Priesthood and multitudes

Sermon for the fourth Sunday in Lent

Oh! It's a marvellous miracle

and so simple to state.

So many fed

with so little bread!

But it's the depth of this miracle

that matters more.

This is the miracle 

for the Church.

[PAUSE]

First,

the Lord reminds us clearly:

Man does not live 

by bread alone

but by every word

that proceedeth 

out of the mouth of God.

We must also remember

that miracles happen

in order to back up Our Lord's teaching.

So Our Lord breaks bread

and gives it to His disciples

to give to the people

and the people are fed.

Man is not fed by bread alone...

So we see connection

between the disciples 

giving out bread to the multitudes,

the bread growing

more and more plentiful

at the Creator's hands,

and the words of the Gospel

preached by so few

and yet nourishing the people

with the greatest hope

that the hunger of their souls

may be filled 

by the Eternal Love of God.

The feeding of the multitudes

is the sign that backs up

the Church's duty

to feed people with the word of God.

But Jesus is the Word of God.

[PAUSE]

"I am the bread of Life"

And we know that His body 

is meat indeed,

and His blood is drink indeed.

The multitude is nourished

not just by food,

not just by the Gospel

but by the very Body of Christ.

Not the blood yet, 

for His blood is to be shed

for the New Covenant

and that is ratified

upon the Cross.

It is why 

we do not need to receive

the chalice in the Eucharist,

though we should be free

to do so.

But what we do see

is the disciples distributing

the Gospel 

in word and Sacrament.

This is the business

of the Church.

This is the business

we need to mind.

The feeding of the multitudes

is precisely the 

prophecy of the Christian priesthood

and the Christian sacraments

with all the grace of God 

they convey.

This is the pattern

that Our Lord intended.

This is the Church

that Our Lord intended.

And this is our intention

to be faithful to this pattern

for the Church 

that Christ has built.

We Christians

have a duty if business 

to bring

the good news 

to those who are

hungry and thirsty

for both Word and Sacrament.

There will be those

who receive it gratefully.

There will be those 

who say, "hey! I want ketchup on that!"

There will be those

who smash it out of our hands

and spit on us.

But whatever they do

we will have tried to be faithful

because we are so grateful

for what we receive

that we want others 

to receive it too.

We have received Christ Himself

in the words of the Gospel

and in the Sacrament of the Altar.

It's too good 

not to share.

An Anglican Catholic view of the Papacy

 

Intended to be a gentle and respectful reason for why Anglican Catholics do not accept the claims of the modern Papacy.

Nonetheless, God bless the Pope and all in communion with him. And God bless all those who follow Orthodox belief and cannot be i...more

The Devil's Dividend

Sermon for the third Sunday in Lent

According to Our Lord,

the gates of Hell 

will not prevail against the Church.

Indeed, St John sees the Devil

and all his apostate host

flung into Eternal flames.

So the kingdom of Satan

must fall.

The Pharisees

must believe that, surely.

Yet, Our Lord says,

that if Satan is divided 

against himself, 

his kingdom cannot stand.

If we know

through Jesus

that the kingdom of Satan

cannot stand, 

Is Satan really 

divided against Satan?

Sounds complicated.

Why is that important?

[PAUSE]

The Pharisees accuse

Our Lord

of casting out demons

through Beelzebub.

If Satan is divided against Satan

then it is theoretically possible

that the Pharisees are right.

But if Satan is divided

against himself,

then how can the Pharisees

be sure

that they aren't

Casting out devils by Satan?

By saying thatJesus

casts out demons

by the prince of demons

the Pharisees have just

cast doubt on 

their own ability

to cast out demons.

Their sons will judge the Pharisees

for blaspheming against them

as well as for 

blaspheming against Jesus.

It is not the house of Satan

that is divided,

it is the Pharisees' houses.

[PAUSE]

This is why blasphemy

against the Holy Ghost 

shall not be forgiven.

If you cannot recognise

what good is

and decide that only 

your decisions are good

then you have nowhere to go

but to yourself.

There can be no Kingdom of Heaven

other than your own self.

This is why division

is a serious business

on the Church.

[PAUSE]

There is a difference

between a division in the Church

and a division from the Church.

The reasons for division

must be carefully considered.

Ultimately,

a division from the Church

must come from 

a lack of love for God

and love for other people.

Our Lord says

that whoever is not for Him

is against Him.

He also says that

whoever is not against Christ 

is for Him.

There is no middle ground.

The Church is bound together

in Love, Goodness, 

Truth and Beauty.

Where these are to be found

so is God.

There may be divisions

due to doctrine,

to authority

and to practice

but where true love is

Christ must be there Himself..

It means that it is not our business

to demonise any human being.

It is our business

to recognise where the Devil

is trying to work 

in our lives

and then to ask the Holy Ghost

- the Finger of God -

to cast him out.

We must always be

more ready to accuse ourselves

of having a devil

than to accuse 

another person.

[PAUSE]

The Lord says,

"blessed are they that 

hear the word of God, and keep it."

That is how

we can be sure that 

we don't have a devil 

and that we separate ourselves

from sin, the world and the devil

to stand in the 

Indivisible House of God

forever.

Tea and cake? No thank you!

 

Why History needs to be studied with the mind of Christ.

It's a dog's faith

Sermon for the second Sunday in Lent

Does this story disturb you?

A woman asks Jesus for help.

He says that

it is not right 

to give the children's bread

to the dogs.

Of course,

she says that

even the dogs eat

of the crumbs 

that fall from the table.

Only then

does Jesus

heal the daughter of this woman.

Surely it disturbs us

because

we don't expect Jesus

to be so, well, rude!

The Jesus we know

and love

would heal the daughter 

immediately

with kind words.

But He doesn't.

He effectively calls her 

a dog,

albeit a family pet

rather than

a wild dog.

What's gone wrong?

[PAUSE]

We're rather presented

with a Jesus

that does not always

behave the way

we expect Him to,

or that we want Him to.

This might cause us to doubt Him.

Many people leave 

the Christian Faith

because they

cannot reconcile

the God of Love

with some of the actions

they believe He commits.

The old argument goes

that because there is Evil

God cannot be wholly good,

or He cannot be Almighty

or He cannot be all-knowing.

But this argument forgets

that we human beings

are not wholly good

are not Almighty

are not all-knowing.

It means that

we cannot know

the mind of God.

We weren't there

at the moment of Creation.

We didn't see His blueprints

for the Universe.

We didn't see Him

ponder over which 

laws of physics to choose.

We don't know Him.

But God knows

we don't know Him.

It is because we can't know Him

that He bids us to have faith,

to trust Him

when we are terrified 

to hold on to Him

when we are in the greatest pain,

to believe in Him

when we can't see where He has gone.

[PAUSE]

We can't always know the reason why.

But look at this woman.

Look at what happens to her.

She has faith.

She doesn't lose 

faith in Christ

or in His love

or in His power.

He calls her a dog

and she stands her ground.

She doesn't run away crying

her image of a nice Jesus

broken to bits.

She knows that this Man

can heal her daughter

and she trusts that He will.

She keeps faith

and answers Him

respectfully,

humbly,

and with the determination

that comes by faith in Him.

And then Jesus

shows her that He is faithful

and heals her daughter.

Actually,

He does more.

Jesus shows us that He is faithful

and He shows that this woman

is faithful.

