Christmas Bazaar

Christmas Bazaar
Saturday 30 November
10.00 am – 1.00 pm, St Andrew’s Church (11 London Road, Wickford, Essex SS12 0AN)

(Christmas Bazaar for the Wickford & Runwell Team Ministry – St Andrew’s, St Catherine’s & St Mary’s)

• School Choirs performing
• Guess the weight of the cake
• Tombola & Bottle Tombola
• Christmas Gifts & Crafts
• How many sweets?
• Cakes & Produce
• Name the Teddy
• Children’s Lucky Dip
• Meet Santa & his Elf
• Refreshments

& Grand Christmas Draw

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Mike Peters - Breathe.

Thin Places and Sacred Spaces: October online launch

 

View the recording of the October online launch for Thin Places and Sacred Spaces here. Join editor Sarah Law of Amethyst Press on Friday for an evening hour of poetry readings and discussions on what makes the concept of a thin place so compatible with poetry. To see the September Launch, which includes my reading of 'Runwell', click here.

In this important and wide-ranging new anthology from Amethyst Press, with contributions by over 150 contemporary poets, readers are invited to reflect on and experience the poetry of ‘thin places’. The ‘thin place’ is a Celtic term, originally indicating a specific geographical location where the veil between heaven and earth seems exceptionally thin or lifted altogether. The anthology embraces and expands the concept of thin places and sacred spaces, including:

• Sacred Locations
• Sacred Nature
• Sacred Architecture
• Sacred Times & Holy Hours
• The Thin Veil Between Life & Death
• The Holy Unexpected
• Thin Places in Art, Poetry & Language

If you have ever felt the touch of eternity in nature or sacred architecture; at specific times of the day or year; in stillness, movement, art, silence or surprise – this collection is for you.

'Runwell' is part of a series of poems on thin places and sacred spaces in Essex called 'Four Essex Trios' and was the first poem in the sequence to be written and published. The poem takes the reader on a visit to St Mary's Runwell, while also reflecting on the spirituality of the space plus its history and legends.

The second poem in the sequence to be published is at International Times and is entitled 'Broomfield' Broomfield in Essex became a village of artists following the arrival of Revd John Rutherford in 1930. His daughter, the artist Rosemary Rutherford, also moved with them and made the vicarage a base for her artwork including paintings and stained glass. Then, Gwynneth Holt and Thomas Bayliss Huxley-Jones moved to Broomfield in 1949 where they shared a large studio in their garden and both achieved high personal success. My poem reviews their stories, work, legacy and motivations. For more on the artists of Broomfield, all of whom are commemorated there with blue plaques, see here, here, here, here and here. I will be giving a talk on 'Broomfield Artists in the Basildon Deanery' at St Andrew's Wickford in December (see below).

The third poem in the series to be published is entitled 'Pleshey' and celebrates the Diocesan Retreat House at Pleshey in Essex and the legacy of Evelyn Underhill as a retreat director. My poem can also be found on the Diocesan Retreat House website here.

'Bradwell', the final poem in the series to have been published, is a celebration of the history of the Chapel of St Peter-on-the-Wall, the Othona Community, and of pilgrimage to those places. My previous posts about Bradwell and the Othona Community can be found here and here.

I also had a poem included in All Shall Be Well: Poems for Julian of Norwich, the first Amethyst Press anthology of new poems. 'All Shall Be Well' is an anthology of new poems for Mother Julian, medieval mystic, anchoress, and the first woman to write a book in English. Lyrical, prayerful, vivid and insightful, these poems offer a poetic testament to Julian's enduring legacy of prayer and confidence in a merciful God who assured her that 'All Shall Be Well, and All Shall Be Well, and All Manner of Thing Shall Be Well.' The anthology has been edited by and comes with an introduction by Sarah Law, editor of Amethyst Review.

My poem for that anthology is based on a large painting 'The Revelations of Julian of Norwich' by Australian artist Alan Oldfield which is to be found at the Belsey Bridge Conference Centre in Ditchingham, Norfolk.

Amethyst Review is a publication for readers and writers who are interested in creative exploration of spirituality and the sacred. Readers and writers of all religions and none are most welcome. All work published engages in some way with spirituality or the sacred in a spirit of thoughtful and respectful inquiry, rather than proselytizing.

The Editor-in-chief is Sarah Law – poet (mainly), tutor, occasional critic, sometime fiction writer. She has published five poetry collections, the latest of which is 'Thérèse: Poems'. Her novel, Sketches from a Sunlit Heaven is a 2023 Illumination Book Award silver medal winner. She set up Amethyst Review feeling the lack of a UK-based platform for the sharing and readership of new literary writing that engages in some way with spirituality and the sacred.

