Sermon 4th February 2018

Today, our Assistant Minister, Ben Hughes preaches. The reading is from Psalm 121. 

A song of ascents.

¹ I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
    where does my help come from?
² My help comes from the Lord,
    the Maker of heaven and earth.

³ He will not let your foot slip—
    he who watches over you will not slumber;
⁴ indeed, he who watches over Israel
    will neither slumber nor sleep.

⁵ The Lord watches over you—
    the Lord is your shade at your right hand;
⁶ the sun will not harm you by day,
    nor the moon by night.

⁷ The Lord will keep you from all harm—
    he will watch over your life;
⁸ the Lord will watch over your coming and going
    both now and forevermore.

I have a Mountain quiz to begin with?

Would you like the easy quiz or the harder quiz?

What is the tallest mountain in the world?

The tallest is Mauna Kea Hawaii - measured from its base is one mile taller than Everest. The highest is Chimborazo in Ecuador measured correctly from the earth’s centre – the highest above sea level is of course Everest. 

What unsolved Mystery happened on an Argentinean mountain in 1947 led to the discovery and better understanding of the jet stream?

Avro Lancastrian ‘Star Dust’ accident finally discovered by two mountaineers 1998 as debris appeared out of a melting glacier.

Where did Elijah’s successful competition with the prophets of Baal take place?  Mount Carmel

To have a mountain you need a valley – what Scottish band had a hit into the valley in 1979 getting to number 10 in the Uk top 40? The Skids

What mountain did Noah’s Ark come to rest? Mount Ararat

Who built an altar of Unhewn stones on mount Gerizim?   Joshua

Which mountain hill range arte the Qumran caves of the Dead Sea scrolls situated – the Havar Hills

According to psalm 133, The unity of the brethren is like dew from which mountain? Mount Hermon

What mountain activity caused the red vibrant skies of late 19^th Century impressionist paintings to be so vivid? The eruption of Mount Krakatau in 1883 throwing tons of volcanic ash into the earth’s atmosphere causing vibrant red, orange and yellow sunsets.

What sporting activity takes place on Pikes Peak in the USA? Hill climbing motor sport

What  from the Welsh mountains is so precious to the Royal family ?  Welsh red gold – every wedding ring made for royal weddings are made from pure and rare welsh Gold.

Moses was showed the Promised Land? Mount Nebo is the right answer

According to Gordon’s excellent ‘Prehistoric mounds of London’ book - What is the name of the sacred prehistoric and ancient Briton ‘Bryn Gwyn’ mound in the city of London? Tower hill

On the mount of beatitudes - Jesus Sermon in Matthew – the Sermon on the Mount –How many blessings did he share? 11.

What mountainous activity led to the formation of the hills of south London? The ripple effect from the formation of the Alps

What is the soldiers Psalm and was printed and distributed to all allied troops before D day by the bible society?  Psalm 121

Psalm 121 is sometimes called the soldiers psalm – in peacetime it is the travelers psalm and sometimes was called the pilgrims song.

And like much of scripture it is multi faceted – the  psalm content reassures the reader of God’s blessing, sustaining and care whilst  it’s beautiful form and structure is set out as a climb – hence it’s name ‘the song of assents’.

The psalm is beautiful as it carries us away from the valleys, the caverns and gorges and rivulets of sin and temptation focusing our eyes heavenwards and to God in a step by step upward movement.

It is a traveler’s prayer, a reassurance of God’s commitment to us as we face the perils and uncertainties of our journey in life.

This soldier – pilgrim’s psalm is also full of references to our bodies, we are human and flesh and blood which makes it more relevant:

Stanza 1 We lift our eyes to the mountain

2 - He will not let our feet slip

3 God will shade our right hand

4 He will watch over our life

Eyes, feet hands, life

Or in other words God can commands what we see, where we go, what we do with our hands and everything that we are if we desire, want and let him do so.  

God’s care, love commitment to us therefore is all encompassing – no car or life insurance would ever offer such fully comprehensive cover as God offers us in this psalm – sign up today – it is a very good deal.

Now I am a preaching not selling insurance -

And commentaries really go to town on this psalm – as do poets and musicians – it contains so much systematic unraveling of truth and rich images that if you meditate on it’s words will lead you into rich places in God love and spirit. It is a pslam that points directly to God.