[PAUSE]

We cannot expect

God to be exactly how 

we want Him to be.

This is a sickness that has

invaded some parts of the Church.

To often,

we expect Jesus to 

agree with us,

to be on our side of the argument

to be fighting for the causes

we support.

This is not Jesus.

This is a cardboard cutout

- not even an ikon.

If we are to grow in faith

then it will be in the hardships of life,

in the sadnesses, fears, 

pains and sorrows,

the injustices and cruelty of life

that will cause that growth.

We cannot know God's purposes 

but we can grow in faith

and believe that,

whatever is happening,

not only does He have a good reason for it

but we will become closer to Him

as a result.

This is part of our

business of repentance.

No-one said that 

this would be easy

but perhaps we should 

thank God for the fact that it is not easy.

For then we are 

the greater in our faith

and deeper in our love.

God truly loves us:

He wants us to be perfect in Him,

even when we can't know 

how to be perfect yet.

Doubt, Orthodoxy and the Quicunque Vult

 

If the Creed speaks of damnation, what happens if I doubt?

Distracting distractions

Sermon for the first Sunday of Lent

We know why the Lord 

is tempted.

St Paul in his letter

to the Hebrews

says that Our Lord

is tempted

so that He can sympathise

with us 

in our temptations.

But we are tempted

all of our lives

not just forty days and forty nights.

How can Our Lord

be tempted as we are

but without sin

if He only endures it

for forty days?

[PAUSE]

We know this isn't true.

St Peter 

inadvertently tempts Jesus

by trying to prevent

His crucifixion.

And,

even in Gethsemane

the temptation for Our Lord

 to give up

is enormous.

If Jesus is tempted

all throughout His Incarnation

as we are tempted,

what are these forty days 

and forty nights of fasting

and praying for?

Let's be careful.

It is only after forty days and forty nights

that the Devil starts tempting Him

as far as we know.

It is because He is hungry 

that the Devil starts 

trying to get Him to turn

stones into bread.

The Devil believes

that Our Lord's hunger

that will be the weak point

in His dedication to 

His business of doing

the will of His Father.

And that's his mistake.

[PAUSE]

Our Lord is taken into the desert

by the Holy Ghost

precisely for Him

to wrestle with temptation.

These forty days 

are days of preparation

for hard work.

They always have been.

For forty days,

Noah was in the Ark

not sitting twiddling his thumbs

but preparing things 

for the new life 

after the flood.

For forty days,

Moses was up Mount Sinai

preparing to deliver

the law to the Israel.

For forty days,

the Ninevites fasted

in repentance

and were saved.

These forty days

are always a preparation

for battle, 

for a new life,

for new business to do.

This is why

Our Lord remains with us

for forty days

after His resurrection

to prepare the Church

for the new mission.

Where the Devil makes his mistake

is that Our Lord fasts 

forty days and forty nights

In order to wrestle with temptation,

to meet it head on

rather than be surprised by it.

[PAUSE]

Temptation often 

takes us by surprise.

It preys upon us

at our weak spot

in order to catch us out 

and distract us from our business

of repentance

and the search

for God's righteousness.

Not only does Jesus

identify with us in our temptation,

He shows us that the way to deal with it

is by prayer and fasting

in order to meet it head on,

to expose our weaknesses 

to ourselves

and to immerse ourselves

in the things of the Holy Spirit

which war against 

the spirit of the age

and the materialism 

of the world around us.

[PAUSE]

Lent helps us mean business

when we seek to turn our lives

to Christ and His Kingdom.

The Devil seeks to distract us

from this business.

If he can't win against Jesus,

then he cannot ultimately win

against hearts that are focussed

on the business of God.

Anglican Catholicism and the priesthood of all believers

 

When is a Christian a priest?

In praise of the JHPCU

Why I support the Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi Christian University

Last year I completed my doctoral studies in Theology and was elected a Fellow of this university and I find it a great honour to have been so.

Let me first start by giving some indication as to my ability to speak of educational institutes. As you will know from my pen-name, my first university education was at the University of Warwick in Mathematics. I am proud of my degrees there: I was taught well at an institution which was rated by the QS World University Rankings as 21st (2021) and 19th (2023) for the quality of Mathematics. To put that in perspective for my American readership, in the same year, Duke University was ranked 55th (2021) and 57th (2023) for Mathematics. I hope you will understand that I have some barometer by which I can judge the quality of education that I have received.

While I was at Warwick, I would often pass by pictures of the Mathematics Institute at its beginning. There was a particular photograph of the nascent Institute in 1965 of a collection of a few mathematicians, mainly from Cambridge, who were setting up that institute. The most notable was Professor Sir Christopher Zeeman but also Professor David Epstein whose images in hyperbolic geometry are still used today. I was taught by the latter since Sir Christopher was by then the master of an Oxbridge college. What stayed with me was that august institutions have small beginnings.

I can say the same of the Anglican Catholic Church: we received autonomy in 1978 and have grown as an institution to the body we have now, making our contribution to Church unity as one of the G3. 

To be present at a birth is always a privilege. To be responsible in bringing something to birth is tense, fraught and yet truly wonderful.

And so to the JHPCU.

I became aware of the JHPCU through Professor Stewart Thompson who is now the principal of the Victoria College of Music. The VCM is an independent college which has the weight of a century in its work. It has its roots in Christianity - indeed, one of the modules it offered was that of Bible Reading. From the VCM, I found myself intrigued by the existence of the JHPCU.

Why JHP? Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi was a swiss pedagogue and committed Christian whose overriding thesis is that education should be a right, not a privilege. I am in full agreement of that for education is that which enables us to find a deeper language with which we can talk to, and talk about, God. The existence of God is written in all things and it is through education that we see that writing.

I resolved to study with them because I am involved in the Board of Ministry and Education in my diocese. We needed a training programme for our clergy and found that with the VCM but now had the opportunity to enhance that training with a university. If we wanted to use the JHPCU for our training then I needed to be trained by them. I also felt that such a project would help us as a diocese understand our identity as Anglican Catholics and give me an opportunity for my writing to be given a more rigorous scrutiny by proper academics. The tuition fees were very reasonable, as to be expected from an institution which seeks to provide a right rather than offer a privilege.

My supervisor was Professor Craig Paterson. Since coming to know him, I have been impressed by his significant credentials. I have his book on Analytic Thomism - a subject of serious academic weight - and found that he has worked with a luminary no less than Professor Elizabeth Anscombe. I know academics - I have been in the presence of such wonderful people such as Professor Jack Cohen and Professor Ian Stewart. I shook hands with Sir Roger Penrose and Professor Sir Michael Atiyah for whose great niece I would go on to administer public examinations. By this blatant name-dropping, again I hope I show that I know academics of quality, and so I was reassured that under Professor Paterson, I would receive sound supervision. And I did!

Paterson didn't let me get away with anything - no sloppy thinking allowed, nor the omission of full and complete references. The difference was that I received a better, more pastoral supervision filled with encouragement that, sadly, I did not receive at Warwick where my supervisor was not always available or ready to listen. I may have learned independence at Warwick but I did not learn confidence.

