On Ghosts and Saints

 

Why tales of the paranormal pale in comparison with the promise of God.

Coming to the Defence of the Lord

Sermon for the Feast of Christ the King

Is Our Lord not worth defending?

He stands before Pilate

a man who has the power

of life and death over the Lord

- or so he thinks.

"Thine own nation and chief priests

have delivered thee unto me."

If Jesus is the King of the Jews

why have His people

delivered Him up for trial

and punishment?

Our Lord may say that 

if His Kingdom were of this world

then His troops would 

rush to defend Him.

So why don't the troops of 

Our Lord's true kingdom rush to help?

Why aren't there seraphim

swooping down from the sky

and scattering the hostile powers?

Why is this king

left at the mercy

of people who hate Him?

[PAUSE]

You obviously understand the reason.

Our Lord is become 

one with us 

for a very good reason.

Being saved from the Cross

by a squadron of angels

defeats the purpose.

If He is saved

then the Incarnation

is a complete failure.

But this leaves us 

with a strange situation.

What kind of King 

goes into the battle

single-handed

to a certain, painful death?

If Jesus is a true king,

wouldn't He send 

an angel to be incarnate instead?

[PAUSE]

That's the point.

His kingdom is

not of this world.

It's not a kingdom 

that we would recognise

because we think too worldly.

Our Lord is king

because He is God.

It really is as simple as that.

For us to be saved,

and made truly good,

we need true good to save us.

And God is true good

and Jesus is true God

and so Jesus is true good.

None less than the king 

can save us.

This is why His Kingdom

cannot work like our kingdoms.

Our Lord rules

by directing His Creation.

He did not need to create us.

He did not need to create anything at all.

He could have just sat

in Eternity and been satisfied

with that.

But, out of love

He chooses to create us,

and chooses to save us

and chooses to glorify us.

His will be done

in Earth as it is in Heaven

and that makes Him king.

His kingdom 

is a kingdom of recognising

what is true 

and loving that truth.

He doesn't need defence.

So why do we defend Him?

[PAUSE]

It's not God's honour 

that needs to be defended

because that honour 

can't be impugned.

What we are defending

is the faith of those 

who don't yet understand fully

and who might be tempted

by those who hate God.

If someone chooses to reject God,

that is on them,

and they must answer

for their choice.

But when someone has serious questions

about the church,

then we need to answer those questions

honestly and lovingly

and truly.

It is not human beings

that are against us

though they can be

the instruments of 

those who hate us.

The Devil uses troops

like tools, 

as simply means to his ends.

God can use us as tools, too,

that is His right as King.

But He never forgets that 

we are His,

and not just playthings

but intelligent creatures

who were made for love

and to be loved.

[PAUSE]

We defend the Church

from attacks by the Devil

using Christ's protection.

It's the King that goes 

into battle for us

not the other way around.

Raphael, Tobit and Salvation

 The importance of trusting the Archangels.

Lying about Confession

Sermon for the nineteenth Sunday after Trinity

As sacramentalists, 

we are often asked,

"where is that sacrament in the Bible?"

Many of our brothers and sisters

say that there are only two sacraments,

namely, Baptism and the Eucharist.

Martin Luther thinks 

that there are three: 

he believes that 

Confession is a Sacrament, too.

Of course,

we believe that there are seven

at least.

In being present 

and hallowing the wedding at Cana

with His first Miracle,

Our Lord gives us marriage as a sacrament.

In breathing on His Disciples

He gives us the Holy Ghost

to confirm them for the task 

of spreading the Gospel.

In being anointed for His death

and rising again

He sanctifies the oil of unction

with which we are prepared 

for our own death

and resurrection.

In giving His authority to His disciples

over unclean spirits,

in commanding them to baptise,

in commanding them to say the Mass,

in giving them authority to remit sins,

and in offering Himself as victim

He institutes and sanctifies Holy Orders

and gives the Church the priests and bishops

that it needs to give His grace to all those who thirst for it.

