Sermon 28th February 2016

In the season of Lent, we will be urged to listen to the messages that Jesus sent to selected churches in First Century Asia. 

Today, our Vicar, Cameron Barker, preaches and the Bible reading is from Revelation 3: verses 1-6.

This is an unusual way to start a sermon, I realise. But I’d still like to ask who else has seen the Derren Brown programme that was on Chanel 4 in January; the 1 called ‘Pushed to the edge’ …

No matter: that’s pretty much what I expected! In any case, all I wanted to say about it at this stage is that it begins with the pinging of bell; the sort that you’d imagine at old-fashioned hotel reception desk, perhaps. The programme itself doesn’t start with that; but during it we’re shown that that’s where, and how, everything began. So fix that pinging bell sound at the back of your mind; and then you can start thinking about something, or rather somewhere that everyone here is familiar with: the ancient city of Sardis! 

Now I know that most people won’t think that they do know anything about Sardis; but actually you probably do. If I were to say the name ‘Croesus’ that would probably do it: there is a phrase associated with his name: which is … Well, he was King of Sardis in the 6^th Century BC; and he really was as rich as Croesus! Sardis was all about money – which is the other reason that you do know about it, really. If your purse/wallet/pocket jingles when you shake it, that’s because Sardis invented coins as money. That happened long before Croesus was King, because Sardis had always been about money: making it, spending it, and enjoying it in all the debauched ways that you’d imagine. 

It all came very easily to that city, situated as it was at the junction of no less than 5 major trade routes in that part of modern-day Turkey. Empires came and went, and Sardis just raked it in, hand over fist; and nobody could ever take it away from them. The city, Lord of The Rings-like, was built into a sheer rock-face that couldn’t be climbed, so for centuries it carried on just as it liked. Until the days of King Croesus, at least. Then Sardis was besieged by the Persians; who did find a way to scale the cliffs at night. They scrambled up, and took the city; because the people of Sardis were so sure they were safe they didn’t bother to post a guard even when they were under siege. And, believe it or not, the Greek did the exact same thing 200 years later!

Sardis it seems, didn’t learn the lessons of history; which is seldom a wise choice to make. The city’s inhabitants were so caught up in making, spending, and enjoying money that they literally slept their way to disaster: not once; not twice; but at least 3 times – if we take today’s letter to the church there seriously. The evidence certainly is that Sardis in the 1^st Century AD was no different to how it had been throughout its history. And it very much seems that its church rather too closely imaged the mistakes that Sardis made year after year. “Wake up!” Jesus demanded of his church there, as we’ve so clearly heard: “Wake up before it’s too late. If you don’t, I will appear as thief in the night”; and everyone in Sardis knew exactly what that meant!

Today is the 2^nd in our Lent series of Jesus’ letters to his church in what used to be known as the Roman province of Asia Minor. It is actually the 5^th letter, because there aren’t enough Sundays to do all 7 of them before Easter. Gill gave lots of useful background to this book and this series last week, so do catch up with that if you missed it. One of the pieces of information that I can helpfully add to that today is that these letters were written to something of a formula. It’s a 7-stage process that Jesus dictated to John, the human writer of the book of Revelation; and that number is significant, of course. There were 7 letters; to 7 churches; each given in 7 stages: by the one who held both the 7 spirits and the 7 stars in his hand.

That’s how this letter to the church in Sardis begins; and it then goes on using that formula I mentioned. At the end of Chapter 1 we can read the vision of the one (Jesus) whom John saw speaking to him, and telling him what to write to these 7 churches. Each letter then starts by picking out one feature from that amazing vision. And of course each 1 is deliberately chosen: it’s a key part of Jesus message to that particular church. So what the church in Sardis needs to hear, and know, is that when Jesus says that he knows, he KNOWS! In the Bible, the number 7 stands for perfection; it’s 100%, as we might say. The “7 spirits of God” is another way of saying the Holy Spirit; and 7 stars are the 7 angels of the 7 churches: and they are all in Jesus’ hand. 

Jesus holds the Holy Spirit; the angels; and the churches in his hand; and he knows them all completely: inside out. And the Sardis church needs to know that he knows that, and them; because they are in for a BIG shock. If they had been asked, they probably would have said that they were doing alright; or better. They certainly had that kind of reputation, of being alive, as Jesus acknowledged; but the reality was clearly exactly opposite to how things looked on the outside. Jesus had affirming things to say to almost all of the other 6 churches in his letters: but not to Sardis. Their deeds were falling well short of what God expected. “You’re actually almost dead”, Jesus told them; “And the little that’s left isn’t going to last much longer either. Time to wake up; and take action: right now; while you can”.

