Pentecost

Acts 2:1-21;
John 14:8-17, 25-27
Pentecost is one of the three greatest feasts of the Church. And as with Christmas and Easter, at Pentecost we don’t just look back. Yes, we commemorate the wonderful things that God did in the past, but we also look forward, incorporating God’s story with our story. The incarnation we celebrate at Christmas continues when we participate in the body of Christ, as the Church. The Easter resurrection of Christ continues when we live the resurrection life, signified through our baptism and a transformed way of living. The only way that we are able to participate in the ongoing stories of Christmas and of Easter is by the arrival of the Pentecostal gift of God’s Spirit, through which God’s people are empowered.

The first Pentecost was like this. There were 120 believers gathered together in the large upper room where they were staying in Jerusalem. These first Christians were waiting - waiting for something very special to happen to them; they weren’t quite sure what they were waiting for. They knew they were waiting for the Holy Spirit to come, because Jesus had told them ahead of time, but they didn’t know what that would mean. Then it was like a rush of wind into the room - the Holy Spirit coming into their lives – it was like tongues of fire. They felt the power of God inside them, and eventually they left that building and went out into the streets.

They went from street to street and home to home and neighbour to neighbour and nation to nation. It was like a grass fire, flaming across the land on dry fields of grass. It was like a forest fire driven by the wind, in a very dry forest. It was like a fire on an oil slick on the sea, with flames leaping across the water. That’s the way it was in the first century of Christian expansion. The flame of Jesus Christ was spreading across the world.

Pentecost is often called ‘the birthday of the church’, and we’ve brought a cake that we can all share after the service to celebrate. You couldn’t even fit enough candles on this cake to signify the number of years the church has been living, but imagine the light and heat from nearly 2000 candles! Fire is symbolic: Fire is energy; fire is power. Fire is passion for Jesus Christ, and on Pentecost, there was a new quality of fired up energy for Jesus Christ.

On the first day of Pentecost just under 2000 years ago, suddenly there were many different languages spoken by the Galilean disciples. It was clear: the message of Jesus Christ was to go into the entire world, into all the languages of the world, into all the nationalities in the world. Christians were not to remain in Jerusalem but go out into the entire world, proclaiming the good news about Jesus Christ in the many different languages of the nations.

In Acts 1:8, Luke writes that Jesus had said to the disciples, “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” On that first Pentecost morning, there was a new sense of mission. These men and women sensed a new purpose and a new goal. Their destiny was to announce to the entire world the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Their purpose was absolutely clear to them, and they were united in its urgency.

With the Spirit, there was also a new sense of community. The first Christians shared their possessions. They sold their material goods to help those in need. There was a new sense of inclusive life within this community: sharing problems, sharing each other’s tragedies, sharing resources. They experienced a community of love like they had never experienced before.

There was also a new power within: a new energy to carry out their mission – an energy within them to accomplish their goals. These people had new courage to face the persecutions of a sometimes hostile context. They had a new boldness to speak out about their faith. They had a new passion to stand before family, friends, neighbours, and co-workers and tell the good news of Jesus Christ and his impact on their daily lives.

The apostles would go to a village or town. They would plant a church, and then they would go to a second village or town, and plant a church. They went to a third village or town and planted another church. Before the apostles went onto the next village, they would leave a group of people in that village who were committed to Jesus Christ. The Greek word is ‘laos.’ They were the ‘the laity,’ which means ‘the people.’

The apostles wouldn’t leave the towns or villages until they left people whose hearts and tongues were on fire - these people hadn’t gone to seminary, they hadn’t seen Jesus face to face, they hadn’t talked with him in the flesh. These people were not the Apostles. These were the people of God in each village who then went on to spread the Gospel from house to house, from neighbour to neighbour and friend to friend and family to family.

The whole of the laity, the whole people of God, become inspired and equipped by the Holy Spirit for mission. Not just the twelve, not just the Apostles, and today, not just the ordained! It is the laity, the people of God, who with the power of the Holy Spirit, witness and win souls to Jesus Christ and nurture those souls into maturity. This doesn’t shirk off the responsibilities of the clergy, because clergy are actually laity as well. But this is a reminder of the responsibilities of the non-ordained laity in mission and ministry.