When finally I came to my viva, I was examined by Bishop Andrew Linley and The Venerable Peter Johnson - again certainly no intellectual lightweights. Again they took me to task to make sure that I produced works of quality. The fact that they passed me both for my masters and doctorate means that I met their standards. You may judge that for yourself as I have published my masters thesis as The Meaning of Anglican Catholicism and my doctoral thesis as Anglican Catholic Moral Theology, available from Lulu. Whether you agree with my conclusions or not, you will see the quality of education I have received and I am quite proud of my work.

Of course, the big difference is that Warwick is a very secular institution; the JHPCU is not. It is Christian and that informs the pastoral care. Neither is it a narrow institution: the JHPCU is involved in the Latimer Institute run by the UECNA which is of a decidedly Old High Protestant persuasion. Again, I might disagree with certain aspects of the theology of the UECNA, but I see in The Latimer Institute hard work being undertaken by the academics there and good on them - they ought to be proud of themselves!

From my point of view as a member of my diocesan board of ministry, education is not the be-all and end-all. My diocese is committed to spiritual formation as well as theological education as we want our priests to lead a balanced and rounded life of prayer and not just study. The JHPCU also sees spiritual development as something that can be informed by, but not subsumed in, theological education.

And so I am now a Fellow for the University. I don't receive a wage - none of us do because that is beside the point - so I cannot be accused of being in someone's pockets. I see myself like as of one of the few standing outside the farmhouse which housed Warwick's first mathematics institute. I have high hopes for the JHPCU's future and pray daily for its ministry in the world. It may be a new institution but the ACC is a new institution, too, and I believe that also has an important commission to fulfil.

Good news! Crucifixion and Miracles!

Sermon for Quinquagesima

We've been trying

to mind our own business

in the run up

to Lent.

We've been learning

to leave others' business

to them

and concentrate on our business

which is sowing 

the seed of the Gospel

into the hearts of men.

If our business

as Christians is 

to bear witness to the Gospel

how do we do it?

Do we do what Our Lord does?

[PAUSE]

It seems we must,

but if we look

at what Our Lord

says and does with His disciples

we run into some 

uncomfortable truths.

First,

Our Lord speaks about 

what will happen to Him.

He speaks of the consequences

of telling human beings 

the Gospel,

that repentance

from a life of Sin

by turning to Him

will bring everlasting joy

and salvation.

These consequences

are derision

and persecution

and crucifixion.

That's not a comforting thought

about preaching good news.

The second uncomfortable truth

is that after speaking about

the reality of persecution,

Our Lord casually,

effortlessly

and freely

gives a man back his sight.

Crucifixion and miracles,

is that what we have to do

to preach the Gospel properly?

No wonder many Christians

don't bother

or preach a socially acceptable "Gospel"

that doesn't result in either

crucifixion or miracles.

[PAUSE]

If we feel like this

perhaps

we're looking at things

in The wrong way.

The fact is

we are not Jesus.

We are meant to be like Him.

That is true.

But we can only truly be like Him

when we see Him.as He really is.

That takes work.

And that's our business.

Our business is that 

of repentance

and repentance is hard,

painful and sometimes

seemingly impossible.

We remember, though,

that repentance is not

a negative thing,

it is not without joy

it is not without laughter

it is not without enjoying

the good things of life.

But it is serious.

Deadly serious 

Repentance is always

about turning to face Christ

and daring to look Him 

straight in the eye

having committed

the sins that we have

and yet seeing

ourselves reflected in those eyes

as people of light.

In those Divine human eyes

we may see our shame

where we fall short,

but we see also love,

the will of God for our perfection

- our perfection in God.

Our business

is repentance

and, by repenting

and living active lives

of repentance,

Our Lord's light 

will shine in us.

That doesn't mean

we live ostentatiously

flaunting our good deeds.

Our good deeds will flow

from our choice to repent

In honesty and truth,

and our choice 

to make our lives perfect

in Christ.

[PAUSE]

And when we do suffer

or are in grievous pain

because we repent

then we know that 

our repentance is working

and making visible 

God's reality in our lives

and in our world

darkened by sin.

And, should God decide

to work a miracle

through us,

then that is His decision

and nothing to do with us,

but rather

allow ourselves to wonder

at the wonderful works of God

in gratitude at His desire

to work with us.

[PAUSE]

Preaching the Gospel

is a life of repentance

in which we strive

to see Christ 

in all we do or see.

This is because salvation

is a process

in which we participate actively

and not a one-off event.

And so we begin Lent

looking at what our own business is,

and minding it,

and seeking Christ out

from the clutter of our lives.

God bless you this Lent.

Ugliness and Agatha

 

Why St Agatha looks like the Church.

Sow, sow, sow your crop...

Sermon for Sexagesima

Who is the parable for?

Our Lord preaches 

about the Sower 

sowing the word of God 

and the fate of each of the seed, 

but who is the parable for?

[PAUSE] 

We know that it can't be

for everyone.

Our Lord Himself

says that parables

are only for those 

who have ears to hear.

But, clearly the disciples

have ears to hear

which is why Jesus

explains the parable.

Except.

Except, who is the Sower?

Who is sowing 

the word of God?

Does Jesus say?

[PAUSE]

In each of the gospels of

St Matthew,

St Mark 

and St Luke,

we are not told who the Sower is.

Isn't it God?

Well, no.

For God would know 

where to sow for a good crop.

God doesn't waste things.

If He knows the number

of stars, sparrows

and hairs on your head,

then we know

that everything works for good

for those who love God.

If God were the Sower,

would He allow the devil 

to take the word of salvation

from the hearts of men?

God is not the Sower.

Jesus is not the Sower.

Jesus is talking

to the sowers of His word.

This parable

is for the disciples

because it is their calling

to serve God by preaching the Gospel.

[PAUSE]

Our Lord explains

the pitfalls of preaching.

We cannot expect

our preaching always to be effective.

Sometimes

before anyone can hear the Gospel,

the Devil gets in the way.

So we must preach again

to those by the wayside.

Sometimes

the Gospel goes a little way in

but the rocky hearts of men

can stop it from growing.

So we must preach again

to those in rocky ground.

Sometimes

the Gospel goes in and starts growing

but the world around

distracts and disorders

so that a person doesn't

fully come to faith.

So we must preach again

to those in briars and thistles and weeds.

[PAUSE]

It is our duty 

to keep preaching

because we don't know

where the word of God 

is ending up.

We can't see

the birds, 

the rocks,

the thistles,

or even the fertile soil.

But we can be sure

that one seed 

in the good soil

will grow and produce

more than we know.

[PAUSE]

it is at the end of Time

that the harvest will be reckoned

the sheaves bundled

the tares and weeds and thistles 

burned away.

Until then,

we must mind our own business

and

sow, sow, sow 

even in tears and sorrow

because we will come 

again in joy

bringing in a good harvest

and rejoicing 

in the salvation

of all our brothers and sisters.

Mere Anglicanism and Theosis

 

What possibly went wrong at the ACNA conference.

Mind your own business!

Sermon for Septuagesima 

People who worked

for one hour

are paid the same fair days wages

as those who worked

a twelve hour day.

Why does it sound unfair?

We know it isn't unfair

because Our Lord

uses this parable to tell us 

something about ourselves.

[PAUSE]

The person who seems

to come in for the most criticism

is the Employer

who justifies himself

by saying that he has a right

to do with his money 

as he pleases.

You agree with that, yes?

You can do what you like

with your own possessions.

But then...

