Sermon - Trinity 16

We heard a wonderful part of the letter of James this morning, “Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom”

The author of the book identifies himself as “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ”, from the third century some authors suggested he was “James the Just” first Bishop of Jerusalem.^[8] 

Paul describes him as "the brother of the Lord" in Galatians 1:19 and as one of the three "pillars of the Church".

He is traditionally considered the first of the Seventy Disciples.  If written by James the Just, the place and time of the writing of the epistle would be Jerusalem, where James was living before he was executed in 62AD.  

I mentioned a few weeks ago that the letter has been the subject of great controversy, the Protestant Reformer Martin Luther said it was “not the work of an apostle” because it contradicted his translation of St. Paul, who says that we can be justified by faith alone.

I don’t know why Martin Luther was all upset about the Letter of James though, I am sure if he had just chilled out a little and read it with a more open mind, then he would have seen some wisdom that was well worth leaving it in the Bible.

James writes;

“What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but don’t get it”.

Then, on power he writes;

“God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble”

And even though Luther wasn’t fussy on James, I for one am glad he wrote it – most importantly because all his talk about power in the church helps my sermon this morning.

In the Gospel this morning we catch up with the lads, they are walking though Galilee and Jesus was teaching them about how the Son of Man was going to be betrayed, and be killed, and then on the third day rise; but that the disciples did not

understand what he meant, after Peter being told off in last week’s Gospel I think they were a bit scared to ask.

Instead, they were arguing, and we hear that when they arrived at Capernaum

Jesus asked them about it, saying:

"What were you arguing about on the road"?

But the disciples were silent because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest among them.

A daft argument really

-  How on earth do you get into an argument about whose the greatest?

I mean imagine it - trying to decide who is more important...

What measuring stick would we use?

Those who farm - are they the greatest

     - because they produce the milk and food we need to eat?

Are the teachers among us the most important

     - because they train people in the various jobs they must do and provide them with the tools they need to learn new things with?

Or is it doctors

     - because without them we could live shorter and uncomfortable lives?

Or how about rugby players

     - for without them we have only have football to watch?

Or even inventors – because without them we would never have the toaster or the automatic pencil sharpener

It is an endless argument once you get into it, and one the disciples did well to remain silent about when confronted by Jesus.

Why the quest to determine who is the most important? 

Why this quest to be number one?

As soon as they started the argument, it was all going to end in tears.  They are walking and following the Son of God who loves all the ‘lifting up the lowly and bringing down the mighty’, it’s part of his manifesto.

Jesus speaks of a different way of living and of thinking when after asking his disciples about what they were arguing about, calls all twelve of them together and says to them:

          "If anyone  wants to be first, he must be the very

          last, and the servant of all."

And then taking a little child and having him stand among them,

he takes the child in his arms and says to  them:

          Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my

          name, welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me, does not

          welcome me, but the one who sent me.

I have always liked that image.

Jesus calls the twelve - and he calls us - away from our arguments about who is greatest, and who deserves more, and who should call the shots and turns our mind instead to the question of our attitude and how willing we are to humble ourselves and to serve one another.

Children then and now weren’t seen as the ‘greatest members of society’; in Jesus’ time they were expected to be obedient, work and earn a living for their family.

Jesus is saying that life in the Kingdom of God is not about being the greatest, or the first... but rather about seeing other people in a way that ignores all distinctions.

It’s so hard to have that attitude.

There is poem about the attitude that Jesus expects his followers to have.  It goes like this:

When I say..."I am a Christian"

 I'm not shouting "I am saved"

 I'm whispering "I was lost"

 That is why I chose this way.

     

When I say ..."I am a Christian"

I don't speak of this with pride.

 I'm confessing that I stumble

 and need someone to be my guide.

              

 When I say..."I am a Christian"

 I'm not trying to be strong

 I'm professing that I'm weak

 and pray for strength to carry on.

It continues like this for several more verses…

A friend recently said to me that he was surprised how much he had learned in his lifetime, however he said “it’s the important things I keep forgetting” he then went on to tell me that;

He would like to feel more at peace,

He would like to have more happiness,

He would like to think more clearly about the world's problems

He blames the world, and the way in which success is measured, for his forgetfulness, but that isn’t the problem.  We can be as kind as we like, but we won’t succeed until we give up the world's standards of success - measured by power, status, and money - and turn as humble children to our God and learn from him;

·    As long as we discriminate

·    As long as we judge some more important than others,

·    As long as we desire to be more important ourselves. 

