Why Christians should never pick up spades

Sermon preached at the Cathedral Church of St Augustine on the twenty-second Sunday after Trinity

Oh no. 

Someone has dug a hole

in your beautiful lawn.

You've been growing this lawn

for ages,

mowing it carefully,

pulling out all the weeds,

putting down lawn feed,

telling the cat very firmly

that this is not a litter box,

and that you expect 

to be obeyed in this.

It was a beautiful lawn,

and now there is a hole

three feet in diameter

and two feet deep.

The cat denies all responsibility.

What do you do?

Fill it in?

With what?

[PAUSE]

You can't just magic up some earth 

from nowhere.

You can take earth from 

another part of the garden

but that would leave you

with less earth there.

This hole simply can't vanish.

It needs to be filled in with something.

That's the thing with holes

they only get smaller

the more you add something to them.

They get bigger 

the more you take from them.

You could find the person responsible

and demand they fill it in.

That's only fair.

They need to fill that hole in

because they made it.

But what if they can't?

[PAUSE]

Sin and evil work 

in exactly the same way.

Evil is like a hole.

Practically speaking, 

it is a hole in what is good.

Sin, too, is a hole

in our relationship

with God.

The work in the same way.

The only way 

you get rid of evil

is by adding good.

The only way

you get rid of sin

is by turning to God.

But that's easier said

than done.

Let's take an extreme case.

Tom murders Jerry.

It's an act

which we know to be evil.

It's murder, after all.

But what if Tom

sees what he has done,

and realises the evil

he has committed?

He repents,

in anguish,

sorrow,

and with bitter tears

comes to Terry and says,

"I am so sorry,

I have done evil,

I have murdered Jerry,

I will take the punishment,

but please forgive me!"

Terry now faces a choice:

he can forgive Tom

or he can not forgive Tom.

He doesn't have

an obligation

to forgive Tom.

Tom cannot expect

to be forgiven,

but he can hope.

Which is the best course

of action?

[PAUSE]

Well, 

you know the best course of action

because you've been listening

to Jesus.

Forgiveness

heals.

First,

forgiveness 

doesn't take anything away

from the other.person,

so it doesn't increase Evil.

Second,

forgiveness

does not make

the separation from God worse

so it doesn't increase Sin.

Forgiveness

is like one of those

yellow panels 

that workmen put over holes

to stop people falling in.

But notice,

forgiveness

doesn't actually fill in the hole.

Whether or not 

Terry forgives Tom,

Jerry is still dead,

but Terry's forgiveness

stops the hole from

getting bigger.

So how do we fill the hole in?

[PAUSE]

To fill in a hole in the garden,

you need earth.

To fill a hole in what is good,

you need goodness.

To fill a hole in our relationship

with God,

we need God.

The only way

that Jerry's murder

can be rectified

is by God.

We can't do this ourselves.

We can't make things right.

We can't save ourselves.

We need God.

Only God can fill the holes.

That's His justice.

The Church has the authority

to pronounce God's forgiveness

of the sins we confess

but we still have accept 

the consequences -

that is justice.

But God still seeks our love

and bids us return to Him

for repairs and renewal - 

that is mercy.

Nonetheless,

we must forgive

and dare to forgive

even the apparently unforgiveable

because that is

what sets us Christians

apart from the World.

Forgiveness

helps us become truly holy.

Christians must not 

make holes bigger

by digging in them.

Now, tell that to the cat.

An Anglican Catholic remembers

 How do we win a war?

Miracles unaccompanied

Sermon for the twenty-first Sunday after Trinity

Did Jesus have 

to perform miracles?

Wouldn't His words

be enough?

He is clearly 

a charismatic preacher.

We hang on His every word

as He preaches 

the Beatitudes to us

from the mountainside.

He is witty

and good with puns

as Peter the rock

will tell you.

Isn't it to our shame then

that we won't believe Him

until He performs miracles?

[PAUSE]

That really depends 

on what the miracles are for.

Clearly, we do need them

otherwise, 

Jesus would not perform them.

They are expressions of His

compassion

and love.

