jerusalem with him scared at this question?

I am sure this episode in the life of Jesus gives us the very common phrase “his star is rising”. – It is something we say about people becoming more influential in their own bailiwick. When established politicians, whose glory is at its zenith or perhaps even beginning to fade, when they hear these words, these politicos get scared, everyone in the area begins to worry about their positions, both high and low. They begin to wonder whether their time has come to an end and their star is falling, or in fact, fading.

They might ask, Is this the beginning of a revolution when nothing will remain the same, when everything is overturned, when my everyday, my good life, becomes a life of toil and strife? Didn’t we begin asking these disturbing questions during Advent as we prepared, and longed for, the birth of Christ in our hearts and expected a change of heart in the world. Didn’t we sing “Come thou long-expected Jesus” as we became so busy up to the 25th of December?

Isn’t that what frightens us – all that change – all that expectation? And then we have the realisation that those things we earnestly desire can overturn our everyday lives? … Don’t we all begin to have second thoughts when we think clearly about this Messiah, whose Kingdom is not of this world, but makes demands of us in this world. We are now expected to love our neighbours just as intensely as we love ourselves here and now. Jesus sets a very high standard for our behaviour with his golden rule in his Kingdom. I would suggest that Jesus is demanding activity of us which will transform the world. This burden is so very much a challenge to our ordinary thinking, isn’t it? Don’t we become scared at this load? However, doesn’t Jesus say his is no heavy weight, that he will give us rest if we come to him? So even though there is a new King born to us, we should not be overwhelmed or frightened of the change he is bringing on. Wasn’t this the case when Elizabeth died and Charles ascended the throne for us? Jesus does transform everything in a way that the everyday world does not understand. We have to admit that the crowd so fears any change of the status quo that they will do just about anything to forestall it.

However, I think we should take heart that the King has arrived in our lives. “There is nothing to fear except fear itself” as FDR said when the US entered WWII. And Jesus himself says so many times, “Do not Fear!” (μη φοβου, which we talked about some time ago.) We must fight against fear, and by conquering fear in ourselves we will be courageous and ready to love others as we love ourselves. We shall overcome the darkness of this world, just as Jesus did, as we read in the first chapter of the Gospel of St John on Christmass Day. We still sing, “We shall overcome” as the gospel songs proclaimed in the civil rights marches so long ago – we shall usher in the King and we will enter into his otherworldly Kingdom with joy as we love one another.

But too often we are stuck in the rut of the everyday. We don’t lift our heads up to see the sky and the horizon stretching out all around us, that horizon which is only limited by expectation. If we don’t rise above the everyday, our world is so very small. In the normal world’s expectation, nothing can change, nothing is supposed to change, but if we lift ourselves up, by conquering that fear which the crowd presses upon us, we can look to the horizon. We certainly do find our horizons infinitely challenging – they are perilous and glorious at the same time. Isn’t that what scares Herod – he is frightened because he is asked to look beyond his very limited world? Isn’t that what frightens “all Jerusalem”? – That crowd has no vision of the infinite possibilities stretching out all around them, freeing them to travel to a new land following that rising star of the King. We must be more like those Magi from the East, the three kings who approached Herod with their very innocent question, “Where is the new-born king?” I think we need to express our wish to see Jesus, just as the early followers did, when they said, “We would see Jesus.” We need to ask ourselves just what we are looking for, when we are in the crowd and then when we make that journey to the centre of the world at Christmass, when we approach the crib where we worship Jesus, the Christ-Child.

When we look at a new-born child, what do we see? We see impossibly small fingers reaching out to us, fingers which begin to explore the infinite possibilities of new life. We may be jaded with life, but the new-born is yet to experience us as the surrounding destructive crowd, that crowd which says “No!” to those questions about the very strange all around revealed by distant horizons. The crowd huddles in masses even though each person yearns to be free – free to explore the infinite possibilities of life in all its fullness. But aren’t we that crowd sometimes? Don’t we want to blend into that homogenous mass, keeping our heads down, not making waves about what is good and right, accepting everything that is wrong in the world just because “that is the way it is.” The lesson of Christmass in the new-born has not been learned by so many. But isn’t this why Paul is so keen to write so many letters to the young churches?  He accepts “the Gentiles have become fellow-heirs, members of the same body, and sharers in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.” He accepts new horizons. This body into which Paul enters is glorious, allowing all of us great personal freedom through the mutual support of the love of Christ.

