Sermon 18th July 2010

Today, our Associate Vicar, John Itumu, preaches based on the reading from Matthew 26:36-46


This morning as we come to the end of the series on heroes of faith, I want to briefly remind us of two things that Jesus taught us:

Let me set some context to the passage I have just read:
The previous week had been a busy one. On the day we commemorate as Palm Sunday Jesus had been on a donkey and people following him had sung ‘Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. He had then proceeded to the temple and driven money-changers and traders out. We know that during this last week he had while talking about his imminent death identified Judas Iscariot as the disciple who would betray him; Simon Peter would also deny him three times. Just the previous evening had been their last supper together.

But now the hour had come. This is what his ministry and his life had been building up to. Jesus is filled with anguish at the prospect of what lay before him. He very well knew what Roman executions were like. He could picture it all – the flogging, the humiliation, the nails, the cross in the scorching afternoon Mediterranean sun. He cannot articulate fully what he is going through but reaching out to the three men nearest to him, he manages these words,:

V38
I am deeply grieved, even to death; remain here and stay awake with me

How interesting that the son of God would need moral support from fellow human beings – and who happened to be some fishermen who he had picked along three years earlier and asked them to follow him! A commentator describes this as the paradox of the incarnation. Who would have thought that the son of God would yearn for such company? Yet he did, why, because in his humanity he was like us. When we go through tough times don’t we all yearn for companionship, someone to walk with us, someone who shows some understanding of what we are going through, or just someone to be there and do nothing – but someone?

Yet it is not always easy to be that ‘someone’. I know this too well as I still grief my mother’s death. Even with the best of intentions, people never quite know how to scratch that itch, that pain and anguish and loneliness that is only felt by the victim. And because they cannot fully comprehend what is going on, they lose interest, get bored, tell you life must go on and walk away. It is the easier option than sticking around and being there. In a sense these three close disciples are in a similar dilemma; they cannot fathom what is going on, they cannot keep pace; they are out of their depth, and so they lose interest and fall asleep. These valued and chosen friends could not deliver in the simple mission to keep watch, stay awake! That is not too much to ask for from a friend, is it?

But such, is our nature. We have a problem staying awake. As Jesus reminds them, the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. It is for the same reason that Peter makes promises never to deny his master but later does him. It is the reason why they keep dozing off. Staying awake and being alert is a huge challenge! And so these three disciples and friends whom Jesus had counted just let him down!
Now here is the antidote and which is ultimately a choice we have to make: we either learn to rest on God and his promises or lean heavily on human support which often leads to disappointment. Let us learn from the master himself. He prays, ‘let this cup pass from me, yet not what I want but what you want.’ Jesus abandons himself to the mercies of God, his father, and prays for his perfect will. Not painless will, but perfect will. We read in v 39 that Jesus threw himself to the ground and prayed again. This is the only time Jesus is said to have prostrated himself. It shows the intensity of this prayer.

But what did this mean? What does it mean to say ‘may your will be done’? What will you mean in a little while as you pray the Lord’s Prayer at communion and say ‘may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven’? For Jesus, the issue is not whether or not he should accept what his Father has purposed for him, but whether that purpose need include this horrifying cup of a Roman execution. Is there some other way father, Jesus asks.

And Jesus is aware that this request may not be granted, hence the words not what I want but what you want. In other words may your will be done. These are very tough words that go against all human instinct of survival. His human body and soul are all crying against what is to come. Yet he knows that his father, is just and trustworthy. By faith, not by the pain he was going through, or the certain prospect of torture to death, by faith only he could trust his Father. Friends, that is the deal. Faith. This is what makes him a hero of faith! He chose to exercise immense faith and consequently suffer so that when he asks that we trust him, it would make sense to us. Jesus puts his faith in his father, God, because he totally trusted him. We have a loving God who stands in the gap when everyone else has lost interest, walked away or fallen asleep. He is there to the end of all things. He doesn’t give up on you. Ever!

