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"It ain't what you do it's the way that you do it..."

Se

rmon - Benefield - 12 July 2020

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, my rock and my redeemer. Amen


Generally in academic circles the term BCE refers to before the common era, most of us here would still say BC meaning before Christ and then academically CE the common era whereas we universally might say Anno Domini - (literally in the year of our Lord) After Christ. Perhaps some of us might think BC could also represent Before Corvid and subsequently After Corvid. As that is how most of us see the world we are living in now. In this respect, there is no before and after with God, as Jesus has walked every step of that way of pain and disruption and fear, every moment with us, for now and for all time as we now know it. He is still with those suffering the effects of this disease, those who are sick and fearful and those struggling to recover, those with terminal illness, and those whose mental health have taken a tumble and are struggling this time to regain their feet. He is cradling those who have lost their loved ones, those who are too numb to feel His presence, but His love is waiting, like the best friend we ever have, just waiting to hold us tight in our distress. We might not have recognised that when we have been at our most fearful or decimated by grief for loss, but Jesus is here. At Peterborough Cathedral several years ago now, when Andrew and I were full steam ahead as chorister parents and leading Sunday school, the prayer for the little ones, especially in the group I led, the Reception year and years one and two was this… “still, still Jesus is near, still, still Jesus is here” Now whether that put the wind up them or what I don’t know, but I think that wind was the Holy Spirit, because without fail on uttering that starting prayer, even if they were careering around the Sacristy and office where we learned about Jesus together, the children stopped in their tracks, were still and came and sat down to listen to the stories Jesus told. I also remember it was when the then Canon, Rev Stephen Cotterell was at Peterborough who was installed this week as the 98th Archbishop of York. Archbishop Stephen is keen on mission, keen on walking and is not afraid to speak on matters that need bringing to our attention. He has often talked of the mission of the early church in our country and how monks from far remote northern corners of the country brought the Word of God to us here, way down south. Now he is bringing that Word back up to the north. The Celtic Morning Prayer group who follow the Northumbrian Community liturgy every day and normally meet in St Peter’s on Friday morning are brought to heel in much the same way. Since lockdown we have been meeting online and I have started a blog to try and fill the gap that this group who couldn’t access social media, Facebook and the like. Zoom proved too difficult for some at first and our ‘first aid measure’ was to keep it simple and communicate via email. We still virtually meet at 9.00 on a Friday morning and then email each other our thoughts and observations. When we meet for real though, this lovely, passionate and lively group always bustle in with good mornings, how are you’s and joy in companionship that the only way to quieten our gathering is to say…“still, still Jesus is near, still, still Jesus is here…” And we all say it together, we are hopeful that it’s our holy spirit spark filled moment that stills us and prepares us for more conversation, this time focused and intentional call and responsive prayer with God, through prayer, Scripture and Psalm.


We read the psalm in one of the ways which I find most moving, responsively; call and a response, a back and forth, a conversation between each other and between God.

Psalm 65 evokes that beautiful hymn “Thou visiteth the earth and blessed it, and blessed it” and one day I hope to hear that again, and it will be lovely to sing it here. It tells of nurture, of a people being fed and cared for and of a farmer, God blessing the land and His peoples. A people that are rejoicing and in thanksgiving, and praising the Lord. A psalm, a prayer a song that seems just right for us as a rural community with a heart at this present time. I feel very blessed and honoured to be with you this morning. It is my first time out preaching as a fresh around the edges and newly minted and Licensed Reader, blue scarf and everything. I really love coming here because I truly feel a sense of love and companionship along the way as we journey together and stumble along. //

Most of us love a good story, and one of the good things has been the amount of online and free showings of stories in music and theatre that has been unleashed on the screens in the corners of our rooms or on the radio. That has been a joy and I have hunkered down with Midsummer Nights Dream, La Fille Mal Guardee (the wayward daughter), Woolf Work’s ballet and Mozart’s Magic Flute. Nothing like a good story to get you thinking and touching you at your level, or place that you find yourself in right now at the present time.


Jesus told many Parables, I am so grateful for that. He gets His message across to us in ways that we, the ordinary listener, without qualification or learning can relate to. Our Reader training cohort sat in rapt attention in our last retreat as we cottoned on that the parables tend to come in couplets, pairs to ensure that for the gathering present listening to Jesus had something that they could relate to in their present moment. I related the parable of the sower to my golfing exploits, my ball sometimes falling on the fairway, again into the rough, and occasionally into the bunker. I thought of the parable, looked again and realised I had sliced my ball into a water hazard.


I looked up a bible commentary to help me in this as it is such a familiar passage and it is these familiar passages that often trip us up. I read with toe curling embarrassment that I was indeed in the folly camp by missing the point…the commentary said this:

  1. Here is one parable to show what are the great hindrances of people’s profiting by the word of the gospel, and in how many it comes short of its end, through their own folly, and that is the parable of the four sorts of ground, delivered (v. 3-9). and expounded (referring to rocky, stony, sandy and good soil).


Jesus when preaching could often be surrounded by food and I want you to visualise a sandwich, and in golfing terms also, my sand wedge, the iron for getting me out of a sticky bunker and a wide ledge which is going to cause an issue for a good shot. Back to the bread - two slabs of farmhouse with a substantial middle. Jesus preached in the morning and in the evening, enough in the morning to fill your hunger and break your fast, and in the evening to sustain you and get you through the night to face the challenges, needs of the next day. That food is His Word, the Word of God.


It is interesting to note that mornings were the most boisterous and challenging encounters. Religious leaders, people who felt they had power, jostled and argued and tried to disrupt. By the afternoon those who wanted to stay and listen hung on in there and began to absorb His every word, substance given to the morning feast and the nourishment took hold and they begin to take the Word to heart, stomaches filled. These were the seeds sown on good ground. They were the ones who would truly listen to Jesus and take the Word to heart. Maybe that is why we love evensong so much, the gentle rounding off of the day, finished with a bedtime supper of Compline?


Lockdown has changed the way we attend church in an unprecedented way. We have been and are going through a time that has has been frightening, it has been inspiring, it has been dreadful, it has been shocking and it has on occasion been up-lifting. Our main place of sanctuary our place where for many they felt they can converse with God best, a church building has been shut. Who would have thought in 21st Britain, that our churches would be shut? It was unthinkable, but the unthinkable happened. Now we are here, privileged to be able to meet again to worship, to rejoice, albeit without song, but the song is in our hearts nevertheless. It is a necessity that under these new conditions that we find ourselves in, I keep this talk short, I am glad to keep it short. Because Jesus’ message is short. You have heard the news, it is what you do with it that is going to make the difference.

(Thou visiteth the earth)


(It ain't what you do, its the way that you do it. Bananarama & Fun Boy Three)


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