We stand in faith on Epiphany at the centre of infinite horizons, limited only by our weak sinfulness, when we don’t grasp the message of the Word which dwells amongst us, shedding light on how love strengthens us. Let our epiphany experience be that of loving one another as we love ourselves, that infinite horizon which others offer us when we look into their eyes with care.

Amen

Collect

Almighty God, who wonderfully created us in your own image and yet more wonderfully restored us through your Son Jesus Christ: grant that, as he came to share in our humanity, so we may share the life of his divinity; who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

or

God in Trinity, eternal unity of perfect love: gather the nations to be one family, and draw us into your holy life through the birth of Emmanuel, our Lord Jesus Christ.

Readings

Epistle – Colossians 3:12–17

As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Gospel – Luke 2:41–52

Now every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the festival of the Passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up as usual for the festival. When the festival was ended and they started to return, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it. Assuming that he was in the group of travellers, they went a day’s journey. Then they started to look for him among their relatives and friends. When they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem to search for him. After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. When his parents saw him they were astonished; and his mother said to him, ‘Child, why have you treated us like this? Look, your father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety.’ He said to them, ‘Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?’ But they did not understand what he said to them. Then he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them. His mother treasured all these things in her heart.

And Jesus increased in wisdom and in years, and in divine and human favour.

Sermon on First Sunday of Christmass

I have been reading a wonderful book, The Conditions of Unconditional Love, by Alexander McCall Smith. I would recommend it – if only for the title. However I commend it to you because the content is exactly like life itself, full of minor incident and major headaches, but nothing which is “nightmare-ish” in the sense that everyone uses that term.

It helps us put into context our fugue moments, when we look into the middle distance and think of things only tangentially related to the moment. I suppose life is like that Salvador Dalí painting, “The famous ‘melting watches’ that appear in his ‘The Persistence of Memory’ suggest Einstein’s theory that time is relative and not fixed. Dalí later claimed that the idea for clocks functioning symbolically in this way came to him when he was contemplating Camembert cheese.” [reference Wikipedia] Life does shift from one image or thought to another in our everyday lives, just like in Dalí’s paintings and in this book of Alexander McCall Smith.

The Conditions of Unconditional Love were brought to mind by the words in the Epistle this morning.

As God’s chosen ones, [my] holy and beloved [friends], clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.

I reckon this passage tells me about those “conditions” from which Unconditional Love reveals itself – at some times as an eruptive and disruptive epiphany, at other times as a final, gentle realisation. We are holy and beloved when we clothe ourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience – a far remove from our ordinary behaviour, don’t you think? These qualities in our lives may exhibit themselves rarely and singly, because we are not the saints whom we usually describe in these terms, like Wenceslaus of the Christmass hymn, or the Saint Nicolas whom the Dutch venerate, and we all know as Santa Claus. After all, we don’t ordinarily act like St Nicolas, distributing gold coins anonymously, hiding them in the shoes of the poor, do we?

But to get back to those conditions – compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience – when we full-fill those conditions we can surely show unconditional love. When we perfect one or another of those conditions, I think we can understand all the steps in the progression to unconditional love. Just practising one of those conditions readies us for the very real struggle to be loving, for they are at the heart of love. I think we do understand this in spite of our everyday uncaring.

Let’s just imagine ourselves to be kind to everyone we meet. – I suppose we must ask, whether it is even possible Kindness is no easy task, is it? Especially if you have been offended in some way by the person whom you meet in your act of kindness. I know I have a great difficulty when such a circumstance arises for me. – We can go quiet, we can walk away, we can bluster, we can do just about anything but be kind to that person wholeheartedly. – But that is what we are expected to do, and who expects that? Who demands that we be kind, that we begin to love unconditionally?

