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.