That should be an absolutely devastating assessment for any church to hear; that Jesus sees us as dead. And maybe it was devastating for the church in Sardis; but maybe it wasn’t. A 1970 cartoon immortalised the phrase that might have been used of this church: “We have met the enemy; and he is us.” These weren’t a bunch of Christians who’d been brought to the point of destruction by persecution or spiritual opposition; or torn apart by internal heresy; or even by some blatantly obvious sin. No they, almost without exception, had sleep-walked their way to the brink of oblivion: without even noticing. And the only ones who could perhaps have sounded the alarm were so few in number that they were marginalised and ignored by the dying majority.

So how could that possibly have happened? Ping! It’s time to bring that sound back to the forefront of our mind. It has proved to be quite a controversial programme, but “Pushed to the edge” is a fascinating watch. I won’t spoil it for those who’ll now want to do that, but, as I said, it all began with that noise. Volunteers who wanted to be part of Derren Brown’s latest (unnamed) programme were taken into a room to fill in forms, supposedly. In there were actors, who had been told to stand or sit, when the bell pinged. Anyone who didn’t follow that example was removed – as finally were the actors; leaving the place full of volunteers: standing or sitting, to the sound of that bell, even though nobody had told them anything about it!

It’s amazing to watch; and worth asking yourself what you would do, in those circumstances. It’s just a tiny thing, of course; but a short-list was chosen from those volunteers – though they were all told that they hadn’t been selected. Derren Brown claims that this was a test of just how far social compliance will make people go. So the programme then details how a chosen person was presented with a series of ever-harder choices, but in very calculated ways, and in a highly controlled environment. It leads them right up to the point where they have to decide if they will push a real living person to what they believe is certain death. And it all began with Ping, remember! So however did they get there? Simple: by making one, easy, wrong, choice at a time; just as the people of Sardis did in the 1^st Century; and just as we are as capable of doing ourselves today: all the way to landing ourselves up on the very verge of our own destruction!

It’s a salutary lesson, that should bring us up short today, then. Of course not each and every message to these 7 1^st Century churches applies to every church today. But they are meant to make us at least ask relevant questions. Each and every church, in every age, always runs the risk of mirroring its society too closely. The challenge to Christians is always about how we are to be distinctive in appropriate, Godly ways – even as we engage with contemporary society. Christians can’t, and mustn’t, become so isolated from contemporary society by what we say and do that nobody will ever listen to us. That would defeat God’s purpose for all people to come to know his love – which is the task that he entrusts to his church in every age. But, at the same time, Christians do need to model this new life of freedom, wholeness, and purpose that God has made possible, through the same Jesus who writes to his church.

The church in Sardis – however it may have looked on the outside – had got that balance totally wrong: to the point of death. What they needed to do – desperately urgently, Jesus said – was to go back to basics: to remember what they had been taught and heard; and obey it. That – as it almost always does with God – starts with repentance: recognising that they had got it wrong; and how they had got it wrong; and then doing something about it. The vast majority of them needed, in the language of today’s passage, to stop soiling their robes, with their Sardis-like making, spending, and enjoying of money; and making right, Godly choices instead: in the same one-at-a-time way. It wasn’t too late for them to wake up and do this; just as it isn’t for us either.

Here then, I’d suggest, is the question that comes to each of us – personally, as well as to us corporately – today. Are you, are we too “London” in how we think and act and behave? You, we each, might need to break that question down a little bit; into whether it’s more of a “Zone 2” thing; or even a “Herne Hill” thing, perhaps; and/or the specific industry that we’re each in. What are the ways (and there are bound to be at least a few) in which we do blend in with the crowd – or stand or sit when the bell pings? Just how far down that road away from what we have been taught and heard have we wandered: ourselves, and as church? This, after all, is the challenge that comes to the church in Sardis; though it applies to many of the people within it.

The main purpose of Lent is to have a period of honest self-examination: of how things actually are in our lives. So this is the question that’s being put to us this week. It may not apply to you, perhaps – or not very much; but it may be that God is telling you to wake up; to act before it’s too late. If so, then hear that message; and repent: today! Be assured, as the church in Sardis was, that it’s not yet too late. Your name too can stay in the book of life; you can also receive these clean white robes from Jesus; and he will yet name you as his friend before his father and the angels. And be encouraged by learning another Sardis fact. In the 2^nd Century, one of the most famous early church leaders and thinkers, Melito, came from this city. The church there clearly had opened its ears to hear, and act on, what the Spirit said to it, then: and we can do the same today too. So let’s pray that we will indeed do just that: hear, and obey …

Sermon 21st February 2016

In the season of Lent, we will be urged to listen to the messages that Jesus sent to selected churches in First Century Asia. 

Today, our Honorary Assistant Minister, Gill Tayleur, looks as Jesus' messages to Ephesus. 

The reading is from Revelation 2:1-7.

