London, 2026
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Michael McDermott - The Struggle Makes You Stronger.
Sunday, 27 September 2026
God's dwelling place is with us
Here's the reflection that I shared at St Catherine's Wickford this evening:
God's ancient covenant with the Jewish people was, as Ezekiel wrote, that, “My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people" (Ezekiel 37.15-28). At the end of Bible we find these words, “God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.” (Revelation 21: 3).
This covenant which God made with his people is fulfilled through Jesus. Jesus says that he dwells in God the Father and the Father dwells in him. In other words, he is united with God and lives out as a human being what God himself is like. When he says to his disciples that there are many dwelling places in his Father’s house, Jesus is letting his disciples know that it is not he alone who is to dwell with the Father but that there is room for all of them and many more (John 14. 1 - 7).
He then says to his disciples that he is about to leave them to prepare a dwelling place for them with God. He is speaking of his death, resurrection and ascension, as these enable his disciples to be united to him and, in him, with God, his Father. Heaven is experienced through our union with God. When we are united with God, we, like Jesus, dwell in God and God dwells in us. Through Jesus, we experience this unity with God in the here and now and it continues into our life with God after death.
Jesus is the way to unity with God. He is the way to God dwelling with us and our dwelling in God.
Eugene Peterson has encapsulated Jesus’ point about being the way, truth and life by saying, “Only when we do the Jesus truth in the Jesus way do we get the Jesus life.” In many funeral services we pray for the wisdom and the grace to use aright the time that is left to us on earth. That wisdom and grace come to us as we ask ourselves, ‘Am I living the Jesus truth?’ ‘Am I living the Jesus way?’ ‘Am I living the Jesus life?’ We too can experience unity with God when we do the Jesus truth in the Jesus way to get the Jesus life.
God's ancient covenant with the Jewish people was, as Ezekiel wrote, that, “My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people" (Ezekiel 37.15-28). At the end of Bible we find these words, “God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.” (Revelation 21: 3).
This covenant which God made with his people is fulfilled through Jesus. Jesus says that he dwells in God the Father and the Father dwells in him. In other words, he is united with God and lives out as a human being what God himself is like. When he says to his disciples that there are many dwelling places in his Father’s house, Jesus is letting his disciples know that it is not he alone who is to dwell with the Father but that there is room for all of them and many more (John 14. 1 - 7).
He then says to his disciples that he is about to leave them to prepare a dwelling place for them with God. He is speaking of his death, resurrection and ascension, as these enable his disciples to be united to him and, in him, with God, his Father. Heaven is experienced through our union with God. When we are united with God, we, like Jesus, dwell in God and God dwells in us. Through Jesus, we experience this unity with God in the here and now and it continues into our life with God after death.
Jesus is the way to unity with God. He is the way to God dwelling with us and our dwelling in God.
Eugene Peterson has encapsulated Jesus’ point about being the way, truth and life by saying, “Only when we do the Jesus truth in the Jesus way do we get the Jesus life.” In many funeral services we pray for the wisdom and the grace to use aright the time that is left to us on earth. That wisdom and grace come to us as we ask ourselves, ‘Am I living the Jesus truth?’ ‘Am I living the Jesus way?’ ‘Am I living the Jesus life?’ We too can experience unity with God when we do the Jesus truth in the Jesus way to get the Jesus life.
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U2 - Silencio.
Sunday, 20 September 2026
Equality and the generosity of God
Here's the sermon that I shared today at St John's Langdon Hills and St Andrew's Wickford:
Chichele Road in Cricklewood is known as Job Street, where economic migrants line up to be hired from the back of a van, no questions asked. Dozens of men in jeans and anoraks hang around from 6.30am to discover whether they will be working that day. A car will stop, a negotiation will take place, a deal may be struck. Typically, the men will be whisked off to a building site or a house in the process of renovation. They will be paid £20 to £40 for a long, arduous day's work: no tax, no national insurance, no questions asked.
That’s essentially the scenario for today’s Gospel reading (Matthew 20. 1 - 16). The social situation in Jesus’ day was that many small farmers were being forced off their land because of debt they incurred to pay Roman taxes. Consequently, large pools of unemployed men gathered each morning, hoping to be hired for the day. They were the displaced, unemployed, and underemployed workers of their day. Those still waiting at five o'clock would have had little chance of earning enough to buy food for their families that day. Yet the vineyard owner pays even them a full day’s wage. The owner in the parable ensures that all the workers are paid enough to support their families, as a denarius was a full day’s pay for a skilled worker.
