God will not let us be tested beyond our strength

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

Like many in the 1970’s, my family had an LP of the songs from Joseph and his Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat. I remember listening to it frequently and, at some stage, seeing the stage show when it visited Oxford.

The show makes Joseph’s test of brother’s integrity central to the second Act. We can retell the story by quoting lyrics from the show (Genesis 42: 1-25). Back in Canaan the future looked rough and Jacob's family were finding it tough. So, they finally decided to go off to Egypt to see brother Jo. They all lay before Joseph's feet. Mighty prince, give us something to eat. Joseph found it a strain not to laugh because not a brother among them knew who he was. I shall now take them all for a ride, after all they have tried fratricide. Joseph handed them sack loads of food and they grovelled with base gratitude. Then, unseen, Joseph crept out around the back and planted a cup in young Benjamin's sack.

When the brothers were ready to go, Jospeh turned to them all with a terrible stare and said, No. Stop, you robbers - your little number's up, one of you has stolen my precious golden cup. But the brothers said, Benjamin is an innocent man. Show him some mercy, oh mighty one please. He would not do this. He must have been framed. Jail us and beat us, we should be blamed, we are the criminal guilty ones, save him, take me. Joseph knew by this his brothers now were honest men. The time had come at last to reunite them all again.

Joseph’s test is worrying and hard for his brothers but serves to help him see that they have changed and become trustworthy. As a result, he reveals himself to them and they are reunited once more. Joseph’s earlier experiences in Egypt were also testing but he came through with flying colours and was rewarded with high office that then provided him with the opportunity to save his family and to reunite them.

In 1 Corinthians 10, we read that, although we will experience tests and challenges as we go through life, no testing will overtake us that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and he will not let us be tested beyond our strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that we may be able to endure it. That is also what we see happening in the story of Joseph and his brothers.

It means that, whenever we are in difficulty or some kind of test, we need to look to God to see what it is we are to learn and where the way out that he has provided is located. This can be a core part of our prayer recognising that, as with Joseph, it took much of his life before he realised how God was using what had seemed bad for good, and, for his brothers, the test was to see whether they would act with integrity under pressure, having failed to do so earlier in the story.

Hebrews 12 also speaks of tests and challenges and encourages in the midst of such experiences to strengthen our feeble arms and weak knees and make level paths for our feet. James, the brother of Jesus, wrote: ‘My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance; and let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing.’ (James 1. 2 - 4)

In a world of conflict and change is that difficulties, challenges and even opposition are inevitable. The key to coping is linked to attitude. Joseph’s integrity in the face of testing and that of his brother’s when Benjamin was accused are examples to us of viewing difficulties as a testing ground – an assault course – to build up our strength in order to go on; to look for the opportunities in our challenges. If we have a deficit mindset that is focused on all the difficulties we face, then we have lost before we have begun. If we have an abundance mindset that views God as providing resources, support and strength even in the most challenging of circumstances, then, like Joseph, we can have hope in the possibility of moving on and overcoming the challenges we face.

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Denison Witmer - Keep Moving Brother, Keep Moving Sister.

Joseph - the patience of a saint

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

Joseph had four dreams all of which come from the period around the Nativity of Jesus and his early life, between the onset of Mary's pregnancy and the family's return from the Flight to Egypt.

In the first dream (Matthew 1:20-21), Joseph is told not be afraid to take Mary as his wife, because she has conceived by the Holy Spirit. In the second (Matthew 2:13), Joseph is warned to leave Bethlehem and flee to Egypt. In the third (Matthew 2:19-20), while in Egypt, he is told that it is safe to go back to Israel. Finally, in the fourth (Matthew 2:22), because he had been warned in a dream, he departed for the region of Galilee instead of going to Judea.

By emphasising their need for direct divine guidance, Joseph’s dreams indicate how far from normal life Mary and Joseph were asked to go by God in the Nativity of Christ. They are, therefore, a key example in scripture of people living wholly by faith with no human reference points to direct them in doing what God had asked them to do. In doing so we are also shown grace, as the Nativity and the salvation which leads from it are entirely instigated by God, Mary and Joseph lend obedient support although they don’t fully understand what God is doing.

