Sermon 22nd May 2016

This is Trinity Sunday and one of our Lay Readers, Adjoa Andoh-Cunnell, preaches. The reading is from Mark 1: 1-13.

The boss of a big company needed to call an employee about an urgent problem with one of the main computers. He can't get hold of him on his mobile so he dials the employee's home phone number and is greeted with a child's whispered, "Hello?"
Feeling put out at the inconvenience of having to talk to a youngster the boss asks "
Is your Daddy home?"
"Yes", whispers the small voice.
"May I talk with him?" the man asks
To the surprise of the boss, the small voice whispers, "No."
Wanting to talk with an adult, the boss asks, "Is your Mummy there?"
"Yes", came the answer.
"May I talk with her?"
Again the small voice whispers, "no."
Knowing that it was not likely that a young child would be left at home alone, the boss decides to leave a message asks. "Is there any one there besides you?"
"Yes," whispers the child, "A policeman."
Wondering what a policeman would be doing at his employee's home, the boss asks "May I speak with the policeman"?
"No, he's busy," replies the child.
"Busy doing what?" asked the boss.
"Talking to Daddy and Mummy and the Fireman," came the whispered answer.
Growing concerned and even worried as he hears what sounds like a helicopter in the background the boss asks, "What is that noise?"
"A hello-copper," answers the whispering voice.
"What is going on there?", asks the boss, now very alarmed.
In an awed whispering voice the child answered, "The search team just landed the hello-copper" Alarmed, concerned and more than just a little frustrated the boss asks, "Why are they there?"
Still whispering, the young voice replies along with a muffled giggle: "They're looking for me"
Sometimes in our sense of loss or frustration or need we search with ever increasing desperation for that thing that will bring us relief, joy, resolution, the answer, peace. Not realising it's been with us all along.
Much like the parents of the delightedly hidden little child, this week I have trawled the Internet looking for jokes to explain the Trinity, or the Triune nature of God, This being Trinity Sunday - A Triune Tale of Diminutive Swine anyone - yes The 3 little pigs
Hopeless - but the little hiding child story does have to do with the fundamental Good News of our Trinitarian God as seen in this morning's passage. We'll return to that.
So how might we think of God the father son and Holy Spirit... The unity of three in one - Triune Well.. What do a shell, yolk and albumen or white have in common?
Yes they're all part of an egg. Egg shell, yolk and white
And all Effective in their individual parts
EggShell, ground and added to soapy water is brilliant for cleaning pots and pans, added to coffee grounds makes your morning cuppa less bitter, mixed with water flour and food colouring makes great drawing chalk - powdered in smoothies it's a great calcium supplement - I could go on... Similarly EggYolk - omega 3 & protein rich, apart from all the delicious foods, it makes a great face mask full of vitamin A skin restoring properties , is a great hair conditioner and is a vital ingredient of tempura paint
And the albumen or egg white, apart from its high protein, meringue goodness, it can be used to attach gold leaf in book binding, reduce stretch marks and, as a skin tightener, can reduce bags under the eyes
So all the individual uses of shell yolk and white, which come together in their wholeness as an egg. Egg shell egg yolk egg white. And an entity of birth, new life, nourishment, renewal.
Perhaps echoing the life giving wholeness of God, God the Father God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.

We see that wholeness of God in this mornings passage from Mark.

