I departed from the script in the morning at Little Saling, as it was a bit gung ho on first reading, and ad libbed a bit on the Lord of the Rings (as it was on TV last night).
Readings 2 Kings 6, 8-17, John 1 47 - the end
Have you ever heard someone exclaim to a friend, “Oh, what are you like?” This is usually an expression of exasperation and amusement, when its intended target has clearly shown what they are like by acting stupid!
Michael, whose feast, along with all angels we celebrate today, means, “Who is like God” in Hebrew. Some have concluded that the name refers to “one who is like God”, which may be at the origin of various sub-Christian and New Age ideas about Michael being in some strange sense divine.
But actually it’s a question, “Who is like God?”
In the Bible, when God intervenes supernaturally, as he does for Elisha in 2 Kings 6, he does so frequently by a means we might describe as angelic. “The angel of the Lord” has a key role in the annunciation to Mary - but was that God, or an angel? Was that God, or an angel that wrestled with Jacob? Was that God or three angels who visited Abraham? The line is sometimes very blurred, so Michael’s name gives us a clue as to how to think properly of angels – “who is like God?” – Angels show us a little of what he is like but our new testament reading fills out the answer with specific reference to how angels worship the Son of Man.
“Who is like God?” – Jesus, ands the angels give him honour and glory – the glory bit fits with the idea of showing who God really is.
Yet there is something that distinguishes this calendar feast from most others, because the person we remember and celebrate is not a human being, but a heavenly one. Michael may be famous for various supernatural appearances on earth but he never lived an earthly life. I enjoy the saint’s days in the calendar, but that is usually because I take heart and encouragement from the way God uses ordinary men and women in extraordinary ways. You can’t do that at Michaelmas, because Michaelmas is the season for looking to heavens for inspiration, and to build up our common faith. This is what Elisha did, and this is also what Jesus told Nathaniel he would one day do too.
But you know, the language of Scripture is coming to us with a radically different cosmology, compared to the scientific advances of the modern era. Many people of all ages struggle with the idea that heaven is “up there”, and so reject out of hand the Bible stories of angels and clouds and the like. Yet the angelic host that came to Elisha’s aid wasn’t like that; the army of the Lord simply appeared to those who were able to see them. This reading I guess is included in the lectionary for today because of Michael’s reputation as a warrior – in Paradise Lost it is Michael who takes on Satan in armed combat and wounds him. Famous images of Michael such as the statue at the end of Boulevard St Michel in Paris often depict him as a helmeted warrior, or fighting a dragon, as he is described doing in Revelation 12. Angels sometimes seem to get the job of God’s hit men, carrying out emergency work at a moments notice- actually scrub that, it make s them sound like plumbers!
So how is this festival relevant for us today? It has long been a tradition to ordain people at Michaelmas; indeed I went to such a service yesterday. I want to suggest that there are two simple ways we can draw inspiration from St Michael and all angels.
Firstly, remember the meaning of his name “Who is like God?” It is the task of the church today to live work and speak in ways that point to God. We need to remember that Christian means “Christ-like”, our evangelism should be founded on the church’s self definition as the body of Christ, a people seeking to be Christ-like, in our reverence for God and for Creation, in our care for the poor and the outcast, and in sacrificial living.
And secondly, and following on from that, there is a sense that we can be inspired by the angelic hosts – not to acts of physical violence against our perceived enemies, as might have been the case hundreds of years ago, but to a spiritual battle. When we despair at the state of the nation, with every report of knife crime or infanticide, when we weep at the injustices of Zimbabwe or South Ossetia or Gaza, we can be inspired also to pray, to invoke the power of God in these situations, to prevail upon him to send his angels, and to stand with the Lord of hosts against the power of evil.
In conclusion it is worth remembering that the purpose of any Christian festival is to glorify God, to point to Christ. That is perhaps the most powerful image from the New Testament reading. The angels are ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.
While casting from our minds all thoughts of angels on escalators, let us consider what it was that angels – cherubim and seraphim - hovered over in the Old Testament – that’s rights, the Ark of the Covenant.