Isn’t it also comforting to know that in Jesus we have a great high priest, a brother who can be touched by our very deep aches and longings? He has been there himself. He knows abandonment, he knows humiliation, he understands the wickedness of fellow human beings, he knows what betrayal, even being denied looks like. He has had it all.

One more thing; do you also notice that after this most intense battle in prayer he comes through strengthened? This abandonment to the will of his father frees him completely and he can now minister to these guys once again like before. You can almost hear a change of tone of voice as he now tells them:
V 45-6
Are you still sleeping, he asks the. Get up, let us be going. See my betrayer is at hand.
This is certainly different from the earlier, painful prayer as he threw himself on the ground. I want to say this to you. When God calls us to a certain course, and as we follow in the conviction that he has indeed spoken, this does not hold the storms at bay. If anything they almost always will multiply.
Hindrances are not always flattened so that we may easily pass through – even when God has clearly called. But we must hold on. Because we do not accomplish God’s calling in our own strength, but in his strength. After all if we have dared to pray, with serious intent – let your will be done, then we have allowed God to be in control. The good news is this: whether the storm subsides or not, we come through strengthened and emboldened for the next course of the journey.

I will say it again, if you know that God has called you to it, hang in there; don’t you quit. He will give you what you require to pull through. That is my understanding of ‘his will.’ Let us learn to abandon all to him.

My family gave me a tea mug for my Xmas present last year inscribed very appropriately with the word ‘Journey’. It reminds me that I am on journey.
On it also are the words of Jeremiah 29:11 which rang true as I wrote this sermon:
For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. They are plans for good and not for disaster; to give you a future and a hope.

God said these words to the prophet who wrote a letter to the exiled Israelites in Babylon at a time when all hope looked lost. The prophet continued to write and say:

When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart, I will let you find me. I will restore the fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places I have driven you and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.

I think we need to recapture and carry this image of a God of restoration all the time, especially because when we are up against it, we need a reminder that God’s perfect will always work in our favour; even when it doesn’t look or feel like it. That is what sustains me. Being an ordained clergy – or even an associate vicar does not make life any easier. Our God however restores us and carries us through. That is a business he delights in.

Secondly and closely connected to this is the prayer that Jesus prayed one day later while hanging on a cross. The famous forgiveness prayer – father forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.
But before I say a few things about this prayer let us revisit the scene. Just picture him: nailed on a wooden beam, thorns sticking in his skull, naked and his whole body a big wound and flesh hanging out. Out of the corner of his swollen eye he can barely focus to witness his garment being divided up by soldiers. What a sight to see your last possession shared out because you have been consigned to death! And in the midst of this he prays the most unselfish prayer ever uttered: ‘father forgive them.’

I am certain that most of us have known pain – physical/emotional – in some way or other. The default human position is to become self-centred and look for sympathy. It may be explicitly done, other times we put people on a guilt trip about our condition. All we are saying is ‘come on, I need some attention, show me, remind me that you care, that I am important’. When we don’t receive this, resentment, rage, self-pity and hatred take over as we become wrapped up in our pain and misery. But not Jesus. He chooses to rise above all that and prays for his tormentors – Father forgive them.

It is the single most powerful prayer you could offer for this person who thinks stamping on your sore feet (not just the toe), day in day out is a fun thing to do. Do you have one of those? They think you have unlimited patience.

To those the prayer I recommend this morning is, Father forgive them. This prayer is the most difficult, but the most rewarding. This prayer raises you to another higher level. It goes like this:
Father, forgive John. You have forgiven me and you have forgiven many who have done worse things than John. Please forgive him – he probably doesn’t realise what he is doing.

If you can bring yourself to pray this, now that is powerful! When you pray this way, you rightfully exercise your role as a member of the priesthood of believers that the apostle Peter later describes:

1 Peter 2:9
You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.
This prayer helps you take authority of a situation that would otherwise deteriorate and cause untold damage. This prayer helps you to move things on and look confidently into God’s future.