In church tradition Joseph is a silent saint, given the noble task of caring and watching over the Virgin Mary and Jesus, who now cares for and watches over the Church and models for all the dignity of human work. The tools of his trade as a carpenter are what he uses to maintain his family. Once God has given direction, and that direction has been accepted by faith, Joseph then utilises his human skills and abilities in support of God’s plan for humanity. To adopt a phrase used by the American poet Delmore Schwartz, for Joseph, in dreams begin responsibilities.

He selflessly devotes his life to caring for God's son on earth. A carpenter by trade, he has become the patron saint of fathers and of workers. His feast days are celebrated on 19th March and 1st May, the latter feast of St. Joseph the Worker having been instituted by Pope Pius XII in 1955.

Jesus learnt the carpentry trade from Saint Joseph and spent his early adult years working side-by-side in Joseph’s carpentry shop before leaving to pursue his ministry as preacher and healer. In his encyclical Laborem Exercens, Pope John Paul II stated: “the Church considers it her task always to call attention to the dignity and rights of those who work, to condemn situations in which that dignity and those rights are violated, and to help to guide [social] changes so as to ensure authentic progress by man and society.”

Joseph is held up as a model of such work. Pius XII emphasized this when he said, “The spirit flows to you and to all men from the heart of the God-man, Saviour of the world, but certainly, no worker was ever more completely and profoundly penetrated by it than the foster father of Jesus, who lived with Him in closest intimacy and community of family life and work.”

Joseph is an example to us because his calling was to quietly support the calling of Mary – to marry her, to name the child, to raise him: ‘Joseph simply does as he was told. For him, belief is action. Quietly, Joseph cared for Mary. Quietly, he raised the child and named him Jesus. Quietly, he believed and acted.’

Joseph must have had the patience of a saint, as it must have taken an incredible amount of patience to follow God's plan, and to support his wife throughout their trials and tribulations. He was also the epitome of discretion. Despite the miraculous circumstances of Jesus' conception, he kept Mary's secret safe, showing incredible respect for her and her divine calling. He diligently provided for the physical and emotional needs of his family. He worked to ensure their safety and sustenance. He humbly accepted God's will and obediently followed His guidance, even when it meant facing challenges and uncertainties. His humility allowed him to support Mary in her unique calling without seeking recognition or glory for himself. These are all great qualities that we can take into our own experiences of supporting and caring for others.

To end, here’s a short poem by Madeleine L’Engle imagining Mary speaking about Joseph, her spouse.

It was from Joseph first I learned
of love. Like me he was dismayed.
How easily he could have turned
me from his house; but, unafraid,
he put me not away from him
(O God-sent angel, pray for him).
Thus through his love was Love obeyed.

The Child’s first cry came like a bell:
God’s Word aloud, God’s Word in deed.
The angel spoke: so it befell,
and Joseph with me in my need.
O Child whose father came from heaven,
to you another gift was given,
your earthly father chosen well.

With Joseph I was always warmed
and cherished. Even in the stable
I knew that I would not be harmed.
And, though above the angels swarmed,
man’s love it was that made me able
to bear God’s love, wild, formidable,
to bear God’s will, through me performed.

Joseph, by the work of your hands
and the sweat of your brow,
you supported Jesus and Mary,
and had the Son of God as your fellow worker.
Teach us to work as you did,
with patience and perseverance, for God and
for those whom God has given us to support.
Teach us to see in our colleagues
the Christ who desires to be in them,
that we may always be charitable and forbearing
towards all.
Amen.

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Bill Fay - Salt Of The Earth.

The qualities of Mary and Joseph

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

The experience of being the Theotokos, the God-bearer, was a difficult one for Mary (Matthew 1.18-25). Difficult, because she was not believed - both by those closest to her and those who didn’t really know her. Mary was engaged to Joseph when the annunciation occurred. As she was found to be with child before they lived together, Joseph planned to dismiss her quietly. He had his own meeting with Gabriel which changed that decision but, if the man to whom she was betrothed, could not believe her without angelic intervention, then it would be no surprise if disbelief and misunderstanding characterised the response to Mary wherever she went.

