Beyond the Walls

Sermon for the second Sunday after Trinity

Three invitations. Did you count them?

To the well-to-do people of the city;

To the socially disadvantaged 

people of the city 

living rough in the streets; 

To the socially disadvantaged people 

who live outside the city 

in hedges and by the side of roads.

The only people we know 

who don't go into the feast

are those who live comfortable lives

and know that they need nothing

from this feast.

Only those who hurt

those who struggle to live

those who know that they need healing

those who know that there is joy 

but not in how they are living

those who know that the feast

will be more than they could ever hope for,

these accept the invitation.

But it isn't three invitations, is it?

It's just the one,

just the one "come to the feast!"

offered to everyone.

[PAUSE]

Our Lord's parable is quite clear.

The city is Jerusalem 

and those inside are the Jewish people

- people whom God has always loved

- people whom He has called to the feast.

But those who are satisfied

with their own lives

reject Him,

and the invitation that He has written

in His own Blood.

So He turns to those 

who see Him as their hope

and they receive Him.

Here are Peter, James, John 

and the others

who know that they need healing,

who know that they need joy,

who know that they need salvation,

who are wounded by the world's

pitiless indifference

who hate the brokenness of

their souls

who are tired of the battle

to be good within them

with its constant losses

failures 

and degradation.

They accept the invitation

but it isn't enough.

The feast is not big enough yet.

There is still room.

And so the invitation passes

beyond the walls.

[PAUSE]

It finds those outside

the Jewish race,

who suffer the same woes

and torment

and it gives them hope.

They, too, can come into the city,

further up and further in,

to the palace of the feast giver,

the king of the Jews,

The Lord God Himself,

The Father

Whose invitation is the Word of Life

Christ Himself

and Who draws all people

through His Holy Spirit.

It is the Spirit that fires the hearts

of men to spread the Word,

this invitation to Life Eternal,

of Eternal Joy

of Eternal Satisfaction.

Those who refuse

live out their lives

with what they have always wanted,

but their hearts 

are where their treasure is

and they miss out on

Life Eternal

Eternal Joy

and Eternal Satisfaction.

They are left with

an Eternal Life of sorts 

but nothing beyond their thoughts;

an Eternity of indifference

shown to others and by others;

an Eternity of never being satisfied

but never knowing precisely why.

Those who refuse the invitation 

shall not enter into God's rest.

[PAUSE]

What we have to do is clear:

Say "yes!" to the invitation

and spend lives inviting others

in our thoughts, words and deeds.

At the moment, 

we stand beyond the walls

but we are invited nonetheless.

We must prepare ourselves

for the feast.

We must lives turning towards God

We must let others know that

they are invited too.

We have to wait for the city gates 

to be flung wide

to lift up their heads

and we shall enter in

with the King of Glory.

Flesh and Spirit

Sermon for the Sunday in the octave of Corpus Christi

In some of our Churches,

they use the Thanksgiving after Mass

from the 1549 Book of Common Prayer.

This prayer gives thanks

for being fed with

the spiritual food

of the Body and Blood 

of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

What does that mean?

Does it mean that

Our Lord is only present

spiritually in the

Consecrated Host 

and Chalice?

This presents us

with a bit of a problem.

Our Lord says to His Disciples 

"a spirit hath not flesh and bones." 

He also says,

"the bread that I will give 

is my flesh, 

which I will give for 

the life of the world."

If the Lord gives His flesh

for us to eat,

and spirits do not have flesh,

then the presence of Christ

at the Mass

cannot be a spiritual presence.

We know also,

that God is a spirit

and this means that 

the Divine Nature 

does not have a body.

But Jesus is God,

fully Divine,

fully Human,

He has no flesh in His Divine Nature

but in His Human Nature.

If He gives us His flesh to eat,

then He does so from His Human Nature.

But Our Lord's Divine Nature is inseparable from His Human Nature.

This means that

Our Lord is present 

in the Consecrated Host

fully in both His Humanity

and His Divinity,

Flesh and Blood.

So how can what 

we receive in the Mass

be spiritual food?

[PAUSE]

God is spirit and

we are to worship Him

in spirit and in truth.

If we are to worship Him in spirit,

then we are spiritual beings.

The food we receive is not 

a spiritual presence.

It is food for our spirit.