Those are the words God had laid in my heart to share with you today, the last time I preach to you in Herne Hill. I was tempted to pack in more because there is much more I could tell you...! I however pray that you remember these two:

First: Hold on, don’t you quit. God has a plan to prosper you. This is God’s perfect will for you.

Second: Pray the forgiveness prayer and see the world around you transformed by our God, the only one able to change the hearts of men and women.

Thanks for welcoming my family and I to this parish. We have been blessed. If I don’t see you again on or before 1st of August 2010, or meet you in Gloucester, or some other place in God’s world, then please let us meet on the other side. If we hold on firmly to Jesus Christ and keep the faith then we will see each other again. In the meantime I leave God’s richest blessings with you all. Amen.

Sermon 11th July 2010

Today, one of our Lay Readers, Adrian Parkhouse, preaches - based on the passage from Ephesians 1: 11-23 and 3: 16-19.

“Heroes of the Bible – Paul”


1. Paul is the “Marmite Man” of the NT: he provokes strong – if not necessarily consistent - reaction. Unless you are not familiar with him and his writings, then the chances are that at some point or other in your Christian lives, you have read or heard or studied something that Paul has said and have been either amazed by his insight, or, as likely, appalled by his reactionary views; I suspect the small study groups in the Parish are as riven now as they ever were by strongly held views in support of and opposition to teachings of this man Paul. The Marmite Man: you either love him or you hate him.

2. This is the first in this series of sermons that I have heard and so I have been reviewing the Parish Blog to catch up on what I have missed and especially to understand whether the idea has been to talk about the person or about the selected passage. It struck me that, in some respects, Paul, presents more of a challenge than most of the subjects first because of the scope and scale of the sources from which to draw conclusions (unlike some of our heroes, we are not confined to biographical accounts of what Paul did and said, but also have the wealth of his letters to churches, communities and individuals – perhaps the same to be said of David?); and second because of the slightly unclear time period over which the material was produced. So can we assume that Paul teachings were cast in stone from Day 1 and never changed or tat as time passed and circumstances changed, so too did his understanding of God at work? That in some respects over time his practical theology did change is certain: he was, after all, thankfully human.

3. So I want to start in our passage and start at the start of our passage because that gives a chance to spend some time thinking about Paul the man; and then I want to end by going back to the passage, because that gives a chance to think about what God may have to say through this man’s words to us today.

4. “In Him we were also chosen…”. In this letter, this is the only reference to Paul’s own calling to become a follower of Jesus of Nazareth. The impression is that his readers are more on the “likers-side” of the Marmite-divide. In other letters, Paul spends what can seem an inordinate amount of time and effort, explaining how he is where he is and justifying his authority as an Apostle in the new Church: clearly it was a massive frustration for him and a matter of serious concern and suspicion among the new believers: how could this man have really changed so fully? One can understand their concern too. We know that Paul, then Saul, had been born, a Jew, in Tarsus (Turkish side of the border with Syria) and sent to be educated by the sect of the Pharisees in Jersualem. He was evidently a faithful student and we meet him first as an engaged observer, the young man who minded the coats of the executioners, watching, and “silently assenting”, as Stephen became the first martyr of the Jesus-sect .

Then “breathing murderous threats”, this “Jew of Jews”, “Pharisee of Pharisees” gets letters from the High Priest giving him authority to tour the Syrian synagogues, to root out the heretical followers of Jesus and to bring them back to Jerusalem as prisoners. But then he changed; everything changed; his world was turned upside-down The story of his meeting with the risen Jesus on that road to Damascus is told 3 times in the Bible: as an account by the author of Acts, who then tells it again in Paul’s own reported words and then briefly again as Paul uses the incident to explain his role to his doubters in the churches in Galatia.

He had been “chosen” and his life took a different course – as Ananias, the nervous Damascan disciple who was sent out to help Saul, was told: this man has been set aside to take the good news to the gentiles and their kings as well as to the Jews.