At the end of the service, a visiting preacher was standing at the back of the church greeting people and shaking hands as they left. After a few adults had filed past, he came upon Johnny, the 7 year old son of the vicar. "Good morning, young man," the preacher said as he shook Johnny’s hand. As he did so he felt something in the palm of the boy’s hand, a coin. "What's this?" the preacher asked. "Money," said Johnny with a big smile on his face, "It's for you!" "I don't want to take your money," the preacher answered.
"I want you to have it," said Johnny, "My daddy says you're the poorest preacher we ever had and I want to help you."

I wonder, what do people think of this church, of St Saviour’s/ St Paul’s?!

Most people have an opinion about their local church and about the church in general. They may think it’s old fashioned, out of touch, it’s boring, it’s too high, too low, too happy clappy, too charismatic. And/or they may think it’s friendly, lively, a good influence, and place of support.

It can be interesting, and often salutary, to find out what others say about the church, whether they’re people who never come near, or people who do.

But there’s one opinion that’s more important than any other. What if we could find out what God thinks of the church?! What if we knew what Jesus Christ himself, thinks of the church, of this church?!

This new series based on some of the early chapters of the book of Revelation, tell us just that. They contain 7 messages from Jesus to 7 churches in ancient Asia, sharp and pointed messages that speak of which aspects of church life Jesus approved of, and which aspects he criticised. These messages given to the first century church, give us an understanding of what Jesus expected from his church then, and surely now in the 21^st century too.

Before we look at the first message though, we need to see its context. Two weeks ago Cameron introduced us to this book of Revelation. It’s the account of a revelation, a vision, given by Jesus, to John, most likely the same John who was a disciple of Jesus. It happened in about AD95, a time of terrible persecution of the early church. John had escaped with his life but had been banished for his faith to the island of Patmos, 35 miles off what’s now Turkey, for hard labour breaking rocks. And it was there that this revelation came to him from Jesus. It’s an extraordinary complex vision, picture, filled with vivid symbolic imagery, of the final battle between good and evil, the supreme triumph of God at the end of time, and of the new heaven and earth God will ultimately recreate.

The beginning of the vision or revelation from Jesus is described in chapter 1 and it’s the context for the messages to the churches we’re going to look at. There were 7 golden lampstands and the Son of Man, Jesus himself, walking among them, described in shining glory. The lampstands represent the churches, which perhaps shouldn’t be a surprise, as in the gospels Jesus tells his followers to shine in the world with his light and truth and love. In Matthew 5 Jesus said:

“You are the light of the world… People don’t light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its lampstand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”

So the lampstands in the vision represent the churches, and the fact that there’s 7 of them may well be significant as in the Bible the number 7 often indicates completeness and perfection. So it has been argued, these 7 churches were specific but they’re also symbolic and representative of all churches in all times.

In chapter 1 verse 1 it says:

“This book is the record of the events that Jesus Christ revealed. God gave him this revelation in order to show his servants what must happen very soon.”

God gave John this revelation from Jesus for his servants, for the church, and if we count ourselves as servants of God, then we too had better pay attention! J

Each of the 7 messages ends with these words:

“If you have ears, then, listen to what the Spirit says to the churches!”

We have ears, and we need to listen! These messages are relevant to us today, to St Saviour’s and St Paul’s, to the Parish of Herne Hill!

So, let’s listen very carefully to the first message, to the church in Ephesus. Back in the 1^st century, Ephesus was most important city in the whole of what’s now western Turkey. It was a centre of travel and trade, a very busy seaport, with major roads heading east, north and south and a population of about 300,000. In Ephesus there was a huge renowned temple of Artemis or Diana, one of the wonders of the ancient world. Against the background of this pagan temple, the apostle Paul, Apollos, Priscilla and Aquila, and Timothy had all poured spiritual energy and life into the Ephesian church.

So, what was Jesus’ message for the church in Ephesus?

First, there’s a compliment. Verses 2 and 3: “I know what you have done; I know how hard you have worked”

The Ephesian church worked hard; they had a lot of energy! The message from Jesus in verse 2 was I know about your hard work – the Greek word (I’m told) is kopos, toil or labour, work that makes you sweat! People in the Ephesian church were willing to put in the effort, to put themselves out, to work hard to do all the things the early church did: to preach and teach, to evangelise, to care for the poor, the widows and orphans, to give and serve in many different ways.

Jesus gives them credit for what they do and how hard they work at it. He praises their effort.

What about us in this church, you and me? Is hard work, work that makes you sweat, a good description of your role in this church? Are you quick to volunteer to serve, and really put the effort in?

Actually there aren’t many roles that involve actual sweat but there is possibly one – putting out the chairs and platform for worship on a Saturday night or Sunday morning! And more volunteers are needed for that!