Remember that 

our flesh is at war with our spirit.

We human beings

are broken.

Our nature is fractured.

We are at war within ourselves.

Our Baptism changes that

because we are given

the gift of the Holy Spirit

to dwell with us and in us.

And, to make us more spiritual,

we take into ourselves

the very Flesh and Blood

of God Himself

so that our bodies

and spirits are fed.

[PAUSE]

God gives us Himself

so that we can become

like Him

and participate

in His Divine Nature.

This is why we are grateful

for His feeding us 

with the food that will

grow our spirits

so that we can be like Him.

It carries the responsibility

for using what we are given

to sanctify the world

through battling against

the flesh of the world

which wants us

to deny Christ and become

just corruptible children of dust.

The Mass shows the world

that it is still loved by God

and this love is in such plentiful supply

that it breaks the boundary

between what is Human

and what is Divine.

We need to show this Mass to the world.

And, in ourselves,

we are to lift up Christ

and carry Him about,

so that through us

and by Him

the world may be brought back to Him.

We have a lot to do.

Perhaps we need to gain strength

by eating what is truly good for us.

Anglican Catholic Mass immersion

 

Why the feast of Corpus Christi is vital for Christian living.

Living Trinity

Sermon for Trinity Sunday

At Mass, we come to God, 

and God comes to us 

at the meeting place of the altar.

We can point to His presence with us

and, in the same faith,

we are fixed in His gaze

until we have taken Him

into our bodies and souls,

our lives and our hearts

where He dwells 

and makes us more like Him.

But God is Trinity in Unity.

We are not.

How are we meant to become

like God?

We need to learn to live the Trinity.

[PAUSE]

Our Lord Jesus Christ 

becomes a man,

so that we might become 

like Him

and live our lives

as committed members

of the Orthodox and Catholic Church.

We are not to live lives that are Arian.

Arians believe that Jesus is created,

more than a man,

but not of the same substance of God.

If Arians become more like that,

they will never see God.

They will never know 

true salvation

which lies beyond

the universe of created things.

We are not Arians.

Being Arian says that

our life can only be lived

in Creation

and separate from God.

Being Arian

denies that

the end of our journey

is God.

We are to live lives

in the hope 

of our return

to the visible presence of God

and not as part of the backdrop 

of the universe.

[PAUSE]

We are not to live lives that are Apollinarian.

Apollinarians think that God 

doesn't become fully Human,

that He puts on a human costume.

A god in a human costume is 

not being true

either to himself

or to human beings.

God is the Truth

and He loves us,

so He can't pretend to be human.

He becomes human

in order to be true to us

and to join us to Him.

If we live Apollinarian lives

then we see God as remote

and not fullyy invested in what we do

or who we are.

If we live Apollinarian lives,

then we push God away from us,

not trusting Him to be fully on our side,

rather than inviting Him

in to our lives.

[PAUSE]

We are not to live Nestorian lives.

Nestorians think that 

you can separate Jesus the Man 

from Christ the God.

They say that Mary is 

only the mother of the human bit

of Jesus,

not His God bit.

The Nestorian life says that 

we can live human lives 

every day of the week

but we have to be Christian 

on a Sunday.

The Nestorian life says

we can keep God in 

a separate part of our lives

and can live out the rest 

without worrying about 

His involvement in the rest.

But we are to lead lives

Inseparably with God.

We recognise Our Lady

as the Mother of God

and see that God is truly present

in our Humanity

so that we lead lives

in order to be truly present

in His Divinity.

[PAUSE]

We are not to lead lives

in which we think that 

being God and being human 

are the same. 

While we cannot separate

Jesus' humanity and His divinity,

we cannot pretend that

 they are the same thing.

Jesus is human,

so He has every aspect

of being human.

Jesus is God,

so He has every aspect

of being God.

Jesus' human nature

lives co-operating with His 

divine nature.

We have to live lives

In which we too

co-operate with God,

neither seeing ourselves in charge

nor leaving everything

up to God.

Our will is saved

by choosing God.

We are saved through God's grace 

and co-operating

with that grace.

[PAUSE]

We are not to lead Ikonoclast lives.

Ikonoclasts believe 

that the image of God 

should not make us long to worship.

They do not believe 

that an ikon can be holy.