How do you feel 

about that statistic

that a handful of people

control the majority

of the wealth in the world?

Aren't they allowed 

to hoard their money

and use it for their own purposes

which may,

or may not, 

be godly?

[PAUSE]

Some of us are very good

at deciding what

other people should do

with their money.

When we see

a rich man pass by a collecting tin

without putting something in,

we grumble something about

camels passing through eyes of needles.

When we see 

a rich man put something into

that collecting tin,

we grumble that he's making a show

of his wealth

in false generosity.

The rich man can't win.

But we don't want him to, do we?

[PAUSE]

There are two things

that Our Lord teaches us 

about money and possessions.

The first is

that we should render unto Caesar

that which is Caesar's

and unto God

that which is God's.

Material things

matter most for those

who are materially minded.

Bills must be paid.

Tax must be paid.

Debts must be paid.

This is true for all of us.

While they may be

important

they are not what defines

our relationship with God.

God's claim

on our lives

is greater than

Barclay's Bank's claim

on our overdraft.

This leads to Our Lord's second point.

Those who have been given much

will be expected to show much interest

on God's investment.

God wants us 

to bear good fruit

and has given us the means 

to grow it.

He will not expect growth

from where He has not given.

So the rich man

will always find himself

required to give an account

of what he is doing for his wealth.

But this account

will not be rendered to us,

but to God.

[PAUSE]

Those who labour all day

receive the agreed generous daily wage,

but their eyes

are on other people's

wages.

Their outrage 

comes from envy

and pride in their assumption

that their time is worth more

in their own eyes

than was agreed.

Notice also

that the Employer himself

is making use

of what he has.

He may earn more money

as a result,

but so do his employees.

The wealth is not 

buried in a field,

mattress

or investment fund.

It is being used 

and everyone benefits.

[PAUSE]

It might sicken us

to see celebrities

living the high life

in yachts,

drinking champagne

and eating Ferrero Richer,

but that money is going somewhere.

It is being rendered unto Caesar.

What concerns us 

as Christians

is what is being rendered to God.

In that sense,

that's the rich man's problem

and not ours.

[PAUSE]

We should not allow

other people's use of their wealth

to distract us

from using what we have

to the glory of God.

We should not allow

other people's expenditure

to tempt us to judge

another person

in a way that will judge us

in the same way.

It is what we do

with the wealth that 

we have been given

that matters more 

to us eternally

than other people's business.

Filioque, St Vincent of Lérins and Ecumenism

 Why the Vincentian Canon is of more value to the Catholic Church than we think.

Miracles under a bushel

Sermon for the third Sunday after Epiphany

Just think.

Something wonderful

happens to you,

something life-giving,

something that changes 

your pain into joy.

What do you do next?

But then?

What do you do

after you receive

something truly wonderful?

Do you not want 

to tell someone?

Do you not want

to scream in utter happiness

that you have 

received something marvellous?

And then

Jesus says, 

"Sshh! Don't tell anyone!"

What do you do?

[PAUSE]

There are several times

when Our Lord 

tells people that He heals

not to tell anyone

what has happened to them.

In this case,

Our Lord tells the leper

not to say what has happened

but concentrate 

on fulfilling the Jewish Law

and present himself at the temple.

Our Lord

is effectively telling

the man He heals

to give thanks to God first

as a matter of priority.

But why can't the man

tell people on the way?

It is because

two men whose sight is restored 

blab to all Capernaum 

that Jesus can't go into a house

and teach

but must teach outside the city.

But surely,

people need to see the miracles!

Why?

Well,

more people will come 

to Jesus and be healed.

Yes,

but when would 

He be able to teach us

if He is busy healing everyone.

This is important,

if you think about it.

Our Lord comes

with the Good News

of our salvation

at His hands.

His message is about 

Eternal life.

Where is the leper now?

Where are those blabbing blind men now?

All those whom Jesus heals

still die.

Our Lord is clear,

Miracles follow the Message

not the other way around.

He does not need 

His miracles to be

seen by all and sundry.

If He did,

then His appearances

would be more like

a musical extravaganza

with fireworks

and people falling over

"slain in the spirit."

That's not what we get.

Our Lord heals people

as individuals

for their sake

and for the small group 

of witnesses around,

not for the sake

of making a spectacle of Himself.

To those who demand 

miracles from Him,

He will show

only His bloodstained body

dangling lifelessly

upon the Cross.

Even His Resurrection

is intimate,

reserved only for

those who love Him.

The miracles are not the message.

[PAUSE]

Our Lord is not

hiding His Light 

under a bushel.

If He did,

then we would never 

hear His word.

Even His Father speaks

in a still, small voice.

God needs no megaphone

on a street corner,

just those whom He calls

to preach His Gospel

by living that Gospel

and showing the love

of that Gospel.

We don't need to 

perform miracles

like St Peter or St John,

we just speak the Truth

and, perhaps, something wonderful

will follow.

It is the miracles

that we hide under a bushel,

not the message.

Anglican Catholicism and Women's Ministry

 Is the Anglican Catholic Church really anti-women?

Water, Wine and Incarnation

Sermon for the second Sunday after Epiphany

You do pay attention

in the Mass, 

don't you?

Of course you do.

You notice that 

the priest first puts 

wine in the chalice.

Then he blesses 

the water

before he puts it

in the wine.

Indeed,

the Mass isn't valid

if he forgets

to add the water to the wine.

Why?

[PAUSE]

There are two reasons.

You might think 

about the blood and water

that pours from

the wound in Christ's side.

That is the historical reason.

The link between

the sacrifice of the Crucifixion

and the sacrifice of the Mass.

The Mass is a participation

in the single perfect sacrifice

of the Cross.

Adding water to the wine

makes that participation

real, true and clear.

But there is a spiritual reason too.

And it's to do 

with the water jars at Cana.

[PAUSE]

It seems odd

that we add water to wine

when wine is

mostly water anyway.

But lots of things

on this planet

are mostly water.

Indeed,

it is said that we human beings

are more than 

two-thirds water.

So when we drink water,

it's like the adding

of water to wine.

And this is deliberate.

We see, 

in adding water to wine

the truth that we say

in the Athanasian Creed.

When Jesus becomes Incarnate,

He doesn't convert His Divine Nature

into Human Nature

but takes our Nature into His.

He takes the water 

of our Humanity

into the wine of His Divinity.

Our Human nature

sits in Christ

like the water 

sits in wine.

This is how

the sacrifice of the Mass

brings us into 

communion with God

because we take

the true substance of God

into our selves.

Of course, 

that's a bit like 

adding wine to water.

But this communion

here and now

points to our salvation

in Christ when He performs

the miracle of Cana again,

this time changing

the water of our Humanity

into the wine of His Divinity

within us.

While St Paul may be

thinking of St Timothy's

physical health

when he bids him

take a little wine for his stomach,

he is also pointing us

to the health-giving benefit of wine

as an image of the life-giving benefit

of the Blood of Christ

under the figure of wine.

The Chalice 

contains

not just a taste of salvation

It is the promise

- the New Covenant -

of salvation to Eternity.

This is the same promise

that Our Lord shows

at the wedding in Cana.

He may say to His mother

that His hour has not yet come

but instead

He promises what will happen

at the hour

- the hour of Crucifixion -

by showing us our salvation

in His blood

and the taking up

of our Humanity

into God.

