Sermon notes
Service Notes for Easter Day
When the women found the tomb empty, and the angels spoke to them, ‘then they remembered his words’. It’s just like in a detective story, when a final clue makes everything else fall into place.
Peter goes to the tomb and sees the evidence and yet to begin with he’s still puzzled, he doesn’t get it. Maybe for him the pieces didn’t really fall into place until that morning by the sea when Jesus gave him advice on fishing and cooked them breakfast.
If we’re to ‘remember the words of Jesus’ we have to have heard them, but we also need something that connects what we hear with reality in our own lives. Then the Kingdom begins to be a reality in and for us. As we share bread may his remembered words and the sign of the bread come together afresh for each one of us.
***********************************
Service Notes for June 6th
Today’s readings: I Kings 17:8-24 and Luke 7:11-17
The two stories in these readings are remarkably similar. They are both about a controversial prophetic figure, a poor widow, and the raising from death of the widow’s son.
However, there are also many differences between the stories, and these are significant.
In the first Elijah’s faith is being tested. As the reader is introduced to this famous prophet, Elijah is directed by God to what is effectively ‘enemy territory’, Jezebel’s home town. Here he meets the widow outside the town gate and asks for her hospitality. He stays with her for some time and then her only son dies. Immediately Elijah cries to the Lord on the son’s behalf, and spreads himself across the boy three times. The boy comes to life and is handed back to his mother, who praises the God of Elijah.
In the second story Jesus is setting out on his ministry. He had outlined his ‘manifesto’, which included ‘raising the dead’. He had referred to the Elijah story as an example of how God reaches out beyond those we might expect to be healed, to touch the poorest, the ‘outcast’ and ‘unclean’. Then at the town gate he meets a widow leading the funeral procession of her son. With nothing but a direct word he raises the son from death, handing him back to his mother just as Elijah had done. Now, however, it is not just a thankful mother who praises God, but also those who were in the crowds accompanying Jesus and following the funeral.
The similarities in these stories were important for Luke, who saw Jesus as the new Elijah. However, the differences are also important, for Luke knew that Jesus was also ‘more than’ Elijah. For Jesus nowhere is ‘enemy territory’, God’s care covers all. There is no need for Jesus to call on God, as his own word holds God’s power. Jesus’ response to the woman is pure grace and compassion, for he has asked nothing of her, nor she of him.
What stories do we hear today that speak of the breadth of God’s care; the power of God’s Word; and the depth of God’s compassion?
************************************
Service Notes for June 20th
Reading: I Kings 21:1-21a—the story of ‘Naboth’s Vineyard’.
This is a story with various layers. It is about an inheritance—Naboth had received his vineyard from his ancestors and believed it his duty to pass it on. When Ahab the king asked to have the vineyard as a vegetable garden for the palace, Naboth replied: The Lord forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers.
What a lot of trouble there often is over inheritance. We’ve all heard stories about families falling out over the will. Envy and greed kick in. At the basic level this story is one of envy and greed—Ahab’s greed in wanting more land than the huge amount he already owned.
At the next level it’s the story of a man of God who risks all to challenge wrongdoing. In steps Elijah the prophet to tell Ahab off, not just for greed but for the scheming, deception, and murder that resulted from it. So it’s a story about morality, spiritual values, right and wrong.
However, we can dig even deeper into the story (excuse the gardening pun). It’s a story about land, which stands for continuity and connectedness, but also should be seen as a gift from God, on loan from God. What inheritance are we going to leave to our children in this land of Wales? This is a challenging question as we face the potential devastating consequences of climate change. Can we turn from our greed, over-consumption and obscene waste of resources? Now it’s not just a plot of land that is in the balance, but the whole earth.
Finally, this is a deeply symbolic story, but we can easily miss the symbolism. In the Old Testament a vineyard symbolises Israel, that is the people of God and all the promises of their faith. The vegetable plot symbolises Egypt. So the story tells us that the end result of disobedience is a return to slavery, and the loss of the ‘Promised Land’.
So are we protecting our inheritance, and holding on to God’s call to freedom and God’s promises? This story, in all its layers, stands as a warning to us.
