Sunday 17 May 2020

Sermon for 6th Sunday of Easter 17 May 2020 Sue Kiernan


Acts 17: 22 – 31          Rogation Sunday


I think Rogation days are probably a lost tradition for most of us. It used to be the day when the Church asked for God’s blessing on the crops, that we would have a bountiful harvest.

You may have heard of the tradition of ‘beating the bounds’, when the Rector would get his cassock dirty, while he and the church folk would walk round the boundaries of their parish, praying for God’s protection over their crops for the next year.

Today, not many of us get our livelihoods directly from the production of food, yet it is good to be reminded of our dependence upon those who do – as well as our responsibility for the environment - asking the Lord to bless the fields, the crops, and the farmers who produce our food.

We’ve seen on the news that our farmers are struggling, in the absence of migrant workers, to find a work force to pick the crops.
That might make us more grateful, more aware of what comes into our supermarkets and onto our table.
I wonder if any of you have been using some of your spare time in ‘lock down’ to grow some of your own food? We’ve been growing tomatoes from seed in the greenhouse and I hope you will see Marilyn’s raised beds and a friend of mine’s strawberries.

Pottering in the garden or going for walks makes us feel better, doesn’t it? It’s good for our mental, as well as our physical well-being. God has given us this beautiful world to enjoy that it might lift our hearts in praise and thanksgiving.

It’s interesting how all this connects with our reading from Acts for today. The people of Athens had their gods. Some were responsible for the harvest and if the Greeks didn’t get a good crop, they believed the gods were punishing them. So they built many shrines to many gods - and one in Athens was erected to the ‘unknown god’ – perhaps so that all the options were covered.

The Apostle Paul presents to them a very different God; one “who made the earth hospitable”, one who could be known in Jesus; and one who doesn’t live in shrines. 

I think that if the Apostle Paul had been speaking today, he might have said ‘Neither does this God who made the world and everything in it, live in church buildings’!

It is now 8 weeks since we met in our Church building. Are you missing the building? it’s very understandable. We have a beautiful building and the act of regularly meeting together there is sorely missed.

Instead, we are forced to worship and pray in our homes and in our gardens, on our walks and even looking at the computer screen! But maybe we are discovering this truth that Paul conveys that God is everywhere

I do pray that the presence of God who is with us everywhere, is becoming more real to us all these days. Paul says: “God doesn’t play hide and seek with us. He’s not remote, he’s near”. Is that what you are experiencing at the moment, or does Paul’s description of ‘groping around in the dark’ trying to find him, fit you better? That can be the case when we don’t have our church community to share with in worship and study and conversation. If that’s the case pick up the phone to someone you trust.

Maybe you just need to hear again that the God who created us is reaching out to us in love. He’s not far from any of us. In fact, “he is nearer to you than you are to yourself”. We just need to turn around and look in the other direction – that’s what Paul means here by repent. Turn around and look into the face of the Living, Risen Lord Jesus.

May that be our experience and then when we are able to meet again there will be lament for all we and our world has lost over this time, but also joy, not just at our being together again, but because Jesus is in our midst.


Monday 4 May 2020

Sermon for 3rd Sunday of Easter 26 April 2020 Rev'd Anne Cunliffe


The Emmaus Road (Luke 24.13-35)

What kind of a journey are you on? Even when we are unable to venture far, we are still on a journey.  These two followers of Jesus were on a journey to Emmaus, they felt they needed to get away from Jerusalem, it was just too painful to stay there. They were downhearted, confused, angry even, what had happened to all their hopes and expectations? – we had hoped that he was the one to save Israel, they had told this stranger, who had joined them on the way.

Before leaving Jerusalem, they had heard that the women who had gone to the tomb had found it empty, the body of Jesus was nowhere to be seen, an angel had said he was risen. Even so, they felt that did not give them a reason to hang about in case there was something in this story. For them Jesus was dead and gone, they did not expect to see him ever again.

The encounter with the stranger was an opportunity for them to relive their memories, to share their hopes and their disappointment! When the stranger opened the scriptures to them, on reflection, it was as if he had broken the word of God open, made it more alive to them, nourished them with these precious words, and their hearts felt as if they were on fire.

Arriving at their destination, it was a natural thing for them to offer hospitality to the stranger. Stay with us they said, have some supper. Through their invitation they received the gift of recognition. As he blessed and broke the bread and shared it with them their eyes were opened, it was Jesus…..then he disappeared…..leaving them, leaving us to become Christ for others.

The whole journey had been one of transformation; they were transformed from sadness, foolishness and slowness of heart to joy, insight and commitment.
That journey of transformation would continue for the rest of their lives and beyond…..it is the same for us.