Jesus saw Nathaniel as a true Israelite, someone for whom the concept of the ark, the Law of Moses, the holy of holies, the presence of God in the Temple, would have been of the utmost importance, yet Jesus says it will one day be the Son of Man over whom the angels ascend and descend. In other words, Jesus Christ was to replace the things central of Jewish worship, with himself.
Who is Like God?
Jesus Christ.
Sunday 28 September 2008
Monday 22 September 2008
Lindsell and Great Saling 21st September 2008
This is a bit cobbled together from Rootsontheweb and some other thoughts I've been having about the credit crunch. It's short because there was a baptism at Lindsell (the child's father is an investment banker, so the lectionary was truly inspired in choosing Matthew 20, 1-16.
'It's not fair!'
Mum had had enough. All she heard every meal time was 'It's not fair!', 'He's got more than me'. She decided to change things. Mum went into the kitchen and began to put her plan into action. She prepared the food and then put it out on plates ready for everyone.
'Dinner time', Mum shouted. The children ran to the table and jumped onto their chairs. Mum picked up baby James and fastened him into his high chair. Then she passed out the plates.
First James got his food. It was just the right amount for a baby boy. Next mum gave a plate to Grace who was four. She had exactly the same amount as James. Grace looked puzzled. Mum brought out Daniel's food. Daniel was eight. He had exactly the same amount as James. 'Mum that's not enough' Daniel moaned.
Mum turned, walked back into the kitchen and brought out 14-year-old Sam's food. He had exactly the same as James. 'That's not fair', 'I've not got enough', 'I want more' everyone shouted.
Everyone except James, who began to eat.
'I need more food than James,' Sam said. 'I'll be hungry if I only eat this,' Grace grumbled.Mum looked at all the children. 'I've given you all an equal amount haven't I? Is that not fair?'
'No' said Sam, 'I'm a lot bigger than the others so I need more food.'
'You're right' Mum replied 'equal amounts isn't fair here. Do you think I know how much you need and what is fair?' Grace, Sam and Daniel looked at Mum, 'Yes' they all chorused. 'OK then' Mum said as she walked into the kitchen and returned with enough food for everyone.
This week the news has been all about the credit crunch, with banks being taken over, Mortgage firms going under and insurance companies being bailed out. A cursory glance at any Western newspaper will tell you tales of woe, and of not enough money to go around. Times are looking a little fragile. So as we baptise young Freddy today, what kind of a world, what kind of a worldview, are we bringing him in to?
What does God think about the credit crunch? It is tempting to think that he is just gloating and saying “I told you so!”, but actually I think the message of today’s reading is that envy and greed and jealously – I want what they’ve got, and so on, run counter to the free gift of undeserved grace that God offers us in Christ; we do not deserve God’s Riches, but they are ours at Christ’s expense. Like the mother in that modern day parable, God knows what we all need, so we should neither gloat because we have more than someone else, nor, it seems, feel hard done by or jealous if we feel short changed.
However, of course, this parable is not about money, it’s about God’s generosity in his grace. He gives of that freely to all, whether on the day of their baptism or the day of their death. How we receive that grace – and pass it on to those in our care, will perhaps depend on how we think of God.
So do you think God is generous, or do you think he could give you more for your trouble?
Let’s not imagine for a minute that we can blame our generous God for the financial situation our society finds itself in – or at least the papers tell us we’re in it, there may be better qualified people than me who could comment on that later! As I have said, part of the love and justice of God is that the first shall be last and the last shall be first.
God has a habit of turning our lives upside down, but that may be just to give us his point of view.
'It's not fair!'
Mum had had enough. All she heard every meal time was 'It's not fair!', 'He's got more than me'. She decided to change things. Mum went into the kitchen and began to put her plan into action. She prepared the food and then put it out on plates ready for everyone.
'Dinner time', Mum shouted. The children ran to the table and jumped onto their chairs. Mum picked up baby James and fastened him into his high chair. Then she passed out the plates.
First James got his food. It was just the right amount for a baby boy. Next mum gave a plate to Grace who was four. She had exactly the same amount as James. Grace looked puzzled. Mum brought out Daniel's food. Daniel was eight. He had exactly the same amount as James. 'Mum that's not enough' Daniel moaned.
Mum turned, walked back into the kitchen and brought out 14-year-old Sam's food. He had exactly the same as James. 'That's not fair', 'I've not got enough', 'I want more' everyone shouted.