So that’s what happened in that first century. It was a great century of Christian expansion. The Church went to Ephesus, to Rome, and onto Spain within thirty years. From farm to farm, from village to village, town to town. It was spread across the whole known world. It was like a spreading flame.

The year is now 2010, and what has happened to the flame of Jesus Christ? The flame of Jesus Christ is still spreading all over the Earth like wildfire. 33% of the nearly 7 billion people on earth today identify themselves as Christian. That’s one in every three people! The flame of Christianity is spreading across Africa, across Latin America, and across Asia. It has to do with ordinary people, touched by God's Spirit, who understand that ‘nothing kindles fire like fire.’ It has to do with people who understand this not only in their heads but also burn in their hearts with the power of Pentecost. It’s always the laity empowered by the Holy Spirit that makes the difference.

Let’s think about Christianity in England for a moment. Apparently 60% of people in England consider themselves Christian, but only about 2% of those attend church regularly, at least once a month. A Gallup poll asked people around the globe: “Is your religion very important to you?” In this poll, England came out amongst the ranks of the least religious countries alongside many other prosperous developed countries. It is possible for faith to grow cold to the Spirit of Pentecost.

In the book of Revelation, the Church in Ephesus had grown cold and indifferent to God’s purpose in the world. Is it possible for the laity to no longer be on fire by the power of Jesus Christ? Is it possible for a church to gradually become a self-contained unit that has lost all sense of evangelism and mission? The answer to that question is a tragic “yes.”

The primary mission for the first Christians was to go out into the world, teaching, baptizing and making disciples. Christians today must still speak openly and boldly about Jesus Christ. The purpose of the Holy Spirit’s power is the same today as it was 2000 years ago: to give Christians courage, stamina, and boldness, to give us the wisdom to handle the tensions, frustrations and rejection. Because it takes courage to speak to our neighbours and friends and family about Jesus and his impact on our lives.

In relation to the Ascension, Frank has been asking in recent sermons, ‘do we really believe that Jesus is Lord’? St. Paul said in 1 Cor 12:3, that ‘no-one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit’. In terms of Pentecost, then, we are challenged to ask ourselves, do we really believe that the Holy Spirit lives in us and will empower us with the strength and courage we need to be his witnesses here in our community, and beyond?

For many of us, one of the most difficult things to do is to talk to somebody about Jesus Christ. We can easily talk with our neighbour about many topics: the weather, gardens, slugs, landscaping, family, pets, politics, or sports. We can talk so easily about so many things, but it’s much more difficult to talk ‘one to one’ about Jesus Christ.

We’re afraid for all kinds of reasons. We don’t want to be pushy about Jesus or about church. As the saying goes, “You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink.” People know where the house of Jesus Christ is; they can find it; they can drink if they want to. We also don’t want to be identified with the Jehovah’s Witnesses or Mormons dressed in dark suits and ringing the doorbell. We don’t want to be thought of as ‘weird’. We just find it uncomfortable to talk naturally about our faith to another person.

Many of us never learned to talk about Christ because we didn’t really need to. Not so long ago, nearly everyone in the UK went to church. But today, we’re living in a different context; it’s a different culture. Today is a new ball game, and there are huge numbers of people around us that don’t know the truth about Christ and have never been part of the church.

I remember a time before I was ordained, when I was at a barbeque at my neighbour’s house. We were enjoying the warm summer’s evening, when the conversation turned to the field of science. Both my neighbour and I have science backgrounds. Suddenly my neighbour said to me, ‘I don’t know how you can believe in God, since you work in science’. When she said that, all the other guests (none of whom were church-goers) went quiet and turned to listen to my response.

I remember sending up a quick silent prayer for the Spirit to be with me, and then I gave an answer from the heart that somehow held together my belief in God and my appreciation and wonder of scientific discoveries. I said something about how amazing the universe is, and how amazing life on Earth is, and how to me, that points to a creative God. I know that I couldn’t have said what I said, in the way that I said it, without the help of the Spirit. The people listening were thoughtful for a moment, and then the conversation gently and naturally moved on. I knew that God had given me the courage, the inner strength and the right words to speak. And God’s Spirit was planting small seeds in those people.

