A fruitful Whitsunday

Sermon for Whitsunday

Would it surprise you to know

that Pentecost is not a festival

exclusive to Christianity?

The fact of the matter

is that Pentecost is very much

a Jewish festival,

something that the disciples

have carried with them

throughout their lives.

Notice how they gather together

of one accord

to celebrate the feast of Pentecost.

So what is the Jewish feast of Pentecost,

and why is it now so very Christian?

[PAUSE]

Pentecost is Greek for fifty

and so fifty days after the Passover

would be the day of Pentecost

the Festival of Weeks as it is called.

Originally, Pentecost

was supposed to be a harvest festival

of the first fruits,

that is, the first produce

that comes in the year.

Pentecost is the feast

of giving thanks to God

for his generosity

and to offer those first fruits to Him

as a sacrifice of thanksgiving.

This practice really continues

until the destruction of the temple

puts an end to all the sacrifices

and all the feasts.

Since then,

the feast of Pentecost

has been associated

with the memorial of

the giving of the Torah

to the Israelites by Moses

which occurs around

the same time of year.

This is surely very significant

because we have the association

of the first fruits of God's creation

with God giving us the first law

which we as Christians still need

to take to heart.

There is something very deep

about why our Lord chooses

to send the Holy Ghost at this time.

For the disciples,

the temple is not yet destroyed

though it will be.

So for them,

Pentecost is more about

the first fruits of God's creation.

[PAUSE]

And now we realise,

on this the birthday of the Church,

that the Church herself

is to be identified with

the first fruits of creation.

These first fruits

are always set apart for God.

In sending the Holy Ghost

on the day of Pentecost,

the Lord is clear in his intention

that the Church should be a holy body

set apart for the worship of God.

This is precisely what the Torah is for

to show people what being holy looks like

and how God intends us

to be set apart from Him.

This is why the first fruits

and the Old Testament

are inextricably linked.

Remember,

Our Lord comes,

not to destroy the Law of the Torah

but to fulfil it!

All through His earthly ministry,

Our Lord has been talking about

the Kingdom of God

in terms of the sowing of seed

and the reaping of wheat.

The good wheat,

the ears that carry a hundredfold of grain,

are the ones that are dedicated to God

and are His fruit.

You see this so much

in the disciples,

in particular in how they behave

when the Holy Ghost descends upon them.

At this moment,

the fact that they are set apart by God

becomes apparent

and unquestionable.

We know that

they were set apart by God

from the moment of their calling

when they chose to follow Jesus

leaving behind their fishing nets

and their tax collecting.

Now it becomes apparent

these disciples are the first fruits

of the Church,

set apart for his service,

beginning the Church of Christ

which will last to these days

and beyond.

We are the chosen generation,

 we are the royal priesthood,

we are the holy nation.

This is what the day of Pentecost means.

It is not something new

but rather it is something renewed

so that the glory of God may be seen.

We, too, ought to be first fruits.

Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself

is the first fruits of those who sleep,

the first to rise from the dead

in order that the dead themselves

might be raised to life,

separated out by the Holy Ghost.

This is why Easter Day

and Pentecost are linked by God Himself,

first by the resurrection

of Our Lord from the dead,

and then by His separating

the Church out of the world

as the first fruits of His ministry.

The dead are raised

and the faithful

are raised to glory

through the action

of the Holy Ghost Who dwells

in them in order that

they might be righteous

in the eyes of God.

[PAUSE]

For the Christian,

every day is the day of Pentecost

because we can commune

with the Holy Ghost

at any time and

our separation from this world,

our separation from sin,

our separation from death,

comes as a process

of justification,

of sanctification,

and of glorification.

In asking for the presence

of the Holy Ghost in our lives,

we are asking for Pentecost

and asking to be fruitful

in the service of God.

This is why the sacrament

of Confirmation is so important.

We are baptised with the Holy Ghost

at our Baptism with water

in the name of the Trinity.