Five of my poems have appeared in Amethyst Review. They are:'Pleshey', 'Runwell', 'Are/Are Not', 'Attend, attend' and 'Maritain, Green, Beckett and Anderson in conversation down through the ages'. To read my poems published by Stride, click here, here, here, here, and here. My poems published by International Times are 'Broomfield' and 'The ABC of creativity'. The latter covers attention, beginning and creation and can be read here.

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Launch of Thin Places & Sacred Spaces: an anthology of new poetry

Paul Chandler and Brian Whelan - WHITE ROBE: An exhibition celebrating the life of Rev. Dr John Roberts among Native Americans

My latest interview for ArtWay is with Paul Chandler of Caravan and artist Brian Whelan about WHITE ROBE: An exhibition celebrating the life of Rev. Dr John Roberts among Native Americans:

'Chandler thinks “that artists can lead the way today” and “are more needed than ever”: “Artists provide new pathways of understanding that transcend borders and how we see the ‘other’. Brian Whelan is a brilliant example of someone whose creative gift does this. His focus on the lives of remarkable individuals of faith, whether it be Rev. John Roberts or someone else, enables people to be captivated by their stories, which is one of the most effective means of communicating.”'

See here to read my Artlyst interview with Paul Chandler.

ArtWay.eu has been hailed "a jewel in the crown of work in Christianity and the arts," and having come under the custodianship of the Kirby Laing Centre, the much-loved publication is entering an exciting new chapter in its story with the launch of a new website in September.

Since its founding, ArtWay has published a rich library of materials and resources for scholars, artists, art enthusiasts and congregations concerned about linking art and faith. Founded by Marleen Hengelaar-Rookmaaker in 2009, ArtWay's significance is reflected in its designation as UNESCO digital heritage material in the Netherlands.

In the video above, the ArtWay team recounts the history of this much-loved resource and looks ahead to an exciting future for ArtWay.

Back in 2018, I interviewed ArtWay founder Marleen Hengelaar-Rookmaaker for Artlyst on the legacy of ArtWay itself. I have written frequently for the site with a recent piece being an interview with British artist Hannah Rose Thomas, who is also an author, human rights activist and a UNESCO PhD Scholar at the University of Glasgow.

My visual meditations for ArtWay include work by María Inés Aguirre, Giampaolo Babetto, Marian Bohusz-Szyszko, Alexander de Cadenet, Christopher Clack, Marlene Dumas, Terry Ffyffe, Jake Flood, Antoni Gaudi, Nicola Green, Maciej Hoffman, Gwen John, Lakwena Maciver, S. Billie Mandle, Giacomo Manzù, Sidney Nolan, Michael Pendry, Maurice Novarina, Regan O'Callaghan, Ana Maria Pacheco, John Piper, Nicola Ravenscroft, Albert Servaes, Henry Shelton, Anna Sikorska, Alan Stewart, Jan Toorop, Andrew Vessey, Edmund de Waal and Sane Wadu.

My Church of the Month reports include: All Saints Parish Church, Tudeley, Aylesford Priory, Canterbury Cathedral, Chapel of St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face, Hem, Chelmsford Cathedral, Churches in Little Walsingham, Coventry Cathedral, Église de Saint-Paul à Grange-Canal, Eton College Chapel, Lumen, Metz Cathedral, Notre Dame du Léman, Notre-Dame de Toute Grâce, Plateau d’Assy,Romont, Sint Martinuskerk Latem, St Aidan of Lindisfarne, St Alban Romford, St. Andrew Bobola Polish RC Church, St. Margaret’s Church, Ditchling, and Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft, St Mary the Virgin, Downe, St Michael and All Angels Berwick and St Paul Goodmayes, as well as earlier reports of visits to sites associated with Marian Bohusz-Szyszko, Marc Chagall, Jean Cocteau, Antoni Gaudi and Henri Matisse.

Blogs for ArtWay include: Congruity and controversy: exploring issues for contemporary commissions; Ervin Bossanyi: A vision for unity and harmony; Georges Rouault and André Girard: Crucifixion and Resurrection, Penitence and Life Anew; Photographing Religious Practice; Spirituality and/in Modern Art; and The Spirituality of the Artist-Clown.

Interviews for ArtWay include: Matthew Askey, Sophie Hacker, Peter Koenig, David Miller, Belinda Scarlett and Hannah Rose Thomas.