Maybe you do work hard, in Children’s Church, or serving the coffee, getting out the chairs, watching over the playground, or representing the parish at Deanery Synod –

you can be encouraged by these words of praise from Jesus – he does know what you do!

The church in Ephesus was complimented, first, for their hard work. Then in verses 2 and 3, Jesus praises them for their endurance. “I know how patient you have been. You have suffered for my sake, and you have not given up.”

The Ephesian Christians weren’t quitters, they held on, they hung in, for Jesus’ sake, despite the massive personal cost of persecution.

What about us in this church, you and me? Could we be said to be patient, and not give up? Or do we let things slip when they’re difficult, when there’s resistance, or when we’re weary? Do we keep on keeping on, through thick and thin?

And finally the church in Ephesus is complimented for one more thing, for their Christian orthodoxy. For their ability to recognise and draw a clear line between those who were real followers of Jesus and those who were not. Verse 2 again: “I know that you cannot tolerate evil men and that you have tested those that say they are apostles but are not, and have found out that they are liars.”

And again, in verse 6 we read about a group called the Nicolations, whose behaviour was evil, and the Ephesians spotted that and rejected those practices.

The Ephesian church’s faith was well defined and well defended.

What about us in this church, you and me? These days there are still wrong attitudes, wrong behaviours, that need to be resisted, as we stand up for the truth. How well do we do that? It’s so much easier to go along with the crowd, to try and blend in, and not stick out or make a fuss when something wrong is going on. So much easier to leave untruth unchallenged, whether it’s something about God or faith, or perhaps something racist. Do we weigh up attitudes and things we hear against Biblical godly truth and make a stand when that’s appropriate?

So, first a compliment – that the Ephesian church was energetic, strong and ‘sound’!

But after the compliment, a criticism, and a devastating one at that. In verse 4 “But this is what I have against you: you do not love me now as you did at first. Think how far you have fallen! Turn from your sins and do what you did at first.”

Ouch. “This is what I have against you” Jesus says, “you do not love me now as you did at first.” Love has grown cold!

I think this can happen both corporately, and individually. I heard this week of a charitable organisation, a housing trust, that was set up by a group of churches a long time ago, but over the years, the links with the churches grew weaker and weaker, until now it has nothing to do with any church or Christian group at all. It’s still going, but no longer expresses God’s love in the way it did at first. That might be an example of where a group does not love as it did at first.

What about us in this church, you and me, together and individually?

Could it be that our love for God and his son Jesus has cooled off a bit? Or a lot?!

Has our Christian life become mechanical rather than loving?

Has our love and worshipful relationship with God, become simply being busy for him?

Is the sense of wonder and gratitude for God’s love and forgiveness, strong, or is it slipping away?

Do we leave Sunday worship irritated with the imperfections of the preacher, or the choice of songs or hymns, or having met with the living God?
Are we more critical than we used to be, of others in church, and more impatient of their weaknesses?

Is our service of others fuelled by kindness and care, or by an increasingly resentful sense of duty?

Are we more motivated to please ourselves than please God?

[These questions apply very much to me too, of course.]

You do not love me now as you did at first.

Love, the one quality without which all others are worthless.

Is your love for God and others growing cold?

If you recognise yourself in any of this, and I very much include myself in these challenges, then what do we do about it? Jesus’ message to the church in Ephesus tells us what to do – in the words of a command.

The compliment then, was followed by the criticism. And now by the command.

In verse 5 “Think how far you have fallen! Turn from your sins and do what you did at first.”

How do we grow our love for God and his son Jesus? In 3 ways: Think, turn and DO.

Think about what it used to be like! Remember those times when God seemed close,

perhaps when you first committed your life to him, when faith was first real for you,

or maybe when you experienced God’s presence or peace in a special way. Use your spiritual memory to relive the best times! Think!

Then, “Turn from your sins, or repent.  Repent of not loving as you used to! Other translations of the Bible say repent of forsaking your first love!” Forsaking means abandoning or betraying, strong language for when our love of God goes tepid and half hearted, when we’re just going through the motions.

But we need to acknowledge and take responsibility for the situation, and truly be and say sorry to God, earnestly seeking his forgiveness and mercy.

And as you’ve probably heard lots of times before, repentance then means behaving differently. It means turning around and moving in the opposite direction. We need to deal with whatever or whoever might have been contributing to our cold heartedness. If we’re not sure, we can ask God to show us, to pinpoint what has caused our love for him to wane.

So we think, we turn, and finally we DO! “Do what you did at first.”

We do the things that will re-ignite our love, our enthusiasm, our single heartedness, for God.

DO actually get round to reading the Bible and to praying.

DO spend time with godly people who will encourage and be a good influence on you!

