Candlemas and the things you shouldn't say

Today is candlemas, which is the day when we remember Jesus being presented in the temple. In our gospel reading (Luke 2:22-40) we heard that Simeon in the temple recognised Jesus as the One who would not just bring light but was light.

In thinking about this reading I thought about the fact that there are times in life when there are things that you just should not talk about. Things such as your amazing new job when someone else has just lost their job. At one own stage it was never seen as right to talk about politics and religion. Basically, anything which could be contentious.  

On one occasion whilst on a pilgrimage to the holy land a member of our party exclaimed that Israel was just like Syria. It was a time when Israel was very against Syria, and wouldn't allow anyone who had a stamp on their passport from Syria to enter the country. Our tour guide was further horrified when he found out that the person who was exclaiming the similarities was married to a Syrian. 

There are some things you just do not want to hear either such as the amount of calories in the cake you are eating. 

In our gospel reading today (Luke 2:22-40) we heard of things that new parents would not want to hear. Mary and Joseph did the correct thing by taking Jesus to the temple. I am sure it must have been quite an exciting time. Can you imagine the moment when Mary and Joseph passed Jesus to Simeon who would have prayed for Him and done all that was customary within the life of the temple ?

Then, Simeon said the most amazing things. He saw that Jesus was the chosen one, he could tell that Jesus was the Messiah,  the one who would bring salvation. This is a lot better than, “What a beautiful baby’. 

Mary and Joseph knew that there was nothing normal about the conception of Jesus, about His birth. They had been told the news that they were to have Jesus through angels, and dreams. They had this baby, they knew He was special. They knew that people could see who Jesus was, in the shepherds, in the magi, and now in Simeon they could see that people recognised that Jesus would bring salvation. 

The moment must have been incredible. The response of Simeon was amazing not just in recognising who Jesus was.  Simeon responded by showing that he had been waiting for the one who would bring salvation. He was so overjoyed that he felt that his time and years of waiting were done. 

I often picture Simeon as a much more mature man, to put it politely, a man who had waited, a man who had now seen God. 

I think the statement that Mary and Joseph were amazed is rather an understatement. 

Jesus had caused a stir, and this was only the beginning. 

In the temple there was also a woman called Anna. I always see her as the type of woman who had the most incredible faith. A faith that God could and would do amazing things. Anna had been waiting patiently, she had fasted and she had prayed. She was the type of person who was so holy that you would have just seen a peace about her which came from all the time that she spent in prayer. Anna could see the stir that Jesus was causing and she recognised that He was the One who would bring salvation. We know this because she went and told everyone about Jesus, especially those who were looking for redemption.

Redemption means to be put right with God, to know His forgiveness. We are so blessed that we have come to know this redemption. We are here worshipping God, our saviour because we have heard about Him. Anna was not a spring chicken but she had gone and told people. We have met Jesus and with the patience of Anna and the excitement that she had to tell others about Jesus we should be doing the same. 

I have left out so far, the worst bit of things to say to people. Mary was there with her newborn child and Simeon told her that Jesus was going to have this role that would cause a stir in people’s hearts as they decided how they would respond to Him. Not only this, but Simeon explained that she would be hurt by the things that would happen to Jesus and also by the ways in which people spoke about Him. This is not the best news to hear.

I once watched the film, “The Passion of the Christ.” ! It is a gruesome film as it shows the crucifixion. You can not fail but to be moved by the film. The bit I remember the most though is Mary seeing Jesus fall and having a memory of Him falling as a little boy and rushing to help Him. She couldn’t do that in this situation. Mary was warned by Simeon but she must have found it so difficult.

Simeon spoke about the type of thing that was not polite to discuss. He spoke about future pain. He also spoke about politics. 

Simeon would not have won any prizes for being a polite dinner guest. Can you imagine it ? But, Simeon could see who Jesus was and in seeing who Jesus was he knew that Jesus was going to make a difference.

Simeon could see that Jesus would turn the world upside down as He preached about repentance. He could see that those who were great would be told that they needed to humble themselves. Jesus was political, because He showed people that the right way to live was not about anyone’s own power, it was all about love. A love, that would change people. A love that would mean that people would accept one another, a love where those who are struggling are given the opportunity to have a better life. A love which treats everyone the same.

Simeon gave both exciting and bad news to Mary and Joseph. In the words of Simeon we can see that we are called into relationship with God, we have seen His glory. We are redeemed and so we have the best news ever to share with others. May we always be thankful that Jesus was political, because by being political He reminds us that the most important thing is Him and living as He would have us live. AMEN

What do I want to be?

 A sermon I preached on the Conversion of St.Paul at St.Padarns on 25.01.2023

What did you want to be when you grew up? Apparently, when I was 4, I wanted to be the Pope.  Later on I wanted to be a prima ballerina, a teacher, a librarian, a fashion designer, a brick layer. I had eclectic tastes. 

Today we are celebrating the conversion of Paul the apostle (Acts 9:1-22). The great evangelist, letter writer and martyr. If he had been asked as a child what he wanted to be when he grew up the answer would not have been any of those descriptions. In fact in the reading we heard from the letter to the Galatians (1:11-16) he described himself as one who was “ ....advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people and...extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers.” 