Many people want to talk about faith and God; they just don’t usually get the opportunity. Reminding ourselves of the power of the Spirit to equip us, we need to start up conversations with people about Jesus. We need to make it known that we are believers. The past religious silence is no longer adequate for this new day. The old wineskins won’t do for the new wine of the Kingdom!

The purpose of Pentecost is to create Pentecostal Christians out of ordinary people like you and me. Before the Spirit came, the believers had been huddling in safety and collected holiness. After the Spirit, the believers were compelled out into the streets. They began to live the life hinted at by Christ. Pentecost is their story and it’s our story, too. The Spirit is a life-changer. I remember telling a friend where I used to work at the university that I was a Christian – she said, ‘well, that’s ok, so long as it doesn’t take over your whole life’!

Well, it SHOULD take over our whole life. With the Holy Spirit, we simply cannot remain bystanders observing the world from a safe distance; with the Holy Spirit, we allow ourselves to be caught up in the very real and risky drama of God in the world.

Lord, may our eyes be opened and our hearts filled as we celebrate your ever-present Spirit and the birth of the Church, and may we welcome the Spirit’s empowerment for the journey ahead as you lead your Church in mission and in ministry. Amen.

Ascension Day: Acts 1:1-11; Luke 24:44-53

We’re living in interesting times. Here in Britain, we have a new government – a coalition government, in fact. It’s a warm, cosy ‘love-in’, according to the media. (Just so long as the new Prime Minister continues to wear his blue tie, and the Deputy to wear his orange tie, then I’ll be able to tell Cameron and Clegg apart!). The Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats are to govern by cooperation - and I’m sure we all wish them ‘good luck’ with that!

You might be asking yourself, ‘what does any of this have to do with Ascension Day?!’ Well, we could say that from Ascension Day, there was a ‘coalition’ set in motion between God and the Church. Jesus having been appointed as King, invited the elected disciples to form the Church, and then they are clothed with power from on high. But for that to happen, Jesus first had to ‘ascend into heaven’. I’d like to focus on two little words with regards to the Ascension: ‘how’ and ‘why’. They are little words, with very big implications which are important for us to understand as witnesses for Jesus in the world today.

Thinking about how the ascension happened takes us back to the resurrection, and what sort of body Jesus had after the resurrection. We know that his resurrected body was a visible body, of course, because the bible says that he was seen by many people. Jesus demonstrated that his resurrected body was flesh and blood by eating with his disciples and allowing Thomas to touch his wounds.

But we also know that his resurrected body was a transformed body. The bible reports that the resurrected Jesus was able to walk through doors, and to appear and disappear at will. And with this transformed body, Jesus ascended into heaven. But the main theme I want to cover now is the ‘why’ of the ascension.

Several places in the Bible give us insight into why the ascension happened, and Jesus himself provides at least four answers to this question. All of these reasons for the Ascension are important, but a key purpose is that Jesus must sit ‘at the right hand of God the Father’; in Matthew 26 at his so-called ‘trial’, Jesus said to the chief priests and the Sanhedrin, ‘In the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One..."

In Acts chap. 2, the apostle Peter states: ‘God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact. Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear.’ Peter quotes from Psalm 110: ‘The Lord said to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet."’ ‘Therefore’, Peter continues, ‘let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.’

The theologian Karl Barth said that Christ being ‘seated at the right hand of the Father’ is "the first and the last thing that matters for our existence in time," and “Whatever prosperity or defeat may occur in our space, whatever may become and pass away, there is one constant, one thing that remains and continues, this sitting of His at the right hand of God the Father.” And this we can understand as truth, because of the belief which is central to our Christian faith that Jesus is Lord. In the Creed, we say that we believe Jesus ‘ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.’ But I also wonder whether this language and this imagery could be a barrier for some people.

I read a report recently on the spirituality of people who don’t go to Church. It was based on ‘research conversations’ with people who expressed a spiritual awareness, but for one reason or another they weren’t able to relate their spirituality to traditional Church worship. One interesting point brought up by one of the research subjects concerned that imagery of Jesus ‘sitting at the right hand of God the Father’. Jesus seemed too distant. This man’s experience of God was more personal than that – his experience of God’s presence was closer than that. But we know from the bible and from some of our own personal experiences, that even though Jesus is now in the currently separate realm we call heaven, he is personally present with people by his Spirit, which is at work in all of creation. Because of the Spirit, Jesus could assure us as we read in Matthew 28, ‘I am with you always, to the very end of the age.’

