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.

Angelic Living

 

What do the lives of angels mean for us?

How does a Christian eat a KitKat?

Sermon for the fifteenth Sunday after Trinity

Try getting into a lift 

and stand facing 

one of the back two corners.

What about eating a KitKat

without breaking it

into separate fingers,

but rather taking a big bite

out of one corner 

across the fingers?

Or cutting a piece of

a circular cake 

without going through the centre?

You might feel uncomfortable

at even the thought of 

these horrible actions.

But why?

[PAUSE]

Of themselves,

these aren't bad actions.

But they seem to defy

other people's expectations.

You won't be imprisoned

on the charge of 

improper consumption

of a KitKat

but it isn't what's expected

by society.

Should the correct

cutting of a cake

be legislated?

Or the opening of a boiled egg

at the little end?

[PAUSE]

Society does influence

how we make choices

and it is our desire

to be part of Society

that gives social customs 

their power over us

and why we feel awkward

when we break them.

Try not saying "please" 

or "thank you" for a day

or even an hour.

But social convention

is not in control of our salvation.

We are not saved by 

serving Society.

[PAUSE]

St Paul is very clear.

Christians do not need circumcision.

Nor should a Christian be forced 

to be circumcised.

The Covenant of Jesus Christ

is with all humanity 

not just the Children of Israel.

The source of all goodness,

the means of our perfection

and the one who determines

the structure of the Heavenly Society,

is God.

You are well aware 

of the difference

between being moral

and obeying social customs.

The difficulty comes

when people use

social customs

to control how people act.

Any society holds together

when people agree on the rules

of being together.

To be Jewish,

it is necessary to accept

circumcision

as part of belonging

Jewish society.

Although Our Lord is Jewish

it is not necessary to be Jewish

in order to find salvation

in Him.

It is not Our Lord's Jewishness

that saves us,

it is He Who saves us

being God Incarnate.

[PAUSE]

The temptation is to see the Church

only as a society

within secular society,

as if secular society

were the be all and end all.

The Church is a family

before it is a society.

Saying that the Church is a society

is like saying

that a human being 

is just an organised clump of cells,

a thing of bones, blood and organs.

To say that the Church is a society

misses the living principle

by which it exists

and is united to Almighty God Himself.

The law within the Church

is that we become like Christ

through love

cleansing our actions

by purifying our intentions

in the Mind of Christ.

That's how we Christians

exist within society.

We see the rules and customs

for what they are

and measuring them up

to belonging in Christ.

But we don't break these 

rules and customs

out of disdain or snobbishness

but we treat them with respect

and generosity.

But we do not let social rules

and customs

determine our Salvation in Christ.

But isn't our liturgy

a custom that controls us?

Our worship might be

framed by the Liturgy,

but the Liturgy is there 

to help us 

worship God together

with Christians now

and Christians past

and Christians yet to come,

and for us to share 

the living principle

that is Jesus Christ Our Lord

Who binds the whole Church

together.

[PAUSE]

We let the rule of Christ

determine our Salvation

because that rule is unity with Him.

... And not with a KitKat.

The Zealot and the Collaborator: Anglican Catholic Politics

 

How should the Christian approach political disagreement?

The faith of a leper

Sermon for the fourteenth Sunday after Trinity

"Thy faith hath made thee whole."

And so a Samaritan leper 

is healed from his disease.

And so are the other nine cleansed.

The nine that didn't come back

to thank Our Lord.

The nine that did not discern

Christ Jesus the Living and true God,

Son of the Father.

The nine whose concern was

to follow the ritual.

All ten received their health.

So what did going back

to thank Jesus

actually achieve?

Could not all ten

have gone to the temple

and given thanks there

according to the rites of 

the Jewish religion?

Were not all ten 

made whole by their faith?

[PAUSE]

We must be clear.

We cannot say anything

about the other nine lepers

that the Bible doesn't tell us.

They may have offered

great worship to God

with great thanksgiving

and reverence.

They may have just

gone home,

made tea

and put their feet up 

to watch Strictly.

The Bible doesn't tell us 

about them.

But the Lord Himself

wonders why they 

haven't turned back.

The focus is squarely

on the faith of the leper

who did turn back.

What does he gain 

by turning back?

[PAUSE]

It is clear that he is healed

just like the other nine.

But what he gains

is Christ.

We don't know about the others.

We do know that 

this leper

by turning back 

meets and worships God

and his example

is recorded for us to learn from.

This leper is blessed

by knowing God.

His body has already

been made whole.

But this leper gazes upon God.

[PAUSE]

St John tells us that

when we see God

we shall be like Him

because we see Him

as He is.

In believing in Jesus,

the leper's faith makes him whole,

not just in body but also in soul.

In Christ, 

the leper is complete.

This is the point of the incarnation.

The Hebrews were saved

from snakebites

at the sight of a brass serpent.

How much more

are we saved

at the sight of God Himself?

The leper himself 

realises it.

He feels it 

within himself, 

and being a Samaritan

knows that holiness

does not necessarily

reside in the temple at Jerusalem.

In turning back,

he gains the Divine Smile

the warmth that touches

his soul right from the beginning of Time.

[PAUSE]

Healing comes in many forms.

We can be healed

in body,

mind,

and spirit.

Even from diseases

that are masked by others,

diseases invisible to us

and to those around us.

The beauty of repentance

is that it is not a negative action

for we turn to Christ

and, in our repentance,

we are made whole in our faith in Jesus.

And this constant

repentance

is how we know that in Christ

we can be saved

we are being saved

and we will be saved

whole again,

whole in Christ Our God.

Easter in the midst of Trinitytide

 

Why the cross is ubiquitous.

What's so Anglican about Anglican Catholicism?

 

A few thoughts on how to be Anglican but without being an Anglican.

Which came first?

Sermon for the thirteenth Sunday after Trinity

We seem to be living at a time

in which laws themselves

are being called into question,

especially laws which are 

literally

a matter of life and death.

Is it ever right

to end someone's life?

If the Law can decide

whether we live or die

then it is truly powerful.

Except it isn't.

[PAUSE]

The Law decides nothing.

We make the decision

based on what the Law tells us.

The Law tells us that 

killing an innocent person is wrong.

If we kill an innocent person

then we know that we have 

broken the Law

and it is the court

who will ensure that

we are convicted and jailed.

It is Man who judges

not the Law. 

The Law shows us 

when what we do is wrong.