But, if we truly wish

to sanctify our work

as Christians in the world,

then we approach the bishop

to lay his hands upon us

and confirm us with the Holy Ghost.

This is when we are fit for service

and can live lives actively dedicated

to the service of God.

[PAUSE]

At our Baptism,

we receive the seeds

of our justification

which grow throughout our lives

so that with our Confirmation,

we can bear the first fruits of labour

for the love of God.

At our Confirmation,

we receive grace

whereby we are strengthened

for service.

And then we, too,

must sleep in death

only to be raised with Christ

and become the first fruits

of those who sleep in Him,

awake to the Eternal sunshine

od His Divine Glory.

The richness of Ascension

 

Why the Ascension of Our Lord needs greater observance in our lives.

Excommunicated by the Holy Ghost?

Sermon for the Sunday after Ascension

Just how bad is it

to be thrown out of synagogue?

You might wonder

whether it is the same

as being thrown

out of Church today.

We can certainly think

about the pains of losing

the church community,

but is this the same pain

that the first century Jew would feel

at being thrown out of the synagogue?

[PAUSE]

To be thrown out of a synagogue

means to be thrown out

not just of the synagogue community

but the whole community

around you.

It's like being thrown out of a village.

All you would be met with

would be abuse,

angry stares,

turned backs,

spitting

and maybe even a stone thrown at you.

To be thrown out of a synagogue

is a big deal.

[PAUSE]

Some of us

have had the experience

of being thrown out of Church

– not physically,

we have not been picked up

and thrown out.

But we have been made

very aware that

we are not welcome.

For many of us,

this is because

we have tried hard

to stay faithful

to the Church’s traditional teaching.

We have been thrown out

by being made unwelcome,

pushed aside,

ignored,

alienated.

And this is all because

we do not allow modern ideas

to enter into church teaching.

If a teaching isn't available

to those who come before us,

then it can't have been part of the Faith

from the beginning.

Church doctrine

only works if it is for

the whole Church,

past present and future,

not just for now.

This still isn't

quite the same

as being thrown out

of a synagogue

because that would

mean that even your family

would have to reject you.

Our Lord is very clear,

we are to uphold the faith

 that He teaches us

over and above the teaching

that we receive from our community.

Current social norms,

customs and ideas

are not to be part of church teaching,

at least not substantially.

Our Lord says that we can expect

to be thrown out of the synagogue

when the Holy Spirit comes.

Does this mean that

He is responsible

for our trials and tribulations?

[PAUSE]

 

We suffer because

people don't want to see

what we have.

What they see is a faith

that stays true to its Founder,

one Whom they need to reinterpret

to make His teaching fit their ideals.

This means that this faith

cannot be changed to fit the society

in which we live.

We cannot change what is meant for everybody.

It is not those who are faithful

who caused the division in society,

but those who insist on implementing I change.

 

Of course,

that is not to say

that all change is bad.

Quite the reverse.

Science and technological advances

have indeed made life easier for millions.

There is progress in making people less needy.

The question really is what is the cost?

 

Change is good

if it seeks to bring the love of God

to all people and

follows the rules set before it.

It will not be able

to change the substance of what has gone before,

such as changing the meaning of

what it is to love,

but it will be able to change

how that how is that true love

is seen and experienced.

We can have electric light in church.

We can have air conditioning.

Our robes investments can be made of polyester.

Of course not everybody is comfortable with that,

but that is at least a matter of taste.

It does mean that

we cannot baptise with lemonade.

It does mean that

we cannot celebrate the Mass

with a cracker and grape juice.

[PAUSE]

We can expect trials

when we receive the Holy Ghost.

The Holy Ghost is not subject to Time

and He can move back and forth at will

between the Creation of the world and its end.

He is constant  

just as our Lord Jesus

is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow.

Therefore he bids us

to be steadfast

standing against a world

that does not want God

to be in control,

but rather wants the individual

to replace God on His throne

and take control of their own lives.

This is a diabolical deception!