We can learn much from Mary’s faith, trust and persistence in the face of disbelief, misunderstanding and probable insult. Our experience in times of trouble and difficulty will be similar as, on the one hand, God asks us to trust and persevere while, on the other, he will provide us with moments of support and strengthening.

Mary has been given many titles down the ages but ‘the earliest ‘title’, agreed throughout the church in the first centuries of our faith, before the divisions of East and West, Catholic and Protestant, was Theotokos, which means God-Bearer. 'She is the prime God-Bearer, bearing for us in time the One who was begotten in eternity, and every Christian after her seeks to become in some small way a God-bearer, one whose ‘yes’ to God means that Christ is made alive and fruitful in the world through our flesh and our daily lives, is born and given to another.’ In his poem ‘Theotokos’, Malcolm Guite suggests some ways in which Mary’s experience can speak to us and inspire us in the challenges we face as we go through life:

You bore for me the One who came to bless
And bear for all and make the broken whole.
You heard His call and in your open ‘yes’
You spoke aloud for every living soul.
Oh gracious Lady, child of your own child,
Whose mother-love still calls the child in me,
Call me again, for I am lost, and wild
Waves surround me now. On this dark sea
Shine as a star and call me to the shore.
Open the door that all my sins would close
And hold me in your garden. Let me share
The prayer that folds the petals of the Rose.
Enfold me too in Love’s last mystery
And bring me to the One you bore for me.

Mary is centre-stage is the drama of the Nativity but there is also a role for those who simply stand and wait. Joseph is also an example to us because his calling was to quietly support the calling of Mary – to marry her, to name the child, to raise him: ‘Joseph simply does as he was told. For him, belief is action. Quietly, Joseph cared for Mary. Quietly, he raised the child and named him Jesus. Quietly, he believed and acted.’ (https://www.premierchristianity.com/opinion/josephs-silent-submission-to-marys-god-given-calling-is-real-biblical-manhood/14578.article)

Joseph must have had the patience of a saint, as it must have taken an incredible amount of patience to follow God's plan, and to support his wife throughout their trials and tribulations. He was also the epitome of discretion. Despite the miraculous circumstances of Jesus' conception, he kept Mary's secret safe, showing incredible respect for her and her divine calling. He diligently provided for the physical and emotional needs of his family. He working to ensure their safety, sustenance. He humbly accepted God's will and obediently followed His guidance, even when it meant facing challenges and uncertainties. His humility allowed him to support Mary in her unique calling without seeking recognition or glory for himself (https://aleteia.org/2024/03/02/8-ways-st-joseph-was-a-wonderful-husband-to-mary). These are all great qualities that we can take into our own experiences of supporting and caring for others.

To end, here’s a short poem by Madeleine L’Engle imagining Mary speaking about Joseph, her spouse.

It was from Joseph first I learned
of love. Like me he was dismayed.
How easily he could have turned
me from his house; but, unafraid,
he put me not away from him
(O God-sent angel, pray for him).
Thus through his love was Love obeyed.

The Child’s first cry came like a bell:
God’s Word aloud, God’s Word in deed.
The angel spoke: so it befell,
and Joseph with me in my need.
O Child whose father came from heaven,
to you another gift was given,
your earthly father chosen well.

With Joseph I was always warmed
and cherished. Even in the stable
I knew that I would not be harmed.
And, though above the angels swarmed,
man’s love it was that made me able
to bear God’s love, wild, formidable,
to bear God’s will, through me performed.

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Madeleine L'Engle - First Coming.

Inspired to Follow: Art and the Bible Story - Advent Courses

‘Inspired to Follow: Art and the Bible Story’ is a free resource produced by St Martin-in-the-Fields in partnership with the National Gallery. The course uses fine art paintings in the National Gallery’s collection, along with a Biblical text and a short theological reflection.

