Future Tense?

Sermon for the eighth Sunday after Trinity

Do you know

that the world

was supposed to end in 2012?

That's according to 

an old Mayan calendar.

According to St Malachi

Pope Francis is supposed 

to be the last.

Nostradamus

predicts an apocalyptic event

in 1999.

And perhaps you remember 

Harold Camping

who very publicly

proclaims the end of the World.

When that doesn't happen

he says he's got his sums wrong

and gives another date.

When the world doesn't end

on that day either,

he says it is a spiritual apocalypse.

Prophets of doom

have an expiry date

when we know whether

they are truly foreseeing the future.

By the fruit of their prophecy

we will know them.

Until then, 

we might laugh off

a prediction about the end of the world

but still keep an eye 

on the calendar.

But we know that 

not all prophets are 

as easy to test.

The fruit of a prophet's testimony 

always lies in the future.

[PAUSE]

The future is the place

where all our work is tested

and sometimes waiting to see

the outcome of our labours

is uncomfortable. 

But it is the prophet of God

whose work will be 

most rigorously tested

in the passage of Time.

And that makes it 

uncomfortable for us 

because we cannot see 

whether this prophet is true 

or false

for the foreseeable future.

A prophet 

may do wonderful deeds now

but turn out to be

a damp squib.

For us with the benefit

of 20-20 hindsight

we can see clearly

that Our Lord's prophecy

is reliable 

and that He truly is

the Son of God.

When we think 

that His testimony 

is snuffed out on the cross,

He rises again

not only proving Himself 

to be the Son of God

but also proving the worth

of the Old Testament prophets

who said that He would.

He rises again

according to the Scriptures.

The prophets of the past

though dead

live again

and are proved to be truly 

the messengers of God

which is why we,

in their future,

venerate their prophecy

in our Bible.

Our Lord Jesus

in His resurrection 

binds up the past, present and future -

Jesus Christ

the same yesterday, 

today

and forever. 

[PAUSE]

This is important for us.

We are born in time,

haunted by the past

and worried about the future.

Around us are sheep

that have always looked like sheep

but who will be

unmasked by the future

as ravening wolves.

People and institutions

that we thought were good

may turn out to be far from good.

Do we have any way of knowing?

Is there anything

or anyone who can

give us confidence?

Such a one must be

the same yesterday, today

and forever.

[PAUSE]

We don't put our trust

in anyone but Christ.

Even the saints

receptive their trustworthiness 

through Christ.

Even Our Lady,

the Queen of Heaven

can only be a true saint

because of her son,

Our Lord.

The Church can only ever be

One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic

if it is true to the One Lord Jesus Christ,

separated from the World 

by His Holiness, 

according to the sane Catholic Faith

proclaimed everywhere

by His faithful Apostles

and their successors.

In order to see the future,

we Christians 

must hold onto the past,

but we only hold onto the past

in order to sanctify the future.

As Christians,

we embrace past, present and future

altogether. 

We might not see the future

but we can be confident 

in what is coming

by holding on to what

we have always been taught.

What we Christians see in the future

is the return of Christ,

the judgement of the world

by Him

and the exaltation of

all who believe in Him.

In the future,

we will see the union 

of all Christians 

because all Christians 

will gather at the feet of Christ.

For this reason 

we must see the sacraments 

as passports to the future.

Our priests aren't ordained 

just for now but for ever 

after the order of Melchisedek;

our bishops are consecrated

in order to keep the Apostolic line going

for our brothers and sisters yet to come. 

And the same is true 

of all Christians. 

Whatever we do,

we must do it for Christ and, 

in doing what we do for Christ,

we are doing it also

for our brothers and sisters yet to come:

the Christians who aren't yet born,

the Christians who will live

long after we are dead and gone,

the Christians we will only meet

at the Resurrection of the Dead.

[PAUSE]

We Christians aren't meant

to live just for now. 

Our behaviour shouldn't be

just for pleasures

that seem wonderful now

but are blown into oblivion

on the winds of Time.

Our lives are to be built on

the rock that is Christ

and this means

living faithfully to Him

despite what those winds of Time 

blow at us.

We must live

as if we are building something

that we would expect

to be permanent 

for God.

If we do,

then we should not find

the future a worry for us

but rather the arena

in which we will meet God

face to face.

Anglican Catholic Bishops

 

Why unity is a key principle for episcopacy.

Fishfinger sandwiches

Sermon for the sixth Sunday after Trinity

There is probably

nothing quite as

quintessentially English

as a fishfinger sandwich.

It's a delicacy that

has not really made it

across the Pond 

to America

and yet, perhaps,

in a twisted imagination,

just perhaps,

Our Lord feeds the four thousand

with something like

fishfinger sandwiches. 