·    As long as we, to use the words of James in today’s reading, envy others and have selfish ambitions, we block out what God has in store for us, and our world.

Jesus, after all, came among us not as a Lord, not as a boss, not as an important person but as servant.

He came to touch, to embrace, to heal, to forgive, to help, to love, and this even when he knew it would take him to the cross.

Our prayer should not be "make me someone important",

nor should it be "give me wealth and success".

Our prayer should be like that of St. Francis. That we sometimes set to music…..

Make me a channel of your peace.  Where there is hatred, let me bring your love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy.  In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. 

Sermon: Pentecost 14 (Trinity 13) Which side are you on?

 Which Side are you on?

Proper 17: Deuteronomy 4.1-2, 6-9; James 1.17-27; Mark 7.1-8, 14-15, 21-23

It is the job of the Gospels to disturb, but it’s almost tedious to indicate how political and theological presuppositions are continually turned upside-down in the topsy-turvy world of Christ’s Kingdom.

Today in the reading from Mark’s Gospel, we are thrown into a scene where Jesus is meeting his most persistent and regular antagonists, the Scribes and Pharisees of Jerusalem.  If they were actors, they would be complaining that they were always setting up the jokes for Jesus to deliver the killer replies.

Jesus, also has the advantage here in the shape of Mark, who is an expert at setting the scene for his most famous verbal victories.  The reader even gets the cues about how they should respond too.

The antagonists appear and notice that some of the disciples are eating with ‘defiled hands’.  They speak their lines, ‘Why do your disciples not live according to the traditions of the elders, but eat with defiled hands? And Jesus makes his response, all served up with a good helping of Markan gloss, which explains in a thoroughly stereotyped way, that the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they wash their hands.  Jesus then goes onto suggest that they are all Obsessive compulsive with their cleanliness in the kitchen.

An unfortunate by-product of this is that devout Jewish practices are seen as quaint as best or pointless as worst.  Mark seems to completely ignore the fact that these practices were important for the Jewish people in the face of repeated invasion and subjugation.

He sometimes turns the words of Jesus into a cheap put-down, disconnecting Jesus from the issues.  In this, the twenty first century, we can forget that Jesus was himself a Jewish teacher, subject to the law, and closely associated to the 1^st century Jewish reform movements.  The early church eventually became disassociated from Judaism, Jesus never did.

And Jesus said ‘there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile’.

The question is though, who is doing the defiling?  On a day like today, as many clergy will be preaching on how we shouldn’t love tradition too much, and should embrace proper biblical teaching, whatever that may be, we seem to have lost direction somehow.  Today, people will use the readings to preach about how we shouldn’t have what are seen as ‘traditional’ practices, and order within the church because it is what the Pharisees would do.  Many others will preach about how the church needs to change to become more relevant, but relevant to whom?  That’s nice but it’s not even close.

I’ve been following the fortunes of the Russian Punk Band, ‘Pussy Riot’.  You may remember from the news that they performed a song a month ago.  They said it was a prayer, for Vladimir Putin’s downfall.  The only difficulty was that the performance took place in Christ the Saviour Cathedral in Moscow.  They were duly arrested and eventually sentenced to two years imprisonment each for hooliganism.

Their concern was that there is an over-identification between the religious and the powers that be.

You might also remember that when the Occupy protests were taking, and a protesters camp was set up outside St. Paul’s Cathedral, Canon Giles Fraser made them welcome, but the church in general did not.  The Occupy movement was concerned with fairness and they have made their concerns known.

Their concern was that there is an over-identification between the religious and the powers that be.

And back to the Gospel reading, we have the Son of God, creating havoc and in a rather dramatic account from Mark, he is making his point to the assembled Pharisees and Scribes.

His concern was that there is an over-identification between the religious and the powers that be.

Moreover, he believed that the religious authorities had lost their direction, their prayers were empty and their tradition stale because it wasn’t giving them the strength they required to fire the people up.