It is the way this dynamic Gospel writer opens his sharing of the Good News. Good News from the Greek euangélion - eû "good" + ángelos"messenger". In Old English, it was translated as gōdspel (gōd "good" + spel "news"). Hence Gospel in Modern English.
Immediately in verse 1 Mark tells us:
GN
1 This is the Good News about Jesus Christ, the Son of God
NIV)
1 The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah,[a] the Son of God
Mark instantly identifies the good news with Jesus and who he is as Christ and Son of God. The theologian William Loader points us to the strong association that word euangélion, good news would have had for hearers at the time, carrying as it would have, the hopes of Israel for the longed for Messiah who would release them into Gods kingdom. They would be reminded perhaps of Isaiah's prophecy in Isaiah 52:7,
GN
How wonderful it is to see
a messenger coming across the mountains,
bringing good news, the news of peace! He announces victory and says to Zion,
“Your God is king
NIV
How beautiful on the mountains
are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace,
who bring good tidings,
who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion,
‘Your God reigns!’
Mark is directing our attention to the good news of God', of what God is doing and will do in Jesus who is Christ and his Son, to address that human longing for God's activity in the world.
To address that hope and the fulfilment of that hope in Jesus. A resting place in Gods kingdom.
What is so thrillingly about Mark's telling of the Gospel is its immediacy
Matthew & Luke with their exposition and storytelling are like a tv drama series with many episodes and lots of detail.
John is like a radio 3 or 4 classic serial, philosophical and metaphysical, listen carefully the pictures are better on radio..
And Mark, Mark is like an action packed 40 foot movie screen Fast and Furious thriller,
No in the Beginning was the word
No Wise Men and Shepherds and a flight into Egypt
Here we're straight into, this is about Jesus Christ about his Good News, his divine activity in this human realm.
Bang
and here comes Someone crying in the desert, coming into focus... It's John and in his wake come hundreds and hundreds of people flooding out of Jerusalem & Judea, coming over the horizon, following the strange bearded messenger dressed in camel hair, eating honey and locusts, really locusts? But his message is so persuasive

Turn away from your sins and be baptized,and God will forgive your sins.
And the people flock from across the region to the River Jordan to hear him, to be baptised by him. He is mesmerising, powerful, focussed on one enthralling message
Prepare the way, make straight the path, for
The man who will come after me, is so much greater than I am. I am not good enough even to bend down and untie his sandals.
GN
8 I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
NIV
8 I baptize you with[e] water, but he will baptize you with[f] the Holy Spirit.”
Who could be More powerful than this extraordinary, enthralling, commanding visionary man?
We know from other Gospels that John was the longed for son of Elizabeth, cousin of Mary, Jesus' mother. The longed for son heralding the arrival of God's reign in the longed for Messiah.
But Mark is not interested in back story, thus we come immediately upon this Someone crying in the desert, announcing a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, heralding the coming of the Christ, proclaiming God's Good News, foreshadowing its human embodiment in Jesus, who in his divinity would baptise not with Water but with the Holy Spirit
And bang we are in!
Christ is there straight out of Nazareth in Galilee and here at the banks of the Jordan and joining with the people in baptism beneath the waters at Johns hands.
And in case that divinity was in question, as Jesus emerges from the river, the heavens tear open.... tear open.....
Can you imagine more extraordinary than the the most extraordinary weather, tornado, earthquake volcanic eruption, the heavens tear open
The NIV has it
NV
10 Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove.
Did anyone else see the tearing of heaven or the dove like descending Holy Spirit - dove like the symbol of peace of gentleness
Did anyone else hear those loving words?
Since Mark tells us we would imagine they did and what a thing to see & hear
GN
11 And a voice came from heaven, “You are my own dear Son. I am pleased with you.”
- dear as in beloved.
NIV
11 And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.
Does not every child long to hear that? That their parent publicly acknowledges them, declares that they love them and is pleased with them. Some children spend their whole lives waiting to hear that love and acknowledgement.
And here along with that love declaration comes the gift of the spirit, God the spirit sent from God the Father to God the son made flesh.
And Armed with
The power of the tearing heavens
The open declaration of love
The descending of the peace of the spirit...
Jesus is sent immediately by the spirit into the wilderness to be tested