5. And then? In his own terms, a “new life”, new objectives, new tasks, new journeys, new challenges, new friends – and a new name. And yet – without wanting to detract from any of this newness – or from the revolution that took a man dedicated to a narrow and sectarian view of the purposes of God to the view that Jesus was not only God’s Messiah but was Messiah for the whole world – it is a comfort to me that Paul was far from perfect, that at times perhaps, the old Saul came to the fore?

We know that he played Church politics; we know that it took time for the established Apostles to accept his change and the mission to the Gentiles and we see Paul negotiating, compromising even (over the rite of circumcision), to assist their understanding and support. But on other occasions, compromise on personal issues came hard: he found it hard to work with John Mark and the missionaries went their different ways for a time. His lifestyle was as a traveller, jealously self-supporting his ministry, travelling with companions but not a family, but not always on the move: 2 years in Antioch, over a year in Ephesus – building community, fostering faith, addressing new issues in new times.

He adopted a tried and tested means in new place – starting by speaking to the Jews in the synagogue and then moving out to the non-Jews, in houses, by rivers, in the streets. We understand he did not attract by reason of his physique, nor even by the force of the rhetoric: some of his hearers were even critical of the force of his argument. I always have time for young Eutychus (in Acts 20) who fell asleep in his sermon (shame he was on the window ledge!).

And his method: not sure we know enough but possibly encapsulated in his explanation to the Corinthians that he was “all things to all men, that by every possible means I might win some to God”. If he was speaking to Jews, then he could relate; if to Gentiles then he could relate too. Some of the charges over inconsistency seem to be met by this method: I will be what I need to be if win a person over to Christ.

So what did he teach, what did he say? We will return to our passage in a moment for another reason but the early verses contain the core of what excited Paul: “to hope in Christ…included in Christ ….the gospel of salvation…the seal of the Holy Spirit ...our inheritance”. For Paul the resurrection of Jesus, the one he met on that road was the critical moment in all time; faith in that resurrected Christ brings salvation (“justification by faith”), whatever your background, you are “in Christ”; and you know it because the living God is with you, in you, by the Holy Spirit, so you can hope, look forward, in confidence.

And last in this quick-whizz through the life of Paul, I must mention his writing, his letters. Again too much to cover in a moment, but if you know those of Paul’s letters included in the NT, just think of the variety of circumstances in which they are written, think of the differences in tone and content and then lastly think of the poetry:
 “If I speak with the eloquence of men and of angels but have no love, I become no more than a blaring brass or crashing cymbal…”;
 “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness”
 “The whole creation is on tiptoe to see the wonderful sight of the sons of God coming into their own”

6. So that is the man: really very human but very effective for God. If he were here now what would he want us to know? I think that is where we return to our passage – written perhaps to several churches but including the church at Ephesus, who he new well. For them he prayed, out of his own experience of his pilgrimage with God: and he prayed:

 that they would know God better
 that they would know the hope that God gives
 that Christ would dwell in their hearts through their faith
 that they would understand better the boundlessness of His love
 that they would know the dynamic power of God in their lives

That was the experience of God that Paul had and the experience he wanted for others – then and now.

Marmite Man: I am sure there will be times when Paul will annoy you again. But now let us gives thanks for his witness, his faithfulness and his prayer.

Sermon 4th July 2010

Today, one of our Lay Readers, Trevor Tayleur, preaches based on Psalm 51.

One Sunday a vicar preached a very challenging sermon. At the end of the service, a woman came up to him and said, “You must be a terrible sinner.” “Yes, I am a sinner,” admitted the vicar, “but why do you say that?” he asked the woman. “Well, you described our sins so well, you must have committed them all yourself.”

Maybe we could say the same of the writer of Psalm 51. As we read the writer’s heartfelt plea that his sins be wiped away and that all his evil be washed away and removed, we may well say to ourselves, “This man has described the experience so vividly; he must have committed some terrible sins!”

And so he had; adultery and murder, to be precise. This Psalms is attributed to David, the heroic slayer of the giant, Goliath, and the King of Israel. Adored throughout Israelite history, David is remembered as one of the great OT characters, a loyal servant of the living God. Yet here he is, desperately praying for forgiveness. And he had plenty of reason to do so; he had truly fallen from grace. The story is described in 2 Samuel 11 in the OT; it makes grim reading.