I have also reviewed: Art and the Church: A Fractious Embrace, Kempe: The Life, Art and Legacy of Charles Eamer Kempe and Jazz, Blues, and Spirituals for ArtWay.

Other of my writings for ArtWay can be found here.

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Michael Kiwanuka - One And Only.

Seen and Unseen: James MacMillan’s music of tranquility and discord

My latest article for Seen & Unseen is entitled 'James MacMillan’s music of tranquility and discord'. In the article I note that the composer’s music contends both the secular and sacred:

'In brief, he sees himself as standing in a modernist tradition that includes: Stravinsky, who “was as conservative in his religion as he was revolutionary in his musical imagination”; Schoenberg, “a mystic who reconverted to practising Judaism after the Holocaust”; John Cage, who explored “the spiritual connections between music and silence”; Olivier Messiaen, who “was famously Catholic” with “every note of his unique contribution to music” being “shaped by a deep religious conviction”; Jonathan Harvey, “who has allowed eastern mysticism and his own Anglicanism to adorn his searchingly original scores”; John Tavener, whose conversion to Orthodoxy “had a dramatic impact on his style and aesthetic”; and the “intriguing and disturbing religious shadings of musical modernity” to be found in the post-Shostakovich generation from eastern Europe - Henryk Górecki (Poland), Arvo Pärt (Estonia) Giya Kancheli (Georgia), Galina Ustvolskaya, Alfred Schnittke and Sofia Gubaidulina (Russia).'

My other writings on classical and choral music can be found here and here.

My first article for Seen and Unseen was 'Life is more important than art' which reviews the themes of recent art exhibitions that tackle life’s big questions and the roles creators take.

My second article 'Corinne Bailey Rae’s energised and anguished creative journey' explores inspirations in Detroit, Leeds and Ethiopia for Corinne Bailey Rae’s latest album, Black Rainbows, which is an atlas of capacious faith.

My third article was an interview with musician and priest Rev Simpkins in which we discussed how music is an expression of humanity and his faith.

My fourth article was a guide to the Christmas season’s art, past and present. Traditionally at this time of year “great art comes tumbling through your letterbox” so, in this article, I explore the historic and contemporary art of Christmas.

My fifth article was 'Finding the human amid the wreckage of migration'. In this article I interviewed Shezad Dawood about his multimedia Leviathan exhibition at Salisbury Cathedral where personal objects recovered from ocean depths tell a story of modern and ancient migrations.

My sixth article was 'The visionary artists finding heaven down here' in which I explored a tradition of visionary artists whose works shed light on the material and spiritual worlds.

My seventh article was 'How the incomer’s eye sees identity' in which I explain how curating an exhibition for Ben Uri Online gave me the chance to highlight synergies between ancient texts and current issues.

My eighth article was 'Infernal rebellion and the questions it asks' in which I interview the author Nicholas Papadopulos about his book The Infernal Word: Notes from a Rebel Angel.

My ninth article was 'A day, night and dawn with Nick Cave’s lyrics' in which I review Adam Steiner’s Darker With The Dawn — Nick Cave’s Songs Of Love And Death and explore whether Steiner's rappel into Cave’s art helps us understand its purpose.

My 10th article was 'Theresa Lola's poetical hope' about the death-haunted yet lyrical, joyful and moving poet for a new generation.

My 11th article was 'How to look at our world: Aaron Rosen interview', exploring themes from Rosen's book 'What Would Jesus See: Ways of Looking at a Disorienting World'.

My 12th article was 'Blake, imagination and the insight of God', exploring a new exhibition - 'William Blake's Universe at the Fitzwilliam Museum - which focuses on seekers of spiritual regeneration and national revival.

My 13th article 'Matthew Krishanu: painting childhood' was an interview with Matthew Krishanu on his exhibition 'The Bough Breaks' at Camden Art Centre.

My 14th article was entitled 'Art makes life worth living' and explored why society, and churches, need the Arts.

My 15th article was entitled 'The collective effervescence of sport's congregation' and explored some of the ways in which sport and religion have been intimately entwined throughout history

My 16th article was entitled 'Paradise cottage: Milton reimagin’d' and reviewed the ways in which artist Richard Kenton Webb is conversing with the blind poet in his former home (Milton's Cottage, Chalfont St Giles).

My 17th article was entitled 'Controversial art: how can the critic love their neighbour?'. It makes suggestions of what to do when confronted with contentious culture.