Perhaps this is proof

that Our Lord

really is Anglican!

But then,

perhaps this is 

a somewhat spurious 

argument.

It does, however,

cause us to wonder

where the fish come

In Our Lord's miracle.

We always hear about bread:

the Bread of Life,

the breaking of bread

leavened and unleavened bread

and so on.

Our Lord consecrates bread

to become His body

in the Eucharist

and the parallels 

between the Eucharist

and the feeding of the multitudes

is unmistakable. 

But we always seem

to gloss over the fish.

Where do the fish fit in?

[PAUSE]

The multitude have followed

Our Lord into a wilderness

in the Decapolis region

which is not far

from the Sea of Galilee

where Peter, James and John 

usually fish.

While bread is a food

that is shared across 

so many different communities

and cultures,

fish are usually found

only in fishing communities.

Fish don't travel well

unless they are refrigerated 

or dried out in the sun.

The fact that these fish

have survived a few days

in the wilderness 

is a miracle in itself.

Yet, here too, 

the fish are multiplied

for people to eat,

and they clearly eat well.

It is a food

that they are used to.

But still, the question remains:

If the feeding of the multitude 

is supposed to be a clear pointer

of the Eucharist,

and if we have bread at the Eucharist,

why do we not have fish as well?

[PAUSE]

Put simply,

it's because 

there were no fish 

at the Passover.

And Our Lord

fulfils the Passover 

when He offers us His Body and Blood

under the appearance 

of bread and wine

which are associated 

with the Passover,

Our Lord Himself being 

the Paschal Lamb.

No fish.

So what does this detail

told to us by St Mark 

tell us

that the multitude are fed with fish?

Why are the fish 

important for us to know about?

[PAUSE]

In our Mass,

you will be aware 

of the Offertory.

It's when the priest 

takes the host

and the wine

and offers them up.

What else happens?

Isn't the collection 

of money offered up too?

It's what we bring to Jesus

that gets offered up

and sanctified.

We do the same sort of thing

in our Harvest Festivals.

We bring our produce 

to God to give thanks

and for that produce to be blessed.

And the fish are

the produce of Galilee.

They are offered to God

Who blesses them

and then magnifies them

to feed so many people.

It's what we bring to Christ

that matters.

We offer Him bread 

and He makes it His body.

We offer Him wine 

and He makes it His blood.

We offer Him fish

and four thousand people

are fed good food.

It's what we bring to Christ 

that matters.

We only get anything out of the Mass

if we have put something in.

If we leave Church

feeling uninspired

or grumpy

or indifferent,

is it because we did not 

bring anything with us

for Christ to sanctify?

Did we forget 

to offer ourselves

to God

to be made Holy

to be distributed for

the good of all people?

We only get out of the Mass 

what we are willing

to invest in it.

If we don't even bring ourselves

to be sanctified 

then the Mass will be

just as much as a desert

but without the miracle.

We can receive

the Body and Blood of God

but if we only offer indifference

to Him,

we will only receive indifference 

in abundance.

[PAUSE]

The fish represent

ourselves,

our situations,

our cultures,

our homes and families,

our daily lives.

If we offer these to God,

He will bless them and use them.

If He can consecrate

a fishfinger sandwich, 

how much more

will He consecrate us 

in His service

and in His love?

Anglican Catholic Soundbites

 

Why we have to be careful about the language we use to bring Christ to the people and people to Christ.

Judging disciples

Sermon for the sixth Sunday after Trinity

"You Christians

are so judgemental!"

We hear that a lot,

but what does it mean?

We often find ourselves

in situations 

where the Christian life

runs contrary 

to the life of the world.

We have seen this 

in the public votes

in Parliament 

which have ruled

that there are circumstances 

in which it is lawful

to take the lives of innocent people.

We also live in an age

where profoundly 

destructive worldviews 

are being taught 

uncritically 

to those who are

learning how to live life.

And we Christians speak out

and get pilloried for doing so.

But we have to be careful

because people do not like to be judged.

Why not?

They think that

what they are doing

is good,

not harmful,

beneficial,

even beautiful.

And the basis for their judgement 

is that it "feels right" and

"isn't hurting anyone "

and "isn't trying to control people".

The basis of their sense of righteousness 

is themselves 

or it is the culture around them 

telling them that they are right.

Their righteousness 

is man-made,

not God-made.

Their righteousness 

will change with the times

and they will look back on the past

and declare it immoral

"by today's standards."

But "today's standards"

will be immoral by tomorrow's.

[PAUSE]

Our righteousness 

as disciples of Christ

has to exceed the righteousness 

of the Scribes and Pharisees 

of today.

Let's be clear,

there is no-one more 

educated in the Law

than the Pharisee. 

It's his job to know 

and to follow all the little bits and pieces

of the Divine law,

but his basis for the Law

is the law itself.