DO go along to a home group, for that – a group of people in the parish who meet in someone’s home to think more about faith and their lives, and to support one another. Have a word with me afterwards to find out more.

DO get involved with serving and loving others, in the church and outside. There are heaps of opportunities for service, listed in this booklet at the back.

DO be generous in acts of love, from the Love Life Live Lent booklet – available at the back of church – and in supporting our Lent appeals. Money contributions are invited for projects in Palestine and Zimbabwe, 2 places of desperate need. Tinned food contributions are invited for the Kings College Hospital Home Hamper Scheme. Details about both are at the back.

DO some of these things!

So, what about us in this church, you and me?

Compliment, criticism, command.

The message to the church at Ephesus ends with a warning and a promise.

The warning is in verse 5: “If you don’t turn from your sins, I will come to you and take your lampstand from its place.”

The lampstand represents the church remember, so here Jesus is saying if you don’t restore your love for God, the church will die. Its light will go out, the lampstand will be gone. Of course, a church whose love dwindles away, its love for God, and for others, will not thrive; in time it will wither and die. Although there was for several centuries, there is today no church in Ephesus; it’s a huge (and beautiful) ruined city, with no living Christian presence.

What about this church? What will St Saviour’s/ St Paul’s be like in 10, 20 or 50 years’ time? Will it be flourishing, a centre of life? Or will we run down, close down, become a community hall? We’ve recently rebuilt the back of the church to enable us to keep going, and keep growing, for the next hundred years, so that’s the hope, but it’s our love for God and others that will make it happen.

Finally, a promise. In verse 7 Jesus says “To those who win the victory I will give the right to eat the fruit of the tree of life that grows in the Garden of God.”

The tree of life is described at the very beginning of the Bible, and at the very end.

It’s in Genesis chapter 1, in the garden of Eden, in the newly made and still perfect world, before there was any sin or pain or death.

The tree of life is described again at the very end of the Bible, in the last chapter, Revelation 22, in the future re-made and re-created perfect heavenly world.

It seems the tree of life represents life more alive, more fulsome, more overflowing, than we can imagine! Eternal life, life with God, with his love and justice and peace and power and presence forever! That’s the promise of Jesus for those who persevere in their faith and love for God.

We’ve heard lots of challenges this morning! But what's the specific personal challenge or challenges to each of us from this letter from Jesus? We think, we turn and finally, we DO!

“If you have ears, then, listen to what the Spirit says to the churches!”

(With grateful acknowledgement of some of these ideas from David Tuner’s sermon at All Souls Langham Place in 2005)

Ash Wednesday - Gill Tayleur

Ash Wednesday. We’ve heard the call to self examination and repentance, by fasting and self denial. We’re going have ashes put on our foreheads – those who want to – to remind us we’re going to die. Is it any wonder some people find Ash Wednesday depressing?! Maybe some of us do?

I can understand why you might think it’s depressing, this focus on sin and death, it’s not exactly a bundle of laughs. But I’d like to suggest it doesn’t have to be depressing; it can be refreshing! And it can even be liberating! Refreshing, and liberating, in a way that only the truth can be. 

Facing up to the truth about sin, and the truth about death, can be a relief. It can liberate us from pretence and denial. And we can be liberated from the power of sin and death too!

Our culture tries to deny ageing and death. It tells us we can go on and on – and stay ooking and feeling young! – with the right combination of cosmetics, superfoods, exercise, yoga, luxury holidays, hair dye and elective surgery. With enough money we can stretch, inject, massage and vacuum out enough skin and fat – as to appear that we haven’t actually lived each day of our lives consecutively since birth. And it’s all very tempting, especially to me as a middle aged woman!

Yet we all know that after buying into all the anti-aging solutions society has to offer, we won’t actually be younger. (And we won’t actually look properly younger in my view; we’ll just look a bit shiny and misshapen.  Which all feels like a metaphor for all our pathetic attempts at immortality.)

Deep down inside we know we’re going to die. We just like to try and forget it, we like to pretend we’re not. So I think it’s a refreshing and liberating thing we and Christians all over the world do today. We gather to remind each other of the truth. To remind each other of our mortality. We tell each other the inescapable truth that we are dust and to dust we shall return. Those are the words Cameron will use in a few minutes for those who would like ash on their forehead. 

In the middle of our society’s anxiety and denial about ageing and death, on Ash Wednesday we just blurt out the truth as if it wasn’t upsetting or offensive.  But the thing is, these truths we speak tonight about sin and our mortality might be upsetting, but they’re not the last word. Sin and death are not the last word.

Very briefly, let’s consider each of them. But as we do so, the great thing about facing this kind of truth, is we stop pretending – And as we do so, we can finally breathe out and relax.  It’s like we stop having to spiritually hold our stomach in. Tonight we stop pretending. We stop denying the truth. The truth about our sin and brokenness, and the truth about our mortality.