My 18th article was an interview entitled 'Art, AI and apocalypse: Michael Takeo Magruder addresses our fears and questions'. In the interview the digital artist talks about the possibilities and challenges of artificial intelligence.

My 19th article was entitled 'Dark, sweet and subtle: recovered music orientates us'. In the article I highlight alt-folk music seeking inspiration from forgotten hymns.

My 20th article was entitled 'Revisiting Amazing Grace inspires new songs'. In the article I highlight folk musicians capturing both the barbaric and the beautiful in the hymn Amazing Grace and Christianity's entanglement with the transatlantic slave trade more generally

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James MacMillan - O Radiant Dawn.

How can I shine like a light?

Here's the reflection I shared this evening at St Catherine's Wickford during our Patronal Evensong:

I’d like you to think about those people who are or have been a special inspiration to you? Maybe it’s … someone in your family? One of your friends? Someone at school or at your Church? Someone in the news or media? I wonder what makes them special? Do they … make you laugh? Look after you? Stand by you? Encourage you? Challenge you? Inspire you? Make you feel special?

There have always been special people in the world to inspire us. In church history Christians have thought some people so special that they have been designated as saints. There are many stories about the saints. Some of them lived long ago, some of them more recently. Some were very brave. Some had the courage to stand by their beliefs, even if that meant being different from everyone else. Some cared for others, especially the people no one else wanted to care for. Some were teachers. Some were great leaders. Some wrote inspiring books. They all loved God and wanted others to come close to God too. Christians sometimes call them heroes of the faith.

Tradition has it that our Patron Saint, Catherine of Alexandria, was a girl of a noble family who, because of her Christian faith, refused marriage with the emperor as she was already a 'bride of Christ'. She is said to have disputed with fifty philosophers whose job it was to convince her of her error, and she proved superior in argument to them all. She was then tortured by being splayed on a wheel and finally beheaded. The firework known as the Catherine Wheel took its name from her wheel of martyrdom. She is one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers, a very special group of saints known for their very powerful intercession.

Saints are shining examples of how to love God and follow God’s way. Yet, Christians also believe that everyone can be holy, like a saint. So perhaps we are all … saints in the making.

I’m going to light a candle and ask us to be still. In the silence, remember those people who are special to you and ask yourself, ‘How can I shine like a light?’

Loving God, bless all those that I love; bless all those that love me; bless all those that love those that I love and those that love those that love me. Help us, like the saints, to be creators of light in all that we do. Amen.

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Saint Catherine of Alexandria Vespers Hymn

The kingdom of Christ the King

Here's the sermon I shared at St Andrew’s Wickford this morning:

Jesus and Pilate
head-to-head
in a clash of cultures.
Pilate is
angular, aggressive, threatening
representing
the oppressive, controlling
Empire of dominating power,
with its strength in numbers
and weaponry,
which can crucify
but cannot
set free.
Jesus is
curves and crosses,
love and sacrifice,
representing
the kingdom of God;
a kingdom of love,
service and self-sacrifice
birthing men and women
into the freedom
to love one another.

The way of compassion
or the way of domination;
the way of self-sacrifice
or the way of self;
the way of powerlessness
or the way of power;
the way of serving
or the way of grasping;
the kingdom of God
or the empires of Man.

Stephen Verney, a former Bishop of Repton, in ‘Water into Wine’ his commentary on John’s Gospel, notes the way in which this Gospel consistently speaks about there being two different levels or orders to reality. What he means by this are different patterns of society, each with a different centre or ruling power. He gives as an example, the difference between a fascist order and a democratic order: “In the fascist order there is a dictator, and round him subservient people who raise their hands in salute, and are thrown into concentration camps if they disobey. In the democratic order … there is an elected government, and round it persons who are interdependent, who share initiatives and ideas.”

So, what are the two orders that he sees described in John’s Gospel? In the first, “the ruling principle is the dictator ME, my ego-centric ego, and the pattern of society is people competing with, manipulating and trying to control each other.” In the second, “the ruling principle is the Spirit of Love, and the pattern of society is one of compassion – people giving to each other what they really are, and accepting what others are, recognising their differences, and sharing their vulnerability.”

When Jesus says that his kingdom is not from here (John 18. 33-37), in this world, he means that it is not a kingdom of the ego dictated by the needs and insecurities of the one in power, instead his kingdom, which comes from elsewhere, from God, is a kingdom of compassion, acceptance, difference and vulnerability.