It began with a look, just a look, at Bathsheba, the beautiful wife of another man, Uriah, one of David’s soldiers. He sent her a message, she came to the palace and he committed adultery with her. Bathsheba became pregnant, and like many a modern politician, David tried to cover his actions up. He summonsed Uriah back from war, and told him to go his home, hoping that he would sleep with Bathsheba. But he didn’t go home; he didn’t think it was the right thing to do when his comrades were facing hardships on the battle front. So David got him drunk, but still Uriah wouldn’t sleep with his wife. Plan A, deceit and trickery failed, so now David moved on to Plan B, murder.

He sent Uriah back to his army, and ordered him to be placed in the front line of battle. And David also ordered for support to be withdrawn from Uriah so that he would be killed. And indeed Uriah was killed, and a number of other Israelite soldiers lost their lives as a result of David’s plan. David was free to marry Bathsheba, and after a time of mourning for Uriah, they were married.

Maybe for a while David thought he had got way with it. And he would have, but for God’s prophet, Nathan. In 2 Samuel 12 Nathan confronted David with the terrible reality of what he had done. David confessed his sin, and God forgave the sinner. And Psalm 51 - that resulted from David’s repentance, is one of the most vivid penitential prayers in the Bible.

The first 9 verses of Psalm 51 contain a desperate cry for pardon. There are many lies that the Devil tells about sin. One lie is told even before the sin is committed, that it’s alright, it’s nothing much, it’s no big deal, no one else will know, it’s OK. Perhaps David said that to himself before he committed adultery with Bathsheba. Another lie is told after the sin is committed. It goes like this: you think you’re going to be forgiven for doing a thing like that; no, what you did is far too bad; your case is hopeless.

It’s not that the Bible minimises sin. The Bible doesn’t say, “Don’t fret about sin.” The Bible says the opposite; sin is serious. That was why the prophet Nathan confronted David. David was the King of Israel: his word was law, but not even the King of Israel was above God’s law; David couldn’t bend God’s law to suit himself. The Ten Commandments are very clear, “You must not commit adultery.” That applied to David, and it also applies to each and every one of us. Nathan exposed David as an adulterer and murder. David recognised the truth of what Nathan said and cried out for forgiveness.

So let’s have a closer look at Psalm 51. Note that David constantly uses “I” and “me”. So in verses 1 and 2 he says, “Have mercy on me...blot out my transgressions...Wash away all my iniquity.” And in verse 3 he declares, “For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is always before me...” And in verse 4, “Against you, you only have I sinned...”

He knows what he’s done; he doesn’t try to excuse himself or to blame Bathsheba. He doesn’t say, “It wasn’t my fault that I glimpsed Bathsheba in the first place; it wasn’t my fault that I was tempted.” Oscar Wilde once said, “The only way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it... I can resist everything but temptation.” And while that is very witty, for a Christian it shouldn’t be true. Yes, we are going to be tempted, but temptation cannot make us sin. When you and I act, speak and think in contravention of God’s will, it’s because we choose to do so. It’s our choice.

But David doesn’t try to make any excuses. He knows that he has done wrong, and he admits this unreservedly. “For I know my transgressions,” he declares in verse 3. “My sin is always before me.” And note that although David had grievously wronged Uriah and also Bathsheba, he declares in verse 4, “Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight”

This does sound rather startling. We may be tempted to protest, “What about Uriah? Didn’t David sin against Uriah?” It would be a mistake to suggest that God is in some way marginalising Uriah. God is the God of the poor and defenceless. He is the God of Uriah. In murdering Uriah, David has scorned and despised the God of Uriah. To murder Uriah is to commit a crime against Uriah’s God. David’s sin is larger than murder and adultery: it is defiance of God himself and His laws.

How do we view our sins against other people? If we hurt someone through our sinful conduct, do we realise that we are sinning against God? God is our brother’s keeper. If we wrong our neighbour, we sin against God.