They seek to supply

what is lacking

and correct

what is amiss.

Empty bellies are filled.

Senses are restored.

Life is given.

Our Lord shows

good faith to us

by allowing us to 

sample a little of

what He promises.

Enough to back up

what He tells us.

But these miracles

come only second to what 

He is trying to tell us.

The only miracle

that need prove the Gospel 

is the Cross.

Our Lord accomplishes

the redemption of mankind

in that one act 

of Death and Resurrection 

which

to our eyes

can only be a miracle.

That is the only 

necessary muracle.

Even that

isn't performed in order 

to be a miracle:

it is only a miracle 

in what we see.

[PAUSE]

As much as we would love

to see miracles, 

Our Lord wants us 

to have faith in Him

and what He tells us.

True,

we believe because 

He has backed up His words

with signs and wonders

but we now know

we can believe Him.

But what of those

who still don't?

Don't they need signs and wonders?

[PAUSE]

These days,

if you perform a miracle 

someone would post a video

on Youtube to debunk it.

Signs and wonders 

have never been enough

to convince everyone.

To some,

a miracle would

back up Our Lord's words

only for a while.

It is only by 

living with Our Lord

and getting to know Him,

listening to what He is saying,

eating with Him

laughing with Him,

watching Him in action

that we believe Him.

But people don't want

to spend time

growing in Faith.

They want

crash, bang, wallop!

And 

Hey presto!

But that doesn't get us

to the real Jesus.

[PAUSE]

Admittedly, 

it would be nice 

for us to have a few miracles today

to show people that

we Christians are telling the truth.

A star shining on our Cathedral, 

a Eucharistic miracle,

an apparition of Our Lady

would certainly 

gladdens our hearts

in a world of unbelief

and bring people to the Church. 

But it is Christ we preach,

and we rejoice in just

being able to speak of

the love He has for us

and showing others 

the same compassion 

that He has shown us.

If He chooses to give

us a sign and wonder

to follow what we say and do

then that is something 

we can rejoice in

and marvel at.

But a new miracle is something 

we don't need to expect

for the Gospel we proclaim

to be true.

The miracle of the Cross

will always do.

Remembering the Anglican Catholic way

 

Why remembering is much more than a mental exercise.

Bless your heart

Sermon for the Sunday in the Octave of All Saints

Someone one sneezes.

What do you say?

Why?

[PAUSE]

When you say, "Bless you!"

you are essentially asking

for God to bless the person

and prevent them from

falling ill.

That seems straightforward. 

That's not the same word

that we hear Jesus say

in the Beatitudes.

When He says,

"Blessed are the pure in heart,"

that's not the same as

"The one who sneezed is blessed."

Can you hear the difference?

How is it different 

to be blessed when you sneeze

from being blessed for being 

pure in heart?

And what does all this 

to do with the Saints?

Always go to the Greek!

In the Greek, 

to bless someone

usually means

to speak well of,

to praise,

to wish good things.

But when Our Lord says,

"Blessed are the pure in heart..."

He's using the word meaning

"Happy!"

Actually,  if we're being very picky, 

Our Lord doesn't actually say

"Blessed are the pure in heart..."

He says,

"Happy the pure in heart...!"

Can you hear it? It's stronger.

To be pure in heart is to be happy.

To be a peacemaker is to be happy.

To hunger and thirst after righteousness 

is to be happy.

To be persecuted for righteousness' sake

is to be happy!

To be persecuted is to be happy?

What's gone wrong there?

[PAUSE]

Nothing's gone wrong.

Look at the saints.

Are they not happy?

You might say,

"well, they weren't happy

when they were being crucified

or chopped up

or burned."

The trouble is

that to say that 

misses the force

of what Our Lord

is telling us.

Among the saints

are many martyrs

who indeed suffer

horrible torments for Christ. 

But their suffering 

is confined to this Earthly realm.

Their full selves,

their happy selves

are in Eternity 

where in some sense,

they have always been.

Their happiness -

our happiness -

is God.

It's not that our suffering on Earth

doesn't matter to God. 