When John writes of Jesus as faithful witness in the Book of Revelation (Revelation 1. 4b-8), he means that Jesus, as witness, revealed to us the very image of God as he was God in human form. His actions and teaching together are the fullest expression of God that can be given and seen in a human being.

As firstborn of the dead, he was both the first to rise from death with a resurrected body and then the one who leads us into that same experience so we can also rise from death and live forever in God’s presence in a new heaven and earth that are joined together to become one.

As ruler of the kings of the earth, he is pre-eminent over all earthly monarchs because as God’s Son he precedes them all, being involved in the creation of the world and all that exists, and, through his life, death and resurrection, sits at the right hand of God and has the name that is above all other names and before which every knee in heaven and on earth must bow.

His death is the act by which we see that we are loved absolutely by God because he does not hold his only Son back from the sacrifice of his own life, breaking for a time the bond between Father and Son. Both were necessary for that to happen in order that we might come to know the depth of love that both have for us as human beings.

Whenever we respond to that love, we become part of his kingdom of love in which his people are his priests because they worship by living lives based on the example of Christ the King. A king and a kingdom where “the ruling principle is the Spirit of Love, and the pattern of society is one of compassion – people giving to each other what they really are, and accepting what others are, recognising their differences, and sharing their vulnerability.”

The Jesus whose kingdom is not from this world is Christ the King, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. He came into the world to testify to the truth and everyone who belongs to the truth listens to his voice. He loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood making us to be a kingdom, priests serving God his Father forever. To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

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Crown Him With Many Crowns.

78 Derngate: The Charles Rennie Mackintosh House

Designed and remodelled by Charles Rennie Mackintosh in 1916, 78 Derngate has been meticulously restored and opened to the public. Though 78 Derngate is but a small terraced house in the English midlands it has been the subject of much comment over the years. Its remodelling by Charles Rennie Mackintosh in 1916 -17 created something that has fascinated people for a century.

78 Derngate was the architect's final major commission; his visionary patron, Northampton model engineer, W.J Bassett-Lowke. It is the only place outside Scotland in which Mackintosh's mature architectural and interior style can be seen in their original setting. Purchased for Bassett-Lowke by his father as a wedding present, the house had originally been constructed 100 years previously and was a typical early-nineteenth century brick terrace, built c. 1815-20.

In March 1917 Bassett-Lowke and his bride Florence Jones moved in. Over the previous nine months the house had been transformed from a rather pokey and old-fashioned house into a modern and convenient home. One of the most significant features was the addition of a rectangular extension at the rear, enlarging the kitchen and the dining room above, and forming an enclosed balcony for the master bedroom and an open one for the guest bedroom.

The transformation had been achieved by Bassett-Lowke with the help of Northampton-based architect Alexander Ellis Anderson and Charles Rennie Mackintosh. There are still some areas of uncertainty as to who was responsible for what, although the over-all effect was created by Mackintosh.

The primary documentary evidence consists of plans submitted for building regulation in June 1916; a number of drawings and plans by Mackintosh; six letters from Bassett-Lowke to Mackintosh, 1916-1919; some notes which Bassett-Lowke wrote later in life and correspondence he had with Thomas Howarth, Mackintosh’ biographer in the late 1940s; numerous black and white photographs taken by Bassett-Lowke. There were also a number of contemporary articles published about the transformation. Copies of all these documents, articles and photographs are in the 78 Derngate Archive. From these sources, it would seem that in the late spring of 1916 Bassett-Lowke had his eye on this house, conveniently close to his work in Kingswell Street, relatively cheap, being a hundred years old, but in a street that was seeing something of a revival.

A number of neighbouring houses had recently been improved, including number 70, ‘Sarnia’, by his friend, the architect Keighley Cobb. Possibly in consultation with Cobb, Bassett-Lowke got plans drawn up by a Scottish architect long resident in Northampton, Alexander Ellis Anderson. These plans were submitted to the Planning Authority on 1 June 1916. They show a flat-roofed bay extension at the front, and a two story flat-roofed extension at the back. They also show the staircase moved around through 90 degrees.

Around this time Bassett-Lowke was introduced to Mackintosh – in a later note he says that he cannot remember who introduced them ‘a friend in connection with the Glasgow School of Art’ (quite possibly Francis Newbery, Headmaster of the School). By 31 July 1916, in the first surviving letter to Mackintosh, he is thanking him for ‘the drawings’, and saying that he has taken possession of the house that day (the deed was drawn up on 1 July). Although Bassett-Lowke told Howarth in 1946 that the structural alterations were already taking place when he met Mackintosh, it is possible that Mackintosh took the basic idea as shown in the Anderson plans, and suggested carrying the bay up the entire elevation, creating the veranda and balcony to the bedrooms.