Perhaps the words of Psalm 84 were called to mind?

For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere.  I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than live in the tents of wickedness.

The incarnation of Jesus, was not to make us all anti-Semites, it was not to allow evangelical preachers the luxury of telling us that liturgy, order and tradition is wrong, although many will.

The incarnation of Jesus, and his subsequent ministry on earth was to help us face the choices we and to do our best in the face of conflicting choices.  We may not like it, but Jesus is reminding us of a painfully simple truth, that it is from within, from the human heart, that all evil intentions come.

If the church is failing to clearly distinguish between right and wrong and call for justice, to distance itself from powers of oppression and intolerance, then it too is more concerned with rules, order, and kitchen hygiene, than doing the work left for it to accomplish by Christ.

In that sense, it doesn’t matter what we think we are; low church, high church, broad church, reformed church, catholic church, traditional church or modern church, because if we aren’t continually looking for opportunities to engage with real injustice then we aren’t church at all.

It’s not the shape of the tree that is important, it’s all about the fruit it bears.

The idea of the Incarnation is essential.  In Jesus Christ, God takes on human life and comes to us.  Jesus lives with all the ups and downs of everyday life.  His accusers said that he liked drinking and partying amongst the ordinary people, and why not?

Jesus wasn’t born to make us think the Jews are mad with their traditions, he wasn’t born to make us suspicious of tradition, he wasn’t even born to help us attain the sort of personal individualistic transformation much loved by conservative evangelicals.  The incarnation tells us that we need to understand that the human heart is corruptible, no matter what rituals and traditions we create for ourselves.

We have only one hope, and that to see ourselves in the right light.  When Jesus says, You abandon the commandment of God and hold onto human tradition, it’s easy to forget to apply that to ourselves, but apply it we must.

We must focus on God, who loves us faithfully, and try to make all we do mean something to those Jesus cared for.

Outward shows of religion are useless if our hearts are not in the right place.  Even though Martin Luther called the Epistle of James, and epistle of straw, because he felt that he had failed in the battle to understand that we are saved by grace and not by works, I think James is not as simplistic as Luther made out.

James emphasizes our actions in the theological context that every generous act of giving comes from God.  We behave in a godly way because we have been given such good gifts by God.  Our actions are a response to God’s grace and an expression of it, and not an attempt to win something from him.

St. Benedict agrees with James, and tells us that God waits every day to see if we will respond to his guidance by doing good.

The Pharisees weren’t doing things wrong, it was just that the fruit of the tree had gone bad because they had forgotten what the harvest was all about.

We are all called to be a reflective people, to see whether our actions are producing the right fruit, and stop looking at the shape of the tree, and judging others’ trees.

God is watching every day, to see if we have learned this lesson.  Let’s pray that we all will.

Sermon - Trinity 10 - Bread of Heaven, feed me 'til I want no more

Trinity 10 (Pentecost 11)  John 6.35,41-51

It’s the last minutes of the RugbyWorld Cup, Wales are one point behind the mighty South African team.  The Millennium Stadium was on its’ feeta few moments before when Wales scored a try.  Now there is silence as they wait to see if the try will beconverted, to all but seal the victory. 

There isn’t a sound coming from theWelsh supporters, and the Springboks are wondering how so many people can be ofone mind.  It is almost as if theyare quiet because they are going to ‘will’ the ball between the posts when itis kicked.

The kicker runs up and the ball isstruck, up..up..up..people wait to guess which way it might go, it looks good,down…down…down…the ball is still 20 yards from the posts as the crowd are ontheir feet again.

The try is converted, and the pointstake Wales ahead in the dying moments of the game.  Then, as the visiting team kick the ball back to play, thechorus starts….

“Bread of Heaven, Bread of Heaven – feed me‘til I want no more, want no more! Feed  me ‘til I want nomore!”

The final whistle is almost drownedout by the singing, and as the players leave the pitch an almighty cheer risesto heaven, fireworks explode, Katherine Jenkins comes back on to sing herversion of my favourite song….and then with a start I am woken up by Ann,telling me that the kids have drawn all over the walls again with crayon, andthe dog has done something awful on the lawn.