We are always free to do what we want,

but we should be looking

to what the Holy Ghost wants in us

for He dwells in us

to make us righteous

to wash us,

justify us,

sanctify us

and fit us for Heaven.

That is His desire for us

and we are free to reject him.

We are free

to take control from Him

and lead our lives the way

that we think we want

but rather in slavery

to fashion and the whim of the world.

[PAUSE]

The Church does not throw people out.

At least, it shouldn't.

Rather, if a Church

is truly holding fast to the faith of Christ,

then we can be sure

that we have a place within it.

But we hold that place

by conforming to Christ.

We fall,

and make mistakes,

and we get angry,

and we storm off,

but there is always the way back,

there is always forgiveness,

there is always love.

If there isn’t,

then it isn’t the Church that we have left.

We can always return to Christ

and in returning to Christ

we return to his Church.

We always have a home with Christ,

the Holy Ghost,

when He comes will show us.

In the name of a DeepFake?

 

Why we really should go to Church.

Forgotten identities and lost souls

Sermon for Rogation Sunday

Have you really studied 

your face

in a mirror?

For some of us

that's easy to do.

For others of us

it is the hardest thing 

in the world.

Some people cannot 

pass a mirror by without

looking into it.

Others cannot even bear

to catch a glimpse of their reflection.

Why is that?

[PAUSE]

The relationship

that we have with mirrors

depends very much

on how we see ourselves.

For most of us,

we comb our hair,

check our teeth

check out any small blemish

and then go our way

without giving our reflection

a moment's thought.

For some of us,

our reflection is an opportunity

to admire the work 

that we've put into looking good,

or even how little work

we've needed to put in

to look 

drop-dead gorgeous.

Then we leave the mirror,

confident that people

will fall in love with us

because of how great we are.

For some of us,

the eyes of our reflection

stand in judgement over us,

pointing out the failure,

the decrepitude and 

the ugliness that we perceive

in ourselves.

So we don't look properly,

and our reflection

remains only 

a distorted image in our minds.

For some of us,

our reflection is something

that we obsess over,

try to fix, try to perfect,

gazing and inspecting that face

not tearing ourselves away

because we know that,

if we do,

we will forget that image

through the distortions

of our memories.

But that's exactly it.

Each one of us 

leaves the mirror

and is left only with

some rapidly distorting image

of our own face.

While we look in the mirror,

we have a chance at

seeing the truth,

but even then,

our pre-conceived ideas

of who we are

may even distort the evidence

of our own eyes.

If we want to see the truth

then we must pursue the truth.

If we want to see ourselves

then we must seek Jesus.

The only way 

to know who we are

is to return to the One Who made us

for we bear His image.

[PAUSE]

We are created 

to reflect God,

whether we like

looking at ourselves

in the mirror

or whether

we despise 

looking at ourselves.

However,

as St James points out,

in order to truly reflect

the face of the Word of God,

we have to live, love and behave

like the Word of God.

We are not just to be

heaters of the Word

but doers of the Word.

What we do

does affect who we are.

To neglect to do 

the word of God

is to forget the image

of Him that we bear.

What we do 

affects who we are

and who we are to become

in Christ.

What we do affects our salvation

because what we do

affects the person

whom God is saving.

[PAUSE]

It stands to reason

that we become who 

we are meant to be 

by forgetting how we see ourselves

and focus on seeing Christ

in the mirror and being 

true to Him.

It means letting go

of always having 

to look fabulous.

It means letting go

of hating our reflection

and daring to do

the unthinkable

and realising

that the reflection in the mirror

belongs to the Creator

and reflects Him.

If we want to remember

what we look like

then we must work

at seeing Who we look like.

Only then will we 

truly show Christ to the world

in ourselves.

Who isn't St Gregory Nazianzus?

 

Why resigning is often a greater good.

Time Travel Trinity

Sermon for the fourth Sunday after Easter

Surely the Holy Ghost

has been present in creation

since the beginning time?

Wasn't He there,

moving on the face of the waters,

 right at the beginning

when God said, “let there be light”?