[PAUSE]

When you look into the chalice,

you might catch a glimpse

of your face

reflected on the surface

of the Consecrated Wine.

This is no accident

for you see yourself

looking back at you

from Eternity.

Prayerful substance

 

How should we pray to God?

Renewing from the library

Sermon for the first Sunday after Epiphany

When was the last time

you ever borrowed a book

from the library?

Perhaps you remember

being given a date

by which

you had to return the book.

But what if you hadn't finished it

by that date?

Well, then you'd pop along 

to the library and ask 

to renew it.

Then you'd be given

a new date

by which to return the book.

Your borrowing

of the book has been 

reset.

Is this what St Paul means

when he tells us 

to renew our minds?

[PAUSE]

The idea of renewal

that St Paul is using

is a return to an

uncorrupted state.

We see that our sins

leave a mark on how we think

and how we think 

can lead us into sin.

As far as our thinking goes,

we have a vicious cycle

- quite literally -

sin begets a vice

and vice weakens our mind,

our mind cannot resist temptation

so we sin.

That first sin of Adam

kick starts the whole cycle:

we sin because Adam sinned

and weakened us

to sin further.

The corruption of our mind is clear,

and we cannot truly know

what is good while our minds

are in a fallen state.

But just how do we renew it?

We need to go back to the library.

[PAUSE]

St Paul tells us 

that he speaks through Grace

- God's active presence working in us.

Our first grace of justification

occurs at our Baptism

when we are cleansed from sin

and incorporated

into Holy Church.

This is our first renewal.

But what then?

What about our sin after Baptism?

[PAUSE]

Our Lord sanctifies 

the waters of Baptism

to make them 

not just waters of repentance

but waters of life itself.

When we confess our sins

and repent of them

then the fountain of grace

that pours within us is made clean

and we return to "factory settings".

Renewing our minds

doesn't mean that we reject tradition

and the teaching of Holy Scripture

and the Fathers.

It doesn't mean that we need 

to make new doctrines

for the present age.

To renew 

means to go back,

back to the fountain,

back to the library of Faith, 

back to those whose teaching

we need to refamiliarise

our minds.

We go back,

through the grace of God

given to us in our Baptism

and turn our minds

to Him

actively

wholeheartedly

and uncompromisingly.

The beauty of our Faith

is that God ALWAYS

gives us space to repent

no matter what we have done.

The opportunity to renew

and be renewed is always there 

for us to grasp

in the sacraments

especially the Sacrament of Confession

which is there for our comfort

not our damnation

or judgement.

But we really must

want to be renewed

and take It seriously.

[PAUSE]

One day,

time will run out

when we will be renewed

no longer.

Our borrowed time will be finished

and we must return our books

to the library.

Our Lord, 

however, 

will make all things new in Him

and,

if we choose,

we can accept our final renewal

and enter into that new life

complete, whole and perfect.

And we won't have any fine to pay, either.

Constant Change

The universe has been changing from its very moment of beginning (even Genesis demonstrates that); why should Christian belief be any different?

I am happy to believe the Theory of Evolution. It fits the evidence that I see around me and, having studied dynamical systems during my mathematical studies, I recognise behaviours in cosmology and the natural world that are predicted by these mathematical models. The empirical evidence is compelling but it is not absolutely certain. As Ross Geller says, there may be a teeny tiny possibility that it's wrong. The philosophical possibility that the Universe was created five minutes ago together with memories of aeons is not easily debunked. The opening chapters of Genesis could still be literally true as well as being theologically true.

As I say, I don't require Genesis to be literally true for my faith in God to hold. I believe in the Word of God and the Bible is secondary to that Word, unlike the Q'ran in Islamic thought in which the Word of God is the Q'ran. Genesis is theologically true which means it faithfully describes truth about God, Man and the relationship between them without requiring that truth to be expressed within the confines of scientific enquiry.

The question above was posed on the Thinking Anglicans blog. It's an interesting question in that it seeks to put Christian belief in the same category as scientific development. In the Natural Sciences, the geocentric model of the solar system is replaced with the heliocentric model which is, in turn refined by the Keplerian model before we reach today's understanding of chaotic orbits of planets orbiting a star that is itself dancing around the Milky Way. Everything is in a state of flux.

But is Christian belief something that evolves? Certainly, the Bible charts our understanding of God relationship with Man, how the eternal relates with the ephemeral. That poses a problem: if God created all things, then He created Space and Time. There is no room for His evolution. The begetting of the Son and the procession of the Holy Ghost demonstrate that the Father is the single source of all being but, in that the begetting and procession occur outside Time, this dependency of being on the Father does not diminish the Divinity of Son and Holy Ghost.

What does this mean for poor, temporal humanity? Well, if the Christian Faith is true, then it is Eternally true. The Holy Trinity is the Holy Trinity as much as at the Creation as it is at the Council of Ephesus in AD431 and as it is now and as it is when the Universe grows cold and dark in the ensuing billions of years to come.

The Christian belief is changeless but a Christian's belief grows as he discovers the same truth as Enos, Abram, Solomon, and the saints of God grow in the Faith. Since human beings all share the same nature, the nature of the relationship between Man and God is also eternal even though each one of us has to grow in that relationship. This means that what constitutes sin is eternal because sin is a breach in that relationship. Murder is as sinful now as it was when Cain killed his innocent brother. Adultery has not changed, nor has coveting. This is why they are carried by Christ from the Old Testament into the New.

If Christian belief were to change then what would be the cause of this change? What would have the authority and power to change the belief of St Ignatius to the belief of John Shelby Spong? If they are both right in their time, then what changed? Human understanding of the universe? But our understanding of the universe is always incomplete as Prof Edward Feser ably shows in The Last Superstition. Thus we can never be sure that whether the change in our belief is correct. A true change in belief must come from God, but this would render God subject to time.

While the laws of physics require refinement and correction, the underlying mathematics does not. 1+1=2 eternally. HyperKähler manifolds only admit a tri-simplectic reduction by a Lie group if they are not compact eternally. But then, it's not the laws of physics that change but our understanding of them. That Mars goes into retrograde motion across the sky is a brute fact but has different explanations depending on whether you are Ptolemy or Copernicus. The Holy Trinity is a brute fact whether you are Samuel, St Peter or St Gregory Nazianzen.

Could, then, our Faith evolve so that Christians are required to believe in a Holy Quaternity? God could, conceivably, be experienced in more persons than three. This, however, defies what has been revealed. If God reveals that He is the Trinity to Eric but a Quaternity to George this raises difficult questions. Are Eric and George believing in the same God? Why does George warrant knowing the extra Divine person and not Eric? How can Christ build a Church on a rock that shifts like sand, contradicting His own parable. How can Christ commission His disciples to baptise in the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost if there is also a Person X as well but does not share the Name?

The fact is that the Trinity has always been part of the Divine self-revelation from Genesis i to Revelation xxii, from Tertullian to St John Damascene. The truth has always been there to see. The Bible is inerrant in its theological truth but requires the Church Fathers to compile and gather that truth according to the tradition that they learned from their teachers all the way back to the apostles. This truth is eternal and this is why Christian belief stands outside the category of things that evolve. It is why sin is sin no matter what time period you are from and why the Church possesses an essential unity across the human epoch of this planet.