But that's all it does.

It's something that we've got used to

since we decided 

to eat from the fruit of the Tree

of Knowledge of Good and Evil.

What did we have before the Fall?

What did we have before

forbidden fruit?

[PAUSE]

We had God.

We had a relationship,

a way of living together,

a covenant of love

in which we saw 

the goodness of God

shining gloriously

throughout Creation.

There was no Law

because it was just us and God.

Since we have fallen

and now have knowledge of 

Good and Evil,

we are obsessed with 

doing the right thing

and living in a society

which would rather prevent us from 

killing one another

than enable us to love one another

as we love ourselves 

and walk with God.

Ironically, 

having a written Law

makes us forget about 

loving God,

because we just 

do what we want

as long as we do

what the Law says.

[PAUSE]

This is the whole point

of St Paul's letter to the Galatians.

The love of God comes first

before any law.

Love Him and love neighbour

and we do more than just

obey the Law.

We go beyond it

back to God

and open ourselves up 

to seeing Him again

just as we did before

we chose to disobey Him.

Our reason for obeying the Law

must be only to turn ourselves

back to God,

not for just merely existing 

in a society

which does not see the worship of God

as important.

If we love God and

if we love our neighbour

then there is absolutely nothing

for us to worry about

and the lawyer is out of a job.

[PAUSE]

Our duty and our joy

is to love God

as fully as we can.

We will not find happiness 

in codes of law

and books of statutes.

The Law cannot pick us up.

The Law cannot bind our wounds.

The Law cannot restore our health.

The Law sees us lying fallen

and can only pass by

on the other side of the road.

But, we can go back before the Law 

for, before the Law,

there is Love.

[PAUSE]

Christianity is not about 

doing the right thing

or avoiding sin.

It is about focusing on God

and living His life

and loving.

But loving does not mean

love according to

the lusts of the flesh

but according to 

our perfection,

and the perfection of others,

in God.

Knowing the Law 

Is crucial

because it shows us

what sin is,

and how it works.

Knowing what sin is

is vital for knowing our imperfections

and addressing them 

in God.

It means we avoid sin

by turning to God

in Whom all laws

have their fulfilment

and we have

true joy.

The Passing of Her Majesty

 

A few ill-prepared thoughts on the death of Queen Elizabeth II

On the difference between spouses and oysters

Sermon for the twelfth Sunday after Trinity

Someone approaches you

and says to you,

"Why can't I commit adultery?

It says in the Bible that 

you mustn't eat shellfish,

yet I've seen you eat those oysters.

If you, as a Christian,

can eat oysters

then I, as a Christian,

can commit adultery."

How do you answer?

[PAUSE]

Our relationship with God

has always been expressed

through covenants.

God has made lots of covenants

with Man.

There was the covenant with Noah.

There was the covenant with Abraham.

And there was the great Covenant,

The Covenant with Israel through Moses,

set in stone.

It is in this Covenant that we find 

the 613 commandments

given to the people of Israel.

This includes the prohibition

against eating shellfish

and the prohibition

of committing adultery.

That's the covenant God makes 

with His Chosen people Israel.

It is not a covenant 

that God makes

with all people.

It's just with the Israelites.

So what about us?

What about us Gentiles?

Where's our covenant?

[PAUSE]

Well, you know the answer to that.

The blood of the New Covenant

is the Blood of Christ itself,

the same Blood which we drink

at our Mass

and take into ourselves

to live and grow with in us.

This is a covenant that is not 

written on stone

but within our life,

because the life of the Christian

is the Life of Christ

and the Life of Christ 

is the Life of Love -

Love of God

Love of neighbour.

So now look again at the question.

If you can eat shellfish, 

can you really commit adultery?

The two laws are so different.

How can the prohibition

against eating shellfish

be similar to the prohibition

against committing adultery?

One is a ritual law.

One is a moral law.

The ritual law is an expression

of what it is to be an Israelite.

God may have given this law

for many particular reasons,

but overall,

the ritual law is to show the world

that God has separated 

His chosen people, Israel,

from the nations around.

The Old Testament ritual law is an expression

of the freedom of Israel

from the captivity of the Egyptians.

But it doesn't bind us.

We don't need circumcision,

we need Baptism.

We don't need the Passover,

we need the Mass.

Our Christian ritual law

is bound up with the Sacraments.

If we play our part in the sacraments

God gives us His Grace

- Grace which we need

to live the life of Christ.

This is why we have rules about how 

how sacraments are conducted

because a sacrament is an expression

of the Christian Covenant with God

through Our Lord Jesus Christ.

But our morals are based in Love.

[PAUSE]

To reject God,

to blaspheme,

to worship other gods,

to spurn His Church

all show hatred of God.

To dishonour our parents,

to murder,

to commit adultery,

to steal,

to bear false witness,

to cover another's possessions

all show hatred of our neighbour.

Love is the fulfilment of the Law.

[PAUSE]

The Old Covenant

shows the nation of Israel

what is righteous

but it cannot save them.

Israel falls from the covenant 

time and again.

But here is the true wonder.

The New Covenant can save them,

it does save them.

We know that Christ bursts

the gates of the dead

to rescue those who have died

before Christ is even born,

because the New Covenant

is Love

and Love is eternal.

This is the glory of the New Covenant:

it is eternal and it applies

to all who receive it.

[PAUSE]

"If ye love me, keep my commandments,"

says the Lord.

This is how we can tell the difference

between an oyster

and another person's spouse.

Resecrating the Cathedral

 

What happens if you don't have a chapel?

Exalted humiliation

Sermon for the eleventh Sunday after Trinity

Two men went up

into the temple to pray;

the one a Pharisee,

the other a Publican.

The Pharisee stood

and prayed thus with himself.

"God, 

I thank Thee that

I have not fallen into the temptations

to extort

to be unjust

or commit adultery.

I thank Thee

that I am able to fast twice

in the week

and give tithes of all that I possess."

And the Publican,

standing afar off,

would not so much as lift 

his eyes to heaven,

but smote his breast,

saying,

"God be merciful unto me

a sinner like everyone else."

Who goes home justified?

[PAUSE]

What is different from

the real story?

The Pharisee seems thankful.

The Publican seems to be

playing down his sinfulness.

The real difference between

the two situations is subtle

but devastating.

[PAUSE]

In the original situation,

the First Pharisee exalts himself

and compares himself with others.