And as we find in John’s gospel chapter 16, the Ascension was necessary to enable the Spirit to come with special power on the newly formed Church: Jesus says, ‘I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counsellor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.’ And from the heavenly realm Jesus continues to send his Spirit to empower the Church. We’ll look deeper into this particular outcome of the Ascension in 10 days time when we celebrate Pentecost.

Another reason why Jesus ascended to heaven, which we read in John 14, was to ‘prepare a place’ for us, in one of the ‘many rooms’ in his Father’s house. Jesus said: "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.’ From this wonderful passage, which is often read and preached on at funerals, we sense the depth of God’s love for us, and the desire of Jesus to be close to us. And until he comes again, he is with us by his Spirit.

Some doctrines stress the transcendence of God: that God is above us, different from us, free from us, and rules over us. Others stress the immanence of God: that God is with us, like us, available to us, and in us.

And so we try to strike a balance: God is both far and near, over and in, different and alike. Until the new creation comes in all its fullness, there will always be a tension between the transcendence of God and the immanence of God. But God’s transcendence and immanence come together distinctively at the point of creation, at the incarnation, and most definitively when Jesus comes again.

Which leads to my final point: the future return of Jesus – revealed through the words of Jesus in the gospels, and also in the first reading we had this morning from the 1st chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, where Luke reports that ‘[the apostles] were looking intently up into the sky as [Jesus] was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. "Men of Galilee," they said, "why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven."

Another passage of scripture often read at funerals is Revelation chap. 21, which describes again with comforting imagery what it will be like after Jesus comes back and the new heaven and new earth are in place: a voice from the throne says, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" So the ascension was a necessary part of preparation for the new creation to come, which is already in its infancy, with a new covenant and a new government in place, and with Jesus Christ as Lord.

I have to say, as is the case with British politics, it takes a fair amount of effort to understand all the ramifications of the Ascension. Let me summarise, then, the four reasons or effects of the Ascension: first, it enabled Jesus to take his place of glory and power. Second, it enabled the Spirit to empower the Church. Third, it enabled Jesus to prepare a place for us with him. And fourth, it enabled the whole of the Trinity to move forward with the New Creation. I’m sure you’ll now all be able to explain the significance of the ascension to anyone on the street... (perhaps our new Liberal/Conservative government relatively easier to understand by comparison). Although our new government coalition says their mission is ‘to work together for the good of the country’, it’s probably safe to say that each party will want to pursue their own self-interests. Who knows how it will all work out?

But that’s when the difference between a politician-led coalition and a Christ-led coalition is plain - the Holy Trinity have now got just one mission agenda: to renew the whole of creation. Jesus is Lord, and in the end, every knee will bow to him. We are not invited to change God’s agenda, but we are invited to participate in building God’s kingdom.

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done - on earth as it is in heaven - Amen.

A double baptism

What a wonderful morning! The joy was palpable in church as two adorable baby boys were baptised. Here's the reading and sermon:

John 13:31-35
When Judas had gone out, Jesus said, ‘Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, “Where I am going, you cannot come.” I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.’

This is a joyful day! The angels and all of heaven are smiling down on us, because of the love that has brought these two beautiful children to this point, and the willingness of these parents to accept the offering of life in Jesus Christ for their families.

Some may wonder about baptising babies, when those babies aren’t able to consciously affirm their baptismal vows for themselves. But since the earliest days of the Church it has been the case that families and communities, including babies and children, were often baptised together; and so the Church is inclusive in this way.

These days when our society emphasises individualism, it can seem very counter-cultural to encourage a community-centred approach to life. But in reality, this is what Christianity is supposed to be – a community of people who encourage each other to be faithful to God, and who support each other for their mutual flourishing. And that’s part of the role of parents, grandparents and Godparents and the church community as a whole. It’s the ethos that ‘it takes a whole village to raise a child’. We all need the support of others on this journey of life and especially the journey of faith. Because in essence, that is what Jesus wants for us and he promises also to be there for us, when we trust him and seek the guidance of his Spirit.