Bread of Heaven, Bread of Heaven – feed me‘til I want no more

I regularly hear the hymn “Guideme O thou Great Redeemer” as the last hymn and it got me thinking aboutthe sermon this week, because the last few weeks in the Gospel readings breadhas been somewhat of a theme.

 Jesus has been changing what people think of him.  The people have been understanding moreand more about his mission and purpose on Earth.

A fortnight ago, we heard about the‘multitude’ following Jesus, and the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000 tookplace.  The people were fed, bothphysically and spiritually, and Jesus left to avoid being made king.  Last week, we heard Jesus say “I amthe bread of life”, and the people were thinking he was like a newMoses, bringing manna to the people.

This week however, in our reading,Jesus says “Whoever eats of this bread will live for ever; and the bread that Iwill give for the life of the world is my flesh”

Jesus is telling us ‘weare what we eat’.

The story of Jesus isn’t about miracles,feeding the multitude or healing people, it’s much more important thanthat. 

The people are all cheering forJESUS, they are all singing the song, they know the words, but do they reallyunderstand what the words mean?

It’s a bit like the MillenniumStadium and the rest of Wales singing….

Bread of Heaven, Bread of Heaven – feed me‘til I want no more.

At the beginning of his life onearth he is described at the ‘word made flesh (the word was made flesh and dwelt among us)’ in John’s Gospel.

Moving forward to the end of theearthly life of Jesus, he breaks the bread and says “this is my body”

We are fed by WORD and SACRAMENT…

Bread of Heaven, Bread of Heaven – feed me‘til I want no more

So today – we will be fed. Fed by the word (through thereadings and our reflections on them) then we will be fed by the bodyof Christ (through the HolySacrament later as we come to the altar).

A two-course meal?

Moving to the Letter to theEphesians, Paul is continuing to implore the people to not be foolish orself-serving.  Last week he gave alist of things we shouldn’t be doing. This week, he continues by adding the instruction do not get drunk with wine and carry on singing psalms, hymns andspiritual songs.

But, it’s so difficult to do theright thing.

Someone once said that;

Christianity helps us face the music even when wedon't like the tune.

It’s a challenge that we find difficult and is withus every day – but it hasn’t gone unnoticed….

Rabbi Lionel Blue, once wrote;

The real evidence for Jesus and Christianity isin how Jesus (and the Christianity based on him) manifest themselves in thelives of practicing Christians.

The real evidence for Christianityis found in the everyday lives of people like you and me, who try, andsometimes fail to live a life of love.

At morning prayer on the 14^thAugust, we remembered Maximillian Kolbe, who died aged 47 on that day in 1941.

Kolbe was a Franciscan friar whoprovided shelter to refugees from Poland, including 2,000 jews, whom he hidfrom persecution in his Friary.

He was arrested by the Gestapo andimprisioned in PAWIAK PRISON and then in May 1941, he was transferred toAuschwitz as prisoner number 16670.

At the end of July 1941, threeprisoners disappeared from the camp, prompting the commander to pick ten men tobe killed, by starvation, when one prisoner cried out, Kolbe took his place,after two weeks, he didn’t die by starvation, as the other nine did.  He was killed by lethal injection.

When he was later about to be made aSaint by the Catholic Church, there was a controversy, because he was martyred,not for the faith, but because of racial intolerance, and his act of humankindness.

The suggestion was that he would bea Martyr of Charity.  However Pope John Paul II decided tocanonize him and overrule the commission which he himself had established.

He then made one of the mostimportant statements of his office. He said that the Systematic hatredof whole categories of humanity is in itself an act of hatred.

The whole Nazi regime was inherentlyan act of religious hatred.

Kolbe has quotes for us today, whenwe think about the Bread of Life wereceive at the altar, he says;

"Goddwells in our midst, in the Blessed Sacrament of the altar."

And,when we think about the word made flesh, and how there isthat conflict to ‘do the right thing’,he says;

"No onein the world can change Truth. What we can do and and should do is to seektruth and to serve it when we have found it. The real conflict is the innerconflict. Beyond armies of occupation and the hetacombs of extermination camps,there are two irreconcilable enemies in the depth of every soul: good and evil,sin and love. And what use are the victories on the battlefield if we areourselves are defeated in our innermost personal selves?"