In the new situation,

the Second Pharisee is 

simply giving thanks

but makes no reference to others.

In the original situation,

the First Publican grieves for his own sin

and begs for mercy.

In the new situation,

the Second Publican 

compares himself

with others

as if safety in numbers will

somehow make his sins

less awful.

Both are forms of self-exaltation.

[PAUSE]

Exaltation can only work

by being compared with others.

It's about how we see ourselves

with others

and use that comparison 

to our advantage.

The Second Pharisee comes across

as having a better relationship with God.

He appears humbler;

he recognises that 

he could fall into temptation

and sin;

he recognises that 

he is lucky enough 

to be able to fast and pay tithes.

But he does not compare himself

with the Publican.

He compares himself

with who he might have been.

And he is thankful.

That is more honest

because the Pharisee

knows himself better

than he does the Publican.

Every form of self-exaltation

happens after we make

a judgement

- an incomplete judgement -

about someone else

and see ourselves as better

or at least no worse.

If our justice system

worked the same way,

using incomplete information

to judge cases,

we would be outraged

at the miscarriages of justice.

Our legal system

works by gathering

all available and relevant evidence

in order to make a clear judgement

within reasonable doubt.

That's how we keep order

in society.

But self-exaltation

is not for the good of society

but our own selfishness.

It arises from 

a lack of information

about others

and about ourselves.

And the information we seek

about others

we have no right to 

whatsoever.

[PAUSE]

Both Pharisees and both Publicans

go to pray.

They recognise the need to pray,

or at least to be seen to pray.

But prayer must be rooted in truth,

because God is the truth.

If we come before God

with deceit in our hearts

how could we hope to be heard?

And self-exaltation is deceit

because it is based on information

about others

which we cannot possess.

[PAUSE]

The antidote to self-exaltation

is humility.

It is being honest with God 

in prayer:

evaluating critically our own actions

against God's word;

confessing and repenting sins;

being thankful

when we could have taken

a darker path but didn't;

remembering that we are loved

completely by God

Who wants our perfection.

Then we shall go home

justified truly

and truly blessed.

The horrible joy of Bart

 

What is so joyful about dying horribly?

Out of control Christianity

Sermon for the tenth Sunday after Trinity

Let's be clear.

Contrary to some 

conspiracy theorists,

Christianity is not about

brainwashing.

You are not being 

controlled by the Holy Ghost.

You can still do 

what you want to do

but you have to bear 

the consequences of what you do.

This is true

wherever you are.

St Paul states the facts.

Those who curse Jesus

are separate from the Spirit of God.

Those who bless Jesus

and call Him Lord,

sincerely and willingly,

are united in that Holy Spirit.

Indeed,

the point of a sermon

is to present you 

with the truth

and you are free to criticize it,

accept it or reject it.

But if a sermon 

presents Jesus as our Lord and King

and encourages you to worship Him

then you can be sure

that the Holy Ghost is at work

in both you and the preacher.

It's your job, then,

to listen out for what the Holy Ghost

is saying to you

which may not necessarily

be the words spoken to you 

by the preacher.

If you love God,

then you must keep 

His commandments

because His commandments

will give you precisely

what you want.

But you have to do it.

You can't lean back 

and let the Holy Ghost

do all the work,

otherwise there is no you

involved in your life.

God has created you

to be a free agent,

reflecting His own freedom

in your life.

So you are not controlled.

[PAUSE]

And you can be whatever

God has created you to be.

The point St Paul is making

is that whatever gifts 

or abilities God has given us

be it in administration or teaching, preaching or prophesying,

they come from the same Spirit.

It means that 

whatever lies behind

our ability

is linked by the Holy Ghost

to every other member

of the Church.

It is the Holy Ghost

that threads us all together

and knits us into one Church

not just regardless of who we are

but because of who we are

and because of Who God Is.

So, 

to curse Jesus,

to reject His death

to reject His commandments to love

to call good evil and evil good

cuts the thread

that links us to the Church

to each other

and to God.

[PAUSE]

By the choices we make

we can be cut off from the Spirit

and we can be rejoined to the Spirit

but the Spirit never leaves us

while we bear the image of God Himself.

It means we need to be critical

of what we hear in our pulpits

in order to hear how Christ is 

proclaimed Lord

and how that truth is

to be lived truly in our lives 

with sincerity.

We are free to become perfect,

the best version of ourselves

we could ever wish or hope to be.

The Way to that perfection is Christ.

And our travelling companion

is the Holy Ghost in Whom

the whole Church cries out 

in one voice saying,

"Jesus is Lord to the glory of God the Father."

Condoning embezzlement?

Sermon for the ninth Sunday after Trinity 

Is the Lord telling us

to make friends 

with those who have

earthly possessions?

Is He asking us 

to defraud our bosses

just so that we can have 

a bed for the night?

Is He actually  condoning sin?

[PAUSE]

The parable of the unjust steward

confuses us

because it does sound

as if Our Lord

is happy with

embezzling from the boss

in order to win friends 

for somewhere to stay 

that's safe.

But this cannot be just:

this is stealing

and the Lord hates stealing.

So what, then?

What does the Lord mean

by making friends of the Mammon 

of unrighteousness?

[PAUSE]

There are lots of questions here.

What we need to see

is the fact that it will be

these children of 

the Mammon of Unrighteousness

who will actually welcome us into

everlasting habitations.

It will be these children

who recognise us 

and welcome us in heaven.

Remember who will go first

into everlasting habitations.

It will be the poor,

the needy, the prostitutes

the sinners.

It will be those who,

in their degradation

repent,

and return to the Lord.

In fact, 

immediately before St Luke

records the parable 

of the Unjust Steward,

he records the parable

of the Prodigal Son.

It is those who 

recognise their spiritual poverty

and repent

and return to God

who find open arms

of love and utter joy.

These go into Heaven first.

Now look at what

the Unjust Steward is doing.

He is trying to ease

the debts of those

who owe lots.

He can't cancel the debts

completely,

but he can make life easier

for those who are in debt.

In his actions,

the Steward is making

friends with sinners

by making their debts easier to bear.

He is showing kindness,

knowing that his time is short,

and knowing that he can make

a difference in the lives

of those who could do 

with a kind word,

a bit of a hand,

the benefit of the doubt.

And we can do the same.

[PAUSE]

Our time is short

and death is coming

and we, too, must render 

before God

an account of

our every act,

our every word,

our every thought.