In our bible reading, Jesus gives a new commandment to ‘love one another’. Not with the limited kind of ‘love’ we usually offer to others, but with unlimited and unconditional ‘love’, as Jesus loved. When Jesus walked the earth, he demonstrated how we should ‘love one another’ to the point where it becomes costly – to the point where it is sacrificial.

And perhaps the hardest part is that loving one another doesn’t just mean loving those who are easy to love. Being part of a church community means that we’re brought together with some people who we find easy to be around and to love, and others that can be quite challenging (for all kinds of reasons!). And again, it is counter-cultural to choose to be part of such a community.

In the early Church, when it was dangerous to be a Christian, baptism was the ritual through which you entered the world of excitement and risk that was the Christian church. Where is that excitement and risk in the Church today? Well, following Christ and participating in God’s mission in the world is as exciting and as risky as we’re willing to make it.

But Church certainly isn’t meant to be an exclusive ‘club’...Increasingly we are realising that the most healthy, vibrant and growing communities are those that include – that bring diverse people together – to worship, to learn from each other and to learn to love one another. This isn’t easy; because in varying degrees we all have the human traits of selfishness and possessiveness.

But God’s kingdom is about the reconciliation and renewal of the whole of creation. That’s what God is up to, and that’s what God wants us to help him with! And the way that comes about has everything to do with today – with baptismal vows taken seriously. ‘To follow Christ means dying to sin and rising to new life with him’! And to do that we need God’s Spirit.

The Spirit is already at work in the world and in each one of us, whether we’ve accepted him into our heart or not – but to consciously invite God’s Spirit into our life means we can cooperate with God’s Spirit.

And those of us who have been following Christ for a long time find that this needs to be a conscious choice each and every day, to invite the Spirit’s presence, to listen for the Spirit’s guidance, and to receive the Spirit’s comfort. Many here today will confirm the times when God’s Spirit has helped us through the pain and the suffering that is still a part of living in this world. We can cry out to Jesus, who is the spring of living water that enables us to carry on in times of struggle; who refreshes us so that we can find the way to love others – as he has loved us.

Through their baptism, [these children] are part of the body of Christ, which is the Church. A Church with vision, a Church of the resurrection, of love, of the God who lives among us, must be a Church that blurs every line, and invites everyone into the grace and love of God – and a Church that challenges the lines that exclude and oppress.

Here today, we pray that as [these children] grow, they will grasp with both hands the promise given by Jesus, who came so that we might have life in all its fullness. We pray that they will want to participate in the reconciling mission of God in the world, something to which he is calling each one of us. And for all of us, we pray for the living water of Jesus Christ to flood us and to make us new. Amen.

The Parish Profile

I've been working hard on an assignment for the 'continuing education' aspect of my training. It's the Ordained Ministry Audit, otherwise known as the Parish Profile. I might be the odd one out, but I'm so enjoying the analysis of statistical data about my parish from the 2001 census! I'm combining the census information with other research from local websites, magazines etc., and I feel I know the place so much better now. I only wish I had done this much earlier! I have come to appreciate my curacy parish placement more now because I see the great opportunities that exist for the church (and myself as an ordained minister) to make connections with the community.

One fact that stands out is that out of a population of 14,450 people, over 10,000 of them stated on the census that they are Christian! Considering the attendance figures from the 5 churches in the area, there is something going on here that demands attention. The vast majority of those 10,000 people are not found in our churches. They are believing without belonging. I have my views on why this is the case, and it is a huge challenge to those of us who have found a home in church. I just can't get this out of my head, and I can't let it lie unattended to. It's my passion to engage with these non-belonging believers. Many books have been written on the subject, but I want to listen to these people myself. We've got to put ourselves out there!

A break and a baptism

I've been blessed with a wonderful week off after Easter, and the timing couldn't have been better. It was my daughter's 14th birthday on Easter Sunday, and we celebrated on Tuesday by going to 'Go Ape' in Delamere Forest, whereby we clambered around in tall trees with harnesses on, sliding on zip wires and tarzan ropes. Great fun! Both she and my son have been off school for the Easter holidays. The weather has been really nice, too, so I had the satisfaction of gardening a lot, which I love. Both kids have recently got new bicycles as well, so the whole family has been cycling. I feel refreshed by this break from work, and ready for this month's big project, which is the 'Ordained Ministry Audit' (or parish profile, in other words). It's due at the end of the month, so I will have to get cracking. It is an analysis of the parish, the church(es) and the community, and ministry within that context.