So, unlike those exploited illegal workers or gig economy workers earning less than the minimum wage, the employer in this story is concerned that those he employs are paid a living wage. The standard thing for an employer in Jesus’ day to do would be to send one of his employees to the marketplace to pick up a few extra workers for the day. But this employer goes to the marketplace himself. In fact, he goes repeatedly to seek workers and clearly cares about their predicament seeking to lift them out of their despair by providing work that meets their needs and the needs of those who depend on them. If God is like the owner of the vineyard then he cares about our hopeless situation as human beings. He comes looking for us. He goes on an all-out search to find workers for his vineyard. He longs to provide us with a life of significance in his kingdom work.
As N. T. Wright has said, God’s grace, in short, is not the sort of thing you can bargain with or try to store up. It isn’t the sort of thing that one person can have a lot of and someone else only a little. The point of the story is that what people get from having served God and his kingdom is not, actually, a ‘wage’ at all. It’s not, strictly, a reward for work done. God doesn’t make contracts with us, as if we could bargain or negotiate for a better deal. He makes covenants, in which he promises us everything and asks of us everything in return. When he keeps his promises, he is not rewarding us for effort, but doing what comes naturally to his overflowingly generous nature.
Michael Green says of this story: Length of service and long hours of toil in the heat of the day constitute no claim on God and provide no reason why he should not be generous to those who have done less. All human merit shrivels before his burning, self-giving love. Grace, amazing grace, is the burden of this story. All are equally undeserving of so large a sum as a denarius a day. All are given it by the generosity of the employer. All are on the same level. The poor disciples, fishermen and tax collectors as they are, are welcomed by God along with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. There are no rankings in the kingdom of God. Nobody can claim deserved membership of the kingdom. There is no place for personal pride, for contempt or jealousy, for there is no ground for any to question how this generous God handles the utterly undeserving. He is good. He sees that the one-hour workers would have no money for supper if they got paid for only one hour. In generosity he gives them what they need. Who is to complain at that?
Yet there is always a danger that we do get cross with God over this. People who work or move in church circles can easily assume that they are the special ones, God’s inner circle. In reality, as we have seen, God is out in the marketplace, looking for the people everybody else tried to ignore, welcoming them on the same terms, surprising them (and everybody else) with his generous grace. In Ephesians 2:8-10 Paul says, For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Is there anywhere in today’s church, I wonder, that doesn’t need to be reminded of that message?
The parable is also a message of hope to everyone struggling to find adequate employment. In God’s kingdom, it suggests, we will all find work that meets our needs. The parable is, therefore, also a challenge to all those who have a hand in shaping the structures of work in today’s society. What can we do, as Christians, to advance this aspect of God’s kingdom right now?
Chichele Road in Cricklewood is known as Job Street, where economic migrants line up to be hired from the back of a van, no questions asked. Dozens of men in jeans and anoraks hang around from 6.30am to discover whether they will be working that day. A car will stop, a negotiation will take place, a deal may be struck. Typically, the men will be whisked off to a building site or a house in the process of renovation. They will be paid £20 to £40 for a long, arduous day's work: no tax, no national insurance, no questions asked.
That’s essentially the scenario for today’s Gospel reading (Matthew 20. 1 - 16). The social situation in Jesus’ day was that many small farmers were being forced off their land because of debt they incurred to pay Roman taxes. Consequently, large pools of unemployed men gathered each morning, hoping to be hired for the day. They were the displaced, unemployed, and underemployed workers of their day. Those still waiting at five o'clock would have had little chance of earning enough to buy food for their families that day. Yet the vineyard owner pays even them a full day’s wage. The owner in the parable ensures that all the workers are paid enough to support their families, as a denarius was a full day’s pay for a skilled worker.