Kolbeunderstood that we need to be fed by the wordand sacrament, and be sent out in tothe world to do the word of GOD. That doesn’t stop us caring in certain places, or in certain ways, it isfor all our lives for all we do and for all we say.

Next time I’m down at the MilenniumStadium for the Autumn internationals and the people start singing, Breadof Heaven, Bread of Heaven – feed me ‘til I want no more, my prayerwill be that they will be FED, and we will be FED TOO, so that we can all bethe people God wants us to be, and live a life of love.

      

Don't forget Wednesday

We are celebrating the feast day of Mary, Mother of Our Lord. All welcome at ASC 7.30pm

Sermon - I am the Bread of Life - 10th Sunday after Pentecost - 9th Sunday after Trinity

Sermon

10^th Sunday after Pentecost - 9th Sunday after Trinity

All Saints' Cyncoed 1030

Proper 13

5th August 2012

Jesus said to the crowd “ I am the bread of life.  Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty”

In last week’s reading, Jesus fed the 5,000 and left before they forced him to be “king”. 

He sailed away to Capernaum with the Disciples, and the crowd have got into boats and followed him, I suspect that this had taken a couple of days.  Eventually, the multitude arrived.

In the reading we hear someone ask the question…“Rabbi, when did you come here?”

As I read it, I thought it was a bit odd.  Wouldn’t it have been funny if Jesus said “about ten minutes before you chased me up this hill with your mad multitude” Of course he knew when Jesus got there, he was feeding the 5,000 then slipped away, and they chased him to Capernaum.

It isn’t a “how long have you been here” though, it is deeper than that – it is a question to Jesus about who he is.  “Who are you?” It’s a bit like in the superhero films, like The 1989 BATMAN film (the first of many remakes of the story) when the baddie is subdued for the final time, he has been fighting a man dressed as a BAT off and on for days, the newspapers call him BATMAN, the people call him BATMAN, everybody knows him as BATMAN, and then he asks the question “who are you?”.  It’s a bit obvious really. 

Just like the question asked of Jesus - it’s a question and a statement, it is “who are you REALLY?”, and a statement “We have underestimated you”, we have “failed to understand what you were really all about”.

That’s where the similarities between Jesus and Batman end though.

It got me thinking that Jesus should have taken the opportunity to be a little more cryptic really, after all, God said “I am who I am” after all.  Ehyeh asher ehyeh (more literally translated “I shall be what I shall be”).

The discussion that follows asks whether Jesus is acting as the new Moses when he feeds the 5000 in what appears to be a reworking of history. But as I said last week, Jesus is not another Moses: his time is present, past, and future all at once; so later on in John’s Gospel, he will declare: “Before Abraham was, I am.”

Jesus invites us to a point of intersection between earth and heaven, where time is captured and transcended by eternity. He uses historical language and symbolism to reveal new meaning and new life that is not bound by history — life that is whole and perfect, like God.

So, from the stories of Israel’s past, the manna of the exodus is now the bread of life, the water from the rock is the spring of living water welling up to eternal life, the Shepherd of Israel is now the Good Shepherd who lays down his earthly life in order to give eternal life to his sheep.

Asking what time Jesus got a ferry across the Sea of Galilee has begun to uncover some of the complexity of who Jesus is. He does not simply reminisce or retell old stories from the past in a new and relevant way. His actions use already potent symbols and language to break out of time into eternity, out of death into life.

The Gospel reading today gives us one of the most important statements to be found in John’s Gospel, if not the whole of the New Testament.

John’s gospel gives us affirmation, that whatever our understanding of salvation is, that expectation is fulfilled (and corrected) by the unique revelation of GOD in JESUS.

There is a characteristic division in the Gospel of John.  The first half of the Gospel is concerned with describing Jesus as the one who is ‘from above’ and the second half focuses on Jesus’ return to be with the Father.

The Gospel has Jesus claiming to be speaking for God.  Jesus is seen in the imagery as God’s agent on earth.  This would have been clearly understood by the community at the time, because in Jewish law, the Agent has the authority to function as though he were the sender.