It is the stunning interior décor which is Mackintosh’s real contribution to 78 Derngate. The majority of the Mackintosh drawings relate to the decoration of the lounge-hall and the dining room. There are also drawings of the front door and of furniture, some actually made and some not. The originals are in the Mackintosh Collection at the Hunterian Art Gallery, University of Glasgow.

In the early 1990s local people united with members of the Charles Rennie Mackintosh Society to campaign for its preservation, restoration and opening to the public. In 1998 the 78 Derngate Northampton Trust was formed. The Mackintosh-designed interior and exterior of 78 was sensitively restored and reinstated to the original 1916 – 1919 scheme. The whole of 80 Derngate was completely remodelled to create a new visitor centre and exhibition space. Linking the galleries is a new staircase that wraps around the 4-storey glass cabinet which holds a series of exhibits relating to both Mackintosh and Bassett-Lowke. It is accompanied by a wall-mounted exhibition relating to the original design of the house and to Bassett-Lowke’s business.

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The Revolutionary Army of the Infant Jesus - Bright Field.

Windows on the world (494)

Northampton, 2024

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Mike Peters - Transcendental.

 

True and proper worship

Here's the reflection that I shared at St Andrew's Wickford this morning:

Jesus taught that the first and greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind (Matthew 22:36-40).

Our readings today show us some of the ways in which we can do that.

In Revelation 4 we read that “whenever the living creatures give glory and honour and thanks to the one who is seated on the throne, who lives for ever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall before the one who is seated on the throne and worship the one who lives for ever and ever; they cast their crowns before the throne, singing,

‘You are worthy, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honour and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they existed and were created.’

This picture of worship in heaven shows us everything that exists kneeling before God. “The Hebrews regarded the knees as a symbol of strength, to bend the knee is, therefore, to bend our strength before the living God, an acknowledgment of the fact that all that we are we receive from Him. In important passages of the Old Testament, this gesture appears as an expression of worship.” 

The word worship comes from an Old English word, worthship, and it literally means “to give something worth—to demonstratively attribute value, especially to a deity or god." (Zach Neese, How to Worship a King). Worship is putting the value you hold for something on display. Just like a groom saves up money to buy his future bride an engagement ring, worship says "you are worth this sacrifice." When we worship God, we demonstrate how important He is to us and bending our knees before the living God in acknowledgment that all that we are we receive from Him is one of the ways in which we can do so. 

As believers, however, there are so many ways to worship God. We can worship God through song, as we see happening in Revelation 4 and as Psalm 150 encourages us to do. Psalm 150 ends by saying, “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord” and demonstrates that by encouraging us to use a great array of instruments – as many as we can – in worshipping him:

Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,
praise him with the harp and lyre,
praise him with timbrel and dancing,
praise him with the strings and pipe,
praise him with the clash of cymbals,
praise him with resounding cymbals.

“But we can't stop there. Worship is much more than a song; it's a lifestyle. Giving our time is worship, whether it's serving in church or out in the community. Being generous with our finances is worship. Obeying the Holy Spirit’s prompting is worship. Choosing Jesus even when we don't feel like it is worship. It’s all worship.”

Our Gospel reading (Luke 19.11-27) encourages us to use our gifts and talents in God’s service as an act of worship. In the story of the Ten Pounds, what is criticised by Jesus is sitting on our gift and doing nothing with it. In the story the person who fails wraps the pound in a cloth and does nothing with it in order to give it back to the master safe and sound. Doing nothing with our gifts, even if our intent is that we don’t damage or harm our gifts is not good enough, is not worship. Instead, they are to be used, even if we make mistakes in doing so. In the story ten slaves are given ten pounds. Then, we hear what has been done with their gifts by three of the slaves. Two have made more money from their pound and one has kept theirs. What happened with the other seven? We don’t know. It may be that they lost money through their activity but at least they tried, unlike the slave who did nothing. The outcome of our activity is not as important as the attempt. In trying to make use of our gifts we are honouring the one who gives them to us, while by choosing not to use them, we are not.

St Paul wrote that we are to be “a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God” as that is our “true and proper worship” (Romans 12.1-3). We can do so as we sing, as we kneel, as we acknowledge God as the giver of all we have, and as we use the gifts he has given in his service. In these ways, we are loving the Lord our God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our mind. May it be so for each one of us. Amen.