The Pharisees righteousness 

is based on a law

which is indeed God-given

but applied by a greater law

namely the Pharisee's

self-righteousness.

But doesn't the Church 

follow the Divine Law?

What makes the Church

any better than the Pharisees?

[PAUSE]

Our Lord shows us

that the law 

goes beyond the letter.

To.murder someone 

means more than 

sticking a knife into them.

We can commit murder

by calling someone a fool

and kill their place

in our hearts.

We can commit adultery

by looking lustfully at a women 

just as well as getting her

into bed.

The law of the Pharisee

is written on parchment. 

The law of God

is written on human hearts.

We've seen the effects

of applying the written law

inhumanely 

and the effects have been appalling.

If the written law 

has the capacity

to end the life of 

an innocent person 

then innocent people will die

and the world will think

that it has done a good thing.

And anyone who objects

will be regarded as

judgemental

and inhumanely

for allowing people's suffering 

to continue. 

[PAUSE]

This, of course,

ignores the sovereignty of God

and His ability

to turn our suffering into joy,

perhaps not in this life

but Eternally so.

All pain and suffering on earth

will end in time

and the heart that seeks

the righteousness of God

will find peace in Him.

Man does not have the capacity

to see the fulness of another's pain

nor the value that it possesses.

Man can only walk with those 

who suffer and tend

the wounds inflicted. 

Only God can reach the cause

of pain

because pain tells us

that something is wrong,

that there is a conflict 

between what is and what should be.

The righteousness of this world

seeks to numb that pain

by providing a distraction 

or a pleasure to distract

from sorrow

rather than addressing 

the actual cause.

[PAUSE]

It is only through Christ

that we can see true righteousness 

which will exceed the righteousness 

of Scribe and Pharisee 

because it is based

on Love

- not the sentimental feeling,

- not the legalised idea of compassion

- not the politically correct form of caring.

God is Love

and God is Righteousness. 

He is the basis of morality 

and if we make our judgements

based on His love,

then the World can call us judgemental

as much as it likes

but our judgement will be good

because it will pour the love of God

into the wounds of the suffering

and they will be healed in Him

eternally.

All age Anglican Catholicism

 

Why Anglican Catholicism is not  rooted in the 1950s

Baited breath?

Sermon for the fifth Sunday after Trinity 

What does He say

that draws people to Him?

What words does He use

that makes Him worth listening to?

What is it about Him

that makes crowds of people

gather around Him

to the extent

that He can only teach

by launching Himself 

out onto the Sea of Gennesareth

and using the natural acoustics

to magnify His words?

Our Lord is clearly 

a phenomenal teacher.

But then,

we must admit,

He does back up

His extraordinary claims

with miracles.

If Our Lord is

the great Fisher of Men

what is He using as bait?

[PAUSE]

It is interesting that

St Peter probably does not use bait

to catch the fish.

This is why he fishes at night.

The idea is that the fish

don't see the net as well

and swim into it unawares.

If this is the case

then we see why St Peter

thinks Our Lord's words

to cast the net in broad daylight

as odd and perhaps

even a bit exasperating.

The result: two ships full of fish!

Clearly something 

has drawn them to this place

where they can be caught. 

Just like the crowd.

Something has drawn them

to this place

where they can be caught

by God

in broad daylight.

Why broad daylight?

If you can see the net

then you can choose

to swim into it

or not.

Ironically, 

it is those who swim 

into Our Lord's net

who are saved.

Unlike St Peter,

Our Lord uses bait. 

He knows that there is something 

for which each of us

is truly longing.

It may not be something 

that we realise we long for.

It may be a longing 

which we mistake for another longing 

or one which we try to cover up

with something 

more accessible 

and immediately gratifying. 

Our Lord knows

what we truly long for

and He can supply it.

And this is something 

that we crave because 

we are created

and we look to our Creator

to make us whole again

from the wounds 

Caused by the battering 

that sin, the World and the Devil

inflict upon us.

Our Lord Himself is the bait.

He says,

"no man can come to Me, 

except the Father 

which hath sent Me draw him: 

and I will raise him up 

at the last day."

It is the Father 

that draws us,

and if we see Jesus

then we see the Father.

And it is Jesus

who will raise us 

from the depths of Death.

How?

Because in consuming His flesh

and drinking His blood

we become one

with Christ's humanity.

But it is the Divine nature of Christ 

that draws Him up from Death

into Heaven

to stand before the Father.

If we are one with Christ

then we are drawn up into Heaven

to stand before the Father.

We have been caught

and landed

like a prize carp

on the end of a line.

While the carp may be cooked

and eaten

we have been drawn to life

and joy.

This is what Salvation is.

And we need to fall for it,

hook, line and sinker.