In the reading, amid the murmurings and the questioning of the Jews, the statement “I am the bread of life” stands out.  It would remind the community of the manna sent to the Jews in exile; and God, in the Old Testament, known only as ‘I AM’.

“I am the bread of life, whoever comes to me will never be hungry, whoever believes in me will never be thirsty” is a well-known Christian slogan.  So well known in fact, that it has appeared in the last two Sundays in the lectionary. 

I must be honest, however and say that it always confused me.  As I see horrific images of perfectly good Christians suffering in other countries for want of food, I needed to unpack the meaning of the phrase, and try to discover what it means to us 2,000 years after Christ was born.

At a baptism preparation recently, I was reminded about the awesomeness of being a Christian, and being in communication with God. 

To one of God’s Children is to be eternally in touch with God, through Jesus Christ.  It is ever present.  Similarly, as we are baptised, we are in touch with all other Christians, and we must accept the responsibilities that that entails.

For me, the Bread of life is not merely the Holy Sacrament that we meet to share this morning, it is a link between me and the one who created me; AND my link to you, my church community.  It is the knowledge that I am not alone.

St. Paul, in the letter to the Ephesians that we heard today says just that “for we are members of one another”.  He gives guidelines for a Christian community based on honesty, generosity, peace and forgiveness.  He says “be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you”.  He is encouraging the community to be an offering to God, en masse, to provide a model for society, all being fed with the Bread of Life.  This appeals to me, and as you will know, I am keen not to forget the importance of community.

Therefore, I truly believe that the theology of personal salvation on it’s own, is not enough, unless considered in the wider context of Christian community.

When I come down from the pulpit, it’s an important day for my son.  He is to receive communion for the first time.  He will receive communion as one of the baptized, as a member of this church family, and as someone who has some understanding of the mystery we all enter into when we stand or kneel at the altar rail.

And my prayer for us all is that we too can be taken into the mystery again.

In the name of Father: Son and Holy Spirit – AMEN

Sermon - Benefice United Service 29th July 2012

Sermon


Benefice United Service 29^th July 2012

PENTECOST 9 TRINITY 8

ASC 0800 & St Edeyrns 1030

Proper 12: 2 Kings 4.42-44; Ephesians 3.14-21; John 6.1-21

+ May I speak in the name of God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  AMEN

When we are growing up, there are certain things we like, like parties and playing outside for hours hanging around with groups of friends.  Parents know this, so we have children’s parties.  Pubs know this, so we have beer gardens.  Industrial estates even have big barns full of bouncy stuff for children’s parties.  Children are social and need others – and so do adults.

I was thinking about all the things adults do….going to barbeques, to a rugby matches, sitting in the park or on the beach, opportunities to be with others, if not to talk and share, just to be in the presence of others.

And reading the Gospel reading today I think that’s what is happening.  It’s a reading so splendid that it just jumps off the page into our imaginations, especially on a sunny summers day.

Before the beginning of this part of the Gospel, Jesus and his disciples had tried to escape to find some quiet time – however the multitude appears again.

And if we continue reading the Gospel when we get home, we can see that the crowd continues to follow JESUS.

They are following him declaring that he is the NEW MOSES and that they want to be fed forever by him – it’s what they understand from the stories of their youth, but it’s not the whole story of what had happened that day when he fed the people – because Jesus isn’t Moses!

On that day, the bread was more than just food – and the event was more than just a chance to see JESUS.

The gathering of the people was like going to a festival like Glastonbury for the music or Glyndebourne for the opera - whatever your thing.  People had gone because they thought it was just about seeing JESUS.  They didn’t really have much of a clue about what he was going to do, but in their minds it was all about being there.

Jesus knew this – the multitude is hanging out in the sun and they are listening to the headline act.  Jesus of Nazareth - a man so unique but also so familiar, a man that speaks to thousands at once, but it as if he were speaking to each and every one of them directly.

They are listening, and then food appears – more food than they need.  This is what they came for – to see something spectacular – and then they eat.

“The bread is a metaphor for life;

bread and wisdom;

bread and labour;

bread, time, and eternity”

However, there is even more than that.  The bread might be special, but as JESUS and the DISCIPLES slip away and the people are eating, he leaves them with the real elements of life.