First then, sin. Deep down we all know we’re sinful. We all know we don’t always behave as we’d like to: examples from our gospel reading include our motivations, even when doing something good like giving to the needy, wanting to be seen and given credit for it. We lose our temper, out slips a lie, we join in the gossip or laughter at someone’s expense – oh and much worse. Indeed there are many things we would be ashamed of if other people knew about them. In a few minutes we’ll own up to some of them in the Litany of Penitence.

And it’s really important that we do. We’re so good, so very very good, at making excuses. Everyone does it! It wasn’t my fault, I was provoked! It’s only natural, only human. It’s not as bad as what other people do! And so on.

Tonight’s a night for truthfulness, for honestly recognising our sin for what it is, for taking responsibility for it. We’ve heard the call to “self examination and repentance”. We’ve already read Psalm 51 together, with its heartfelt contrition.

BUT. But sin isn’t the last word, God’s mercy and forgiveness is. You’ve probably heard me say it before, but I love repentance! Repentance is a gift! Repentance is liberating! Because it’s only when we own up honestly to our sin, and repent of it, turn from it, that we can be forgiven and freed from it! So owning up to our sin tonight, truly taking it seriously, and taking responsibility for it, truly choosing to turn around and start moving in the opposite direction, in the context of God’s forgiveness, can be a great relief. Thanks to Jesus’ death on the cross, as we’ll be celebrating at Communion shortly, God’s mercy, his pardon, his forgiveness, are on offer, as we’ll hear in the words of the absolution. And so is God’s power to change. After the words about ashes, Cameron will say “Turn away from your sin and be faithful to Christ.”

So, facing up to the truth about our sin can be liberating. Just being honest about it, rather than pretending, is liberating. Receiving God’s mercy and forgiveness, is certainly liberating. And having the Holy Spirit’s power to change us from the inside, is indeed liberating.

So, I think, facing up to the truth about sin on Ash Wednesday needn’t be depressing, it can be liberating.

Second, death. We are all going to die. As Benjamin Franklin so famously said, only 2 things in life are certain, death and taxes. Tonight we have this sombre reminder of our mortality, for a good reason: One day we will go and meet our maker, ready or not, and it would be better to be ready, than not! As the old American sign said bluntly, “Get right with God, or get left  by God.”

But like sin, death too isn’t the last word! Jesus’ resurrection has given us the firm hope of eternal life, of fullness of life, now and forever. There’s so much we don’t understand about eternal life, about life after death, about so called heaven. It’s literally beyond our human earth-bound minds to comprehend it. What we do know, is that there will be no more suffering or pain, or crying or death. Jesus promised “I am the resurrection & the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, yet shall they live, & everyone who lives & believes in me will never die”.

So the ashes we will receive on our foreheads in a few minutes remind us of our death, but they’re not the last word. 

There are some interesting ideas around the connections between Ash Wednesday and death, and this is one I find helpful. Picture your life as a long piece of cloth, with your birth at one end, 

and your death at the other. We don’t know how long the cloth is, how long there is between the two. For many of us, there’s our baptism at one end and our funeral at the other. Imagine pinching the cloth together in the middle, so that the birth and death, the baptism in the past and the funeral in the future, meet. The place where they meet is Ash Wednesday. The cloth of our lives is bunched up, so the dust we’ve come from, and the dust we’ll return to, meet on Ash Wednesday, as that dust is put on our foreheads in the shape of a cross. A cross, that reminds us of the cross drawn on our foreheads at baptism, and the accompanying words of being cleansed from sin, words of hope and new life.  And the words that will be spoken at our funerals, more words of hope and new life, and the cross at our burial or cremation. 

Tonight’s ash cross on our foreheads, reminds us of both these things, baptism and funeral, birth and death. They’re so wrapped up together. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. We come from God and to God we shall go. The ash reminds us of our sin and death. The cross reminds us of God’s mercy, forgiveness, liberation and new life, which outlast our sin, outlast our earthly bodies and the limits of time.

So what? How might this effect the way we live in Lent? Lent isn’t just about giving things up, ungodly things, helpful though that can be. Neither is it just about taking things up, Godly things, helpful though that can be! It’s also about facing and embracing the truth. It’s about cutting through the lies of our pretence and our death defying culture. It’s about peeling away the things, yes those ungodly things, which keep us from the truth, the truth about ourselves and about God and his forgiveness and liberation. 

In Psalm 51 we read, “you desire truth in the inner parts.” Jesus said in John 8, “You will know the truth and the truth will set you free.”