I have often found that people ask the question in order to justify their practices which run contrary to the teaching of the Church. "Times change and so must the Church. We cannot hold the same terrible beliefs of the first Christians!" As I say, the onus on these folk is to show why the Church has always got it wrong or what has the power, authority and motive to make that change happen. I often find that their answer to this question is, at best, unconvincing.

Feasting Faithfully

 

Why happiness is neither pagan nor sinful.

Parenthood, Childhood, Servanthood

Sermon for the Sunday in the Octave of the Nativity

St Paul seems to suggest

that we are parenting all wrong.

Children should be 

just like servants!

Excellent!

Set your toddler to work

grouting the bathroom.

You! Five year old!

Do the taxes!

Newborns should

be cleaning behind 

the sink unit

with their tiny, tiny hands.

Or perhaps that's not

what St Paul means.

[PAUSE]

St Paul's point is

that children

are not in a position

to be given authority

over their own lives

for the simple reason

that they are unaware

of the perils and difficulties

of being grown up.

To be fair,

many grownups

are unaware

of the perils and difficulties

of being grown up.

We have to learn to function

and live good lives

with other people.

We can't take what we want,

and we need to know why.

A toddler is not capable

of understanding this fully,

which is why 

the chocolate aisle at Morrisons

is littered with screaming children.

We can't do what we want.

We can't snatch something

from someone else.

We can't hit those

who upset us.

Children need to learn.

This means 

that they cannot take

control of their lives.

Just like servants.

[PAUSE]

The servant's job

is to do as told

in order for the house

to function.

A servant may not 

be in a position

to understand what 

their employer is trying to do

but must trust that

fulfilling the given orders well

will result in 

the best outcome for everyone.

Of course,

this depends on

the trustworthiness

of employers.

But a child's life

depends on 

the trustworthiness 

of the parents.

[PAUSE]

In being born,

Our Lord puts Himself

at the mercy 

of Mary and Joseph.

It is at Mary's knee

that Jesus will learn

about God and

the Covenant God has made

with the people of Israel.

She will teach Him

why the rituals are performed,

why some foods 

are not to be eaten,

and what the commandments are.

But Jesus is God.

He knows all these things,

doesn't He?

[PAUSE]

Our Lord chose to be born.

He chose to be a child

in full knowledge

that the lives of children

are subject to the will

of their parents.

So He allows Himself 

to be taught,

but, in Mary,

He has the best teacher.

His Divine nature 

prevents Him from error

but He grows in wisdom

and stature under

the loving kindness

of His Holy Family.

He is our example 

of humility

by being obedient

to our Human nature

as part of His Divine nature.

The King of Kings is

obedient to us as a servant

so that we might be

obedient to Him

as children

so that,

one day,

we might be fully grown 

into His Divinity

and live as true adults 

in Heaven.

To be childlike

is to accept humility

and limitation

so that we might

live like stars for Eternity.

[PAUSE]

As good parents

we discipline our children

so that they learn

to live well

and grow in virtue and wisdom.

They may not like it at times,

but then do we always enjoy

being obedient to God?

Blogday 2023: Disillusionment and Reconfiguration

This blogling is eighteen years old. In the UK, this would make it a legal adult which is quite remarkable for something that essentially began by accident. Here we are, nonetheless, and the changes that have happened, even in this little space of time are not insignificant.

One thing that would be a surprise to the me of 2005 is that I chose to have nothing to do with the Coronation of King Charles III. Back then I was an ardent monarchist; now I would be hard pressed to say that I had any positive feelings to the monarchy. 

This may be a great disappointment to my monarchist friends. In many ways, it is a disappointment to me - I want to be a monarchist, but I have become disillusioned with the British Establishment.

Disillusionment ought to be a very positive thing, really. Illusions deceive because they mask what is true in order to present and sustain a false reality. 

To me, the Coronation was a beautiful illusion which I could not get behind. It gave the illusion that things were in keeping with our history, our traditions and our faith. It gave the illusion that things are okay in British society. It gave the illusion of the respectability and authority of Parliament. It gave the illusion of the respectability and authority of the Church of England in matters of faith and morals.

But things aren't like that.

Parliament has been shown to be run by people who are using it to serve their own interests. The COVID enquiry is demonstrating very clearly that MPs have routinely breached the COVID regulations in order to live a comfortable lifestyle while others who kept the regulations were prevented from being by the side of dying relatives.

The Church of England has shown that it cannot truly make a clear decision because the bishops are disengaged from both the Christian Faith and the people they serve in order to toe a party line in order to meet an agenda determined by the secular society so that it can maintain its position as Established in a country in which Christianity is now a minority.

British society is in the grip of a postmodern deconstruction whereby History is reduced to malleable narratives which mask the objective reality in order to legitimise differing viewpoints based on subjective criteria. Traditions are reinterpreted in order to be acceptable to everyone's narrative except those narratives which affirm a fearful "tyranny of the objective."

Oh dear, I do sound like a miserable party-pooper, don't I?

I rather hope that I am not. One of the realisations that I have had over the past eighteen years is that I am not a Nominalist: there is an objective reality that underlies existence. Well of course, that's God, you might say. Agreed, but where I differ from the postmodern Nominalists is that I believe that things have natures - that they possess a way that they should be. Having completed doctoral research on this has really allowed me to crystallise this in my mind. Having a nature means that we can tell a things purpose and where things have gone wrong. Masek's Maxim essentially says that if one can legitimately ask "what's wrong with that?" then there is a nature from which the thing might be deviating.

A penguin that can fly in air is going against its nature. We can tell something is wrong. This means that Sir David Attenborough can make coherent programmes about penguins. Likewise he can also point to the damage done to the penguins' habitat by showing that something is wrong with the way the penguins are behaving. Penguins have a nature that means that we can tell that they are penguins and not black-and-white ducks.

Likewise, medicine relies on there being a human nature. It is not natural for humans to be continuall coughing, so someone with a persistent cough needs treatment. It is not natural for human beings to be suicidal, so someone contemplating suicide needs someone to understand, be compassionate and help them.

The nature of a good Parliament is that it forms laws for the good of the people, and is itself consistent with the laws that it forms. 

The nature of a Church is that it worships God as Trinity and is consistent with the Gospel it has received once and must deliver that same Gospel to all people throughout Time and Space.

The nature of a monarch is to rule and govern fairly and wisely.

Of course, things fall short. I am not bewailing the imperfection of things. I am bewailing the denial that there is an inherent nature in things - a denial which seeks to give human beings an authority that they do not possess, namely to mould objective reality subject to their desire. This becomes dangerously close to Aleister Crowley's "'do what thou wilt,' shall be the whole of the law."

I believe that Anglican Catholics can play an important part in re-establishlishing nature by acting as a central thread around which society gets reconfigured. I have argued in my thesis that Anglican Catholics are Realists and not Nominalists. This sets us apart from the Nominalism that allowed the Reformation to go far too far. 

A senior Protestant clergyman once said that Anglican Catholicism was in danger of turning into Old Catholicism. I don't see anything wrong in that. If Anglican Catholics have recovered the Catholic faith of the pre-Reformation whilst not rejecting the need for that Reformation, then we are indeed old Catholics of a sort, though not as the type of Old Catholic that has become an episcopus vagante and falling into the morass of postmodern liberalism into which the CofE has fallen. The trouble is that Protestantism has embraced that Nominalism which has allowed it to fragment because, without the binding of universals and natures, there is nothing of substance to keep things together, not even the BCP.