I am reminded that in all the Easter stories, the friends of Jesus do not go searching for him; Jesus comes to them. He comes to Mary in the garden; he comes to the disciples through locked doors as they hide in fear; and to Cleopas & his companion; as they walk away from all that has happened; as they walk away from Jesus, Jesus walks towards them.
In all these encounters, he comes to be where they are; he knows where they are! Still the risen Christ comes to be where we are. Today and every day he journeys with us. Even when we do not realise it, Jesus is our companion on the way but we rarely recognise him.

The climax of this beautiful story is as Jesus makes himself known to them in the breaking of bread which points us to the Eucharist. Though we are unable to gather together at present and be nourished by the sacrament of Holy Communion, we can be assured that God in Christ gives himself to us over and over again; God feeding us, nourishing us with his own life.
This story especially reminds us too that Jesus is also always present to us in his holy word.

In these challenging days may we be open to the nourishment God daily offers us and always be ready to be drawn into the mystery of his hidden presence.


Let us pray:
Lord, we thank you that you come to be where we are, that you understand our confusion, our fear & frustration, and our downheartedness. Help us to know your presence with us and open our eyes to your glory all around us.
Lord, in your mercy…hear our prayer

Lord, we thank you for the gift of your Holy Word. May your Holy Spirit break open the Scriptures to us and help us to understand Godly ways and to find ourselves in your story…
Lord, in your mercy…

Lord, we pray for all who are ill with the coronavirus…
For loved ones who watch at a distance and feel helpless… 
  bring hope and healing…
We pray that your Holy Spirit might inspire those who are researching treatments and vaccines…
Keep us all strong in faith, hope and love…
Lord, in your mercy…

We pray for the brokenhearted, all who have lost loved ones through the coronavirus…..be their companion in their sadness…and we remember those who have died, especially any known to us….. may they rest in peace and rise in glory.
Lord, in your mercy…

In confidence we entrust ourselves and all who are affected by this virus to your infinite power and love in the prayer that Jesus taught us:

Our Father, who art in heaven…

May the Father’s touch of healing, the Son’s touch of love, and the Spirit’s touch of transformation, touch you today and the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit be among you and remain with you always.  Amen.


Saturday 18 April 2020

Sermon for 2nd Sunday of Easter 19 April 2020 Sue Kiernan


Gospel reading for today: John 20: 19 – 31 Alleluia! Christ is RisenHe is Risen indeed, Alleluia! 

On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you!’ 
After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.     John 20: 19 - 20

Closed doors are becoming all too familiar during this Coronavirus pandemic, aren’t they?
-       the doors of our homes closed to friends and even any family we don’t live with.
-       the doors of shops and businesses and cafes and restaurants all closed, while behind the doors many owners are slowly going out of business. 
-       the doors of our care homes, closed to the relatives of our elderly and vulnerable loved ones.
-       the doors of our hospital intensive care wards, closed even when the closest person to us is dying.

It may feel as if life itself has closed its door on us.


 So, what does the Jesus who comes through the closed door on that first Resurrection Sunday evening want to say to us today?

The account tells us that the disciples had locked the door because of fear. We can probably identify with that sense of fear. We are quite rightly afraid of getting Covid-19 and of those we love getting it too, especially if they are in the vulnerable group.

There are many places in the Bible where God says: ‘don’t be afraid’. But the Lord is not telling us off for having fears. Fear is a very natural human emotion, which can be a great asset. No, he’s saying ‘I know you are afraid. Take my hand; I’ll be with you through it all’.

It’s like when a parent teaches their child to be afraid of running into the road. That’s a proper fear. So what do you do? You stand beside your child at the edge of the pavement and take their hand in yours and say, ‘OK now, don’t be afraid, we’re walking across together’.
  
There are so many fears that we all struggle with at some time in our lives and some of these fears can be crippling: fear of the future, fear of responsibility, fear of love and relationships, fear of bad news, fear of losing someone we care about, fear of growing old and dependant – but probably the biggest is our fear of death and dying.

There’s a verse in the letter to the Hebrews which talks about Jesus coming to destroy the power of death and “free all those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death.” (Ch 3: 14 – 15) Maybe the subject of death is becoming less of a taboo at the moment, giving us more of an opportunity than we’ve ever had before to face our fears and talk about it, pray about it.


On that first Sunday evening the resurrected Jesus, the one who had walked through death and come out the other side, said “Peace be with you”. And the disciples were overjoyed when they saw him.

We can lock the door against our fears and never really face them. But the Risen, living Jesus wants to come through that locked door. He wants us to hear him say: ‘Peace be with you’. And he will come, with all the love and compassion that took him to the Cross, and say: ‘Peace be with you; take my hand and we will walk through this fear together”.