The other exciting news: today I did my first baptism! That was really nice, and I love it when the church is full of people who don't normally attend - what an opportunity to witness through welcoming them and through worship. The little girl was nearly 2 years old, and she didn't cry, so that was a relief!

Easter Day

Isaiah 65:17-end; Acts 10:34-43; Luke 24:1-12

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed, Alleluia!

1On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. 2They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. 5In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? 6He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 7'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.' " 8Then they remembered his words.

9When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. 10It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. 11But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. 12Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.


I cannot imagine how frustrating that morning must have been for Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women. Faithfully delivering the good news of the resurrection, and it all seemed like nonsense to the apostles! They hadn’t seen it, so they didn’t believe it!

Eventually, of course, the apostles did witness the appearance of the risen Lord for themselves - they even ate with him. The resurrection had a huge impact on the apostles and the disciples.

After the horror of Friday’s crucifixion, and through the sheer emptiness of Saturday, the disciples were then graced with that intensely joyful experience of the presence of Jesus, resurrected on Sunday. Such was the impact of the resurrection on the apostles and disciples that they were enabled to carry out their commission to take the gospel to all nations with conviction.

In our New Testament reading from Acts, Peter says ‘God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen’ – they saw the Lord in his resurrected bodily form. He looked the same, yet he was changed; he had flesh and bones, he could eat and drink, yet he was transformed. By seeing this Jesus, this Lord, the life and the faith of the disciples was transformed. Everything that seemed to go wrong on Good Friday was counteracted by the Resurrection. Good Friday was indeed good! Everything Jesus had said and done during his three years of ministry was affirmed. As St Paul says ‘... if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins’ (1 Cor 15). The cross was a victory, not a defeat.

Jesus said to his startled disciples, ‘“Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.” The disciples felt the impact of the resurrection by touching Jesus. Later after the ascension, he continued his presence among them, by sending the Holy Spirit.

And the impact of the resurrection can still be experienced by us today because the Holy Spirit continues to make Jesus present today. With the Holy Spirit, we can begin to recognise the resurrected presence of Jesus even in everyday small events. We can listen and learn how to be faithful. We can recognise his presence with us even in dark times.

It’s the promise of transformation to each of us and it’s a promise for the whole of creation. From our Old Testament reading this morning, from the prophet Isaiah, we hear: Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. No more weeping and crying; the wolf and the lamb will feed together; the lion will eat straw like the ox. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, says the Lord.

In the new creation, everything negative and destructive will be excluded. And all that is good will be incorporated into the new creation. This is God’s vision, looking to the way of peace, justice, righteousness and faithfulness.

We aren’t capable, though, of comprehending how God will make all things new. The theologian Brueggemann puts it this way: ‘Yahweh’s coming newness is not contained within our present notions of the possible’. But with the death and resurrection of Jesus the new creation has begun, and occasionally we catch glimpses of renewal. And we now long for its completion. We pray: ‘Maranatha’ – come Lord Jesus. We’re living ‘between-the-times’, in the fullness of God’s grace, but not yet in the fullness of God’s kingdom. And we live in hope.

In his Ecumenical Easter letter, Archbishop Rowan Williams writes that ‘[our] hope is rooted in the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. His rising from the dead shows the world that death does not have the last word – whether the death of love, the death of security, even physical death itself. On the first day of the week, the first day of the new creation, God walks once again in the garden and begins to re-shape the whole world of our experience and our possibilities; the Second Adam wakes under the tree of the cross and promises fresh life, freedom and forgiveness, to the entire human world.’

Those of us who really hear the gospel message have a kind of 'insider’s advantage' on what God is doing with time and history. The transformation of creation has begun, and we experience that transformation in our own lives when we meet the risen Christ through prayer, through scripture, in the breaking of the bread, and in the face of one another.