GN

12 At once the Spirit made him go into the desert, 13 where he stayed forty days, being tempted by Satan. Wild animals were there also, but angels came and helped him.
NIV
12 At once the Spirit sent him out into the wilderness, 13 and he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted[g] by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.
Archdeacon in Absentia Jane Steen as, channelled via our reader Adrian, spoke last Sunday, celebrating Pentecost, on the nature of the Holy Spirit
the being Alongside us Holy Spirit offering a The Truth suffused life held in The Peace of Christ. Jane encouraged us to think of the Spirit as God coming to us – just as here the spirit comes to Jesus sending him into testing circumstances, and yet with angels attending him.
Jane spoke of the Holy Spirit in our lives as being alongside us as Jesus is, assuring us that God is always alongside us, always with us, always present in our midst.
Do we sometimes feel that we are in the wilderness being challenged, tested by Satan.
Are we worn down by that testing?
Are we shamed by some of our behaviours? Thoughts
Mark tells us
John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And the people flocked
GN
5 Many people from the province of Judea and the city of Jerusalem went out to hear John. They confessed their sins, and he baptised them in the Jordan River. - perhaps more emphatically the NIV has.
NIV
5 The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptised by him in the Jordan River.
What a Hunger for that baptism and forgiveness.
Gods Forgiveness wasn't a new concept to those people but it was usually accessed through temple ritual..
Here was a new way to access forgiveness with people on an equal level, in the river. Even Jesus, God made flesh, received that baptism..
GN
9 Not long afterward Jesus came from Nazareth in the province of Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan.
NIV
9 At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.
And once baptised in the water, he is filled with Spirit
Jesus receives the Spirit so that he can now go ahead and start baptising others with the Spirit.
, William Loader, concludes that since in John's day, cleansing water rites, including immersion, were usually self administered, for those who followed John out to the river Jordan, submitting to him, symbolised submitting to God.
So we can only speculate on who flocked to John the Baptist?
But today, would we be crossing the desert to the River Jordan,?
Perhaps Trevor & Gill may glimpse it on Gill's Sabbatical.
Are we longing for that godhead three in one?
Do we need the amazing grace of the father in the loving sacrifice of the son and the sustaining presence of the spirit?

As I began to write this much hilarity was coming from the living room of my Northampton digs.

Two of the actresses in the cast playing my daughters were doing a 15 minute online work out, before our dinner break ended, and we rushed back to the theatre to continue teching the play Soul we're working on, preparing for our first performance last night.
Soul is about the life and death of African American singer and soul legend Marvin Gaye.
The son of pastor, who met his mother in church, the lives of all three and their whole family, were blighted by the violence of slavery passed from grandparents to parents and ultimately to Marvin, shot dead by his father the day before his 45th birthday.
Yet wonderfully, in this seemingly unlikely setting they flailed and longed for and held to God, returning again and again.
Ultimately it s a story of great love, terrible damage ,of sin and repentance and forgiveness. Mark tells us the good news:
For Forgiveness, Come to Christ
People damaged sinning and suffering, people who felt judged & shunned by the religious authorities of John the Baptists day fled towards Jesus, the Prostitute tax collectors the diseased and mad all flocked to him.
The message of repentance and forgiveness called out to them like parched people, in need of water. Failing falling shunned despised, ashamed frightened they were in need of hope, of love, of the water that baptises, that heals, the water that John declared in Christ would transform our lives in the power of the Holy Spirit.
You may have read a version of the following online:
A psychologist walked around a room while teaching stress management to an audience. As she raised a glass of water, everyone expected they’d be asked the “half empty or half full” question. Instead, with a smile on her face, she inquired: “How heavy is this glass of water?” Answers called out ranged from 8 oz. to 20 oz. She replied, “The absolute weight doesn’t matter. It depends on how long I hold it. If I hold it for a minute, it’s not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I’ll have an ache in my arm. If I hold it for a day, my arm will feel numb and paralysed. In each case, the weight of the glass doesn't change, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes.”
The stresses and worries in life are like that glass of water. And I would argue, the sins and regrets, the shortcomings and failings are also like that glass of water. We carry them for a short while and nothing appears to happen. Think about them a bit longer and they begin to hurt. And if you think about them all day long, you will feel paralysed – incapable of doing anything.”
I wonder, are we paralysed by the weight of the burdens we carry, do we long to be released, to be free and open to follow where the spirit sends us?
Can we respond to Mark's dynamic call to action in Christ?
Can we repent and put down the glass?
Perhaps we can learn from the example of John The Baptist , ,- repentance , forgiveness, inclusiveness and a simple lifestyle - Can we make straight the paths of our lives and become ourselves, good news for the world?
In our relationships, in our homes and communities, in our work places, even in prayerful support of those far away - perhaps even in a Christian Aid tea, we can be that healed good news.
The child in hiding was the focus of his family's desperate search and he was there all the time! What about our yearning our searching for the alongside spirit of God, who is not in hiding but in waiting, longing to be with the beloved child, as we face the testing times in our lives -
We don't need to search any more.
We can put down the weight of the glass of our failings
We can put down our worries and stresses
And Immerse ourselves in the healing waters of God's forgiveness
Just as Jesus was baptised, We can too can submit, Rise emerge and hear our God say "This is my child , I love you, I am pleased with you."
This is The Good news of Christ, The promise of new life - the hope of an egg - Our triune God, will Equip us with the spirit and make us ready to stand in His kingdom, in His strength and in His peace.
Are we heading for the Jordan?
I pray this morning that we will immerse ourselves,
Submit, fall into God's intimate love, free from all obstacles to his peace, his spirit alive in us.