And we own nothing.

We have only what God

has given us.

But what we can do

is love.

What we can do 

is forgive.

What we can do,

rather than hate 

the fallen,

the misguided,

the deviant,

is love them

and show them 

kindness, warmth, generosity

and the benefit of the doubt

in full knowledge that,

in our own ways,

we are the fallen,

we are the misguided,

we are the deviant.

Rather than claw back

the exact amount

of the sins of others

thinking that

we do so

on behalf of God,

let us behave

how we would want 

Him to behave with us

and become humble

and repentant

and loving.

[PAUSE]

The people we show kindness to

will enter Heaven before us.

Won't it be wonderful

to feel their hands together 

with those of the saints

pulling us in before

the Divine Smile of God?

Definer labels

 

Why self-definition is a life-long struggle.

Mirroring away the debt

For the feast of the Holy Name, click here.

Sermon for the eighth Sunday after Trinity

We owe the flesh nothing.

Nihil, nada, zip, nothing.

St Paul is forthright about that.

We are not in debt to the flesh, 

but what does he mean?

What is this "flesh"?

What claim might it have on us?

[PAUSE]

Be clear on this.

God created you.

You are a body and a soul,

together,

inseparable,

each incomplete

without the other.

You do not have a body.

You do not have a soul.

They are not possessions.

Without either,

you are not you.

You are body and soul together.

So your body is not evil.

But you are not meant to be

a thing of earth alone.

Indeed,

you were created 

in the likeness of God,

to reflect His

face in the world around.

But we are all fallen,

and this means 

that we cannot perceive

God with us 

without His direct help.

It means that,

without God's grace

we cannot see the face of God

in our fellow human beings

or in ourselves.

It means that we can 

forget that we are

body and soul,

and look after the things that we can see

at the expense of

the things that we can't.

[PAUSE]

With God invisible to us

we treat only the desires

that come from our earth.

If we get the urge to eat

then we eat and,

unable to see the face of God

in ourselves

nor in others,

we eat and eat and eat

until there is nothing left to eat

for anyone.

Unable to see 

the face of God,

we make gods

out of the desires 

that we call "natural"

and satisfy them.

The need for food 

gets turned into

the god of gluttony.

If food is all we value

above all else,

we worship it.

The need to reproduce

gets turned into 

the god of lust.

If sex becomes 

the only way to express

our deepest love for another

then we value sex

above true love 

and we worship lust

rather than

the God that is love.

In making gods

of our desires

we allow them to claim rights

over us.

By investing our worship

in the gods of lust

we rely on them

to fulfill our needs.

And then we fall into their debt.

[PAUSE]

But there is only one God.

So in worshipping

these gods of lust

we find that we owe 

everything

to nothingness.

Our true worship

is for the God Who is Love.

True love bleeds and dies

to serve God

rather than 

allow biological needs

to become gods.

So St Paul says,

discipline your body,

kill the desires

that seek to become idols

in your life.

Focus on 

what will help you 

recover the face of God

in the people around you

and in your mirror.

Then your imaginary debts

will evaporate.

[PAUSE]

God is a spirit

and we must worship Him

in spirit and in truth.

That does not mean

hating the body

- quite the reverse -

we must live in the Grace of God

to give the body

the greatest privilege of all.

We give our bodies

the privilege 

of reflecting the face of God Himself.

Transfiguration in retreat

 How what is ruined need not be so.

Playing with Salvation

Sermon for the seventh Sunday after Trinity

Is Our Lord playing with us?

From seven loaves 

and some fishes,

he feeds four thousand men

and produces seven baskets

of leftovers.

Why the leftovers?

Is He just showing off?

Is He trying to show us

the superabundance 

of God's love by being wasteful?

Is this an example

for us to follow?

[PAUSE]

Clearly,

our environment shows that 

we have played fast and loose

with the things of this Earth.

We have wasted so much.

There is plastic everywhere.

Seas and rivers are polluted,

and animal species 

are suffering as a result

of our exploitation

of the environment.

But then,

we don't even treat our own selves

any better.

We even see our own bodies

as playthings

to do with as we will.

We seem to think of ourselves

as ghosts

which live in bodies

and have a right to enjoy them

in whatever way we deem fit.

We don't see ourselves

as one unity,

body and soul together.

If we have such

flagrant disregard for

our own selves

how can we care about the environment?

[PAUSE]

Seven baskets of leftovers.

What do you think 

the disciples did?

Ate them up themselves?

Gave them to the poor?

Fed the birds?

We are not told 

what happens to them,

except we know

that everyone had

enough to eat.

So it's unlikely

that these leftovers

we're eaten by someone

present, 

even the disciples,

or even the Lord.

But one thing that 

we can trust

is that they didn't go to waste.

These leftovers fed something

or someone.

Someone got the benefit

of so much leftovers

fish and bread,

from a hungry person

to hungry mould.

What is left is recycled

and reused,

because that is the way

that God has ordered Nature,

in order to be beautiful.

The Lord is generous,

not wasteful.

But we are wasteful,

because we use what we have

in a way that shows God

that we do not have the same

love, care and attention

to His Creation

as He does.

We are the only animal that can sin

because we are the only animal

that can understand

not only what's going on

but also how we can use

everything to our advantage.

We fail to see ourselves

as part of God's Creation

but rather think

that we are beings with our own

God-given rights

while closing our eyes to our

God-given responsibilities.

[PAUSE]

Our Lord's Holy Incarnation

shows that He has so much regard

for what He has created.

Given that we have fallen

into the sickness of sin

we have infected, 

not just each other,

but the whole world

with this sickness.

Our Lord comes to bring Salvation:

health to us

health to the world

in the New Heaven

and the New Earth

which He promises us.

We cannot undo

the damage that we have done

by bringing Sin 

into the world,

but can bring

the Christ's superabundant love

in to relieve the effects of that damage.

If Christ will pour seven extra baskets

of bread into the world

after feeding four thousand,

then we can rest assured 

that it will be no waste

but will bring good nourishment 

where nourishment is lacking.

[PAUSE]

We are creatures of God.

We deserve respect

because we exist,

not as playthings

neither of God,

nor of others

nor of ourselves,

but as beings capable

of bearing into the world

the seven baskets of love

over and above

the love that God has given us.

We do not play with Salvation,

we live it

and bring to those who need it

the One Who brims over

with that Salvation.