This time last year I was on retreat with fellow ordinands in Whitby. We spent Holy Week with the nuns belonging to the Order of the Holy Paraclete. After a sombre and most moving week, the joy of that Easter morning was plain for all to see, because several of the nuns came to chapel with bunny ears, with others ringing bells and shaking noisemakers!

Most of us really feel the joy of this Easter morning. It’s not difficult to experience a sense of joy with the arrival spring, and when life is going smoothly. But let’s be honest – we all go through times when the very idea of joy is not even credible. But Jesus will always understand that human frailty. That is why he came in the first place. That is why he died and rose again for us. That is why he will come again! At the very end of history, the trumpets and cornets will sound again; the choirs will sing their hallelujahs, the dead will be raised, and you too shall be changed. This is the Gospel Truth; and this is what Easter morning is about. The renewal of all creation has begun, and Jesus Christ is Lord; let him rule in our hearts this day and for evermore. Amen.

Passion Sunday - 5th Sunday of Lent

John 12:1-8 Mary anoints Jesus

In addition to fasting and increasing prayer and scripture reading, another traditional practice of Lent is to increase our alms giving – giving out of thankfulness for what Jesus has done for us. How much to give? It’s a question many of us ask ourselves as we try to budget our income to cover all requirements. What if, out of the corner of your eye, you noticed that the person sitting next to you in the pew put onto the offertory plate a cheque made out for £20,000?

I know I would be fairly shocked if that happened today!

But what happened in our reading from John’s gospel this morning was as shocking as that. Against all concepts of rational behaviour, Mary poured out a pint of pure nard oil onto the feet of Jesus. A pint of pure nard was worth a year’s wages! Whatever your annual income, there it was, in the form of oil, poured out, onto a pair of feet! And most likely running off all over the floor!

This was six days before the Passover, in the town of Bethany, at a dinner being held in Jesus’ honour. Martha – dear Martha – was serving the food, as she had done on another occasion we might remember, when she begrudged Mary for not helping. Thank God for the Martha’s of the world who do the work, who prepare the meals, who have the gift of hospitality.

Lazarus was reclining at the table with Jesus. Lazarus and Jesus were close friends even before Jesus resurrected Lazarus from the dead, as John chapter 11 reports. And that wasn’t exactly an everyday occurrence. Can you imagine the impact being ‘raised from the dead’ must have had on Lazarus, and on his sisters Martha and Mary? They must have been overflowing with love and gratitude for what Jesus had done! And this shows very powerfully in the scene we heard about this morning from the beginning of John 12. Mary pours out her extremely expensive essential oil on the feet of Jesus, and then wipes them with her hair.

An extravagant act of pure love. And Judas thought it was too much. Way over the top. Why wasn’t that expensive oil sold – the money could have been used for the poor. No one would have noticed if Judas had helped himself to just a bit of it... Judas, mocking the extent of Mary’s attention on Jesus.

Some people mock the devotion of Christians to Jesus. Some people mock our worship of Jesus. Some Christians mock other Christians who worship Jesus in ways that differ from their way. Psalm 1 verse 1: Blessed is the man who does not sit in the seat of mockers. Here in Bethany at this dinner held in Jesus’ honour, Judas was sitting 'in the seat of mockers'. There can be times when we play the role of ‘the spoilsport’, spoiling a sacred and special moment of another. If some want to raise their hands in praise, let them raise their hands. If some want to be still in praise, let them be still. It is all acceptable to the Lord when it is done with the motivation of heartfelt worship.

This was a special moment between Mary and Jesus – Mary seemed to know something that other people hadn’t fully realised – she seemed to know that Jesus was soon to die. What was Mary’s motivation to do this extravagant sacred act? Maybe her deep love and affection for Jesus grew from their relationship where she had learned so much from him about God and love. Maybe it was because Jesus had given her brother Lazarus back to her. Maybe it was that she knew he was going to die very soon, and she wanted to make a last loving gesture to him.

We sense that Mary was giving her most valuable possession to Jesus. We, too, are to give our very best to Jesus out of our love for him. As we hear this story, we sense that Mary’s loving gift to Jesus was a symbol of her inner love. And we sense through this story that we are invited to be the same kind of person, the same kind of disciple, to love Jesus affectionately and intimately and give him the very best of ourselves.