People will say to me that I have missed out on history in steering clear of the Coronation. This may be so but there was nothing there any longer for me. I remember as a boy watching a replay of the coronation of Her Late Majesty and being enthralled by it. That, to me, was a danger because I know that I would not be enthralled this time knowing that the crown would be placed upon the head of the King by hands that have torn the CofE and wider Communion to pieces and witnessed by those who claim offices in the Church to which they are not entitled.

I have been enthralled by Papal elections and took comfort that the traditions performed had retained their reason. Will I be enthralled again when the present incumbent leaves office? I don't know. It depends on how much of an illusion the Holy See casts. 

A reflection before Midnight Mass

 

Taking a leap of Faith.

Ikon of Christmas Dinner

Sermon for the Feast of the Nativity 

The feast of the Incarnation

is upon us.

For today, in many houses,

there will be joy,

fun,

laughter, 

overeating and drinking.

For today, in many houses

there will be misery,

fighting,

weeping,

hunger and thirst.

It seems that

the feast of the Incarnation

is no guarantee

of the good things in this life.

Indeed,

for many,

it is a day of anxiety 

and stress

in trying to make 

the perfect Christmas.

So intense is this pressure

that Christmas

loses all meaning 

in the attempt to

bring joy

into the lives of families.

What does this prove?

Does it show that,

perhaps, 

we should cancel Christmas

for the suffering

it inflicts in others?

[PAUSE]

We all want a happy Christmas.

If we are truly loving,

we should want everyone

to have the perfect Christmas,

regardless of who that are.

However,

the limitations 

of being human

are not removed 

even at Christmas,

even if we approach Christmas

on our knees

begging God

for a happy Christmas.

We have in our heads,

in our cards, carols 

and Christmas dinner

an idea of what the perfect Christmas

looks like.

But we cannot reach it.

The one thing 

that would truly make 

the perfect Christmas

is sharing our celebrations

with Christ Himself

sat at our dinner table.

Or would it be better

for us to be sat 

at His Christmas dinner table?

[PAUSE]

Again, 

we see the Incarnation

for what it is.

Christ becoming like us

so that we can become

like Him.

His humanity

comes to complete

our humanity.

His grace perfects our nature.

It perfects our nature.

It doesn't destroy our nature.

This is important.

[PAUSE]

Christ promises us

a feast

and rejoicing in Heaven.

This means 

He perfects our feast 

and rejoicing on Earth.

Our Christmas celebrations

become an image,

an ikon,

of the Eternal feast in Heaven.

It means 

we are not only permitted

to make merry on Christmas Day

but we are encouraged by God

to make merry on Christmas Day.

Our work and preparations

need to focus 

on making that 

ikon of Christmas celebration

visible to everyone

by first ensuring

that we have invited Christ

to be with us

and then consecrating

our decorations,

our food,

our games,

to the worship of the God of joy.

This doesn't mean being 

austere and serious and pious;

this means being your best self

the person that God created

with all the faults and frailties

and failures of being human

but a human nonetheless

bound for the joys of Heaven

in God.

Yes,

Christmas this year

may be miserable

but it is still possible

to see even in

the most impoverished,

the most distressing,

the darkest Christmas,

the meagreness

of the stable,

the manger,

the hay,

the smell of oxen, asses

and camels,

the pain of the birth,

the agony of the future Crucifixion

as foretold in the gift of myrrh.

Christ can be there

in sadness, fear and confusion,

because He of His Incarnation

in which He sanctifies

sadness, fear and confusion

so that they can become

vehicles to Heaven in Him.

[PAUSE]

God bless your Christmas Day

and be present with you

in its successes and failures,

the perfect sprouts, 

the burnt turkey

or the nothing-at-all

and bring a glimpse of Heaven

no matter what happens.

Heaven and the Incarnation

Sermon for the fourth Sunday in Advent

This year,

the fourth Sunday in Advent

coincides with

Christmas Eve.

This is fortuitous!

As usual,

we have been looking at

Death,

Judgement,

and Hell.

These all seem 

very negative but,

as we have seen,

the fact of Our Lord's Incarnation

makes them make sense

and, ironically, 

gives us a positive view

and basis for hope.

Last week,

in thinking about Hell

as exclusion from

the awareness of 

the Divine Presence,

we remember that,

just as Evil is the absence of Good,

knowing that 

there is evil in the world

means there must be good.

If there is evil,

then there must be a good

that is absent.

In the same way,

if we know what Hell is like,

the state from which 

we are saved,

then Heaven must be 

the result of being saved.

It is everything

that Hell lacks.

[PAUSE]

This is why today 

being the fourth Sunday

and Christmas Eve 

is so useful.

Today is the last day

before the Incarnation.

We are here,

awaiting salvation,

awaiting Our Lord's return,

awaiting Heaven.

The Incarnation is Heaven on Earth.

We see God as we are.

We see the One

Whom we love,

Whom we desire,

Who gives us Himself

so that we can live

in the light,

in the truth,

in the peace which passes 

all understanding.

While we see the Holy Baby

grow into a man

to teach us,

heal us

and die for us,

His very presence with us

and His promise 

to be present with us again

show us what Heaven is.

[PAUSE]

Even His last words on the cross,

"it is finished!"

show us that in Him

all is complete,

we are complete.

It is not just the crucifixion is over

it is that Jesus

has completed all things 

by reconciling us

to God

in the fullness of His Incarnation.

In a very real sense,

because of Him,

our lives are eternal now 

because He is present with us now.

Our Holy Eucharist

is our God-given way 

of continuing our relationship

with the Incarnate Christ.

He gives us Himself

under the appearance

of bread and wine

in order for us to 

receive Him as God Incarnate 

to our health and wholeness.

This is why our Mass 

should look like Heaven

because Christ is made present to us again,

just as He was present 

in the manger two millennia ago.

It is why we take our liturgy

seriously, gravely

and yet with passion

and joy.

[PAUSE]

The Incarnation

is Heaven

because we shall be like Jesus

for we shall see Him as He is.

Letting the Os in

 

Why the Great O Antiphons are so important.

Hell and the Incarnation

Sermon for the third Sunday in Advent

Hieronymus Bosch

has a lot to answer for.

Have you seen his paintings?

They are  usually of 

souls of the damned

in Hell

being tormented by

grotesque demons

bent on making Eternity

as unpleasant as possible

for those who deserve it.

If this were the case

then we can justly ask

"How can a loving God

send someone

to be tormented for Eternity?"

[PAUSE]

The trouble is,

Our Lord is quite clear 

that we need saving from something.

"For God sent not His son

into the world

to condemn the world

but that the world through Him

might be saved."

Saved from what?

Whatever it is,

it is dreadful enough

for Our Lord to take on our flesh

and be made man.

Whatever we need saving from

is worth Our Lord's suffering

and death upon the Cross.

The Incarnation

is evidence of Hell.

[PAUSE]

The vision of Hell 

that Our Lord gives most 

is that of outer darkness

where there is wailing 

and gnashing of teeth.

It is a state 

of being 

shut out from joy,

shut out from the wedding feast of the Lamb,

shut out from being fully healthy,

shut out from being what we were created to be

shut out from eternal awareness of God.

Jesus is made man

not to condemn the world.