So, unlike those exploited illegal workers or gig economy workers earning less than the minimum wage, the employer in this story is concerned that those he employs are paid a living wage. The standard thing for an employer in Jesus’ day to do would be to send one of his employees to the marketplace to pick up a few extra workers for the day. But this employer goes to the marketplace himself. In fact, he goes repeatedly to seek workers and clearly cares about their predicament seeking to lift them out of their despair by providing work that meets their needs and the needs of those who depend on them. If God is like the owner of the vineyard then he cares about our hopeless situation as human beings. He comes looking for us. He goes on an all-out search to find workers for his vineyard. He longs to provide us with a life of significance in his kingdom work.
As N. T. Wright has said, God’s grace, in short, is not the sort of thing you can bargain with or try to store up. It isn’t the sort of thing that one person can have a lot of and someone else only a little. The point of the story is that what people get from having served God and his kingdom is not, actually, a ‘wage’ at all. It’s not, strictly, a reward for work done. God doesn’t make contracts with us, as if we could bargain or negotiate for a better deal. He makes covenants, in which he promises us everything and asks of us everything in return. When he keeps his promises, he is not rewarding us for effort, but doing what comes naturally to his overflowingly generous nature.
Michael Green says of this story: Length of service and long hours of toil in the heat of the day constitute no claim on God and provide no reason why he should not be generous to those who have done less. All human merit shrivels before his burning, self-giving love. Grace, amazing grace, is the burden of this story. All are equally undeserving of so large a sum as a denarius a day. All are given it by the generosity of the employer. All are on the same level. The poor disciples, fishermen and tax collectors as they are, are welcomed by God along with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. There are no rankings in the kingdom of God. Nobody can claim deserved membership of the kingdom. There is no place for personal pride, for contempt or jealousy, for there is no ground for any to question how this generous God handles the utterly undeserving. He is good. He sees that the one-hour workers would have no money for supper if they got paid for only one hour. In generosity he gives them what they need. Who is to complain at that?
Yet there is always a danger that we do get cross with God over this. People who work or move in church circles can easily assume that they are the special ones, God’s inner circle. In reality, as we have seen, God is out in the marketplace, looking for the people everybody else tried to ignore, welcoming them on the same terms, surprising them (and everybody else) with his generous grace. In Ephesians 2:8-10 Paul says, For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Is there anywhere in today’s church, I wonder, that doesn’t need to be reminded of that message?
The parable is also a message of hope to everyone struggling to find adequate employment. In God’s kingdom, it suggests, we will all find work that meets our needs. The parable is, therefore, also a challenge to all those who have a hand in shaping the structures of work in today’s society. What can we do, as Christians, to advance this aspect of God’s kingdom right now?
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R.E.M. - Finest Worksong.
Stewardship 3 - Small change
Here's the All-age sermon based on https://www.assemblies.org.uk/pri/2021/small-change that I shared this morning at St Mary's Runwell:
Draw some coins from your purse or pocket, explaining that they are often described as ‘small change’. Comment that, when counting our change, we don’t very often look closely at the coins themselves, but each is carefully designed and made at the Royal Mint.
If younger children are present, demonstrate, along the following lines, how the coins are of different sizes and shapes and formed of different materials.
Which is the smallest? (Five pence piece.)
How many faces (sides) are there to the edge of a 20 pence or 50 pence piece? (Seven.)
Some coins are a copper colour, made from copper-plated steel, while others are silver in appearance, made from nickel-plated steel.
Mention that it may even be possible to find some hidden treasure in small change! In 2008, some new design 20 pence coins (only 250,000) were accidentally produced without a date on either side. (Details can be found on the Royal Mint’s website.) These are worth far more than 20 pence to collectors! Is it possible to find one? Look carefully!
Explain that the designs on the reverse side of some coins show parts of the Royal Shield of Arms. Different UK coins each show a part of the Royal Shield of Arms — and when you put them together, they create the full royal coat of arms. This clever design symbolises: England; Scotland; Wales; and Northern Ireland. So next time you’re checking your change… you might be holding a piece of royal history without even realising it!
Observe that small change is often collected for charities such as our collections for Positive Life Kenya. Each small contribution helps to make a larger gift – just as the individual pieces of small change form a larger picture.
Introduce our Gospel reading (Mark 12:41-44) that tells how even the smallest coin can really matter. Ask a group of children to make a big thing of pouring lots of coins into a collecting bowl and one secretively placing in two pennies.
The widow’s offering
One day Jesus and his friends sat in one of the temple courts. It was a very busy place. Lots of people were there, leaving gifts of money in the collecting boxes.