The truth is we are deeply broken, sinful, but deeply beloved, forgiven, children of God. Surely that’s not depressing?! What’s depressing is the desperation of trying to pretend otherwise. What’s depressing is to insist that I can overcome sin – I can improve myself! – (and maybe death too, “I can stay so-called young!”),  I just haven’t managed to pull it off yet! Surely kidding ourselves with lies like that is depressing.

No, tonight’s truths can be liberating. So as you receive these ashes and hear the promise that you are dust and to dust you shall return, know that it is the truth and that the truth will set us free in a way that nothing else ever can.

Let us Turn away from sin and be faithful to Christ. Amen.

Sermon 7th February 2016

Today, our Vicar, Cameron Barker, continues our study of Bible faith-heroes. 

This week, it is John the Divine and the reading is from Revelation 1:1-11.

This is not a rhetorical question. So please listen very carefully when I ask what these men all have in common – because I am hoping for an answer! That list of names is: Calvin; Cleese; Donne; Galliano; Hume; Lennon; McEnroe; Newton; Rockefeller; Ruskin; Steinbeck; and Wesley.

And the answer is … yes, they are all named John!

I could have gone on for a very long time: John’s quite a common Western name. But it doesn’t matter how full a list I’d have come up with. It simply isn’t possible to find enough of them to equal the impact of just this one John who is today’s hero of faith.

That is a bold statement, I realise. But then we are talking about the person who wrote one-fifth of the New Testament. That may only rank him third (behind Luke and Paul) in terms of the volume of words written. But of the 3 of them, John was the only one who was an actual disciple of Jesus: and the ‘beloved one’ at that – most likely! Now’s a good time to make the first of several necessary confessions, then. I’ve made this claim about John based on the assumption that the same person wrote the Gospel that carries his name; plus the 3 letters that also do; and the book of Revelation that today’s reading has come from. (And that adds up to very nearly 28 100 words, by the way.)

Now you won’t be surprised to hear that this claim is not one that everyone agrees with! Having this week read rather a lot of material about all of these writings, my head is spinning with all the available theories. But, as usual, they are just that: theories. Nobody knows for sure; and there is a very real sense in which their authorship doesn’t matter. All of these books have been in the canon of scripture since it was first drawn up, centuries ago; and they are in here not least to teach people in all ages how to follow and live for Jesus; as best they can, in their own unique circumstances. We can, and must, learn from them; whether all this material was written by one man called John; by several different people with that name; or even by a school of scholars dedicated to his work – which are just three of the many theories that are out there.

So it’s good to remember the point of this series that ends today. It has been about the Bible characters that some of the local preaching team have found to be inspiring, for a range of both personal and spiritual reasons. As ever, if you’ve missed any of them, catch up via our website – but only if you would find that inspiring! The aim has been to offer encouragement to discover ways which help us to deepen our discipleship – and not everything works for everybody. Even so, what has emerged above all from this series, I think, is that all of these are ordinary people who somehow became involved in God’s extra-ordinary story. Each of them found themselves being amazingly transformed in the process; as could happen to any of us ordinary people too.

It will be no surprise, then, if I say that John was an ordinary person, living an ordinary life; who found that life turned upside-down very quickly. We meet him, along with Jesus’ other first disciples, early in Matthew, Mark and Luke. John was one of the pairs of fishing brothers: Simon and Andrew; James and John, who were called by Jesus. But a close reading of the 4^th Gospel – John – tells a slightly different story. John is, of course, a very different book to those other 3 – and that’s partly why I’m very happy to claim its author as one of my faith heroes. More on that later; for now it’s back to the start of the Jesus-and-John story; because there’s another John in there!

In John’s Gospel it’s subtly clear that our John was first a follower of John the Baptist. It’s pretty logical, though: that John came to prepare the way for Jesus. Initially they preached almost the same message: that Kingdom of God which John said was coming was the same Kingdom of God that Jesus claimed (and proved) he brought in by his words and deeds. “The Kingdom of God is near” of John became “The Kingdom of God is here” with Jesus. John the Baptist knew that he wasn’t the one; he knew that Jesus needed to take over. Not all of his followers grasped that fact; but our John did: instantly. The first time he encountered Jesus, our John became his disciple: quite probably Jesus’ first one. And that takes courage, of a kind that I greatly admire personally: to see the picture as it’s developing and to go with God’s new work as it’s happening requires both the bravery and faith that are the stuff of which heroes are made.

This incident in itself probably tells us lots of important things about John’s character. We certainly learn plenty more about him as the story unfolds; in all four gospel accounts. Of course we read more about John in the other 3 than we do in his own; and they have 2 particular stories that I want to refer to. But it is from his own gospel that we learn most about John the person; not least from how little he appears in it. His is usually thought of as the last gospel to be written, and that’s part of the picture too. But the other gospels offer a rather more raw picture of him. Having said that, John soon became part of Jesus’ inner circle. How often do we read that Jesus took Peter, James and John off with him to see or do something?