When I think of Paul I always think of him as having been a bright and rising star. He was clever, he was committed and he was even zealous. The word zealous can be described as being passionate about a cause. Saul was passionate for God and for his beliefs.

I could imagine him being one of the names you would want to watch. I can imagine young women desperate to make a good and pleasing marriage with someone so important. Today he might have been someone you want to meet, someone impressive and imagine being found with someone like Saul in the temple. You would have street cred.

Of course that was all to change. Life turned around. The man who could only do right in the eyes of the leaders of his faith completely turned against what he was meant to be doing. Saul, was on his way to persecute Christians, and then he had an amazing moment where he was blinded and heard the voice of Jesus. He completely turned around, he wasn’t going to persecute the followers of Jesus as he became one himself.

Talk about a complete turn around. Except what he ended up doing was not a turn around at all. He was still zealous but now he was zealous for Jesus. He knew that the God he had worshipped and followed had come amongst us. He knew that Jesus was worth knowing and so he was still as zealous but now he could see that his zeal had been a little misplaced or confused.

Tom Wright in his book, “Paul” wonders whether Saul was actually practising a type of meditation that was popular amongst Jews at the time. This meditation involved focussing on Ezekiel’s vision of a chariot of fire coming from heaven. This in turn would be a way to bring God to the person meditating. It is only a thought, but I love the idea that Saul may have been focussing so much on God at that moment, that for him to hear the voice of Jesus, God Himself, must have been amazing.

Our first hymn this morning Amazing Grace, spoke about the moment when God saved us on the cross. It doesn't matter who we are, we turn to Him.  I think the whole idea that God is there for us and speaks to us, whether through other people or something we read is the best thought ever. 

One of my favourite books is called, “what's so amazing about Grace.” This book is by Philip Yancey and in it he tells the stories of people who have experienced and practised grace to one another. It really is a great book. One of my favourite parts is actually in the blurb on the back. It says, ‘there is nothing we can do to make God love us less and nothing we can do to make God love us more.’ 

I remember that I used to spend so much time trying to please God that I forgot that the cross and forgiveness was not to make me feel guilty but to make me feel free. Those words made me have a sudden, ‘well obviously’ realisation. Jesus didn't die to make us work hard to find Him. We could almost change the words in the hymn Amazing Grace, ‘I once was lost but now am found’ to,  ‘I once was lost but now am free’.

Paul had been zealous for God, always trying to make sure that he kept to the laws he had known. Then he became zealous for Jesus, he would not stop preaching about Jesus.

Talk about a turn around. We have all experienced a call from God, it may have been a complete turn around for us, that made us think - really? Or it may have been more of a - ‘yes, of course’ moment. In our quiet moments praying, thinking about God we may have felt a sense of overwhelming peace and love, it may have been less dramatic than Paul’s experience, but it certainly was a moment between us and God. 

No matter what we wanted, or expected to be, how perfect to know that we can and do change. It is also good to remember that none of us are the perfect Christian. None of us is the finished article, that will only happen in heaven. In the meantime we are trying to bring heaven to earth by the way we live and the ways that we seek to be more like God.

Maybe rather than what do we want to be when we grow up, or what we wanted to be when we grew up we would do well to remember that God loves us and all He really wants is that we will seek to be more like Him day by day. Also, there really is nothing we can do to make God loves us more and nothing we can do to make God love us less. After all, God always loved Paul even when he was persecuting the Christians. AMEN  

The importance of being.....

I have never been one to feel important but I do know that I have met some very important people. For example,  I remember meeting Barbie in David Morgans in Cardiff when I was a little girl. I was so excited, please don't tell me she wasn't real!! 

I also remember meeting a theologian who was well-respected when I was 19 years old. I was so shy that when he said hello to me and commented on my t-shirt the best words I could muster came out. They were, ‘yes and thank you’ whilst looking at the floor. It wasn't my finest moment.

I hope I would have done better meeting Jesus.  I wonder though how the first followers of Jesus felt as they realised how important He was. Last week when I thought about the readings for Sunday I considered what it meant to follow Jesus and to be like Him. The gospel for this week (Matthew 4:12-23) talks of John and James joining Andrew and Simon Peter in following Jesus. 

Peter was to go through quite a turmoil as he followed. He was the one who seemed to keep getting things wrong. Yet, after the resurrection, Jesus told Peter that he was the one on whom the Church would be built. Peter, who was also known as Cephas.  The reason for this is that the name Peter is from the Greek rock and Cephas is a Hebrew version of rock.  

In the epistle reading (1 Corinthians 1:10-18) we read of a Church in turmoil as the followers did not seem able to agree on whom they belonged to. Paul pointed out that some saw themselves as belonging to Apollos, who had looked after the Church in Paul’s absence. Others seemed to see themselves as belonging to Paul. Others still were saying that they belonged to Peter and the way he taught.

All important people. However, Paul pointed out that as Jesus was One, they should be as well. They needed to stop being divided amongst themselves. Apollos, Paul and Peter (Cephas) had all been teaching the people about Jesus. Yes, they had done a good thing by teaching about Jesus, however, none of them was as great as Jesus. 