It's that He perfects our suffering 

and gives it purpose

to be close to Him.

His suffering is part of ours

and our suffering is part of His.

God stands waiting for us

at the end of our Earthly lives

in order to give us Eternal lives.

It is in our Eternal lives

that our Earthly lives

are not destroyed 

but are perfected.

Grace perfecting nature!

If we hunger and thirst after righteousness 

then that is our Eternal life

poking through 

into our Earthly life.

If we are persecuted for righteousness' sake 

that is our happiness 

soaking through into

the little life we know now.

The lives of the saints

are full of these acts

and its how we know them

to be saints.

We see the fruit of their labours

and by their fruits 

shall we know them.

We recognise the saints 

because through their

purity in heart 

we see God's light shining.

[PAUSE]

Some may ask us,

where are your saints today?

Whose lives shine forth light?

Elizabeth Barton

who challenges even kings

to seek righteousness?

Fr Alfred Patten, 

restorer of the shrine of Our Lady?

Bishop Albert Chambers

the one who defies

unjust rules

to ensure that the sacraments 

are preserved?

And then there's you?

Why not you?

Bless you.

Christianity and the Occult

 

Why Christians need to take the Occult seriously but not embrace it.

Checkmate?

Sermon for the feast of Christ the King preached at the Cathedral Church of St Augustine of Canterbury 

If He were a common criminal,

why would you give Him

even the time of day?

If He were a common criminal

you'd take one look

and hand Him over

to your Sadducee friends

and your old chum Caiaphas

with permission 

to crucify Him at their pleasure.

So why not?

Why talk with this man

at all?

Is it because possibly, 

just possibly,

He really is 

The King of the Jews?

[PAUSE]

If He isn't a king,

then it's not a problem

He can just go to that place...

Calvary...Golgotha...

whatever it's called.

If He is a king,

then we've got to be careful,

because he has followers

- a kingdom!

soldiers!

an army!

And peace in Jerusalem

is fragile at the best of times.

So we need to check Him out.

Is He a king?

His reply is strange.

What does He mean 

when He asks

whether we know this ourselves 

or whether someone told us?

Do we look Jewish?

Of course, someone told us!

This man in front of us

is here because

His own people,

His own priests,

have brought Him here.

Thinking about it,

that doesn't really

make Him a king does it?

If the people have given Him over.

If the chief priests have given Him over.

He can't be a king,

can He?

Unless there is some Civil War

brewing amongst the Jews.

And Civil War would

be a big deal.

We need to keep control

or Emperor Tiberius

will have our guts for garters

for losing Judaea.

This man has followers

and that's the problem -

He's causing trouble.

What has He done?

Yes, what has He done?

[PAUSE]

His kingdom is not of this world?

Well, that's true,

if His kingdom were of this world 

we'd already know about it

from the pitch battles

and struggles and blood.

He wouldn't be here

in front of us

all beaten up by the Jews.

Is He a king, then?

[PAUSE]

So we are right to call Him king!

But the way He understands 

Himself to be king

is not the way

that we understand 

being a King to mean.

He says that He is 

a witness to the Truth.

What is Truth?

The man's a philosopher!

And philosophers aren't a threat.

He hasn't done anything wrong.

And that's the truth.

They have brought Him here

because they envy Him.

He is getting more followers

than they are

but His armies

are not armies the Imperial Army

needs to worry about.

It's them kicking up the fuss,

not this man,

standing here,

bruised and bloody,

controlled and meek,

no angry words,

no screaming for mercy,

no ranting and raving.

He's in perfect control

of this whole situation.

It's as if He knew that 

this was coming

and He is ready 

to do battle with it.

Perhaps He is a king!

He has a kingdom 

in His followers.

He has a battle plan.

He has the bearing 

and dignity of a King

and has done nothing wrong.

How can we convict Him?

We will flog Him 

to show that we are boss

and we'll let Him go.

We can let Him go.

We rule Judaea.

Of course we can let Him go.

We can let Him go,

can't we?

Can't we just let Him go?

We can't, can we?