Some rich people gave large amounts of money. They liked to show off. They wanted everyone watching to see how rich and generous they were.
Jesus then spotted a poor widow quietly making her way across the temple court. Looking around to check no one saw her, she dropped two of the smallest coins into the collection box.
‘Did you see that?’ Jesus asked his friends. That widow has been more generous than anyone else. The rich people gave what they could easily afford, but the small coins she gave were all she had to buy food today’.
Conclude with the following thought that small coins can mean a lot and small change can add up to make a big difference. Perhaps we should look more closely at the coins in our purses, pockets and money boxes.
Time for reflection
Coins come in different shapes and sizes and can be spent in many different ways, but every coin has two sides. Along with the happiness of getting, we can experience the joy of giving. Stewardship month is an annual reminder to us that that is so when it comes to the contribution we make as Christian disciples; when it comes to the money we give back to God, the talents we use in his service, the community contribution we make and the environmentally-friendly actions we take.
Our Parish needs a whole series of small contributions at present as we need new volunteers across the whole range of our ministry. The packs that you have been given include more information about Stewardship and response forms to help you think more about the ways you give currently and what might be possible in the future. The packs include a form you can fill in to offer your help.
When it comes to our financial giving, we have faced significant challenges as for a long time we haven’t been able to give the Diocese the Parish Share that is needed to cover the cost of clergy and the other support that the Diocese provides. We are gradually increasing the amount we give to the Diocese for our support year-on—year and have raised funds for the first two Phases of our repair project. However, we need to maintain and improve that situation this year, so ask that you reconsider your giving at this time and use Stewardship Month to decide what you can contribute to St Catherine’s and our Parish in future. There are forms in the Pack which can be used if you want to start giving or if you are able to change what you are giving.
For those who are tax payers there has for some time been a way of increasing the value of the gifts you give. Gift Aid enables us to reclaim the basic rate tax from HMRC for those who are taxpayers, so for every £1 that you give we can claim an extra 25p. That means that, if you are a tax payer, we need you to fill out a Gift Aid declaration form in order to reclaim that money. There’s a copy in the Pack for you to fill out. There are three ways you can give using Gift Aid. The Parish Giving Scheme provides simple and secure ways to give regularly to this church; online, by phone, or by posting a giving form. Joining PGS means they claim the Gift Aid and send it direct to our Bank Account. You can also use our yellow envelopes for cash donations or fill in the Gift Aid declaration on the Card Reader where giving using your bank card.
Jesus commended the widow for giving the small amount that she had. We need the contribution that you can make to our Parish, however small it may seem to you, and in whatever way you can make that contribution. Thank you so much for all the ways you give currently and the different contributions you make. They are vital to the mission and ministry of our Parish and we are very grateful for them. The mission and ministry of this church is the combined effect of the contributions that each of us make. We need you now, more than ever. God has given you resources, time and talents, so this Stewardship Month I encourage you to reflect prayerfully on all that you can and do give back to him in order that together we can combine our individual offerings to make a bigger impact for him. Amen.
Willie Nelson & Sinéad O'Connor - Don't Give Up.
Draw some coins from your purse or pocket, explaining that they are often described as ‘small change’. Comment that, when counting our change, we don’t very often look closely at the coins themselves, but each is carefully designed and made at the Royal Mint.
If younger children are present, demonstrate, along the following lines, how the coins are of different sizes and shapes and formed of different materials.
Which is the smallest? (Five pence piece.)
How many faces (sides) are there to the edge of a 20 pence or 50 pence piece? (Seven.)
Some coins are a copper colour, made from copper-plated steel, while others are silver in appearance, made from nickel-plated steel.
Mention that it may even be possible to find some hidden treasure in small change! In 2008, some new design 20 pence coins (only 250,000) were accidentally produced without a date on either side. (Details can be found on the Royal Mint’s website.) These are worth far more than 20 pence to collectors! Is it possible to find one? Look carefully!
Explain that the designs on the reverse side of some coins show parts of the Royal Shield of Arms. Different UK coins each show a part of the Royal Shield of Arms — and when you put them together, they create the full royal coat of arms. This clever design symbolises: England; Scotland; Wales; and Northern Ireland. So next time you’re checking your change… you might be holding a piece of royal history without even realising it!