It is alos a very good ‘jump start psalm’ – it helps new Christians and can be used in mission.

We are being led upwards – our eyes see the glory and God draws us away from our problems and woes. It points our gaze upwards and instead of our gaze directed downwards towards the valleys instead up wards towards God.

The valleys – as the soldier saying – ‘into the valley’  - cab be army slang  for payday night leave on the town – My Uncles described WW11 Cairo when soldiers there-  as a place of temptation  and sin  - alleyways, streets bars, brothels and brawls. And the crevices and hills rising up from the city – a place of marauders, robbers and stray dogs when returning back to base. The city and the sinuous tentacles of the suburbs is perhaps describes hearts and hinterlands  of broken lives – like cities - places full of , business, temptation and distraction, overcrowding suffering poverty pain and hurts – When God calls us we avert our gaze  180 degrees turning  completely around to look to Him. By facing God we turn our backs on sin.

In other words - Know where your help comes from – know where you help is – know that you cannot do life on your own – turn your back on the road to perdition and death and turn and begin a new life with your gaze on me instead is the message

And there is no shame in crying to God for ‘Help’ – asking for help is not a sign of weakness but a sign of strength. I do nothing without asking for God’s help first. Even the everyday minors things that make up everyday life – I get God involved – I ask for his help – in prayer – for me and for others too.  And He does the business as well. I have been a teacher since 1989 – and I have seen a lot of poor teaching the worst ones being those that do not help children when they ask and need help – God never does that – He is like the best teachers –the ones that are right in the heart of any activity – creating bother, having ideas and helping each other.  That is where God wants to be and why in my view he made and makes us all – he wants to be part of your life – let him in!

That is why he sent his son Jesus to take the rubbish out so that there is the space to let God in  so take the challenge and accept the deal.  For it is a good one - a good deal – ask for help Get rid of your pride,  not me  on my own – but God with us.  God help right here right now!

Climbing up mountains and hills is not easy – the journey will be tough at times but as I mentioned part of the deal on offer – is God’s almighty assistance to help you, guide and lead you as you make your journey:

Verse 3

³ He will not let your foot slip—
    he who watches over you will not slumber;

So finally what is the mountain – where is this mountain – how does the help come?

In my quiz I deliberately mentioned brought in three key groups of people –

You have Moses and Joshua

Elijah and Isaiah

And Jesus and his disciples

And there is a question here for you to consider – where in the Gospels do these three groups meet and combine?

Yes it is the transfiguration –

For any Christian believer  the Transfiguration is a pivotal and key moment and the setting on that mountain as the point where human nature meets the nature of God

It is the meeting place of the temporal and the eternal,

Before Christ we only had the law and the testimony of the prophets to steer and guide our gaze upwards and to assist us in our salvation.  Now we have  Jesus himself as the connection between law and wisdom and us and heaven he is the bridge  between heaven and earth we have him to do that salvation work for us.  It is the cross shape arms outstretched bringing law and love together so that grace can run freely down and up between us and God.

The presence of Moses and  Elijah on the mountain witnessed by Peter and the disciples illustrates this completeness and the fulfillment of all mountain views in direction of Christ.

So Moses came down off Sinai with the Ten Commandments

Elijah beat the priests of Baal with the fire from the real God of heaven – Jehovah and

Then Jesus, fulfills both on the mount of Calvary

So when the psalmists say:

I lift my eyes to the mountain where does my help come from?

The answer is – yes the law, yes the word of the prophets but all in end point to crucified Jesus upon the cross.

And When the psalmist say– where does my help come from ?– he already knows – help comes from  obeying  and following God commandments – Listening and trusting God’s word  as the prophets did knowing the Lord as your saviour and propitiation of your sins.

When you say help me God – God has replied yes – here is my son Jesus who I am well pleased with.

Finally for us – those perhaps ‘long in the tooth Christians’  who may have stopped looking so well because our eyes have become dim, disillusioned  and blurred and feet worn and bruised.

The transfiguration serves as a reminder – what do the disciples do when they see the vision of Christ transfigured in the present of Moses and Elijah? – they stumble, mumble and talk rubbish – they want to build a shack – they want to contain the  event, they want to control the event.

For when you build a shack – it quickly becomes a building, then a monument and by doing so – you make what was once moving and dynamic instead,  static, dead and still.