May we put down that heavy glass and offer up our hearts completely to our God - father son and spirit
Amen 

Sermon 15th May 2016

This Pentecost sermon, based on John 14: verses 8-27, was written by our Archdeacon, Dr Jane Steen, and was read out, in her absence due to illness, by one of our Lay Readers, Adrian Parkhouse.

Let us pray.

Lord, open our hearts to hear your word that by your word, our hearts may be turned ever closer to you in Jesus’ name.  Amen.

Some parishioners decided to give their vicar a Pentecost gift.  But, he was told by someone else, they  would like him to mention it in church.  This did not seem unduly problematic until, on opening the present left on his doorstep, the Vicar found himself looking at a bottle of cherry brandy. 

The next Sunday he began his sermon by saying that he wished to thank some kind parishioners for a gift – a gift of early summer cherries – and for the spirit in which they had been given.

How different, we might say, is the spirit of Pentecost as we receive it, the Holy Spirit who comes to us today, who calls God’s church into existence and about whom Jesus tells us in this morning’s gospel.    So in this time we have together, I’d like to look with you at the gospel and see what it is that we can learn about the Holy Spirit today and therefore what we can discover about our Christian faith.  When I was preparing to be with you this morning, it seemed to me that there were five things on which to focus in our gospel. So let me reflect on them all with you now.

The first comes in verse 16 in which Jesus says that he will ask the Father who will give …who?  That rather depends on your translation!  Some Bibles say ‘another Advocate’. Some say, ‘another Comforter.’  Some of you might have other translations.  The Greek in which the Bible was originally written uses the word, paraklhton here – which in rather less fancy language means a sort of com-er-along-side:  para, as in parallel lines, and kleton, which means, called.   So, regardless of the translation you have in your Bibles – although if you have the rather strange word, Paraklete, you now know why - let’s forget the notion of an advocate – which can sound a bit law courtish – and stay with this idea of the Holy Spirit as one called alongside.

Called alongside whom, is a good question here.  And I think there are two answers:  called alongside God and called alongside us.  You might think that called alongside God isn’t a very good way of putting it – and you would be absolutely right – because the Holy Spirit IS God, not some sort of sidealong addition.  But…but one way to think about the holy spirit is, exactly like Jesus, is to think of the Spirit as God coming to us – and in that sense, the Spirit is not God at rest, God dwelling in majesty, as much as God who, in Jesus and in the Spirit, pours himself out for his people.  And, of course, the Spirit is alongside us as Jesus is.  The Spirit is, if you like, another Jesus, sent to us after the earthly life of Jesus is over but assuring us that God is always alongside us, always with us, always present in our midst.

So that is the first thing which I found myself powerfully reminded of about the Christian faith: if you like, that it is a matter of relationship with God in Jesus more than anything else and that God sends his Spirit to enable that relationship.  We do not have to go hunting for the Lord; he sends himself to find us.

And that leads me on to the second point which comes from the very beginning of our reading with Philip’s words to Jesus.  He asks Jesus to show them the Father and then they will be satisfied – or, if you like, Jesus, if you show us the Father, that’ll be enough.  Philip is quite good at this business of showing in John’s gospel.  If you remember, it is he who to whom some Greeks come and say, Sir, we wish to see Jesus – or, if you like, Sir, can you show us Jesus?  Both passages make it abundantly clear that this really is the wrong way to go about things.  Christianity, whatever else it is, is not a spectator sport.  We don’t go along simply to behold some sort of spectacle.  When the Holy Spirit comes upon the disciples on the first Day of Pentecost, with all the tongues of fire, the wind and the ability to speak in other languages, they don’t just sit there and look at each other.  No, they get up and out and get on with it.  We are not Christians simply to come to church on Sunday and then never do anything else about it.  We are brought into relationship by the coming-along-side-us Spirit and out of that relationship, comes a way of living.  That, I think, is why Jesus goes on to say to Philip, that if he has really SEEN Jesus – not watched him like the TV but seen him in the way that you see your new born baby or the person you love most in the world – then there is no need to want to look at the Father.