Observe that small change is often collected for charities such as our collections for Positive Life Kenya. Each small contribution helps to make a larger gift – just as the individual pieces of small change form a larger picture.
Introduce our Gospel reading (Mark 12:41-44) that tells how even the smallest coin can really matter. Ask a group of children to make a big thing of pouring lots of coins into a collecting bowl and one secretively placing in two pennies.
The widow’s offering
One day Jesus and his friends sat in one of the temple courts. It was a very busy place. Lots of people were there, leaving gifts of money in the collecting boxes.
Some rich people gave large amounts of money. They liked to show off. They wanted everyone watching to see how rich and generous they were.
Jesus then spotted a poor widow quietly making her way across the temple court. Looking around to check no one saw her, she dropped two of the smallest coins into the collection box.
‘Did you see that?’ Jesus asked his friends. That widow has been more generous than anyone else. The rich people gave what they could easily afford, but the small coins she gave were all she had to buy food today’.
Conclude with the following thought that small coins can mean a lot and small change can add up to make a big difference. Perhaps we should look more closely at the coins in our purses, pockets and money boxes.
Time for reflection
Coins come in different shapes and sizes and can be spent in many different ways, but every coin has two sides. Along with the happiness of getting, we can experience the joy of giving. Stewardship month is an annual reminder to us that that is so when it comes to the contribution we make as Christian disciples; when it comes to the money we give back to God, the talents we use in his service, the community contribution we make and the environmentally-friendly actions we take.
Our Parish needs a whole series of small contributions at present as we need new volunteers across the whole range of our ministry. The packs that you have been given include more information about Stewardship and response forms to help you think more about the ways you give currently and what might be possible in the future. The packs include a form you can fill in to offer your help.
When it comes to our financial giving, we have faced significant challenges as for a long time we haven’t been able to give the Diocese the Parish Share that is needed to cover the cost of clergy and the other support that the Diocese provides. We are gradually increasing the amount we give to the Diocese for our support year-on—year and have raised funds for the first two Phases of our repair project. However, we need to maintain and improve that situation this year, so ask that you reconsider your giving at this time and use Stewardship Month to decide what you can contribute to St Catherine’s and our Parish in future. There are forms in the Pack which can be used if you want to start giving or if you are able to change what you are giving.
For those who are tax payers there has for some time been a way of increasing the value of the gifts you give. Gift Aid enables us to reclaim the basic rate tax from HMRC for those who are taxpayers, so for every £1 that you give we can claim an extra 25p. That means that, if you are a tax payer, we need you to fill out a Gift Aid declaration form in order to reclaim that money. There’s a copy in the Pack for you to fill out. There are three ways you can give using Gift Aid. The Parish Giving Scheme provides simple and secure ways to give regularly to this church; online, by phone, or by posting a giving form. Joining PGS means they claim the Gift Aid and send it direct to our Bank Account. You can also use our yellow envelopes for cash donations or fill in the Gift Aid declaration on the Card Reader where giving using your bank card.
Jesus commended the widow for giving the small amount that she had. We need the contribution that you can make to our Parish, however small it may seem to you, and in whatever way you can make that contribution. Thank you so much for all the ways you give currently and the different contributions you make. They are vital to the mission and ministry of our Parish and we are very grateful for them. The mission and ministry of this church is the combined effect of the contributions that each of us make. We need you now, more than ever. God has given you resources, time and talents, so this Stewardship Month I encourage you to reflect prayerfully on all that you can and do give back to him in order that together we can combine our individual offerings to make a bigger impact for him. Amen.
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Windows on the world (587)
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Steve Scott - Permanent Revolution.
Thursday, 17 September 2026
Love is ...
Here's the sermon that I shared at St Andrew's Wickford yesterday:
When I preach at weddings I often tell the story of the Love is … cartoons. ‘Love Is...’ began as shy love notes from the artist Kim Casali to her future husband, Roberto. Each of these notes involved a little drawing and a personal sentiment that perfectly captured Kim's thoughts and feelings for the man she loved. She began these drawings when they were dating, and she would leave the cartoons where Roberto would be sure to find them. After they were married, he showed her that he'd kept them all the drawing she had made for him. The cartoons were picked up by the press, were first published in The Los Angeles Times in January 1970, and then their popularity grew globally and they were published daily in 50 countries around the world and translated into 25 languages.