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Martin Smith - Joy (What The World Calls Foolish).

Coping in crises

Here's the sermon I shared this morning at St Chad’s Vange:

This church has stood here in Vange since 1958. However, it has not aged well and there are, as you are well aware, numerous issues with the fabric of the building. Therefore, if I was to predict that soon every part of this Church would be torn down so that not one stone would be left standing on another, you may well not be particularly shocked or disappointed. However, for those listening to Jesus as he spoke about the Temple in Jerusalem, it was a very different story (Mark 13: 1-8).

Jesus and his disciples had gone to the Temple in Jerusalem and were leaving when one of the disciples remarked on what a magnificent building the Temple was. Jesus’ response was to predict that it would shortly be completely and utterly destroyed. The Temple, at that time, was central to the whole Jewish faith. What Jesus was saying was that the whole way in which Judaism was practised at that time was going to be destroyed. A whole way of life wiped out. It was a shocking claim about a major crisis.

Mark records this for us because what Jesus predicted actually happened. In AD70 Titus, the adopted son of the Roman emperor Vespasian, “entered Jerusalem, burnt the Temple, destroyed the city and crucified thousands of Jews” (Wright). For Mark the fulfilment of Jesus’ prophecy, although a disaster for all those caught up in it, was the final vindication of all that Jesus had said and been and done. In that day, he says in verse 26 of this chapter, men will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. In other words, people will realise that Jesus was who he claimed to be, the Messiah. The destruction of the Temple was proof that Jesus had spoken and acted truly.

We know from history that the destruction of the Temple also meant that Christians in Jerusalem had to flee the city and settle in other parts of the world. They took the message of Jesus with them wherever they went. So as a result of this crisis, news about Jesus spread throughout the region and eventually to the whole world. Truly, people saw the power and glory of the Son of Man.

But Jesus also knew what a terrible day that day would be and he prepared those who listened to him for that day. At the end of this chapter we read of him saying that no one will know the exact day or time when this disaster would come but that it would be within their own lifetimes and he taught them to look for the signs that the day was arriving so that could be ready to flee the city. He tells them to be ever vigilant and watchful so that they recognise when the crisis has come upon them.

So Jesus predicts a crisis, prepares his followers for that crisis and sees that the crisis will lead to the good news about him being understood and believed.

But that was all then. What does this passage say to us now? Well, we all still face crises whether they are personal crises (perhaps caused by crime or redundancy, abuse or family breakdown) or societal (as with global warming, natural disasters, riots or war). How should we react and respond to crises?

There is a realism about Jesus’ teaching. Crises will come, he says. We don’t know exactly when and where but we know that we will not go through life and avoid crises. So first, we need to expect crises and look out for the signs that they may be coming. Jesus in this chapter retells the story of the master going away and says that we need to be like watchmen always ready for the crisis of the master’s return. As we prepare during Advent to celebrate Christ’s first coming, so we must also always have an eye to the future and Christ’s return to bring his kingdom rule and reign throughout the world. Are we looking expectantly for the crisis of our Master’s return?

Second, we need to prepare for crises by being good stewards. Jesus in the story of the master going away said that the servants were left in charge. We know from the parable of the talents what this involves, the servants are to care for and use all that has been entrusted to them so that when the master returns his estate has grown and developed. God has entrusted us with his world, with those people who are our family, friends and colleagues, with money and possessions, and with our gifts and talents and abilities. All these we are to use for his praise and glory as a way of giving back to God in praise and thanksgiving for all he has given to us.

Finally, in crises God is revealed. At some point in the future each of us will meet with God and be asked to account for the use we have made of all that God has given to us. How will we stand in that moment of crisis? But in every crisis that we face God is alongside us and wishes to be known as the one who strengthens and supports us; the one who brings us through. Just as the good news about Jesus went out from Jerusalem as a result of the destruction of the Temple, so in each crisis that we face God wishes to bring good for us and for others. As Paul says, “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him.” May it be so for each one of us. Amen.

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Mahalia Jackson and Nat King Cole - Steal Away.

You'll never walk alone

Here's the sermon I shared this morning at St Mary Magdalene Great Burstead:

I wonder if you knew that You’ll Never Walk Alone, along with other songs from musicals, has been included as a hymn in the BBC’s hymn book. Ian Barclay commenting on this in The Guardian wrote that the Songs of Praise programme producers have come to realise that secular songs from shows have taken on some on the status of folk hymns, addressing the spiritual and pastoral needs of many people. Taken out of its context in Carousel, where it is sung by a dead father who has returned to life for one day to the daughter he never knew, it can be sung as a statement of belief that, as Psalm 23 states, God will be with us as we walk through the valley of the shadow of death or through the storms of life.