**********************************
Service Notes for July 4th
Today we concentrate on one reading: Luke 10:1-11 and 16-20.
Jesus is sending disciples out—not just the twelve, but a larger number that may be symbolic of all nations and peoples. They apply to us as much as those early followers.
The instructions Jesus gives them suggest the need to be vulnerable, to take risks. They also speak to me of the need to ‘be’, as much as to ‘do’.
We are to be ‘lambs amongst wolves’. Generally we do not meet the outright persecution faced by many then and now. Our context is one of great ignorance, and where there is hostility it is more often towards all faiths. Our ‘being’ needs to be attractive to make an impression.
We are to ‘go naked’ - well not literally, but leaving behind unnecessary clutter. Not easy for those of us who tend to carry stuff ‘just in case’! It’s not just children who have ‘comfort blankets’! Things can be barriers to real personal encounters.
We need to be silent! The disciples were told not to speak so as not to be distracted. Silence enables us to listen and observe, so that we are better prepared to speak when the right time comes
***********************************
Service Notes for August 1st
Where is the centre of the universe?
That’s not meant as a scientific question, though we recall that once people thought everything revolved around the earth, until science showed otherwise.
As humans we have tended to see ourselves as the centre of the universe, forgetting that Creation is the Lord’s. Again science reminds us that we came very late on the scene, and are tiny within the universe.
Young children place themselves firmly at the centre of the universe—until, hopefully, they learn that they are part of a family, community, nation, and the whole of humanity.
Reading in Ecclesiastes, part of the Biblical ’Wisdom tradition, as we do today, we hear from someone who seems to be thoroughly disillusioned with everything. His perspective is very ‘2D’ - he reflects on that which is ‘under the sun’, i.e. of the earth. He loses the additional perspective of God’s kingdom.
Similarly, the parable of the rich fool is a story of someone whose priorities are earth-bound.
It is when we learn that the centre of the universe is the God of love that we move from the apparent meaninglessness of things to a greater Truth. We learn that our place in the universe is pure gift to be celebrated and shared.
When the women found the tomb empty, and the angels spoke to them, ‘then they remembered his words’. It’s just like in a detective story, when a final clue makes everything else fall into place.
Peter goes to the tomb and sees the evidence and yet to begin with he’s still puzzled, he doesn’t get it. Maybe for him the pieces didn’t really fall into place until that morning by the sea when Jesus gave him advice on fishing and cooked them breakfast.
If we’re to ‘remember the words of Jesus’ we have to have heard them, but we also need something that connects what we hear with reality in our own lives. Then the Kingdom begins to be a reality in and for us. As we share bread may his remembered words and the sign of the bread come together afresh for each one of us.
***********************************
Service Notes for June 6th
Today’s readings: I Kings 17:8-24 and Luke 7:11-17
The two stories in these readings are remarkably similar. They are both about a controversial prophetic figure, a poor widow, and the raising from death of the widow’s son.
However, there are also many differences between the stories, and these are significant.
In the first Elijah’s faith is being tested. As the reader is introduced to this famous prophet, Elijah is directed by God to what is effectively ‘enemy territory’, Jezebel’s home town. Here he meets the widow outside the town gate and asks for her hospitality. He stays with her for some time and then her only son dies. Immediately Elijah cries to the Lord on the son’s behalf, and spreads himself across the boy three times. The boy comes to life and is handed back to his mother, who praises the God of Elijah.
In the second story Jesus is setting out on his ministry. He had outlined his ‘manifesto’, which included ‘raising the dead’. He had referred to the Elijah story as an example of how God reaches out beyond those we might expect to be healed, to touch the poorest, the ‘outcast’ and ‘unclean’. Then at the town gate he meets a widow leading the funeral procession of her son. With nothing but a direct word he raises the son from death, handing him back to his mother just as Elijah had done. Now, however, it is not just a thankful mother who praises God, but also those who were in the crowds accompanying Jesus and following the funeral.