And what of confession?

Where do we see Our Lord 

actually administer the forgiveness of sins 

as a sacrament?

[PAUSE]

Well, you've just heard it!

"Take up thy bed and go unto thine own house."

That doesn't sound like 

what the priest says to us 

when we make our confession,

does it?

Look at the context.

The paralysed man 

comes to Christ on his bed,

paralysed and fearful

carried by the love of his friends.

But Our Lord knows Him,

He knows this man needs assurance.

This man needs to know that 

whatever he has done wrong,

however he has sinned 

so that he has had to suffer this palsy

as a punishment,

he can be forgiven

and whatever has caused this palsy

can be lifted. 

And so Our Lord gives that assurance,

But see how the scribes sneer!

"How dare this man blaspheme!

"Only God can forgive!"

You see their doubt that 

Our Lord's absolution of sins

is real.

You see how they 

cannot see 

the grace of God at work.

And so,

Our Lord shows them.

[PAUSE]

"Take up thy bed!"

We see the fact that

if the man's palsy is removed 

at a word 

from Our Lord,

then his sins must also 

be removed at a word. 

Sin is not just a legal wrong,

it is a sickness,

and Our Lord has come 

to be our physician

as well as our advocate in Heaven.

Here, in this room, 

surrounded by friend and foe

Scribe and Disciple

Sinful and Holy

a man's sins are really absolved

just as his paralysis is really removed. 

This is the sacrament of Confession

demonstrated by Our Lord

and bestowed upon His disciples

as the authority to remit or retain sins.

[PAUSE]

We will always be challenged by those

who do not believe that 

there are seven sacraments.

But they are there, and in the Gospel, too.

Most chiefly,

they are there for us to use

and be strengthened and healed,

because that's exactly why 

Our Lord gave them for us.

The sacrament of Confession

is real

and it is for our healing and wholeness.

It is there for us 

to be released from the paralysis of guilt

and freed to serve Our Lord 

in happiness and joy.

[PAUSE]

There are those who say,

"you don't need Confession."

Are you going to take that lying down?

The Hardness of Scripture and the Lightness of Luke

 

What St Luke does for the Bible and what the Bible does for us.

When the Authorised Version lets you down

Sermon for the eighteenth Sunday after Trinity

Sometimes the Authorised Version 

just isn't good enough.

What a bold statement to make!

But it is true. 

Sometimes, the English language

gets in its own way

when we try to understand what it's saying.

Take Psalm 110 for example.

Our Lord tells us that it begins:

"The Lord said unto my Lord

sit Thou at my right hand 

until I make Thine enemies 

Thy footstool."

Now, who said what to whom?

[PAUSE]

The Lord said to my Lord. 

Who are we talking about here?

We can try going into the 

Biblical languages.

We don't fare much better with Greek.

That just translates to

"The Lord said to my Lord"

While this means that 

our English translation 

is pretty spot on,

it doesn't solve the problem.

We have to go to the Hebrew.

If we do, then we find that

the Hebrew translates literally as

"Yahweh said to my Lord..."

The Hebrew uses 

the Sacred Name of God here,

but it wouldn't be pronounced.

They would use the word "Lord" 

instead of God's Sacred Name.

What about the other "Lord"?

Well, both Jesus and the Pharisees

say that this other "Lord"

is the Messiah,

the Christ,

the Anointed One

the saviour of Israel.

And that's why the confusion arises.

So the verse says:

"Yahweh said to my Messiah..."

Well, this is all very well

and rather clever, 

but what does it mean?

[PAUSE]

There's one other word to worry about.

Who is the "my" in "my Lord"?

Well, this is David. 

It says so at the beginning of the psalm.

And Our Lord says that it is David too.

So this psalm starts

"Yahweh said to David's Messiah..."

"David's Lord..."

Now perhaps you begin to see 

that there is something 

very deep happening here.