The message here is get moving again – get going turn you gave from downwards and inwards to upwards and outwards. Outlook not inlook!

Rather the truth is our faith - use it on the journey – don’t leave it lying unused – get moving again – the chains that you think bind you are in fact lose and you can just shake them off – just like that!

And as we journey we have a staff -  as the psalmist says in other songs – The comfort of truth and faith is as a thy staff a thy  rod – If any of you have walked with a staff or rod on the hills or a journey – without noticing - you suddenly find the  hand that holds the staff becomes  – sore and distressed from the sun and the exposure – when we hold onto truth and faith our grasp can become frail and sore - under constant attack because it’s grip is exposed – it is the point of vulnerability – the point of weakness.

The psalmist knows this

⁵ The Lord watches over you—
    the Lord is your shade at your right hand;

God does not hold the staff for us  – but he protects the faith and belief of our grasp of truth.

And finally in the last and most wonderful verse in this psalm

The Lord will watch over your coming and going
    both now and forevermore.

This is great

My grandfather – not a religious man but a faithful and true Christian – a bruising builder at 6ft4 had this verse over the front door of his house. One of very few possessions but he knew what was important.

What I love about it as the action and activity of unity and love in God that does not end when we die but carries on forevermore. The last word of the psalm.

We will still be coming and going – hither and thither forever – I do not want a static existence in God – I want to journey – to go out in the morning and return in the evening to do great things in between and travel in confidence  – it is what life is in all its is fullness and glory. And that will continue I hope and beliwve  into the next life –

God confirms what is in this final verse in other parts of the bible  – it is only going to get better and better and better – I cannot wait I am so pleased and grateful to Jesus for making it possible and looking forward to everything to come –for you and for me -  now and forevermore  Amen!

Let us pray…

Sermon 28th January 2018

Today, one of our Lay Readers, Trevor Tayleur, preaches. 
The reading is from Mark 10: verses 17-31

 What’s important

After a PCC meeting, a frugal PCC member walked into his home panting and almost completely exhausted. “What happened, honey?” inquired his wife.

“It’s a great new idea I have to be a better steward of our resources,” he gasped. “I ran all the way home from the PCC meeting behind the bus and saved £1.50.”

“That wasn’t very bright,” replied his wife. “Why didn’t you run behind a taxi and save £10?”

Today we’re continuing our series on Jesus’ teaching on forgiveness and acceptance. We’ve been looking at how Jesus met with people – and how he can meet with us. In the last two weeks we’ve seen how Jesus accepted people who by the standards of his time were outsiders, Matthew the hated tax collector and a Canaanite Woman – a descendant of the ancient Canaanites, the bitter biblical enemies of Israel. And in turn they accepted Jesus; indeed, Matthew became one of his 12 disciples and the writer of one of the Gospels. In contrast today’s reading is about an insider, a highly respected pillar of society, who in the end left a bitterly disappointed man.

We know from Mark’s account that the man was rich. We know from Luke’s and Matthew’s accounts that he was young and a ‘ruler’        - that means he was a leader in a local Jewish synagogue. So, this man has come to be known as the ‘rich young ruler’. Anyway, he asks Jesus a fundamental question: “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” (v.17) Today a modern version of the question might be, “What is the meaning of life?”

Now, one thing that stands out from this passage is money; Jesus is talking about money. If we want to talk about what being a Christian means, we do need to talk about money. That’s a subject that the British tend to avoid, but today’s Gospel reading doesn’t really give us the choice!

The rich young ruler seemed to have had a blind spot about money, but he doesn’t seem to have been the only one to have had a blind spot. So, we’re going to look at three things this morning:

Firstly, what was the nature of these blind spots?

Secondly, what does Jesus say about them? And –

Thirdly, what are do about our blind spots?

So, let’s look at the blind spots our passage reveals. The rich young ruler went away bitterly disappointed, but actually the reaction of the disciples is also very interesting. The disciples were amazed at what Jesus said. The disciples were mostly working people – fishermen. But they didn’t cheer when the rich man went away empty-handed. They were amazed.

What they were thinking is something like this: If this man can’t make it into God’s kingdom, how can we? They’re probably rather worried. They’re upset and shaken. Why? Why are so amazed?

