The business of standing and staring

Sermon for the Feast of the Resurrection

We've been minding

our own business

this Lent

trying to understand

how the things

we busy ourselves with

fit with our Faith.

We've been asking,

"Is our everyday faith the Faith?"

[PAUSE]

But today is not like everyday.

Today,

we stand at the door of the tomb

staring in

looking at the folded graveclothes

and the napkin lying by itself

trying to make sense

of what has happened.

And we are not alone.

For many people 

stand by us gazing into

the tomb

but they are very busy indeed

asking what has happened,

arguing and debating,

looking for clues and evidence

looking for a lack of clues

and evidence.

Many people busy themselves

with trying to deconstruct

the tomb

to show it's all a myth

an illusion

a folly of history.

Other people busy themselves

today

showing that the empty tomb

that we gaze into

is a historical fact.

Yes!

Yes it is a historical fact.

But we don't always need

to have to prove that it is.

We don't always need to argue

with those who rubbish 

the Resurrection.

Sometimes,

we just need to stand and stare

into the empty tomb

and allow our spirit

to busy itself

drinking in the Truth

basking in the Light

that ruptures this world's 

business of transaction

and competition

of evidence and matter.

The difference is

that the world will still 

stand and stare into the empty tomb

and try and make it fit

with its interpretation

that the dead do not rise.

But we, 

above the chatter of those

who seek to explain what they see 

before then,

we hear the invitation

to stop standing and staring;

we hear the invitation

to turn around

and listen to the angels

tell us that HE IS RISEN!

The world is deaf to that,

but we need not be,

we must not be.

Because we know 

that sometimes

our business is not doing,

sometimes 

our business is just 

to stand still 

and look up into the face

of the Risen Lord

and that's all we need to be doing.

We don't need to be

agonising about fasting,

we don't need to be 

calculating our alms,

we don't need to be 

finding the right prayer

in the Prayerbook.

Sometimes,

we just need

to stand still,

see Him with us,

and unite our everyday faith

with the Faith of Today,

the Faith of Easter Day

with the words

"My Lord and My God."

This is the day 

that the Lord hath made.

Let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Holy Week 2024: Pushing back the Annunciation

 

Why pushing back the Annunciation reminds us of the point of the suffering of Jesus Christ.

Question for Palm Sunday

In lieu of a sermon for Palm Sunday, I ask one question to consider in the Long Gospel:

Who do you think is busiest in today's Gospel?

The pain of passionate love

 Is tragedy a necessary aspect of love?

Anarchic Jesus or Archetype Jesus?

Sermon for the fifth Sunday in Lent known as Passion Sunday

The thing is,

the Jewish authorities

interrogating Jesus

are right.

God is One alone

and we must worship Him.

This is why they pick up stones

to throw at Jesus

when He declared,

"Before Abraham was,

I AM."

Jesus has just uttered

the name of God

revealed to Moses

- I AM -

and explicitly made Himself

equal with God.

According to the Law

this is blasphemy

and Jesus must die.

On this point,

they are well within their rights

- well, they would be,

if Jesus wasn't right as well.

The Jewish tradition

is being upheld here

both by Jesus

and by the Jews.

So what's gone wrong?

[PAUSE]

The answer is simple,

isn't it?

The Jewish authorities

simply don't believe Jesus.

Despite the miracles 

and the teaching,

they cannot get over the fact

that Jesus is, 

in their eyes,

transgressing the Jewish Law,

healing on the Sabbath,

eating food with unwashed hands,

dining with Samaritans,

Tax-Collectors and Prostitutes

and,

worst of all,

showing the authorities,

scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees, lawyers

up for not being faithful

to the old Law with all it's traditions.

To them, 

Jesus is an anarchist,

a rebel,

a Samaritan who rejects 

orthodox teaching ,

who rejects authority.

He is a destabilising influence

and must die.

If He carries on

he will destroy the great Tradition

that links back to Moses,

Jacob, Isaac

and Old Father Abraham himself.

[PAUSE]

The thing is,

if Jesus were just another prophet,

they'd be right.

You hear this said today.

"Jesus cares nothing about

Church Traditions."

"Jesus doesn't care about

how you say the Mass."

"Jesus doesn't care about

the teaching of the Church,

about properly ordained bishops

about marriage laws."

"Jesus puts love

above tradition."

Those who say such things

miss the point

just as much as 

the Scribes and Pharisees

and for exactly the same reason.

They look at Jesus 

only as a human being,

only as a reformer,

only as a revolutionary.

They see Jesus trashing

the stalls in the temple

and label Him a radical.

What they don't see

is the great I AM.

[PAUSE]

"Before Abraham was,

I AM"

Our Lord is not 

the destroyer of Tradition

but the writer of it.

The Jewish Laws 

are there for the glory of Israel

but leave God out of them

and they lose their meaning

strength and glory.

What we see in Jesus

is the Old Law perfected.

Yes, it is a law of Love

rather than legal obedience

but it is still ordered,

the traditions still carry their weight,

the sacraments still give grace

even after two thousand years,

because God is there in that grace,

in that teaching,

in the Church.

[PAUSE]

Ubi caritas et amor,

Deus ibi est.

Where Love and Charity are

God is there.

In the Church,

we rely on Tradition

to clarify Church teaching.

We have apostolic succession of bishops

because that's the way that 

the means of God's active grace

is transmitted through the ages.

We have the meaning of God's Word

handed onto us from the beginning

through Scripture and Tradition

so that we might know the works of Love

and do them.

And today,

people say,

"you can change 

the meaning of marriage

that you can change 

who can becone priest

because Jesus was a radical

a reformer,

an anarchist.

He isn't bound by your traditions."

But they don't see

that Jesus gave the same Tradition

for us and for everyone

from the first to the last.

He sets the definition of marriage.

He chooses the priests.

He starts the teaching office 

of the Church.

He defines law and order,

binding everyone to love,

i.e. to will the good perfection

of everyone in God.

He is no anarchist. 

He is the archetype

- from the first, 

the leading principle,

the Divine example

and blueprint of humanity.

[PAUSE]

Jesus is Our Lord and God,

and He gives us a law

that shall never be changed.

The Scribes and Pharisees

are the anarchists.

Those who want to change

what Jesus gives us

are the anarchists.

They reject the authority

of Christ

and they will kill Him for it.

But by His blood

all that love Him on His terms

and not their terms

will receive nothing less

than the great I AM Himself.

Gregorian Angles and Angels

 

Why being Anglican is all the richer for St Gregory (and others!)

Of course, just to clarify, the Gregorian Canon is part of the reforms by Pope Gregory VII, not St Gregory the Great, though Gregory VII did take his regnal name in homage to Gregory the Great.

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.