Our Lord Jesus asks these questions of the Pharisees.

If David calls this person "Lord" 

and David is the king of Israel,

then clearly this "Lord" 

whom the Pharisees recognise as the Messiah

is greater than David. 

This Messiah is both the Son of David

and yet before David.

How can this be?

[PAUSE]

Hindsight is a lovely thing,

and we Christians 

know the answer already.

The only way that this Son of David

can be before David

is if the Messiah is God Himself.

And if the Messiah is a son of David,

then He must be a human being.

God and Man simultaneously.

Here, in our Gospel reading

we see Our Lord Jesus Christ

prove Himself to be God Incarnate

to those who will not listen,

to those who wilfully will not understand,

to those who will laugh at His claims to be Christ

and thus to be God,

to those whi will kill Him for saying so.

[PAUSE]

Even today, 

we still hear the same heresies.

"Jesus was just a good man."

"Jesus was like God but not really God."

"Jesus didn't exist."

We know better,

and our Gospel tells us so,

It may not convince those

who refuse to engage with Our Lord,

but it should strengthen our faith

that when we preach 

a doctrine as difficult understand

as that of the Holy Trinity - 

three Persons, one God -

we have it right 

even if we cannot fully grasp it ourselves.

The major point is

that if Jesus Christ

is both human and divine in one Person,

then, as he shares in our human nature

we share in His divine nature -

that's exactly what salvation is.

It's not just being saved from Evil,

it's being healed so that we can

enjoy living God's life in us

with our lives in Him.

As Christians,

we embrace the mystery 

and find greater joy

in listening to the Lord

tell Our Lord 

that His enemies - Sin and Death

are put down beneath His feer

and ours too.

The Lord speaks to Our Lord

and we hear His words

and are healed Eternally.

What to know and how to know it

 

A few thoughts about the relationship between Science and Religion.

Sayonara Sabbath

Sermon for the seventeenth Sunday after Trinity

You do know

the Ten Commandments,

don't you?

Are they meant for us, though?

[PAUSE]

You might say,

"Yes, of course!"

but they are part 

of the Old Covenant.

Remember,

that covenant was with

the Children of Israel,

not with Gentiles.

If we keep these Ten Commandments,

then shouldn't we also

circumcise our boys

and eat no pork?

Why these Ten 

and not the other six-hundred

or so?

[PAUSE]

Of course, you realise

that these commandments

are repeated in the New Covenant.

They are moral commandments,

not ritual commandments.

They are for everyone,

not the priests alone.

The New Testament is filled

with teaching 

the necessity to worship

God alone,

not to make idols,

not to blaspheme.

St Paul reminds us

to honour our parents.

The Lord Himself

prohibits

murder,

adultery,

stealing, 

bearing false witness

and coveting.

Hang on!

There's one missing!

Which one?

[PAUSE]

There is no mention

of observing the Sabbath day

and keeping it holy.

Indeed,

Our Lord seems to be 

quite severe on those who keep it

and encourage others

to do the same.

The Disciples transgress tha Sabbath

by picking corn to eat.

The Lord Himself

heals people on the Sabbath day.

Does that mean

the Sabbath has lost its meaning?

[PAUSE]

In a sense,

Jesus is showing the Pharisees

that they have lost the meaning

of the Sabbath.

God gives the Israelites

the commandment 

to observe the Sabbath day

because they have just 

escaped slavery,

and God wants them to be

free to rest,

to enjoy life

not to live to work

but work to live.

The Sabbath is made for Man

not Man for the Sabbath.

Over the centuries,

the Sabbath becomes

a set of enforced rules

that miss the point 

of not being slaves.

These Pharisees

have forgotten what was intended.

They have hardened their hearts

as at the waters of Meribah and Massah,

and they are in danger

of not entering into God's rest,

that great expanse of freedom

and joy away from the burden 

of sin, death and misery.

Thus, the Sabbath remains

part of the Old Covenant.

But what about the New?