So, then, a coming-along-side-Spirit who draws us into relationship which is living, in which we can behold God and in which we participate.  That seems dangerously close to three of my first two points but never mind.  Let’s carry on and look now at verse 16 in which Jesus spells out some more of both the necessary consequences of the coming of the Holy Spirit and the necessary preconditions of receiving the Spirit.

If you love me, Jesus says, you will keep my commandments – or perhaps, if you love me, you will obey my commandments.  Now, the order of that is REALLY important.  This is not Jesus manipulating us.  This isn’t Jesus saying, ‘if you love me, you’ll do such and such’ in the way that we might in anger when a relationship hits a rocky moment.  No.  This is Jesus putting commandment and obedience after love.  Why do we do as Jesus commands?  Why do we listen to the promptings of the Holy Spirit in our lives – or at least, try to?  Because we know that we are beloved of God and we in turn love our Lord.  No one was ever a Christian because they kept all the rules, or because they obeyed Jesus’ commands out of fear.  And it seems to me that this is one of the most important things to remember at Pentecost.  Today, when the church is born, today, when so many people do not know the love of the Lord, today, when religion is blamed for so many of the world’s ills and, let us be honest, when we admit that the behaviour of Christians has sometimes contributed to those ills, today above all days let us remember that the motivating force which brings Jesus to us and because of which he sends us the Holy Spirit, is love.   I don’t know of any Bible version which does translate this verse as ‘You keep my commandments because you love me’.  But it might not be a bad way to go. 

Our coming-along-side-Spirit draws us into relationship.  The Spirit enables us to know God.  Because the Spirit comes to us, we participate in the life of God and therefore the life of the Church.  And we do all this, because we are beloved of our Lord and we love him as a result.

I fear now this is going to be six points but now more, I promise – and there are just two left.  First, or let’s call it fifth, Jesus speaks of the Spirit as the Spirit of Truth.  A very wise clergyman who used to minister in this diocese, was often asked by people about prayer. Prayer, he would say, is the attending to things as they are.  Prayer is attending to things as they are.  Now, you might say, surely prayer is about bringing things to God – and in a way, it is.  But what is there of which God is not already aware?  God sees all things – and perhaps, if we attend to things as they really are, we will see them as God does and will also learn more of God.  There is no point, really, in a human relationship, in trying to hide things or pretend that they are other than they are.  It’s always better to be honest.  And if that is so between us, it is most certainly so wit h God.  Receiving, accepting, the Spirit of truth demands that we don’t try to lie in our relationship with God.  And this comes down to what I will call sincerity or, to put it slightly differently, do we have honesty of intention in our relationship with God? The holy spirit will lead us into all truth. Do we want that? To be honest, I rather suspect that most of us don’t.  Not yet, anyway, or not all the time.  But if we receive the Spirit, we must understand that the love, the along-sideness and the being part of the life of God, is not a sort of spiritual mini break.  It is demanding, it asks us to stand up and be counted and it asks us to be prepared for the continued and ever fuller revelation of God.

And finally – honestly, finally – the result of this, as Jesus says, is his peace.  Just as he gives us his spirit, so he will give us his peace.  Sometimes, we are so full of our own worries that we do not have time to let the spirit of peace fill us.  If we go from this service with one thing with which we wish to ask God to help us, let me suggest to you that it might be this:  let us ask that on this day when the spirit comes on the church, we might have the grace to be emptied of so much that distracts us and prevents us from living the life of God to which we are called.  Alongsideness, truth and peace are all offered to us. It might take us a lifetime of maturing in the Christian faith to realise this, to understand it and to embrace is.  But today, when we receive communion and remember that Jesus sends the spirit because he himself has died for us, let us really ask for his grace to cast away the clutter which keeps us from him, the sin which clings so close, in order that we may be filled with the peace and comfort of the loving, truth telling spirit.

 

Sermon 8th May 2016

Today, our Vicar, Cameron Barker, preaches. The reading is from John 17 verses 20-26. 

Having gone away on holiday straight after this year’s APCM, the past 48 hours have been full of manic catching-up. As ever, taking even a short break from normal life offers the chance to re-evaluate things as you come to back them. I’ll spare you my resulting thoughts on modern technology – apart from those about corporate telephone systems!