The similarities in these stories were important for Luke, who saw Jesus as the new Elijah. However, the differences are also important, for Luke knew that Jesus was also ‘more than’ Elijah. For Jesus nowhere is ‘enemy territory’, God’s care covers all. There is no need for Jesus to call on God, as his own word holds God’s power. Jesus’ response to the woman is pure grace and compassion, for he has asked nothing of her, nor she of him.
What stories do we hear today that speak of the breadth of God’s care; the power of God’s Word; and the depth of God’s compassion?
************************************
Service Notes for June 20th
Reading: I Kings 21:1-21a—the story of ‘Naboth’s Vineyard’.
This is a story with various layers. It is about an inheritance—Naboth had received his vineyard from his ancestors and believed it his duty to pass it on. When Ahab the king asked to have the vineyard as a vegetable garden for the palace, Naboth replied: The Lord forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers.
What a lot of trouble there often is over inheritance. We’ve all heard stories about families falling out over the will. Envy and greed kick in. At the basic level this story is one of envy and greed—Ahab’s greed in wanting more land than the huge amount he already owned.
At the next level it’s the story of a man of God who risks all to challenge wrongdoing. In steps Elijah the prophet to tell Ahab off, not just for greed but for the scheming, deception, and murder that resulted from it. So it’s a story about morality, spiritual values, right and wrong.
However, we can dig even deeper into the story (excuse the gardening pun). It’s a story about land, which stands for continuity and connectedness, but also should be seen as a gift from God, on loan from God. What inheritance are we going to leave to our children in this land of Wales? This is a challenging question as we face the potential devastating consequences of climate change. Can we turn from our greed, over-consumption and obscene waste of resources? Now it’s not just a plot of land that is in the balance, but the whole earth.
Finally, this is a deeply symbolic story, but we can easily miss the symbolism. In the Old Testament a vineyard symbolises Israel, that is the people of God and all the promises of their faith. The vegetable plot symbolises Egypt. So the story tells us that the end result of disobedience is a return to slavery, and the loss of the ‘Promised Land’.
So are we protecting our inheritance, and holding on to God’s call to freedom and God’s promises? This story, in all its layers, stands as a warning to us.
**********************************
Service Notes for July 4th
Today we concentrate on one reading: Luke 10:1-11 and 16-20.
Jesus is sending disciples out—not just the twelve, but a larger number that may be symbolic of all nations and peoples. They apply to us as much as those early followers.
The instructions Jesus gives them suggest the need to be vulnerable, to take risks. They also speak to me of the need to ‘be’, as much as to ‘do’.
We are to be ‘lambs amongst wolves’. Generally we do not meet the outright persecution faced by many then and now. Our context is one of great ignorance, and where there is hostility it is more often towards all faiths. Our ‘being’ needs to be attractive to make an impression.
We are to ‘go naked’ - well not literally, but leaving behind unnecessary clutter. Not easy for those of us who tend to carry stuff ‘just in case’! It’s not just children who have ‘comfort blankets’! Things can be barriers to real personal encounters.
We need to be silent! The disciples were told not to speak so as not to be distracted. Silence enables us to listen and observe, so that we are better prepared to speak when the right time comes
***********************************
Service Notes for August 1st
Where is the centre of the universe?
That’s not meant as a scientific question, though we recall that once people thought everything revolved around the earth, until science showed otherwise.
As humans we have tended to see ourselves as the centre of the universe, forgetting that Creation is the Lord’s. Again science reminds us that we came very late on the scene, and are tiny within the universe.
Young children place themselves firmly at the centre of the universe—until, hopefully, they learn that they are part of a family, community, nation, and the whole of humanity.
Reading in Ecclesiastes, part of the Biblical ’Wisdom tradition, as we do today, we hear from someone who seems to be thoroughly disillusioned with everything. His perspective is very ‘2D’ - he reflects on that which is ‘under the sun’, i.e. of the earth. He loses the additional perspective of God’s kingdom.
Similarly, the parable of the rich fool is a story of someone whose priorities are earth-bound.
It is when we learn that the centre of the universe is the God of love that we move from the apparent meaninglessness of things to a greater Truth. We learn that our place in the universe is pure gift to be celebrated and shared.