Everyone except James, who began to eat.
'I need more food than James,' Sam said. 'I'll be hungry if I only eat this,' Grace grumbled.Mum looked at all the children. 'I've given you all an equal amount haven't I? Is that not fair?'
'No' said Sam, 'I'm a lot bigger than the others so I need more food.'
'You're right' Mum replied 'equal amounts isn't fair here. Do you think I know how much you need and what is fair?' Grace, Sam and Daniel looked at Mum, 'Yes' they all chorused. 'OK then' Mum said as she walked into the kitchen and returned with enough food for everyone.
This week the news has been all about the credit crunch, with banks being taken over, Mortgage firms going under and insurance companies being bailed out. A cursory glance at any Western newspaper will tell you tales of woe, and of not enough money to go around. Times are looking a little fragile. So as we baptise young Freddy today, what kind of a world, what kind of a worldview, are we bringing him in to?
What does God think about the credit crunch? It is tempting to think that he is just gloating and saying “I told you so!”, but actually I think the message of today’s reading is that envy and greed and jealously – I want what they’ve got, and so on, run counter to the free gift of undeserved grace that God offers us in Christ; we do not deserve God’s Riches, but they are ours at Christ’s expense. Like the mother in that modern day parable, God knows what we all need, so we should neither gloat because we have more than someone else, nor, it seems, feel hard done by or jealous if we feel short changed.
However, of course, this parable is not about money, it’s about God’s generosity in his grace. He gives of that freely to all, whether on the day of their baptism or the day of their death. How we receive that grace – and pass it on to those in our care, will perhaps depend on how we think of God.
So do you think God is generous, or do you think he could give you more for your trouble?
Let’s not imagine for a minute that we can blame our generous God for the financial situation our society finds itself in – or at least the papers tell us we’re in it, there may be better qualified people than me who could comment on that later! As I have said, part of the love and justice of God is that the first shall be last and the last shall be first.
God has a habit of turning our lives upside down, but that may be just to give us his point of view.
Sunday 7 September 2008
Lindsell and Stebbing 7th September 08
This is a bit of a weird text as it was an interactive sermon with questions. The readings were Romans 13, 8-the end and Matthew 18, 15-20
There was a rather pithy quotation in an article by Kris Akabusi in the Guardian, on the eve of the Olympics. He wrote, “The past is for reference, not for residence”.
It was written in the context of sportsmen and women looking onward and upward as they went into the Olympics, but I find it has an enormous resonance for the church.
Today we are going to be thinking about the past, the present and the future of our church, and I am going to ask you three questions in a while that will help us to understand what has happened here, what is happening, and what we would like to happen in the future.
First we are going to look briefly at two passages with enormous relevance for the church, because they tell us how to live as Christians together, and in the face of a hostile reaction from those around us.
That does not mean we are meant to be living in an ivory tower, cut off from the evils of the world, not does it mean that we are to assimilate entirely with the patterns of behaviour that society in general treats as normal.
Romans is Paul's letter of self-introduction to a Church he has never yet visited. None of the Gospels has yet been written, but the stories of Jesus are circulating among the Churches, and Paul is echoing one – his suggestion that love is the fulfilling of the law. Though it may be that he didn't get this from Jesus, but from his teacher Gamaliel, as it was a teaching not unknown among the rabbis.
Paul's concept of 'the flesh', or the sinful nature (verse 14) needs some understanding. For Paul, the flesh is the realm of rebellion against God. As I have said in another sermon recently, the term does not in itself imply anything specifically sexual or even necessarily specifically sinful. It contrasts with the realm of the spirit, which is where we encounter God. Christ has freed us to live in the realm of the spirit, but we still have desires for the realm of the flesh. Christ is our armour against them.
I think it is most significant that Paul uses the imagery of armour on more than one occasion in his letters; clearly he did not expect Christians to have an easy life. In Ephesians 6 Paul expands his metaphor, with detailed applications of the different elements of armour to elements of the Christian life; You may well remember he speaks of the breastplate of righteousness, but there is no armour for the soldier’s back; the armour of light is not designed for running away, but for advancing, advancing the Kingdom of God.