So: when last were you able to speak to an actual human being, who could give you the one simple answer to the one simple question that you needed to ask?! ​And how did much you have to battle to do it – if you even managed to do so?! Maybe you’ll share my wry smile at this email that arrived while I was away, which invites us to imagine praying and hearing this:

“Thank you for calling My Father’s House. Please select from the following options: for requests, press 1; for thanksgiving, press 2; for complaints, press 3. If you would like to speak to Gabriel, press 4. For a directory of other angels, press 5. If you would like to hear King David sing a Psalm while you are on hold, press 6. To find out if a loved one has been assigned to heaven, enter his or her National Insurance number, followed by the # key. For all other inquiries, press 0; but for answers to questions about dinosaurs, the age of the earth, where Noah’s ark is, etc, please wait until you arrive here.”

Mind you, it could be worse! Imagine, as that email also suggested if you heard: “Our computers show that you have already called once today. Please hang up, and try again tomorrow.” Or: “This office is now closed for the weekend. Please call again on Monday after 9 a.m. - and good luck”. Thank God indeed, as that email concluded, that we can’t call Him too often; and thank God that we can always expect a personal hearing for our prayers; because God’s own love has been placed inside each and every person in whom Jesus lives!

I’m very much hoping that regular church-goers are aware of this key fact already. Anyone who was here on this Sunday 3 years ago certainly should be; because I spoke on these very verses before the AGM then. Either way, if you didn’t know it before (or had perhaps forgotten) the glorious reality is that Jesus prayed for us – yes, us – as one of the last things he did before his death. It’s usually important to put any Bible passage into its context; and especially so when it comes to Jesus’ own words. So, very briefly: John chapter 13 tells the story of Jesus’ last supper with his friends. From then until now Jesus has been trying to prepare them for the fact that he is about to die; in the next verse, at the start of chapter 18, he goes to the garden where he is arrested.

It’s a truism to state that somebody’s last words or actions carry particular significance. It’s especially so if the person knows that these are their last moments – as Jesus very clearly did. As his end neared, first he prayed for these closest friends; but then he went on to pray for all those who would believe in him through their message. Jesus prayed this for very good reason: because each generation since has needed him to. It’s another truism to say that the church is only ever one generation from extinction. Jesus’ human family still exists ‘only’ because for past 2 000 years those who’ve become his friends have passed on his message. It’s what he called his disciples to do; it’s what he prayed for them for; and then also for us doing it.

Today’s a key occasion when we check how we are doing with being the answers to Jesus’ prayer all that time ago. Yes, I know it’s weird to be asking that question in relation to a year that ended over four months ago; and to be making plans for a year that’s already this far gone. I’ve said this before – but also that it’s still a good thing to do. It really matters how we respond to Jesus’ enduring hopes for his church and world, because the blueprint hasn’t ever changed; and it won’t ever change either. It’s still God’s plan for all people to come to know that he sent Jesus to show them, and us, what his love looks like and does. And the method by which God wants to do that is by the way that his people – i.e. us – share his heart and mind.

Of course that applies much more widely than ‘just’ here at St Saviour’s, or St Paul’s, or across this parish. Taken to its full logical extent, it’s how the entire church – yes, i.e. all denominations; in all countries; and cultures – is meant to be and do. That is rather beyond our remit for today – or our competence, to be honest. But, like anyone working on any building, we have got to get our own part of it right; and today’s when we can ask, and see, if, and how, we are doing that. And I’d suggest that the best way to do that is by remembering, and applying what’s at the heart of this prayer. That is to ask whether it’s the same love of God that surrounded Jesus which surrounds us; and whether that love is the bond and the badge that makes God present to us, and to the world through us.

So here you go: whether you stay for the meeting (as I hope you will) or not, here’s a measuring stick that I’ll encourage you apply both to all that happens here, and to all that you do. Is it the same love of God that surrounded Jesus which surrounds us; and is that love the bond and the badge that makes God present to us, and to the world through you? It’s big, and weighty, stuff for sure; but it is what Jesus prayed for us – just before he died; it is what he wants for us, and from us. So how did we do with it in 2015; how are we doing with it in 2016; and dare we be willing to do what it takes in order to be better answers to this prayer that meant so much to Jesus that he prayed it when he did? If you dare to, let’s pray for that right now …