I use this as a way of introducing the original ‘Love is …’ from 1 Corinthians 13: “Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.”
The ‘Love is …’ cartoons and 1 Corinthians 13 both agree with another well-known ‘love is’ statement; ‘Love is a many-splendoured thing.’ Love cannot be captured or summed up in one cartoon or phrase or even in a series of cartoons or phrases. Love constantly bursts the bounds of our descriptions or definitions and this is why there is no end to songs, poems, novels, films, dances and plays about love. When I was ministering in the City of London, I would visit the Guildhall Art Gallery where we can see that the subject of romantic love preoccupied Victorian artists who addressed themes of unrequited love, social incompatibility, family disapproval, and separation at war.
Nearer our own time, C.S. Lewis is well known for looking at some of the different loves described in Greek thought - familial or affectionate love (storge); friendship (philia); romantic love (eros); and spiritual love (agape) - in the light of Christian commentary on ordinate loves. Despite his writings on The Four Loves he was himself surprised by love as his own relationship with Joy Davidman developed. The experience of love confounded his earlier more academic perceptions of it.
It is possible that the definitive Biblical statement on love is that which is found in 1 John 4. 16 where we read that, ‘God is love’. This is also where Ernesto Cardenal takes us. Our experiences of friendship, familial and romantic love all enable us to know God as love. Therefore, he writes, ‘My former loves have taught me what love is. I know how you love me because I too have loved, and I know what passionate and obsessed love is and what it is to be madly in love with someone. And God is mad about me.’
The strength of God’s love for us was revealed among us through his sending of his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. ‘In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.’ Christ searches for us like the Good Shepherd searching for the lost sheep. His journey of salvation shows how much we are loved by him as he gives up all he has in order to seek us out and rescue us.
The extremity of God’s expression of love in giving all in self-sacrifice reveals the limitless nature of love which constantly escapes the limits of our experiences, descriptions or definitions. If God is love then, just as God is infinite and cannot ever be fully grasped by our finite minds, so love also must be inexhaustible. As St Paul stated in 1 Corinthians 13, ‘Love never ends’. Love, like God, is an infinite ocean into which we dive and can always swim deeper and further.
In The Last Battle, the final volume of his Narnia stories, C.S. Lewis sums up the reality of God, heaven and love in the phrase, ‘further up and further in.’ The children in his stories discover heaven as the real Narnia which is bigger and better than the shadow Narnia in which they had lived out their finite lives. When they reach the centre of this real Narnia, they find that their journey begins again as there is always a deeper layer to this real Narnia, meaning that there is no end to their exploration of the reality of Narnia. If God is love and love is God then, as T.S. Eliot wrote in Little Gidding, ‘We shall not cease from exploration / And the end of all our exploring / Will be to arrive where we started / And know the place for the first time.’
When I preach at weddings I often tell the story of the Love is … cartoons. ‘Love Is...’ began as shy love notes from the artist Kim Casali to her future husband, Roberto. Each of these notes involved a little drawing and a personal sentiment that perfectly captured Kim's thoughts and feelings for the man she loved. She began these drawings when they were dating, and she would leave the cartoons where Roberto would be sure to find them. After they were married, he showed her that he'd kept them all the drawing she had made for him. The cartoons were picked up by the press, were first published in The Los Angeles Times in January 1970, and then their popularity grew globally and they were published daily in 50 countries around the world and translated into 25 languages.
I use this as a way of introducing the original ‘Love is …’ from 1 Corinthians 13: “Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.”
The ‘Love is …’ cartoons and 1 Corinthians 13 both agree with another well-known ‘love is’ statement; ‘Love is a many-splendoured thing.’ Love cannot be captured or summed up in one cartoon or phrase or even in a series of cartoons or phrases. Love constantly bursts the bounds of our descriptions or definitions and this is why there is no end to songs, poems, novels, films, dances and plays about love. When I was ministering in the City of London, I would visit the Guildhall Art Gallery where we can see that the subject of romantic love preoccupied Victorian artists who addressed themes of unrequited love, social incompatibility, family disapproval, and separation at war.