Why does Our Lord Jesus Christ

start talking about when

the Holy Spirit will come

if He’s already here?

[PAUSE]

If you think about it,

we actually have

the same problem with

Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Was he not

in the beginning with God?

Of course he was –

Saint John testifies to that.

“In the beginning was the Word...”

If Our Lord was in the beginning

how can He have been born

two thousand years ago?

[PAUSE]

The problem is our

understanding of time.

If Doctor Who

can travel back in time

before he was born,

then this should be a piece of cake for God,

and God is not fiction!

God the Holy Trinity,

Father, Son and Holy Ghost,

are in Eternity.

Somehow they all stand outside of Time. T

his is how it is possible

for Our Lord to have been born

two thousand years ago

and still be present

at the moment of Creation.

 Time has no restriction for Him.

Christ injects himself into Creation

two thousand years ago

so that we can see Him,

handle Him,

walk with Him,

hear Him speak.

Because we are all time-bound

we do not have this freedom

to move backwards and forwards in time

or see into Eternity.

This means we need revelation.

God has to reveal himself over time

in order for us to understand

Who He is

and so it is necessary

that the Holy Ghost

is revealed to us in time.

 

What we see here

is that the Holy Ghost

proceeds from the Father

as the source of all things

and enters into Time

through the Son.

This is how we understand

the relationship between

Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

The Holy Ghost proceeds

only once from the Father

through the Son.

 

Why should this matter to us?

Why does the Holy Ghost need to be revealed?

[PAUSE]

 

When we want to make

a relationship with people,

we need an introduction

so that we can find a way

to begin the conversation.

This is a typical English problem:

we don't like speaking to people

when we haven't been introduced to them.

Our Lord, therefore,

like the good Englishman

that He is,

makes sure

that we are introduced

to the Holy Ghost.

It means that the Holy Ghost

is not some kind of magic force

that you might find in Star Wars.

This means that the Holy Ghost is a person.

We are introduced to Him

and He engages in a relationship with us.

 

Admittedly, this relationship

seems to be full of reproof.

The Holy Ghost convicts us of sin,

He shows us where

we are wanting in righteousness,

and He reminds us that judgement awaits.

This seems very uncomfortable:

do we really want to know the Holy Ghost?

[PAUSE]

Of course we do!

To know the Holy Ghost

is to know the Father.

To know the Holy Ghost

is to know our Lord Jesus Christ.

It is good for us that our sin,

our lack of righteousness,

and our need for judgement

are revealed to us.

This is nothing less than

an expert doctor

giving a diagnosis of a severe ailment

that we possess.

The words of the Holy Ghost

are there to bring us life

in all its fullest.

This is the Breath of God

that breathes into us a new spirit.

It is the Holy Ghost

Who works with us

and within us

in the process of our justification

that begins at Baptism

and continues through to the day

in which we are taken to God in judgement.

It is the Holy Ghost who sanctifies

on a path by which we are set aside for God, p

laced upon the narrow way

to the strait gate.

[PAUSE]

The day of Pentecost

will soon be here

for Christ's disciples

and now they listen to the promises

of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

These are promises they can trust

because Our Lord

has already kept His greatest promise,

the promise of Resurrection.

And as they engage

with this risen Lord in a reality

that is so strange

and yet so ordinary,

their eyes and ears are full of wonder.

Their hearts are being prepared

to receive the Holy Ghost,

prepared for that great introduction

to the One Who will change

their lives yet again for the better

by equipping them for service.

We, too, can listen to

the words of Our Lord

and hear His promises.

Yes, there is judgement ahead,

but it is a righting of wrongs,

a filling in of the cracks

and putting aright whatever is amiss.

We have this now in ourselves

because the Holy Ghost is in us now

and He makes himself known

in the utter joy we feel

when we hear the promises of Christ for us

and know that they are true.

We too are being prepared

for service –

a particular service by which

we respond in love to God –

and that is something

that is always been revealed to us,

no matter who we are.