St Martin's will shortly publish two Advent Courses in the ‘Inspired to Follow: Art and the Bible Study’ series. One will explore the Four Last Things – death, judgement, heaven and hell, while the other focuses on Advent Characters – Elizabeth and Mary, Joseph, Zechariah and Elizabeth, and Herod. Like earlier Inspired to Follow sessions, these use fine art paintings from the National Gallery, along with Biblical story, theological reflection and conversation with others, as a way to explore big questions that we all wrestle with. ‘Inspired to Follow: Art and the Bible Story’ has been produced by St Martin-in-the-Fields in partnership with the National Gallery. To find out more see www.inspiredtofollow.com.

The first of these ‘Inspired to Follow’ Advent Courses - the Four Last Things: death, judgement, heaven and hell - will also be used at St Martin's, 12.00-1.00pm on Sundays, Austen Williams Room, 4 & 18 November, 2 & 16 December.

As part of our Advent preparations, this new programme of hour-long gatherings over four Sundays explores the Four Last Things using the following passages and paintings:

• 4 November Death - Mark 15:33-45 / ‘The Lamentation over the Dead Christ’ Rembrandt
• 18 November Judgement - Revelation 12:7-17 / ‘Saint Michael’ Carlo Crivelli
• 2 December Heaven - Revelation 21:1-5, 9-11, 22-27, 22:1-5 / ‘Christ Glorified in the Court of Heaven; central predella panel’ probably by Fra Angelico
• 16 December Hell - Luke 16:19-30 / ‘The Rich Man being led to Hell’ David Teniers the Younger

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Bruce Cockburn - Closer To The Light.

The ending and beginning of all our journeying

Here is my reflection from last night's Carol Service for Gallagher at St Stephen Walbrook:

Journeys feature heavily in the Christmas story. There are the physical, geographical journeys of Mary and Joseph from Nazareth to Bethlehem to register in the census, the rather shorter journey of the Shepherd from the hills surrounding Bethlehem to the manger itself, the lengthy journey of the Magi following the star via Herod’s palace to the home of Jesus, and the journey of Mary, Joseph and Jesus to Egypt following the Magi’s visit.

Then there are the emotional and life journeys that the characters in the story make. For Mary the journey of pregnancy and birth following her submission to God’s will at the Annunciation; the journey of carrying God himself in her womb for nine months while enduring the disapproval of her community. For Joseph, there is the journey from what was considered right in the community of his day – a quiet divorce – to the realisation that to do God’s will meant standing by Mary despite the local disgrace and scandal.

All these journey’s, and others, bring us to the birth of Jesus; the birth of the new thing that God was doing in the life of our world and the new thing that he was doing in the lives of these people. What can we learn from their journeys that will help us in our own life journeys?

None of their journeys were easy. Even those with shortest journey, such as the Shepherds, risked disapprobation and even the loss of their livelihood, for leaving their sheep to worship Jesus. The Magi, no doubt, had a lengthy and uncomfortable journey not knowing exactly where they were going and nearly being seduced by Herod into contributing to the death of the child they sought. But for Mary and Joseph their journey was most difficult; the worries of carrying a full-term baby in the full glare of public disapprobation, an uncomfortable journey just prior to birth, and the pain of birth in an unsuitable and uncomfortable environment far from home.

God does not promise us that the experience of being part of the new thing that he is doing is ever easy but imagine the joy and wonder of the moment that Jesus is born, when Mary holds this precious, promised child for the first time, when the Shepherds come bursting in with their tales of Angels singing glory to God and the Magi come bearing their gifts, and all who come, come to worship the child that she holds. No wonder the story tells us that she pondered or treasured these things in her heart. This child, both God and human being, was born to save humanity for our sins. God’s new act to rescue a fallen humanity; God doing a new thing in our world to demonstrate his love for each one of us.

Your journey tonight, like that of the Shepherds has been very short, but the life journeys that have brought us here tonight could well have been lengthy and hard. Like Mary and Joseph, those journeys might have involved disapprobation or scandal, the worry and pain of birthing and caring for children, like the Shepherds our life journey may have risked our livelihoods or like the Magi have involved a lengthy search for truth that has included looking in and leaving the wrong places.