In Luke’s version of the situation, it is an unnamed woman who wets Jesus’ feet with tears, dries them with her hair, and covers his feet with perfume. In Luke’s version, this woman is referred to as ‘a sinner’ several times. The motivation for her loving gesture to Jesus was that Jesus had forgiven her for her many sins. Jesus then tells a parable of a man who was in debt for five hundred days of labour and another man who was in debt for fifty days of labour. Both debts were forgiven. Jesus asked, “Who was more appreciative? The man who was forgiven five hundred days of labour or the man who was forgiven fifty days of labour?” The answer was obvious: the man who was forgiven five hundred days of labour. Jesus said, “Whoever has been forgiven much, loves much. Whoever has been forgiven little, loves little.”

The reason this unnamed woman was so generous to Jesus with her tears, her tenderness, and anointing Jesus’ feet with expensive perfume was that her sins were great and Jesus had forgiven her all her many sins. And many of us can understand the woman’s feelings towards Jesus and his abundant forgiveness, because we feel the same way.

Nothing compares with knowing Jesus and the loving forgiveness he paid for with his life. It’s the same message in the first reading from St. Paul’s letter to the Philippians. Paul had all he needed, but he’s ready to write it all off for the sake of knowing Christ. That passage from Philippians 3 breathes the same spirit of “unreasonableness” that Mary demonstrates in anointing Jesus with pure nard; of being prepared to give everything for the love of Christ.

How can we, in our own situation and personality and century, be a bit more like Paul and Mary in our devotion? Both their lives had been deeply touched by Jesus, so much so that they wanted to give their best for him. Can that be possible for us?

Does our worship reflect a sense that our lives have been deeply touched by the living Christ? Sometimes our worship (and I include myself) can be a bit lack lustre – it can lack passion. Sometimes our personal circumstances are such that it’s all we can do to ‘go through the motions’. Other times we have no such excuse, yet something stops us from worshiping in spirit and in truth. Is it self-consciousness? Mary certainly didn’t let self-consciousness get in the way of expressing her love for Jesus.

Is it our culture? Our culture doesn’t exactly support extravagant showings of devotion to Jesus. We live in a ‘can’t-be-bothered’ culture – a culture of indifference. But the fact that we’re here in Church today means we’re not entirely indifferent to what Jesus has done for us and for the whole world.

Of course often times in church our heartfelt response is genuine, but simply isn’t outwardly apparent, but its inward appearance is seen by God, and that's what matters most. Perhaps like Lazarus we’re simply reclining with the Lord, or like Martha we’re serving him without a fuss, or like Mary had done previously, perhaps we’re sitting quietly at the Lord’s feet, learning from him. And all of this is acceptable to the Lord. Enthusiasm doesn’t have to be ‘loud’; enthusiasm is sometimes still and quiet.

But an emotionally charged response is also acceptable to the Lord; let us never sit in the seat of mockers if we happen to be in the midst of that kind of response! The motivation behind the response is what God sees. God knows whether our response is made in order to glorify him or to glorify our self.

God’s response to all that is wrong in creation was to send Jesus, who laid down his life for us. That was an irrational, extravagant response. Jesus tells us in John 10 that he came so that we may have life, and have it to the full!

How can we respond? I mentioned at the beginning that a common Lent practice is to increase our almsgiving – our financial giving to the work of the church. This is a good and important response of thankfulness for what the Lord has done. It’s something that we do secretly – no one should know how much we are giving to the church. But much more important is the giving of our hearts to the Lord.

Over the next couple of weeks as we move closer to Good Friday, and we focus even more on the cross, you may want to respond from the heart in an extravagant, costly, sacrificial way in worship of the Lord – and please don’t feel you need to hide that away so that others won’t see! I know it’s scary, and I know it can make us feel like outsiders in a world where we are mocked or treated with indifference. But we’re not called to hide our love for the Lord!

I finish with a prayer from St. Anselm: O God, we pray that we may so know you and love you, that we may rejoice in you. And if we may not do so fully in this life, let us go steadily on to the day when we come to fullness of life. Meanwhile let our minds meditate on your eternal goodness, let our tongues speak of it, let our hearts live it, let our mouths speak it, let our souls hunger for it, and our whole being desire it, until we enter into your joy. Amen.