The Sacrifice of Uncrossed Fingers

 

How should the Christian approach politics?

Taking home the pay packet

Sermon for the sixth Sunday after Trinity

Pay day should be 

very satisfying.

After all, 

you work so hard

and to find out

that,

perhaps,

all your labours

have reaped their reward

means you can breathe

a sigh of relief.

Bills can be paid.

Provisions can be bought.

And,

for the lucky ones,

some treat can be afforded.

Pay day comes 

with a sense of relief.

And then St Paul reminds us

the wages of sin is death.

Looking forward to pay day now?

[PAUSE]

We are well aware

of the inevitability

of death.

And, as Christians,

we know that sin and death 

are two sides of the same coin.

We die because we sin

and we sin because we know

we're going to die.

Adam and Eve

brought sin and death 

into Creation

creating a fissure,

a deep crack in our relationship

with God

and in our likeness

to God.

That crack has spread

through all humanity

depriving us 

of the ability to hear God

walking with us in the 

Garden of Creation.

Sin and death are

both separations from God:

they are both sides of the same coin.

How, then, can we possibly die to sin

as St Paul tells us?

[PAUSE]

The beauty of death 

is that it stops sin in its tracks.

The dead man can sin no more.

But to die in sin

means that separation from God

becomes permanent.

How can we both be dead to sin

and remain alive?

You know the answer to that.

Our Baptism is into the death 

of our Lord Jesus Christ.

In Baptism, we are given the grace

to be born again

but, in order to be born again,

we need to be dead first.

The wages of sin

have to be paid first.

And the death of Our Lord

pays those wages

for the whole world.

Who are the wages paid to?

God?

No. 

God does not want 

the death of a sinner

but rather that he turn

from his sin and live.

To the Devil?

No. 

The Devil wants us to think

he has a right to our souls

but he lies

and the truth of God frees us

from his grasp

by death.

To death?

How can death be paid to death?

With life!

Death is the absence of life.

We can pay a debt

by giving what is owed,

and the debt dies.

We can pay a hole in the earth

with earth,

and the hole disappears.

Pay death with life

and there is no more death.

Pay death with eternal life

and death is destroyed.

The death of Christ

is the means of our life.

In being baptized into His death

our wages of sin are paid

and, 

in paying those wages

both sin and death 

are destroyed.

[PAUSE]

Baptism gives us God's grace,

His active presence

by which we are incorporated

into His death

and into His life.

St John Chrysostom says,

"complete freedom 

from sin is not a reality as yet.

 We are told to live for God 

in Jesus Christ our Lord 

and to lay hold of every virtue, 

having Jesus as our ally in the struggle."

We cannot be free from 

the effects of sin in this life,

but, knowing that we have

Eternal Life in Christ,

we can be sure that 

Death will be the end of Sin

but not of us.

[PAUSE]

Sin and death are two sides

of the same coin.

And,

with that coin,

Christ has paid the wages of sin

for us on His cross.

We, too, must take up our cross

that we receive at our Baptism

and we must venerate that cross

because we are crucified with Christ

and will be raised to Eternal Joy

in Him.

The Sacred Feminine

 

Why the church needs to show society how equality of the sexes works.

Pushing forward and pulling back

Sermon for the fifth Sunday after Trinity

The Day of Judgement is here!

What do you see?

Perhaps you have the image

of Our Lord sitting on His throne

sending the sheep to Heaven

and the goats to Hell.

Perhaps you see Him

wearing a judge's wig

with a stern expression on His face.

Perhaps you hear Him

pronounce sentence

in a deep, grim voice

while all around 

angels circle 

ushering in the defendants,

escorting the blessed to Heaven

and driving the damned to Hell.

Perhaps, through it all

you hear that phrase repeated,

"Sin cannot stand in the presence of God."

Day of wrath and doom impending!

No wonder St Peter is terrified.

[PAUSE]

We are very used 

to the image of sin and punishment 

as being a legal affair.

And this is certainly

how St Peter sees it.

In recognising God standing

waiting for him on the shore,

he recognises

his own deficiencies

his failings,

his fear that causes him

to deny his God.

He cannot abide this

so He pushes God away,

 not only in fear of his life,

but also of shame for sin

and the fires of Hell.

Notice this! 

He is the one pushing God away.

God is drawing him near.

There is a bizarre tug of war here.

[PAUSE]

The image of God as judge

is perhaps too well established

in our thinking for our own good.

We only have human law-courts

and our experience of them 

and we frame our expectation

of God's judgement of us

in that way.

Some of us will only ever see

law courts on the television

and these will be overdramatic

and focused entirely

on the bad guy getting his comeuppance

and the good guy being acquitted.

But our law is a shadow 

of God's divine law.

What we fail to see

is the face of God

burning with a desire for us

to be whole again.

Look at the Holy Scriptures

from beginning to end.

Time and time again,

God comes to us face to face

but we turn away from Him,

so He approaches in a different direction

and we turn away from Him.

At every stage,

He presents Himself

sits with us

and tells us the truth.

He gives us every opportunity

to find Him,

begs us to turn to Him,

but in our selfish pride

we don't want to find Him

because our sin turns us away.

So we try and turn and turn and turn.

We spin on the spot

trying to cope with the presence 

of God that wills our good,

seeks our health

desires our presence

and rejoices in our being.

Afraid that the image of God as Judge

will cast us away 

into the forgotten wastes.

And what happens 

when God speaks to us

when His very presence

shows us how fallen we are?

"Fear not!"

[PAUSE]

Fear not. 

The Judge is not what you think.

Yes, He discerns Good and Evil

but He does so knowing everything

perfectly.

He does so with the intention

of doing something about it

healing,

restoring,

cleansing,

forgiving.

The Light if His Goodness

burns our sinful souls

but, rather than push Him away,

we have to embrace Him

and let the burning love

rid us of our 

most cherished misery,

our favourite sins,

our greatest faults

that, for whatever reason,

we can't let go.

It's the goats who won't let go

and who run away in fear

that God won't let them be

as they want to be

and who refuse the courage

to step forward into the arms

of their creator.

They have their reward.

But for those who turn

and trust the Lord

when He tells us not to be afraid,

we are given ...

Work.

A job to do.

Fish for men!

Feed the hungry!

Clothe the naked!

Preach the Gospel!

Give opportunities for people

to see Christ,

to fear Him,

and to dispel that fear

by seeing beyond our childish

perception of what it means

to be Judge in purest love!