They cannot tell the difference

between an ikon and an idol.

Living the ikonoclast life

means not seeing God

as being really present

alongside His creation.

Ikonoclasts separate God

from His creation.

For them, 

a photograph of Our Lord

would not stir up 

any desire to worship Him.

They do not believe that 

venerating an ikon

means that the veneration

is meant for who is in the ikon,

just as the kissing of a picture

of your mother

is an expression of your love for her

not for the picture.

We are to live in a world of ikons

reflecting God in the world around,

relating creation back to God

acting on our worship of God

through acts of veneration

whenever we are aware of His presence.

We are to live in a world of ikons

and using them to learn

how to become aware

of His presence again.

[PAUSE]

We are to live lives 

which reflect 

the Father, Son and Holy Ghost

as being real, supreme 

and always with us,

always willing to associate with us,

always present 

to love us,

forgive us

have mercy on us,

draw us,

save us,

and bring us to Him.

We do believe in one God,

Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

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Spiritual Takeover?

Sermon for Whitsunday

One of the more 

frightening afflictions mentioned

In the Gospels

is the possibility

of being possessed.

The idea that 

a devil has some control over you,

making you do things 

you don't want to do,

that it inhabits your life

at the very deepest part,

is truly terrifying!

We see the poor man

possessed by Legion

able to rip chains

and terrify the neighbours.

But we see him 

delivered by God

as the devils are cast out

into suicidal swine.

Being possessed 

is something that should 

and does worry us.

We do not want to be controlled

by anyone

or anything

other than ourselves.

But isn't this what happens

to the Apostles?

Do they not become possessed,

albeit with the Holy Ghost?

Is the Holy Ghost taking control

of people?

[PAUSE]

Some of us are afraid

of the Holy Ghost

for this reason.

They worry that 

the Holy Ghost 

will make them do things

that they really do not want to do.

They worry that He will

change their lives

in ways that 

they cannot bear thinking about.

The trouble is,

they are right.

[PAUSE]

Allowing the Holy Ghost

to enter your heart 

will change your life,

but He will honour where you are

in your faith.

Look at Moses.

He is frightened

of the task 

of telling Pharaoh

to let his people go.

God gives him powers

and even lets Aaron speak for him.

So Moses accepts and is transformed.

[PAUSE]

Our Lady accepts the gift

of the Holy Baby in her womb

and all is done unto her

according to the Angel's word.

The disciples aren't ready

for the Holy Ghost

until Our Lord ascends into Heaven.

At every stage, 

the Holy Ghost meets is where we are

but spurs us on.

We do not lose 

the freedom to choose.

The Lord says,

"If ye love me, keep my commandments."

And then He says,

"and I will pray the Father

and He shall give you

another Comforter."

Our keeping of the commandments

comes before,

and separately from,

the giving of the Spirit.

That's not to say 

that we can work our way

into Heaven

by keeping of the commandments.

But rather we can work out 

our salvation

with the Holy Ghost

alongside us,

not controlling us,

so that our salvation is completed

and perfected

by His grace.

It also means that

when the Holy Ghost comes

He is not going to take us over

so that we can just sit back

and let Him do all the work.

While we may be His,

the Holy Ghost

will not possess us

and turn us into His puppets.

We are given 

the immense dignity

of our own free will.

God created that in us

He wants us to use it

and He wants to perfect it

by living alongside us.

That is what Paraclete means:

one who works alongside,

a side-kick almost!

[PAUSE]

But the Holy Ghost is dynamic

and, for love of us,

demands that we be dynamic too.

He may respect who we are,

even who we think we are,

but still He wants us

to become the person who He created

- the person we truly want to be.

Eventually, in Him,

the person that we think we are

becomes the person

that we really are.

[PAUSE]

We are not God's playthings

or Jesus' Holy Incarnation

makes no sense.

Although life in the Holy Ghost

can be intensely uncomfortable

at times,

that discomfort comes

from a world that is passing away

possessed by the spirits of

Apostasy, Apathy and Complacency. 

The Holy Ghost living with us 

means that

we are living alongside

Eternity itself.

The more we grow in love,

the more we want to say, "yes" 

to the Spirit

and the more we say, "yes"

to the Spirit

the more we grow in love.

Growth in Anglican Catholic Housegroups

 

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