When you walk through the storm
Hold your head up high
And don't be afraid of the dark
At the end of the storm
There's a golden sky
And the sweet silver song of the lark

Walk on, through the wind
Walk on, through the rain
Though your dreams be tossed and blown
Walk on, walk on, with hope in your heart
And you'll never walk alone
You'll never walk alone

Our Gospel reading (Matthew 8: 23 – end) speaks about two storms and two different ways in which God is with people in those storms. The disciples in the boat on Lake Galilee experienced a literal storm but they were also caught up in an event of set of external circumstances that were beyond their control. And that is probably the most common way in which we experience storms within our own lives.

Circumstances conspire to bring illness or redundancy or debt or breakdown in relationships. We may have made choices that have contributed to the situation – just as the disciples made the choice to go out in the boat – but we end up by finding ourselves in circumstances that are beyond our control and which threaten to overwhelm us.

The storm in the story of the two men in Gadara is different because for them the storm is not external but internal. Many of us experience periods of mental ill health when we feel overwhelmed by feelings and emotions, fears and anxieties which rage inside and threaten to overwhelm us. For some of us, the storm of those emotions becomes a more permanent feature of our lives and begins to affect the way in which we relate to others and the extent to which we are able to participate in society. For some, too, the things we use initially to bring some relief from those emotions – drink, drugs, sex, violence – also end up controlling our reactions and responses and ultimately change who we are as people. The two men in this story seem to have been experiencing that kind of internal storm.

We tend to think of storms as something to avoid, something to hide or shelter from but in both of these stories God is there in the storm. Although the storm is stilled on the lake and the internal storm released from the men in Gadara, the encounter with God takes place in the storm. To encounter God, we often need to be in the storms of life. And the God that we encounter in the storms of life goes with us through those storms until we find ourselves on the other side. That is the promise of You’ll never walk alone and of Psalm 23; even though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we will fear no evil, for God is with us; his rod and your staff, they comfort us.

The God that we encounter in the storm can release the internal storm from with us. In times of crisis and distress we often keep our emotions bottled up inside us until eventually they explode in anger and violence. The God that we meet in the storm can be an escape valve, the person that we can always turn to, the one who is always there to listen and with whom we can pour out all those pent-up emotions releasing the storm within.

The God that we encounter in the storm is also able to still the storm of external circumstances. He holds that power and that is what we often long when we are caught up in the storms of life. I experienced that power after my younger brother Nick died in the crash of a UN plane in Kosovo. With the families of others who had died I was flown to the crash site and saw the scattered and shattered pieces of the plane on the mountainside. That terrible moment brought home the physical reality of what had happened to my brother. It was the height of the storm for me. On landing again at Pristina Airport I was met by some of the people from Tear Fund with whom Nick had been working in Kosovo to rebuild homes destroyed in the fighting there. They told me stories of the impact that Nick had had on their lives and the lives of the Kosovan people with whom they had worked. As we talked and cried together, God brought an assurance into my heart that he had welcomed Nick into his presence with the words, “Well done, my good and faithful son” and in this way I knew the stilling of the storm.

The God that we encounter in the storm is also able to still the storm of external circumstances. And yet, Jesus was disappointed with the reaction of disciples in the storm on Lake Galilee. “How little faith you have,” is what he said to them. What would have happened if they had had more faith? It is likely that they would have rode out the storm in trust that God would see them through. It is likely that Jesus was asleep in the boat not because he didn’t care about their dilemma but because he trusted that God would go with them through the storm and wanted them to have that same trust too.

We may be in the middle of some storm ourselves today as we sit and listen. We may need the internal storm in our lives to be released in peace. We may have come through storms in our lives but still be bearing the scars or wondering where God was at that time. We may need to take this message to our hearts because there are storms on the horizon. If that is so, we need to know in our hearts that we do not walk alone. That if we look for him we will see God going with us through the storm. That if we trust him we will come to that place of peace where the storm clouds have blown over and we see the golden sky and hear the sweet, silver song of the lark.

Let us pray that we will recognise God with us in the storms of our lives asking for the faith to come through the storm, for release of our internal storms, and for the stilling of our external storms. May it be so for each one of us. Amen.

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Katherine Jenkins - You'll Never Walk Alone.