Let’s look at the encounter between Jesus and the rich young ruler. Jesus questions him about his lifestyle and morality. In verse 19, Jesus goes through various commandments, asking him, “Have you defrauded anybody? Have you honoured your parents?” Jesus goes through the Law. He’s quizzing the man whether he’s acted fairly in his business dealings, or whether he’s taken advantage of people. And the man replies, “Teacher, all these I have kept since I was a boy.” (vs.20). He’s been just, he’s been fair; he’s been a genuinely moral person.

 And Jesus seems to accept his answer at face value. Jesus was perfectly willing to denounce hypocrisy, as his dealings with the religious leaders of the time show. But Jesus doesn’t contradict the rich young ruler. The disciples don’t contradict him. Clearly the man was of good character and virtue; he was an upright person, a pillar of the community. And that bothered the disciples. “If he’s not worthy, how can we be?”, they thought. How can anyone be worthy of the Kingdom?

What the rich young ruler and the disciples thought was that morality must count for something. And I think many people feel that today. If you’re good, you should be rewarded.

The young man was obviously religious and sincere in how he lived. His problem was that he considered that that was enough. And this is the point that Jesus challenges. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” But the rich young ruler wasn’t willing to do that, so he went away sad and disappointed.

The rich young ruler claimed that he had met the Law’s standard, but Jesus simply touched on the issue that proved that he didn’t measure up to God’s holiness. He was not willing to follow the Lord, if that meant he must give up his wealth. So, the man was breaking the two greatest commands; he didn’t love his neighbour as himself, and he didn’t love the Lord with all his heart. He loved himself, and his money, more.

This passage provides a clear warning of the dangers of wealth. In verse 23 Jesus says, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!” And he reinforces it two verses later; “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

Of course, it’s impossible for a camel to go through the eye of a needle. Some people have tried to get around the problem by claiming the needle Jesus was speaking about was the Needle Gate, a low and narrow after-hours entrance found in the wall surrounding Jerusalem. It was deliberately small for security reasons, and a camel could only go through it by stripping off any saddles or packs and crawling through on its knees. The problem with this theory is there is no evidence such a gate ever existed.

Jesus’ message is clear - it is impossible for anyone to be saved on their own merits. Since wealth was seen as proof of God’s approval, it was commonly taught by the rabbis that rich people were blessed by God and were, therefore, the most likely candidates for God’s kingdom. Jesus destroyed that notion, and along with it, the idea that anyone can earn salvation. And the disciples responded, “Who then can be saved?” If the wealthy and morally upright were unworthy of God’s kingdom, what hope was there for ordinary people?

Jesus replies: "With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God." (vs 27) It is through only through the grace of God that we can be part of God’s Kingdom.

The problem with money is that it can blind us to our needs. A person who is prosperous and financially secure may think that they have all they need; they may well not see their need for a Saviour. You won’t go looking for a Saviour unless you realise that you need one.

Be careful. Wealth can blind us to our needs. But it’s not the only potential blind spot that this passage reveals. A lot of people aim to be a ‘good person’, and they may feel that’s enough to qualify them for God’s kingdom. But we can’t save ourselves by being moral.

We have our blind spots. Let’s now look, secondly, at what Jesus says about them.

Despite seemingly to have it all, the rich young ruler did approach Jesus. He was wealthy, a pillar of society, a – indeed in many ways a role model. But after all there does seem to have been something missing.  Perhaps that’s why he asked Jesus the vital question, “What must I do to inherit eternal life – to be part of God’s Kingdom?” Any self-respecting Jew back then would already have known the answer – the answer that the rich young ruler gave. “Obey the commandments.” If he already knew the answer, why is he coming to Jesus?

The key is in the question he asked: “What must I do - What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Anyone who thinks the path to eternal life is through doing things – through accomplishing things – is likely to find something missing. There’s always going to be a nagging doubt – an insecurity: Can I do something more? And for the rich young ruler there was one more thing: “One thing you lack,” [Jesus] said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

Jesus is saying to the man; “I know you’re moral. Everyone believes that you are a good person. But you only look good on the outside. So if you want eternal life, real intimacy with God, you can’t just repent of what’s on the outside; you must also repent of what’s on the inside.”