The people are left with;

·    Togetherness and

·    respect,

·    shared concern and

·    maybe a feeling of satisfaction in the task they started that morning,

·    and dare I say it, solidarity with one another.

They are ONE people, for with all their differences cast aside – ALL concentrating on ONE thing – JESUS of NAZARETH

(is this another metaphor for heaven in the Gospels?)

Now, I’ve been to music festivals, and I’ve never had free food – and by and large I’ve got what I went for.  However, this is different; whatever they came for Jesus is providing

·    spiritually,

·    physically,

·    culturally,

·    socially,

·    practically and even

·    nutritionally.

·    He has also brought them UNITY

Whatever account you read of this extraordinary miracle (because it’s reported in all 4 Gospels you can be sure that it is full of significance, for the church that heard and read the Gospels first, and the church now, that tries to understand how this wisdom can help us .

Down the ages it has been suggested that the feeding of the 5000 with 5 loaves should be interpreted as being a reference to the five books of the Pentateuch feeding the Jews, with the 12 scraps being the 12 tribes of Israel, or more usually the 12 disciples.

It is also possible that there is an implicit comparison with King David.  David, when he first ran from King Saul, fed his small group of followers, those who acknowledged him as the rightful king, with the priest's bread, asking the priest "Give me 5 loaves, or whatever you have" (I Samuel 21:3).

And many a sermon will be preached today on these things…however

there is something else.

The readings are perfect today, because they encourage us to think about how when people focused on JESUS – they were brought UNITY, and fed spiritually, physically, and socially.

UNITY

When we think of UNITY, we can think of the CARDIFF EAST ECUMENICAL PARTNERSHIP, and our own UNITY within the BENEFICE.

There are several things that are happening, and FOCUSSED on JESUS – we are hoping to rebuild some UNITY.

Over the summer, the executive committee of the Ecumenical Partnership are going to meet with the individual churches and see how they can progress and I, for one, hope that we can go back to the drawing board and create a NEW partnership, a NEW covenant and NEW unity. 

Similarly, in our own BENEFICE, we are hoping to strengthen the links between our churches – to celebrate what we do well individually, but also what we do well together.

All our churches might be DIFFERENT, but we must be UNITED in our GOALS – and today, as we are together, focusing on Christ is a wonderful point to start. 

Because, even though some see the CHURCH IN WALES as QUIRKY and a bit TWEE, the fact of the matter is that there are FOUR CLERGY DEDICATED to THIS PARISH along with LAY EUCHARISTIC ASSISTANTS, and DOZENS OF PEOPLE DOING many important jobs. 

WE HAVE a well-established ministry that serves ALL PEOPLE in our community.  Each week the team meets to discuss how the hundreds of people who don’t attend church on a SUNDAY at weddings, baptisms, funerals, events and many other things have been.

Our new Benefice Council and the individual church councils should meet regularly so that we can celebrate the UNITY that Christ has brought us and our shared purpose in building the Kingdom in this place.

All those years ago, when the people came together as strangers, and they found that CHRIST had joined them together. 

They were ONE people, sharing their love of CHRIST, the church came into being to UNIFY the people of GOD

But beware - IF the church isn’t UNIFYING the people of GOD, then it isn’t church, all it is doing is MAKING KINGS – like some of the people wanted to do to in the reading.

And back in first century Palestine; The food was good, but it wasn’t the best miracle.  That was when 5,000 people had put aside their differences to care for one another and journey together following Jesus.

And that’s why I think the church can be rubbish sometimes – if we only come for the magic – we can leave disappointed, missing the point.  That’s the temptation.

However, IF we come to FOLLOW – then we are part of that miracle started all those years ago, and long after the bread and fish had gone, we might just be the PROOF of the divine identity of Jesus, and the UNITY that brings.

  

Let us pray

As Christ fed the multitude – Lord feed us with your love, that overflowing with your grace we may seek all that enhances life.  Make us instruments of your peace and justice, your love and compassion.  Make us followers of your Son our Saviour Jesus Christ.

AMEN

Ordinations Petertide 2012

Whilst thinking about the sermon for the morning, which is incidentally about the feeding of the 5,000, I thought it would be a good idea to post the picture of Arthur, Alison and the others on their big day.