He gives opportunities

to confront people

with His love.

Invite them to Joy!

Reel them in!

Don't push them away!

[PAUSE]

Our Lord will sit in judgement on us.

He sees our sins 

and He hates our sins.

He hates them because

they stop us from coming to Him.

We should push them 

out of our way to Christ

and let ourselves get drawn in

towards Him

and to Eternal Joy in Him.

Churlish Anglican Catholics

 

How Oxford Movement Day is a happy day for Anglican Catholics.

The Importance of the Benedictine Abbot

 

Why a good abbot is vital for the monastery and what this means for the parish.

Love's judgement

Sermon for the fourth Sunday after Trinity

Be merciful and receive mercy.

Don't judge and you won't be judged.

Don't condemn and you won't be condemned.

Forgive and receive forgiveness.

Our Lord gives us two things to do

and two things not to do.

We are to be merciful and forgive.

We are neither to judge nor condemn.

But we do judge and we do condemn.

A man is judged guilty of murder 

and condemned to prison 

for ten years.

What's wrong with that?

We need judgement and condemnation

for the good of our society.

We need it in our personal lives, too.

If we make the judgement

that someone is a gossip,

then we don't confide 

our greatest worries 

with them.

If someone says something 

hateful towards another person,

then we condemn their words.

We need that.

Judgement tells us that 

there must be order in our society.

Condemnation tells us that 

there must be

fitting consequences

for our actions.

Our Lord cannot mean 

that we do away 

with the structure of our society

and our responsibility within it.

So what does He mean?

[PAUSE]

St Luke records 

these words of Jesus 

in his account of the Beatitudes.

Jesus pronounces 

who is blessed

and who can expect woe.

He also commands

that we are to love

even our enemies.

This means that

mercy, judgement, 

condemnation and forgiveness

have to be seen

in the context of Love

and to love

means to will 

intensely and actively 

the good of others 

regardless

of who they are.

We are to ensure 

that we only make judgements

in order to see 

what good the other needs to thrive

and be truly happy.

We are to ensure that 

we only condemn the evils

that beset other people.

[PAUSE]

True judgement is about discerning

what is good from what is evil.

But we are fallen 

and cannot always see 

what is good and what is not.

Certainly, 

we cannot make things good.

We cannot repair the damage

because we ourselves

are damaged.

It would be like 

repairing a pothole in the road

with a sponge.

If we discern evil in others

then there is evil within us

that can and must be discerned.

If we stand stoney-hearted

and allow others to be 

destroyed utterly by their sins

then we can expect the same thing.

We might not be able

to do good of ourselves

but we are able to do good

if we have God's grace,

because grace perfects nature.

We, the Church, 

have been given grace

to help,

to heal,

to strengthen,

and lead people

to their perfection

in God Himself.

Mercy and Forgiveness

are manifestations of that grace.

Judgement and Condemnation 

are reserved only for God

in the Last Day

Who knows the secrets of the hearts

of everyone created.

We don't take that upon ourselves.

We seek only to make people

truly whole

and truly happy.

We seek others' good

but we can only find their good

and ours

in Almighty God.

But seeking someone else's good 

without God,

using our own standards

will bring sorrow upon us.

If our judgement and condemnation

prevent another's approach to God

then we cease to be truly whole

we cease to be truly happy

because we fail 

to have reflected

the loving God in our lives.

There is evil to be judged,

and we can make that judgement,

but with God's love.

There is evil to be condemned

and we can make that condemnation

but with God's love.

But, if we lack

the love of God

and the love of neighbour

we all are worse off.

[PAUSE]

Love's judgement never destroys,

but what does love truly 

judge and condemn?

Can we do the same?

A battle of minds

 

Why shouting at each other is not evangelism.

Valuing Joy

Sermon for the third Sunday after Trinity

Why all this fuss over 

finding a single lost sheep?

Sheep go wandering off

every day.

Why call your friends together 

just to say, 

"look! I found my lost silver coin!"

Unless it is a rare silver coin

you might not think

much about it.

Surely there are better things

to rejoice over than 

a single silver coin

and a sheep with wanderlust.

[PAUSE]

Well here's the issue:

A lost sheep might seem

trivial to one person

but it isn't trivial

to this shepherd

who values the sheep highly.

A lost coin, 

even a ha'penny piece,

might have more value to this woman

than the billions in the bank

of a tycoon.

We each have a different idea

of what is valuable.

A thing is valuable to us

if it motivates us to do

or to feel something

to possess it

or keep it safe.

This is why Our Lord tells us

that where our treasure is

our heart will be also.

It's almost so simple

that we pass over it

without giving it a moment's thought.

We will only work 

for the things we value.

This is why the Lord tells this parable.

It's a parable about

the value we place on things.

What is insignificant to one person

is vital to another.

We only search 

for something lost

if it's something we value highly.

The harder we look,

the more valuable it must be.

If Christ is prepared 

to leave the Royal Court

of ninety-nine angels in Heaven

to save one poor human being,

then what does it say

about how much value we have?

This is why the beggar 

is called Lazarus,

and the rich man is not named.

It is the person who is valued,

not earthly riches

and we forget this at our peril.

Why are we so valued?

[PAUSE]

We have been created

to share in God's joy.

We are meant to be people

who rejoice in the Lord alway,

but we don't because

we start caring about things that get lost,

and spend our lives looking for them.

Sometimes, 

the things that we are looking for

don't exist in the first place!

It's something that we are to unlearn.

We need to unlearn 

our value of the world,

in order to value God most.

We worship only what we love the most

and we need to learn to worship God.

Only then can we rejoice 

in what we have

because we rejoice in it

for God's sake

and not for our own.

[PAUSE]

If someone asks us to rejoice

when they find something

that they have been looking for

then it is up to us Christians

to bring our joy with us

so that whatever was lost

and is now found

becomes a reason

 to thank God.

It is our Christian calling

to work at

turning happiness into joy.

That way we can consecrate

what was lost

and is now found

and make it a vehicle

for people to go one further

and find the God

Whom they lost

and is always there to be found

if people will just seek Him out.

[PAUSE]

We Christians can find joy

but it is hard work.

When we find it,

it is our duty to share it

so that others can rejoice 

in the Living God,

the source of all joy and gladness.

Beyond the Walls

Sermon for the second Sunday after Trinity

Three invitations. Did you count them?