This means that it is not God

Who sends us to Hell.

We choose Hell

by desiring the world

instead of God,

by desiring the fleeting

instead of the permanent,

by desiring darkness

instead of light.

Our actions influence our desires

and our desires influence our actions.

In being able to think

and make free decisions

we actually have a hand 

in our own perfection.

But, we cannot become perfect

from our own actions.

We need Christ,

the Incarnate God,

to bring us to perfection

through the sacrifice

of His own humanity.

But having a hand

in our own creation

comes at a price.

We get to choose,

God's idea of our own perfection

or our own idea of our own perfection.

If we consistently reject God

then, as Love does not insist

on its own way

we are given what we want.

Eternity with fleeting things.

In Hell,

we are given what we want

except the awareness of God

but knowing that

 we are missing something wonderful.

And we watch everything

rot, fall apart, disintegrate

until all that is left

is just us alone in the utter darkness

knowing that once there was love

but now there is none.

The torment of those in Hell

is precisely the love of God

allowing His children to reject Him. 

It is He who hangs onto them

in the darkness

so that they do not fall

into nothingness

but their rejection of Him 

causes them 

the torment of hellfire 

that Our Lord warns us of.

[PAUSE]

Of course,

you might be tempted to say

that you could never be happy

if you knew your loved one

was in Hell.

Yet it is God's love

and yours giving them 

what they desire.

But we shall find 

all that we desire 

in the face of Almighty God

and perfection in Him.

Thus, His love

becomes our love

and we shall see those in Hell

with no less love for them

than can be given.

As God hangs on to them,

so do we hang on to them,

for even in Hell

there is love.

And we shall not lose joy

for those in Hell,

for the Lord has promised 

that if we have given up

even our family

even our fathers, mothers,

sons and daughters,

husbands and wives

for His sake

shall receive an hundredfold

in His glory.

Whatever joy is lacking

will be supplied in Christ

In superabundance

even if we don't understand it now.

[PAUSE]

Those in Hell

are shut out from 

experiencing 

the joyful presence of God.

But they have shut the door

from the inside.

An Anglican Catholic addresses some Roman Catholics

 

Why it is not helpful to bash each other across the Reformation.

Judgement and the Incarnation

Sermon for the second Sunday in Advent

How do you see

the Day of Judgement?

Do you have

the idea of 

some kind of court house?

If so,

who do you see 

as the judge?

Who do you see 

to be the counsel 

for the defence?

Who do you see

to be the counsel

for the prosecution?

Is there a jury?

Are there bailiffs?

[PAUSE]

Of course,

that's a very

twenty-first century

view of a court.

But the question

of Judge, Prosecution and Defence

seems very important.

If you remember your Te Deum

you'll remember the phrase

"We believe that 

Thou shalt come

to be our judge "

So, therefore 

Jesus is to be our judge

on the Day of Judgement.

Who is to be our Prosecutor?

That ought to be Satan

for "accuser" is the meaning

of Satan.

What about our 

counsel for the defence,

our advocate,

our mediator?

Well, 

that's Christ.

But Christ is the judge.

That can't be right.

And we have further problems.

We are guilty of sin,

so we must be punished.

And then some will say

that Christ takes the punishment

of our sins

upon himself.

So the judge is 

our advocate

and receives the penalty

for our guilty verdict

while we go scot-free.

Confused?

Well, we have just 

stretched an analogy

to its breaking point.

[PAUSE]

If we see our salvation

purely in terms of a law court

then we miss 

some very important details

which make Our Lord's Incarnation

very powerful and awe-inspiring.

We know that

we need salvation

because we are fallen from God

and separated from Him.

We cannot see Him.

We cannot hear Him.

We cannot tell right from wrong

without Him.

All because we are born in sin.

This is not the state

in which we are created

- not the state that God wants for us.

Our salvation consists

of putting this fallen state right.

This is at the 

very heart of Judgement.

The Incarnation

of Our Lord Jesus Christ

is our judgement.

He shows us that we are fallen

and then seeks to reconcile us to God

with a new covenant

sealed in His own blood.

But God's blood 

is His life.

To take His blood into us

rejuvenates us.

To take His body into us

repairs and nourishes us.

To receive the Body and Blood

of Our Lord Jesus Christ

is to receive

communion with Him

life in Him

reconciliation to Him.

Jesus says,

"unless you eat

of the flesh of the Son of Man

and drink of His blood

you shall not have life within you."

Incarnation makes

Christ physically present

and this allows us

to find that reconciliation in Him.

This is Christ's judgement

and it is judgement

for all who want to receive it.

To recognise our sin

shows us that we need Him.

To confess that sin,

to accept His covenant

and receive His Grace

brings about God's judgement upon us

and we are saved.

[PAUSE]

We believe that Christ shall come

to be our judge.

This means

we have nothing to fear

from the Day of Judgement

for perfect love

casts out all fear.

The Advent of Faith, Hope and Love

 

Why the Church is built around the Theological Virtues

Death and the Incarnation

Sermon for the first Sunday in Advent

In Advent,

it is customary 

to think on 

the Four Last Things,

Death, Judgment,

Hell and Heaven.

We do so 

in preparation

for a great mystery:

Word made Flesh

God made Man

Divine made Human.

A seemingly impossible

happening.

The immortal

becomes mortal.

Why?

Why not just become

an immortal human being?

Why bother to die?

[PAUSE]

We know that 

sin and death are 

two sides of the same coin.

We sin because we die

and we die because we sin

as St Paul tells the Romans.

But Jesus doesn't sin.

So why does He die?

The Problem is

that we don't necessarily die

because we sin. 

Look at the Holy Innocents

who die 

before they even commit 

a sinful act.

They die

because of someone else's sin

- Herod's murderous paranoia.

Human beings die

because of sin

and Our Lord

chooses not to be an exception

to this.

He embraces full humanity,

empties Himself 

even of immortality

relying on the grace of His Father

to be fully human

and live the human life.

And that means 

openness to death.

But He need not have died.

It is possible that He didn't have to.

The problem is

that we killed Him.

[PAUSE]

Of course,

it is the perfidious

rulers of the temple

and Jewish religious leaders

who are directly responsible

for Jesus' Death.

They use the crowds 

as an instrument

in their cry of "Crucify!"

and thus the crowd sins 

through ignorance and weakness.

But God knows.

God sees all this

in His Eternity.

And, 

knowing that Jesus dies,

God uses that death

as a means of life.

This is the genius

of Almighty God

to use the Death of His Son,

whom the Pharisees 

chose to murder

freely and without coercion,

to undo the power

of sin and death

and give life to all 

who would seek 

to live in Him.

[PAUSE]

In Adam,

we are separated from God

and at the mercy of a world

corrupted by sin

and, in our weakness,

we die.

Look at the news

and see the connection

between sin and death.

Then look to Christmas Day

and see God Incarnate

born to end sin and death

by making death

a gateway to Eternal Life

in Him.

The world may indeed

go to Hell in a handcart

as the saying goes,

but that is not the fate

of the Christian.

While we may 

be devastated by 

the levels of sin, death,

depravity and decay around us,

we can still look into the manger

just as we have done for 

two thousand years

and see the same hope

that sin and death will pass away

because the Word of God

will never pass away.

The Incarnation does not end in Death:

it ends in our life into Eternity.