However we have come tonight, the possibility remains for us to experience the new thing that God has done in our world through the birth of his son, Jesus. The good news about which the Angels sang on that first Christmas night was peace on earth, goodwill among human beings; a peace that comes as human beings receive forgiveness from God for all the wrong and torturous journeys we have had, the actions and decisions that have hurt us and hurt others. We know now that we can be forgiven because God has come, as a human being, to be with us, to experience all that human life involves and, ultimately to die to save us from our sins.

This is the new thing that God has done in our world. It is this that came to birth at Bethlehem. It is this to which all our journeys lead. Will we, with Mary, Joseph, the Shepherds and the Magi, this Christmas kneel and worship this child, Jesus, God with us, the Saviour of our world, the ending and beginning of all our journeying?

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Peter Warlock - Bethlehem Down.

Christ, the ending and beginning of all our journeying

This is my sermon from Midnight Mass at St Stephen Walbrook:

Journeys feature heavily in the Christmas story. There are the physical, geographical journeys of Mary and Joseph from Nazareth to Bethlehem to register in the census, the rather shorter journey of the Shepherd from the hills surrounding Bethlehem to the manger itself, the lengthy journey of the Magi following the star via Herod’s palace to the home of Jesus, and the journey of Mary, Joseph and Jesus to Egypt following the Magi’s visit.

Then there are the emotional and life journeys that the characters in the story make. For Mary the journey of pregnancy and birth following her submission to God’s will at the Annunciation; the journey of carrying God himself in her womb for nine months while enduring the disapproval of her community. For Joseph, there is the journey from what was considered right in the community of his day – a quiet divorce – to the realisation that to do God’s will meant standing by Mary despite the local disgrace and scandal.

All these journey’s, and others, bring us to the birth of Jesus; the birth of the new thing that God was doing in the life of our world and the new thing that he was doing in the lives of these people. What can we learn from their journeys that will help us in our own life journeys?

None of their journeys were easy. Even those with shortest journey, such as the Shepherds, risked disapprobation and even the loss of their livelihood, for leaving their sheep to worship Jesus. The Magi, no doubt, had a lengthy and uncomfortable journey not knowing exactly where they were going and nearly being seduced by Herod into contributing to the death of the child they sought. But for Mary and Joseph their journey was most difficult; the worries of carrying a full-term baby in the full glare of public disapprobation, an uncomfortable journey just prior to birth, and the pain of birth in an unsuitable and uncomfortable environment far from home.

God does not promise us that the experience of being part of the new thing that he is doing is ever easy but imagine the joy and wonder of the moment that Jesus is born, when Mary holds this precious, promised child for the first time, when the Shepherds come bursting in with their tales of Angels singing glory to God and the Magi come bearing their gifts, and all who come, come to worship the child that she holds. No wonder the story tells us that she pondered or treasured these things in her heart.

This child, both God and human being, was born to save humanity for our sins. God’s new act to rescue a fallen humanity; God doing a new thing in our world to demonstrate his love for each one of us.

Like the shepherds and wise men, we have journeyed tonight to celebrate this birth. Our physical, geographical journeys may, like those of the Shepherds have been short, but the life journeys that have brought us here tonight may well have been lengthy and hard. Like Mary and Joseph, those journeys may have involved disapprobation or scandal, the worry and pain of birthing and caring for children, like the Shepherds our life journey may have risked our livelihoods or like the Magi have involved a lengthy search for truth that has included looking in and leaving the wrong places.

However we have come tonight, the possibility remains for us to experience the new thing that God has done in our world through the birth of his son, Jesus. The good news about which the Angels sang on that first Christmas night was peace on earth, goodwill among human being; a peace that comes as human beings receive forgiveness from God for all the wrong and torturous journeys we have had, the actions and decisions that have hurt us and hurt others. We know now that we can be forgiven because God has come, as a human being, to be with us, to experience all that human life involves and, ultimately to die to save us from our sins.

This is the new thing that God has done in our world. It is this that came to birth at Bethlehem. It is this to which all our journeys lead. Will we, with Mary, Joseph, the Shepherds and the Magi, this Christmas kneel and worship this child, Jesus, God with us, the Saviour of our world, the ending and beginning of all our journeying?

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Franz Schubert - Mass No.3 in Bb Major, 2. Gloria.