To the well-to-do people of the city;

To the socially disadvantaged 

people of the city 

living rough in the streets; 

To the socially disadvantaged people 

who live outside the city 

in hedges and by the side of roads.

The only people we know 

who don't go into the feast

are those who live comfortable lives

and know that they need nothing

from this feast.

Only those who hurt

those who struggle to live

those who know that they need healing

those who know that there is joy 

but not in how they are living

those who know that the feast

will be more than they could ever hope for,

these accept the invitation.

But it isn't three invitations, is it?

It's just the one,

just the one "come to the feast!"

offered to everyone.

[PAUSE]

Our Lord's parable is quite clear.

The city is Jerusalem 

and those inside are the Jewish people

- people whom God has always loved

- people whom He has called to the feast.

But those who are satisfied

with their own lives

reject Him,

and the invitation that He has written

in His own Blood.

So He turns to those 

who see Him as their hope

and they receive Him.

Here are Peter, James, John 

and the others

who know that they need healing,

who know that they need joy,

who know that they need salvation,

who are wounded by the world's

pitiless indifference

who hate the brokenness of

their souls

who are tired of the battle

to be good within them

with its constant losses

failures 

and degradation.

They accept the invitation

but it isn't enough.

The feast is not big enough yet.

There is still room.

And so the invitation passes

beyond the walls.

[PAUSE]

It finds those outside

the Jewish race,

who suffer the same woes

and torment

and it gives them hope.

They, too, can come into the city,

further up and further in,

to the palace of the feast giver,

the king of the Jews,

The Lord God Himself,

The Father

Whose invitation is the Word of Life

Christ Himself

and Who draws all people

through His Holy Spirit.

It is the Spirit that fires the hearts

of men to spread the Word,

this invitation to Life Eternal,

of Eternal Joy

of Eternal Satisfaction.

Those who refuse

live out their lives

with what they have always wanted,

but their hearts 

are where their treasure is

and they miss out on

Life Eternal

Eternal Joy

and Eternal Satisfaction.

They are left with

an Eternal Life of sorts 

but nothing beyond their thoughts;

an Eternity of indifference

shown to others and by others;

an Eternity of never being satisfied

but never knowing precisely why.

Those who refuse the invitation 

shall not enter into God's rest.

[PAUSE]

What we have to do is clear:

Say "yes!" to the invitation

and spend lives inviting others

in our thoughts, words and deeds.

At the moment, 

we stand beyond the walls

but we are invited nonetheless.

We must prepare ourselves

for the feast.

We must lives turning towards God

We must let others know that

they are invited too.

We have to wait for the city gates 

to be flung wide

to lift up their heads

and we shall enter in

with the King of Glory.

Flesh and Spirit

Sermon for the Sunday in the octave of Corpus Christi

In some of our Churches,

they use the Thanksgiving after Mass

from the 1549 Book of Common Prayer.

This prayer gives thanks

for being fed with

the spiritual food

of the Body and Blood 

of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

What does that mean?

Does it mean that

Our Lord is only present

spiritually in the

Consecrated Host 

and Chalice?

This presents us

with a bit of a problem.

Our Lord says to His Disciples 

"a spirit hath not flesh and bones." 

He also says,

"the bread that I will give 

is my flesh, 

which I will give for 

the life of the world."

If the Lord gives His flesh

for us to eat,

and spirits do not have flesh,

then the presence of Christ

at the Mass

cannot be a spiritual presence.

We know also,

that God is a spirit

and this means that 

the Divine Nature 

does not have a body.

But Jesus is God,

fully Divine,

fully Human,

He has no flesh in His Divine Nature

but in His Human Nature.

If He gives us His flesh to eat,

then He does so from His Human Nature.

But Our Lord's Divine Nature is inseparable from His Human Nature.

This means that

Our Lord is present 

in the Consecrated Host

fully in both His Humanity

and His Divinity,

Flesh and Blood.

So how can what 

we receive in the Mass

be spiritual food?

[PAUSE]

God is spirit and

we are to worship Him

in spirit and in truth.

If we are to worship Him in spirit,

then we are spiritual beings.

The food we receive is not 

a spiritual presence.

It is food for our spirit.

Remember that 

our flesh is at war with our spirit.

We human beings

are broken.

Our nature is fractured.

We are at war within ourselves.

Our Baptism changes that

because we are given

the gift of the Holy Spirit

to dwell with us and in us.

And, to make us more spiritual,

we take into ourselves

the very Flesh and Blood

of God Himself

so that our bodies

and spirits are fed.

[PAUSE]

God gives us Himself

so that we can become

like Him

and participate

in His Divine Nature.

This is why we are grateful

for His feeding us 

with the food that will

grow our spirits

so that we can be like Him.

It carries the responsibility

for using what we are given

to sanctify the world

through battling against

the flesh of the world

which wants us

to deny Christ and become

just corruptible children of dust.

The Mass shows the world

that it is still loved by God

and this love is in such plentiful supply

that it breaks the boundary

between what is Human

and what is Divine.

We need to show this Mass to the world.

And, in ourselves,

we are to lift up Christ

and carry Him about,

so that through us

and by Him

the world may be brought back to Him.

We have a lot to do.

Perhaps we need to gain strength

by eating what is truly good for us.

Anglican Catholic Mass immersion

 

Why the feast of Corpus Christi is vital for Christian living.

Living Trinity

Sermon for Trinity Sunday

At Mass, we come to God, 

and God comes to us 

at the meeting place of the altar.

We can point to His presence with us

and, in the same faith,

we are fixed in His gaze

until we have taken Him

into our bodies and souls,

our lives and our hearts

where He dwells 

and makes us more like Him.

But God is Trinity in Unity.

We are not.

How are we meant to become

like God?

We need to learn to live the Trinity.

[PAUSE]

Our Lord Jesus Christ 

becomes a man,

so that we might become 

like Him

and live our lives

as committed members

of the Orthodox and Catholic Church.

We are not to live lives that are Arian.

Arians believe that Jesus is created,

more than a man,

but not of the same substance of God.

If Arians become more like that,

they will never see God.

They will never know 

true salvation

which lies beyond

the universe of created things.

We are not Arians.

Being Arian says that

our life can only be lived

in Creation

and separate from God.

Being Arian

denies that

the end of our journey

is God.

We are to live lives

in the hope 

of our return

to the visible presence of God

and not as part of the backdrop 

of the universe.