Yes, you are all right! Jesus Christ has given us that one command that we love one another just as we love ourselves. That love is not a mere affectation. some sort of superficial affection – it is the open heart and hands of perfect friendship which love exhibits. Compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience – all of these humane qualities are part of that Unconditional Love which we expect of others just as they expect it of me. This is a very personal thing. We each full-fill those conditions in a unique way. I might be kind but not patient. You might be compassionate. Someone else develops love from their humility. And those who are meek – well, they are the salt of the earth, aren’t they?

Every person can show love on the basis of fulfilling one of those conditions. The love they reveal to the world will be unconditional because each of these qualities (compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience) corrects any distortion our limited selves might generate. They change our perspective on the people we meet and on ourselves. They make us realise that the individual is not the centre of everything. – – Who has heard of “the Copernican Revolution”? When the Sun became the centre of the universe and simplified the mathematics of planetary motion? This is what compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience do for us. They displace the inflated self from the central role in life and put the other into focus.

For the religious person, that other may be seen as the object of compassion or kindness. That other may make us realise that we should be humble and meek. That other may draw forth our patience so that we may act in every instance with that Unconditional Love of the gospel. The religious person places God in the heart of the universe and so all becomes constellated around the divine. All people become loved and loving when that is the case. So I beg you to practice the conditions of love so Unconditional Love may be set free.

Amen

Collect

Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness and to put on the armour of light, now in the time of this mortal life, in which your Son Jesus Christ came to us in great humility; that on the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

or

Almighty God, as your kingdom dawns, turn us from the darkness of sin to the light of holiness, that we may be ready to meet you in our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

Post Communion

O Lord our God, make us watchful and keep us faithful as we await the coming of your Son our Lord; that, when he shall appear, he may not find us sleeping in sin but active in his service and joyful in his praise; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Readings

Old Testament – Malachi 3.1–4

See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight – indeed, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears?

For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap; he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the descendants of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, until they present offerings to the Lord in righteousness. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years.

Psalm – The Benedictus

Look towards the east, O Jerusalem,

and see the glory that is coming from God.

Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel,

who has come to his people and set them free.

He has raised up for us a mighty Saviour,

born of the house of his servant David.

Through his holy prophets God promised of old

to save us from our enemies,

from the hands of all that hate us,

To show mercy to our ancestors,

and to remember his holy covenant.

This was the oath God swore to our father Abraham:

to set us free from the hands of our enemies,

Free to worship him without fear,

holy and righteous in his sight all the days of our life.

And you, child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High,

for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way,

To give his people knowledge of salvation

by the forgiveness of all their sins.

In the tender compassion of our God

the dawn from on high shall break upon us,

To shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death, and to guide our feet into the way of peace.

Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit;

as it was in the beginning is now and shall be for ever. Amen.

Epistle – Philippians 1.3–11

I thank my God every time I remember you, constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you, because of your sharing in the gospel from the first day until now.

I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ. It is right for me to think this way about all of you, because you hold me in your heart, for all of you share in God’s grace with me, both in my imprisonment and in the defence and confirmation of the gospel. For God is my witness, how I long for all of you with the compassion of Christ Jesus. And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight to help you to determine what is best, so that on the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless, having produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.

Gospel – Luke 3.1–6

In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene, during the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah,

‘The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
“Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight.
Every valley shall be filled,
and every mountain and hill shall be made low,
and the crooked shall be made straight,
and the rough ways made smooth;
and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.” ’

15 The lord will come and not be slow ( metre 8.6.8.6 )

13 O quickly come ( metre 8.8.8.8.8.8 ) or
9 Lo he comes with clouds

7 Hills of the north rejoice

466 Thou whose almighty word

Sermon on Second Sunday of Advent

The gospel reading and the reading from Malachai which we heard as we lit the Advent Candle both speak to us of the very next moment in our lives. We are at a time when the messenger of the Lord is before us, begging for our attention, pleading with us to change our ways because the Lord is coming and right soon.

Isn’t the first thing Jesus says in the Gospel of Mark, “The Kingdom of the Lord is right close at hand!”? When you look at the Greek text of the verse,  you find that it uses a form of verb that has a significant meaning, the integral sense of the tense means the action has been finished. It remains complete. The approach of the Lord has been completed, it is within touching distance. It is so very close that you should feel the Lord’s breath on your cheek, but why don’t we see the advent of the Lord has been perfected and he is about to act in our lives?