Matthew 18.15-20 is one of the gospel sections found only in Matthew, and reflects the context of the loose network of house churches and travelling preachers that seems to have made up Matthew's original readers. It was a community under pressure, facing opposition both from other Jewish groups and from Roman authorities, and it was coping with its own potentially volatile mix of Jews and Gentiles. Discipline mattered, and is here presented as stemming from Jesus himself. But it is ordered discipline, not the arbitrary whim of a leader or elder. The aim is restoration, and reconciliation of a comunity.
Matthew and Paul write for the infant church, which had its own issues, yet prevailed and was able with the help of God to spread the gospel beyond their own borders and ultimately over time around the world. We are the inheritors of their faithfulness, but also of their task of being the church for our generation. Like them, we may have our issues, but we also have much to celebrate!
Now, lets get to our questions. I have been brief, to allow you the space to think about these;
First, Remembering your entire experience at our church, when were you most alive, most motivated and excited about your involvement? What made it exciting? Who else was involved? What happened? What was your part? Describe what you felt.
Second, What do you value most about our church? What activities or ingredients or ways of life are most important? What are the best features of this church?
Finally, Make three wishes for the future of this church.
There was a rather pithy quotation in an article by Kris Akabusi in the Guardian, on the eve of the Olympics. He wrote, “The past is for reference, not for residence”.
It was written in the context of sportsmen and women looking onward and upward as they went into the Olympics, but I find it has an enormous resonance for the church.
Today we are going to be thinking about the past, the present and the future of our church, and I am going to ask you three questions in a while that will help us to understand what has happened here, what is happening, and what we would like to happen in the future.
First we are going to look briefly at two passages with enormous relevance for the church, because they tell us how to live as Christians together, and in the face of a hostile reaction from those around us.
That does not mean we are meant to be living in an ivory tower, cut off from the evils of the world, not does it mean that we are to assimilate entirely with the patterns of behaviour that society in general treats as normal.
Romans is Paul's letter of self-introduction to a Church he has never yet visited. None of the Gospels has yet been written, but the stories of Jesus are circulating among the Churches, and Paul is echoing one – his suggestion that love is the fulfilling of the law. Though it may be that he didn't get this from Jesus, but from his teacher Gamaliel, as it was a teaching not unknown among the rabbis.
Paul's concept of 'the flesh', or the sinful nature (verse 14) needs some understanding. For Paul, the flesh is the realm of rebellion against God. As I have said in another sermon recently, the term does not in itself imply anything specifically sexual or even necessarily specifically sinful. It contrasts with the realm of the spirit, which is where we encounter God. Christ has freed us to live in the realm of the spirit, but we still have desires for the realm of the flesh. Christ is our armour against them.
I think it is most significant that Paul uses the imagery of armour on more than one occasion in his letters; clearly he did not expect Christians to have an easy life. In Ephesians 6 Paul expands his metaphor, with detailed applications of the different elements of armour to elements of the Christian life; You may well remember he speaks of the breastplate of righteousness, but there is no armour for the soldier’s back; the armour of light is not designed for running away, but for advancing, advancing the Kingdom of God.
Matthew 18.15-20 is one of the gospel sections found only in Matthew, and reflects the context of the loose network of house churches and travelling preachers that seems to have made up Matthew's original readers. It was a community under pressure, facing opposition both from other Jewish groups and from Roman authorities, and it was coping with its own potentially volatile mix of Jews and Gentiles. Discipline mattered, and is here presented as stemming from Jesus himself. But it is ordered discipline, not the arbitrary whim of a leader or elder. The aim is restoration, and reconciliation of a comunity.
Matthew and Paul write for the infant church, which had its own issues, yet prevailed and was able with the help of God to spread the gospel beyond their own borders and ultimately over time around the world. We are the inheritors of their faithfulness, but also of their task of being the church for our generation. Like them, we may have our issues, but we also have much to celebrate!
Now, lets get to our questions. I have been brief, to allow you the space to think about these;
First, Remembering your entire experience at our church, when were you most alive, most motivated and excited about your involvement? What made it exciting? Who else was involved? What happened? What was your part? Describe what you felt.
Second, What do you value most about our church? What activities or ingredients or ways of life are most important? What are the best features of this church?
Finally, Make three wishes for the future of this church.
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