Again it’s hero material, perhaps: to be that close to Jesus that often; to see people healed; the dead raised to life; to see Jesus transfigured in the presence of Moses and Elijah! But each of those 3 disciples were so flawed; in so many ways. Peter’s failings we know well. But in Luke 9, when a Samaritan village wouldn’t welcome Jesus, what did James and John do? Well, I suppose at least they asked first; but their offer was to call down fire from heaven to wipe the place out! (Jesus declined, in case you don’t know this story.) But it’s a fine illustration of why he’d nicknamed these brothers ‘Boanerges’ – meaning Sons of Thunder! They did crash about a bit, James and John; and that in itself may make them heroes for some people of similar bent.

However, there wasn’t an indulgent smile anywhere in sight in the next incident. James and John’s fellow disciples were irate with them in Mark 10 when they found out what the brothers had done behind their backs. They had gone to Jesus with an outrageous request: that he do for them whatever they asked. Of course Jesus asked for details first; and discovered that what they wanted was to sit either side of him in his glory. Of course they had no idea what that involved, because they said that they could do whatever it would take. What followed was some (more!) painful, humbling learning for all 12 of the disciples; but, even so, there wasn’t much sign that any of them had absorbed those key Jesus-lessons about self-sacrifice and suffering.

Mind you, in Mark 11 it’s Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem and the final week of his life. And from John’s gospel we know that he was there when Jesus was arrested; there at the cross with Jesus’ mother, when he died; and then the first (man!) to arrive at the empty tomb. So maybe John had in fact already learned rather more about the place of perseverance, suffering, and persecution in following Jesus than he’s always credited with. And maybe that’s why, when he came to write his own account of the story of Jesus much later in his life, John put so very little emphasis on his own part in it. He’d come to realise, I think, how little it was about him; and how much it had to be about Jesus. And that makes him even more of a hero in my book of faith.

To make that point more clearly, here’s how John opened his first letter: “We proclaim to you the one who existed from the beginning, whom we have heard and seen. We saw him with our own eyes and touched him with our own hands. He is the Word of life.” For John by then it was all about Jesus: living for him alone: in any and all circumstances. And it must be said that circumstances were well less than ideal for followers of Jesus. From 70 AD – which is likely long before John wrote anything – Christians were persecuted throughout the Roman Empire. By legend, John was the only disciple who was not put to death for his faith. He lived into old age; but when we meet him in his next book, as the author of Revelation, he had been banished for his faith. His reward for refusing to stop preaching the truth about Jesus was hard labour on the island of Patmos! And here’s another reason why John is one of my faith-heroes: in his old age he refused to deny Jesus – even at the cost of breaking rocks on a tiny prison island 35 miles off the coast of modern Turkey.

Listen again to how he describes himself here: “I, John, am your brother and your partner in suffering and in God’s Kingdom and in the patient endurance to which Jesus calls us.” How different is that to the one who wanted to call down fire from heaven?! Now his whole being is caught up with living in and for Jesus: even, especially in this: “All glory to him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by shedding his blood for us. He has made us a Kingdom of priests for God his Father. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen”, wrote John – from his prison island exile. And in this he was completely aware of the central place that Jesus has not just in bringing in, but in making real the Kingdom of God: here and now.

Right at the very start of this final book of the Bible, John made it clear who, and what, it was all about. Continuing to quote from the New Living Translation, “This is a revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants the events that must soon take place. He sent an angel to present this revelation to his servant John, who faithfully reported everything he saw. This is his report of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.” It’s from Jesus; it’s about Jesus; and it’s for Jesus; and John’s role is ‘just’ to pass on God’s message as accurately as he can do; to clear the way for God to do what wants: through Jesus.

I really don’t think that there is any better place that we could end this series: than with John; here in this place. My final confession is that I was kind of forced into taking John as the last hero, though! This Lent adults will be picking up the next part of this letter. (That’s what the whole book of Revelation actually is: Jesus’ letter through John to the church in Asia.) At the start of it, this Jesus who is Lord of everything and everyone had messages for seven First-Century churches that his 21^st-Century church needs to hear just as urgently. So my task for today included giving some of the background to this book; to those messages; and to the one through whom God communicated them. And what we’ve seen in John is an excellent example of a person who came to realise how he needed to let God be first. He’s a great hero of faith not least because of how far back he came from; to see that it’s having faith in the greatness of God that matters most. So as we get ready for Lent, let’s be prepared to learn from his example as we listen to the messages that God gave John. These come from “The one who is, who always was, and who is still to come – the Almighty One; and, as John had learned, it’s all about him! So let’s pray that it really will be, then …