Last week I reflected on prophetic and apocalyptic language – language which presents the coming of the Kingdom so radically, language which should shake us out of our lethargy so that we will take Malachi’s warning about that day seriously – “who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears?” We must be found pure as the gold which has passed through the refiner’s fire. Malachi says we must be able to present ourselves in righteousness, but who can do that today? Sadly, even between ourselves in the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church, we fail.

Last week we found that the terror surrounding the people of the past is akin to what we feel today. Whatever period in history we inspect, we find armies on the move, natural disasters and inhumanity, whether it is a foul reaction to race, or gender, or even custom. Our experience is replete with wretched human behaviours, whether we have personally been affected or it has been something we have just heard about. I think we are all complicit in these acts, as the saying goes, “By just doing nothing …” We may not have acted viciously towards some innocent, but we may have not relieved the awful situations which we have witnessed.

We must see the signs all around us. We are now in the refiner’s fire of war and rumours of war, and those natural disasters. What good will come out of that process? Will the evil of our lives be incinerated? Will the wretched behaviour of the past be transformed into good intentions for the future?

These are the observations of the prophets. There are actions required by our prophetic sense, whether we embody the ancient or  contemporary, expressing traditional or apocalyptic visions for the present generation.

Let’s take a step back from the apocalypse, that final moment of all time, that moment which may be the very next one, that moment which is my ownmost possibility. Let us consider just what prophecy really is. The scholars tell us the word means “telling forth” – and I like to extend this to mean “not holding back what the truth is”. When we “tell forth”, nothing can remain hidden. We cannot dissemble. We cannot hide the truth in any way – we cannot spin the truth one way or another, we cannot deflect, we cannot misdirect, our audience. Telling it like it is characterises what we prophets do. It may be a rather hard thing to say and to hear, but it must be done – but it can always be done with love, just as Paul says somewhere. Paul begs us always to speak the truth with love. No one loses, no one is hurt if that is the case.

In other words, we fulfill the one commandment Jesus gave the world and we complete our prophetic calling when we speak out the truth with love. And yet, we do hear Pilate ask that question, “What is truth?” And we stand in silence before that question, just as Jesus did those millennia ago.

That moment of silence, the philosopher described as the call of conscience, when no one else but I can answer. At that moment I find the weight of all of history pressing down on me for my response. I must answer with the whole of my being. I am right up against that moment of the apocalypse, for the Kingdom is right there before me and waits to reveal itself to me in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, just as we sing in Handel’s Messiah.

What happens in the very next moment in that time when the weight of all history – past and future – presses down upon us awaiting our decision for the truth and love? This is the moment of prophecy each one of us meets. It is the moment of faith as we stand on the edge of the abyss. The future of our citizenship of the Kingdom is pressing upon us, for our decision for truth and love.

I would say to you that there is no wonder that there is so much madness in the world because such moments are happening to everyone at any time in our lives – I would say that these moments are happening at every moment of our lives, if we are living faithfully.

Not everyone can cope with the silence of conscience. People fill that expectant quiet with chatter and distraction as we have discussed before. The crowd presses in and sweeps us away from that moment of decision for the silence of truth – but more distressingly it sweeps us away from the quiet of true love.

That moment of decision is the apocalypse, for it can pull down everything we know. Jesus spoke about the time when the temple is to be destroyed, a circumstance no one at the time thought possible, but an event that did happen and many turned to apocalyptic prophecy to make sense of it. Isn’t that what is happening today? Isn’t that what the political rhetoric points to during our election campaigns, or even happened in France this past week, or even last night in Syria? We are in the midst of unprecedented change. We are trying to make sense of it. We are seeking truth and we are flailing about. We are grasping at love and grabbing at truth. We lash out at whatever floats by. That event at the end of time has come up to us so very close we can feel its heat as it presses up against us.

We are in the moment of apocalypse here and now, because we are being asked to speak of truth and love. The demand of conscience is that we live out truth and love. What is more fitting for that final moment? What is more right than for us to speak of truth with love for all to hear – that we might announce the reality of the Kingdom of God to all by speaking the truth with love? And that God’s mercy might cover the earth as the oceans cover the sea?

Amen