[PAUSE]

We are not to live lives that are Apollinarian.

Apollinarians think that God 

doesn't become fully Human,

that He puts on a human costume.

A god in a human costume is 

not being true

either to himself

or to human beings.

God is the Truth

and He loves us,

so He can't pretend to be human.

He becomes human

in order to be true to us

and to join us to Him.

If we live Apollinarian lives

then we see God as remote

and not fullyy invested in what we do

or who we are.

If we live Apollinarian lives,

then we push God away from us,

not trusting Him to be fully on our side,

rather than inviting Him

in to our lives.

[PAUSE]

We are not to live Nestorian lives.

Nestorians think that 

you can separate Jesus the Man 

from Christ the God.

They say that Mary is 

only the mother of the human bit

of Jesus,

not His God bit.

The Nestorian life says that 

we can live human lives 

every day of the week

but we have to be Christian 

on a Sunday.

The Nestorian life says

we can keep God in 

a separate part of our lives

and can live out the rest 

without worrying about 

His involvement in the rest.

But we are to lead lives

Inseparably with God.

We recognise Our Lady

as the Mother of God

and see that God is truly present

in our Humanity

so that we lead lives

in order to be truly present

in His Divinity.

[PAUSE]

We are not to lead lives

in which we think that 

being God and being human 

are the same. 

While we cannot separate

Jesus' humanity and His divinity,

we cannot pretend that

 they are the same thing.

Jesus is human,

so He has every aspect

of being human.

Jesus is God,

so He has every aspect

of being God.

Jesus' human nature

lives co-operating with His 

divine nature.

We have to live lives

In which we too

co-operate with God,

neither seeing ourselves in charge

nor leaving everything

up to God.

Our will is saved

by choosing God.

We are saved through God's grace 

and co-operating

with that grace.

[PAUSE]

We are not to lead Ikonoclast lives.

Ikonoclasts believe 

that the image of God 

should not make us long to worship.

They do not believe 

that an ikon can be holy.

They cannot tell the difference

between an ikon and an idol.

Living the ikonoclast life

means not seeing God

as being really present

alongside His creation.

Ikonoclasts separate God

from His creation.

For them, 

a photograph of Our Lord

would not stir up 

any desire to worship Him.

They do not believe that 

venerating an ikon

means that the veneration

is meant for who is in the ikon,

just as the kissing of a picture

of your mother

is an expression of your love for her

not for the picture.

We are to live in a world of ikons

reflecting God in the world around,

relating creation back to God

acting on our worship of God

through acts of veneration

whenever we are aware of His presence.

We are to live in a world of ikons

and using them to learn

how to become aware

of His presence again.

[PAUSE]

We are to live lives 

which reflect 

the Father, Son and Holy Ghost

as being real, supreme 

and always with us,

always willing to associate with us,

always present 

to love us,

forgive us

have mercy on us,

draw us,

save us,

and bring us to Him.

We do believe in one God,

Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

Filioque fisticuffs and Trinitarian tussles

 

Why the filioque issue does matter and why we need to engage with it.

Spiritual Takeover?

Sermon for Whitsunday

One of the more 

frightening afflictions mentioned

In the Gospels

is the possibility

of being possessed.

The idea that 

a devil has some control over you,

making you do things 

you don't want to do,

that it inhabits your life

at the very deepest part,

is truly terrifying!

We see the poor man

possessed by Legion

able to rip chains

and terrify the neighbours.

But we see him 

delivered by God

as the devils are cast out

into suicidal swine.

Being possessed 

is something that should 

and does worry us.

We do not want to be controlled

by anyone

or anything

other than ourselves.

But isn't this what happens

to the Apostles?

Do they not become possessed,

albeit with the Holy Ghost?

Is the Holy Ghost taking control

of people?

[PAUSE]

Some of us are afraid

of the Holy Ghost

for this reason.

They worry that 

the Holy Ghost 

will make them do things

that they really do not want to do.

They worry that He will

change their lives

in ways that 

they cannot bear thinking about.

The trouble is,

they are right.

[PAUSE]

Allowing the Holy Ghost

to enter your heart 

will change your life,

but He will honour where you are

in your faith.

Look at Moses.

He is frightened

of the task 

of telling Pharaoh

to let his people go.

God gives him powers

and even lets Aaron speak for him.

So Moses accepts and is transformed.

[PAUSE]

Our Lady accepts the gift

of the Holy Baby in her womb

and all is done unto her

according to the Angel's word.

The disciples aren't ready

for the Holy Ghost

until Our Lord ascends into Heaven.

At every stage, 

the Holy Ghost meets is where we are

but spurs us on.

We do not lose 

the freedom to choose.

The Lord says,

"If ye love me, keep my commandments."

And then He says,

"and I will pray the Father

and He shall give you

another Comforter."

Our keeping of the commandments

comes before,

and separately from,

the giving of the Spirit.

That's not to say 

that we can work our way

into Heaven

by keeping of the commandments.

But rather we can work out 

our salvation

with the Holy Ghost

alongside us,

not controlling us,

so that our salvation is completed

and perfected

by His grace.

It also means that

when the Holy Ghost comes

He is not going to take us over

so that we can just sit back

and let Him do all the work.

While we may be His,

the Holy Ghost

will not possess us

and turn us into His puppets.

We are given 

the immense dignity

of our own free will.

God created that in us

He wants us to use it

and He wants to perfect it

by living alongside us.

That is what Paraclete means:

one who works alongside,

a side-kick almost!

[PAUSE]

But the Holy Ghost is dynamic

and, for love of us,

demands that we be dynamic too.

He may respect who we are,

even who we think we are,

but still He wants us

to become the person who He created

- the person we truly want to be.

Eventually, in Him,

the person that we think we are

becomes the person

that we really are.

[PAUSE]

We are not God's playthings

or Jesus' Holy Incarnation

makes no sense.

Although life in the Holy Ghost

can be intensely uncomfortable

at times,

that discomfort comes

from a world that is passing away

possessed by the spirits of

Apostasy, Apathy and Complacency. 

The Holy Ghost living with us 

means that

we are living alongside

Eternity itself.

The more we grow in love,

the more we want to say, "yes" 

to the Spirit

and the more we say, "yes"

to the Spirit

the more we grow in love.

Growth in Anglican Catholic Housegroups

 

How can a little church minister to the whole of the country?