The rich young ruler had to repent of his love of money. His identity and his self-worth were rooted in his money.  If he wanted his life to change, he had to change his relationship with the so-called good things of life. Money was his blind spot. But other people can have different blind spots. These blind spots can be good things in themselves; they could be our family relationships or our careers; things we should value but, ultimately, they are not things on which our identity and self-worth should depend.

I suspect there’s a level of insecurity in each of us. The rich young ruler found his identity in money, but it wasn’t enough. Was there something more he could do? Well, he wasn’t willing to do the “something more”, to give away his wealth, and we see from verse 22 that he went way “sad”. Our translation of the Greek word as “sad” is a rather weak term. Other translations use the word “grieve”; it’s the same Greek word that the Bible uses to describe the mental agony that Jesus experienced in the Garden of Gethsemane just before his crucifixion. Jesus himself described it as follows: “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.” (Mark 14:34)

In Gethsemane it seemed that everything was falling apart for Jesus. His entire identity was disintegrating before his eyes. He was losing his sense of self. So, when this rich young ruler was called to give up his money, he was grieved, because he realised that his wealth was his centre, his identity – the essence of who he was.  If we want Jesus to be our Saviour, then we can’t have anything else as our Saviour. For the rich young ruler, wealth was his Saviour, and he wouldn’t give it up. Is there anything, or anyone, we trust above Jesus? What are our blind spots?

So, thirdly, in the light of what Jesus has said, what do we about our blind spots? Something I can’t stand in our garden is dandelions! To get rid of them, you have to go after the root. One of my favourite garden implements is our dandelion weeder, because with it you can really get out the root. And so it is with our blind spots; we need to go after the root. We get a hint on how to start through the way Jesus looked at the rich young ruler. Verse 21 tells us, “Jesus looked at him and loved him.”

Now, of course, Jesus loves everyone, but the Gospel writer was making a point that goes beyond Jesus’ universal love. Why did Jesus love this person? Not because he was a great guy, but perhaps because Jesus saw aspects of himself in him. Whatever the reason, Jesus was the ultimate rich young ruler. There’s nobody who had more than him. Jesus was in the God-head; he had more than anyone else. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians that though Jesus was rich, for our sakes he became poor. How poor? He was born as a human being – in a manger in Bethlehem.  Nobody in the world has gone from more wealth to poverty than he did.

There’s nothing that Jesus is asking of us that he hasn’t done already. There’s nothing that Jesus is asking us to give up that he hasn’t given up. He’s done all this for us, so why can’t we give up our blind spots, our idols and crutches for him? If he’s given these things up for us, why can’t we give them up for him?

When we know how much we are loved by God, we don’t need to check our bank balance for our status, we don’t need loads of friends on Facebook to have value. When we deal well with the roots of what’s enslaving us, we can become free.  Money can just be money when it’s not in our hearts. When Jesus Christ has moved into our hearts, we don’t need to define ourselves by our human status. When our root changes, our actions change.

So, what does that mean for us practically? In your service sheets you may have noticed a slip explaining how much it costs to run St Saviour’s.  A lot of people give sacrificially already, but today may a good moment to reflect on our giving, to make sure that we don’t have a blind spot when it comes to money. Quite a lot of our money we give to the Diocese; in return the Diocese will pay and house our new vicar when they arrive. Some of the money goes to poorer parishes, who couldn’t support a vicar on their own. It’s only right that richer parishes should support poorer ones.

At the very least, while we might not be called to give everything away to the poor, Jesus’ encounter with the rich young ruler does encourage us to think about how we use our money.

Apart from money, there may be other blind spots that are holding us back from service. Being generous also means being generous with our time, oour love and prayers for others. So, even if you’re not in a position to give financially, why don’t you think if there are any other new ways you could be serving Jesus. There are plenty of opportunities for service:

·      Helping in Children’s Church

·      Joining the Welcome Team, or

·      Joining the rota to put out chairs before services.

·      Helping in Children’s Church

·      Baking cakes for the new Drop Stop Café, or

·      Serving on the PCC.

If you want to know more about these or other possibilities, please speak to Gill or one of the leaders afterwards.

When we see Jesus’ love for us, that uproots our neediness, our lack of love and our need for crutches. And that will help us to change our lives.

Let’s pray: Father, help us to truly realise how much Jesus gave up for us, so that we can faithfully serve him and each other. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

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[i] 27 January 2018