David acknowledges his sin; he doesn’t try to make any excuses. And he also goes further. He admits that what he did weren’t just isolated acts that were out of character. In verse 5 he admits, “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.” We see here where sin has its roots. David is saying that it’s an inherited sinful nature that lies at the root of his fall. That’s not to minimise what he did to Bathsheba and Uriah. But it’s a warning to every one of us; it’s a warning whether in a position of privilege and authority like David or whether we were born into a Christian family, as many of us are. It’s a warning that all of us are at risk, because we are part of a fallen humanity. It’s what theologians have termed ‘original sin’.

The idea of original sin may sound outdated and old-fashioned, but I think it describes the condition of humanity accurately. It’s not saying that we’re all as bad as we can possibly be, that humanity is totally corrupt. Human beings are made in the image of God, and God is good. It is saying that there is no part of our lives that’s not tainted with the pollution of sin. And here, in Psalm 51, David is acknowledging that he needs the mercy of God not just for what he’s done but also for what he is. And for that reason, we can’t get rid of our sins by our own strength; we need God to do it. That’s why David prays to God, “Blot out my transgressions…Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin!”

And the good news is that God wants to clean us inside. In verse 7, David prays, “Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.” He knows that he can’t cleanse himself of his sin, but that he needs God to transform him. And he’s knocking at an open door; God wants to restore him. Right at the beginning, David asks for mercy based on God’s unfailing love. And it’s on the basis of God’s unfailing love that David’s cry for pardon will be heard, and it’s on the basis of God’s unfailing love that we too can ask for forgiveness. And we’re in a better position than David. God has shown his love for us through the Cross where God’s unfailing love is expressed totally and completely. We know that He is a God who forgives because of the Cross.

David was guilty of extreme wrongdoing, and I suspect in church this morning there isn’t anyone who has committed both murder and adultery. So if anyone here is feeling overwhelmed by guilt, the message of this Psalm is that you can find forgiveness. Even if you’ve committed worse crimes than David, you can find forgiveness.

But what if you’ve never done anything approaching murder and adultery? Is this Psalm then just of academic interest? No, David’s story shows that no one is immune; anyone can come crashing to earth in a big way. But the Psalm also makes the point that we all need forgiveness. In verse 5 David admits, “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.” This does sound hard to accept, that our own natures are sinful, that even when David stood before Goliath he needed forgiveness. Yet whether it makes sense or not, we are responsible for what we are as well as what we do. We all need forgiveness.

David prays in verse 10, “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” David asks to be cleansed from the inside. But what does it mean? Does it mean that once you’re cleansed you become instantly good? No, it’s not that simple, as I’m sure we all know. John White, in his book Daring to Draw Near, gives us a helpful analogy. Sin is like baked-on grime that oven cleansers are good at dissolving. Spray overnight, wipe off the next morning and behold - a shiny new oven! In this sense God will forgive us and cleanse us from our sin; we will be as clean as new. However, no oven cleaner prevents grime from building up again. God’s forgiveness doesn’t cure us of our sinful tendencies. The process of confession and forgiveness is one that will continue all our lives.

Now that may sound rather discouraging, but we are able to change. We who live in the 21st Century live in an era when God’s Holy Spirit dwells within and amongst God’s people, permanently, universally, powerfully. David did know something of the Holy Spirit; after all he prays in verse 11; “Do not...take your Holy Spirit from me..” But we are able to know the Holy Spirit in a way that people who lived in OT times could scarcely have imagined. David lived long before Jesus died on the Cross and rose again; he lived long before the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost. We have a vision of Jesus that David could never have had. If we cling on to that vision of Jesus, if we are determined to increase our vision of Jesus, then we can fight against sin and temptation with confidence, knowing that we are not alone in the battle.

Let’s pray: Lord, we thank you for your amazing grace and generosity in forgiving us for all our sins against you. As we commemorate Jesus’ death on the Cross for us at Holy Communion today, we pray that you will create in us pure hearts and that we will know the joy of your salvation.