Nearer our own time, C.S. Lewis is well known for looking at some of the different loves described in Greek thought - familial or affectionate love (storge); friendship (philia); romantic love (eros); and spiritual love (agape) - in the light of Christian commentary on ordinate loves. Despite his writings on The Four Loves he was himself surprised by love as his own relationship with Joy Davidman developed. The experience of love confounded his earlier more academic perceptions of it.
It is possible that the definitive Biblical statement on love is that which is found in 1 John 4. 16 where we read that, ‘God is love’. This is also where Ernesto Cardenal takes us. Our experiences of friendship, familial and romantic love all enable us to know God as love. Therefore, he writes, ‘My former loves have taught me what love is. I know how you love me because I too have loved, and I know what passionate and obsessed love is and what it is to be madly in love with someone. And God is mad about me.’
The strength of God’s love for us was revealed among us through his sending of his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. ‘In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.’ Christ searches for us like the Good Shepherd searching for the lost sheep. His journey of salvation shows how much we are loved by him as he gives up all he has in order to seek us out and rescue us.
The extremity of God’s expression of love in giving all in self-sacrifice reveals the limitless nature of love which constantly escapes the limits of our experiences, descriptions or definitions. If God is love then, just as God is infinite and cannot ever be fully grasped by our finite minds, so love also must be inexhaustible. As St Paul stated in 1 Corinthians 13, ‘Love never ends’. Love, like God, is an infinite ocean into which we dive and can always swim deeper and further.
In The Last Battle, the final volume of his Narnia stories, C.S. Lewis sums up the reality of God, heaven and love in the phrase, ‘further up and further in.’ The children in his stories discover heaven as the real Narnia which is bigger and better than the shadow Narnia in which they had lived out their finite lives. When they reach the centre of this real Narnia, they find that their journey begins again as there is always a deeper layer to this real Narnia, meaning that there is no end to their exploration of the reality of Narnia. If God is love and love is God then, as T.S. Eliot wrote in Little Gidding, ‘We shall not cease from exploration / And the end of all our exploring / Will be to arrive where we started / And know the place for the first time.’
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Victoria Williams - Love.
Assistant Diocesan Director of Ordinands (part time) and Team Vicar of Wickford & Runwell (half time)
Are you passionate about enabling people to explore God’s call to ordained ministry?
And are you an inspirational and collaborative Leader who can contribute to Christ’s mission in a thriving Essex community?
The Diocese of Chelmsford has an exciting opportunity for an Assistant Diocesan Director of Ordinands (part-time) and benefice of Wickford and Runwell are seeking a half time Team Vicar to join a ministry team in an expanding town that is grasping significant opportunities to grow ministry among young people, creatives and seniors. We are connecting churches, connecting with individuals, with our community, and with God.
The total package for both the ADDO role and Team Vicar role will be equivalent to £34,950 per annum
We are looking for an exceptional candidate to be appointed to this dual role.
For further details and to apply, please see click here.
For an informal conversation about the Team Vicar role, please contact: The Venerable Dr Sue Lucas on 01245 982642.
For an informal conversation about how the appointments will be structured, please contact: Revd Canon Rob Merchant at rmerchant@chelmsford.anglican.org
Closing Date: 20 September 2026
Interview Date: 21 October 2026
Job description:
Download
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Delerious? - Find Me In The River.
And are you an inspirational and collaborative Leader who can contribute to Christ’s mission in a thriving Essex community?
The Diocese of Chelmsford has an exciting opportunity for an Assistant Diocesan Director of Ordinands (part-time) and benefice of Wickford and Runwell are seeking a half time Team Vicar to join a ministry team in an expanding town that is grasping significant opportunities to grow ministry among young people, creatives and seniors. We are connecting churches, connecting with individuals, with our community, and with God.
The total package for both the ADDO role and Team Vicar role will be equivalent to £34,950 per annum
We are looking for an exceptional candidate to be appointed to this dual role.
For further details and to apply, please see click here.
For an informal conversation about the Team Vicar role, please contact: The Venerable Dr Sue Lucas on 01245 982642.
For an informal conversation about how the appointments will be structured, please contact: Revd Canon Rob Merchant at rmerchant@chelmsford.anglican.org
Closing Date: 20 September 2026
Interview Date: 21 October 2026
Job description:
Download
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Delerious? - Find Me In The River.
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