Are we to be slaves in the New?

[PAUSE]

Christians have designated

Sunday as the day of worship.

It's not technically

in Scripture,

but is part of the great 

Tradition of the Church,

observed from 

the very earliest moments

of the Church's Mission

after Pentecost.

We separate the day

to meet for the Mass

and to focus our

attention on God.

Of course,

we should be doing that every day.

What makes Sunday special,

is that it's

the day of Resurrection.

It's a day when we should

make an attempt to 

go to church on

and meet with each other

in the light of the Resurrection

to receive communion

with God and each other.

But it should not be forced.

We go to church

because we want to

because we recognise our need for God

and because we are free 

not to go to church!

Yes!

We go to church

precisely because we are free

not to go the church.

Sunday and the Sabbath

should alert us

to what enslaves us.

If we are not allowed to 

seek healing

then how can we be free?

If we are not allowed

to put things down

and seek refreshment of our soul

from communion with Christ,

then how are we not enslaved?

[PAUSE]

Freedom means

becoming the person

God created us to be.

If we cannot find time

to becoming perfect in God

then we need a Sabbath

to sit down, 

rest,

and reconsider

in His presence.

We must not be too hasty

to pick up our worktools

and say, "sayonara, Sabbath!"

St Bruno and Continuing Anglican Community

 

Is there a way of bridging the gap between individuals and communities?

Commanding command

Sermon for the sixteenth Sunday after Trinity

Your best friend's in hospital

and all you are told to do 

is 

"Cheer up! 

It might never happen."

It grates

because you have a good reason

not to be happy.

You don't like 

being told how to feel.

Your feelings are unique to you

and not to anyone else.

What does a person mean

when they tell you

to cheer up?

[PAUSE]

It's clear that 

they mean well.

They don't want you 

to be sad.

But the way it comes out

is that they don't want

you to be sad

because they find your sadness

uncomfortable.

The way it comes across

is that they don't want 

you to be sad

for their sake.

That may be wrong

but it's what it feels like.

It gives you no comfort

to be told,

"don't be sad"

especially if then follows 

a list of reasons

to make you feel better.

[PAUSE]

"Weep not" says the stranger

to the woman 

who has lost her son.

When your world collapses around you

Is there no better time to weep?

Weep not?

What a terrible command!

And yet...

[PAUSE]

One thing that we don't appreciate

in the English language

is the difference

between the Latin word for command

and the Greek word for command.

The word "command" is from the Latin

in which a officer's orders

would be put into his hand 

to read to his soldiers.

This could be anything.

Whatever is written

on the piece of paper

is to be done.

"Ours not to reason why,

ours but to do and die."

But the Greek command is different.

The Greek word for command

means that whatever is done

has a purpose,

a meaning,

a specific goal to achieve.

When Christ commands us

to weep not,

we can be sure,

utterly sure

that He means to remove

the cause of our sorrow.

When He commands us

not to be afraid,

we can be sure,

utterly sure,

that He intends

to remove whatever terrifies us.

Our Lord's commands

have a purpose.

They are not arbitrary,

or a show of His power over us,

or a source of amusement at

us being playthings.

He commands us

for our Good,

because He wills our Good.

He wills our perfection.

The will to perfection of another

is precisely what it means

to love.

This is why the Lord says,

"If ye love me,

keep my commandments."

This is not the command

of an inscrutable general

seeking to execute his own plans

seeing his men as means to his end.

This Jesus commands

in order that we be perfect.

Every miracle,

every sacrament,

every covenant,

every directive,

issued by Christ

has our perfection at heart.

This is why God 

deserves worship,

because He loves us .

This is why He should be obeyed,

because He wants nothing less

than our healing,

our growth,

our strengthening

to be the people He loved to create.

[PAUSE]

If we tell someone

not to cry,

or not to worry,

or not to be afraid,

then we need to give them a reason.

If that reason is anything less than

our active love for them,

it's not worth it.