Following the train of Paul's thought, he wrote that Jesus had been crucified for them.  They had been baptised in the name of Jesus. It was Him to whom they belonged.

I know that I can sometimes be so impressed by important people talking about Jesus that I don't listen enough to Him. I need to make sure that my focus is on Jesus first.  He calls us all to know Him and to love Him. A little like a meerkat would say, ‘simples’! Except life isn't always simple. All Jesus asks is that we love Him and He will help us through the rest. 

The first verse of the Psalm (27) for Sunday is a really good help to remind us that we are important enough, even if we don't feel it, for God to protect us, He is our light, our everything. 

“The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom then shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom then shall I be afraid?”

I wanna be like you

I often find certain songs will pop into my head that I can't stop singing to myself. One of these came about when I looked at the gospel reading for this coming Sunday (John 1:29-42). The song was “I wanna be like you”. This is from the Disney film ‘The Jungle Book’. It is sung by the bear, Baloo, to Mowgli a little boy. Baloo wanted to be able to make fire and to be like a human.

The words, “I wanna be like you” sounds like a perfect description of what being a follower of Jesus should be. In  the Gospel reading (John 1:29-42) we read of Andrew following Jesus, and he was so impressed that he called his brother Simon Peter to join him in seeing Jesus.

Following is more than just traipsing behind. This is because it really is about trying to be like the one we follow. Earlier in the gospel reading, John the Baptist was able to tell people who Jesus was.  This is because he had not only baptised Jesus but he had seen the Spirit of God descend on Him like a dove. It is easy to see why John believed, he had seen something amazing. Not just this but, he decided that he needed to tell others. Just like Andrew, he decided that he needed to share the news. I wonder whether this is following as well? It makes sense. After all, to be more like Jesus, we do as He did. This involves telling others about Him. 

If following also involves telling others, then what does it mean to follow Jesus ? I don't think we have to sing, “I wanna be like you’ to Jesus but of course this does mean following and acting like He did and does.

In the passage we only read that Andrew and Peter followed. If this was all we knew about the disciples then we would only think of following as choosing Jesus. Not a bad start but what comes next? Of course as we read on in the gospel we read of Jesus having 12 disciples plus others who followed Him. They saw Jesus teach, heal, love others and ultimately be crucified and resurrected for us.

What does it all mean for us to follow so we can be just like Jesus?  For me the words of the collect for Sunday sum everything up. It is my favourite collect. This is because it admits that we need the grace of God to transform us, so that we can become more like the one we follow. We just need to be humble enough to ask God to make us more like Him.

The collect is: 

 Almighty God,

in Christ you make all things new:

transform the poverty of our nature by the riches of your grace,

and in the renewal of our lives

make known your heavenly glory;

through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,

who is alive and reigns with you

and the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and for ever. AMEN

 

A good plan

There is nothing like a good plan. A plan that works out.  Over Christmas I have had the opportunity to wake up later, to eat chocolate a lot, generally to indulge myself. It has been lovely. It felt rather freeing to have time off, there was no plan. It was great. Of course, this wouldn't be great forever. After all, it is good to respond to an alarm clock, eat more healthy food and know what day of the week it is. 

I was struck by a good plan when I thought about the gospel reading for this Sunday (Matthew 3:13-17).  The reading describes the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist. On a side note, when I think of John the Baptist, a name which describes what he did I think of tales of Welsh village life, with Jones the baker and Davies the butcher.  Back to John. We will know he was roughly the same age as Jesus. In the gospel according to Luke (1:39-45) there is the description of a pregnant Mary meeting a pregnant Elizabeth. The mother of Jesus and the mother of John the Baptist met, they were related. The closeness in age of Jesus and John means that they would have been around 30 years old when Jesus was baptised.  The gospel writer Luke provides us with the age of Jesus, at the beginning of His ministry (3:23).

In the gospel reading for Sunday, we see a plan in action. John the Baptist saw Jesus coming to him and asking for baptism. John was surprised and asked Jesus why. It is as if John, knowing how important Jesus was, did not feel worthy of baptising Him. It reminds me of a story of the civil war in America when one captain was bossing his troops around saying that they needed to lift some logs for him. The logs were more like tree trunks but the soldiers carried on. As they were doing this another man came and helped. The captain asked who the man was. The man replied that he was George Washington, the commander-in-chief. Basically, he was much more important than the captain but still willing to help out. For John, Jesus asking for baptism felt like a similar role reversal. Jesus asking to be baptised by John was a complete change of plan from the point of view of John. 

Jesus’ reply is also rather confusing.  His reply was, ‘Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfil all righteousness.’ Jesus knew the plan and He was sticking to it. The plan to be baptised, which led to the fulfilment of every part of the Trinity being involved. God the Son had God the Spirit descend on Him, whilst God the Father announced that God the Son was His beloved. I could think of lots of difficult discussions and questions about the Trinity.  But, the main thing that sticks for me, is that Jesus was baptised, just like us.  Then the wonderful point is that in doing something just like us, God showed Himself as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

This is an amazing plan. However, for John the Baptist, his plan was thrown by God asking him to do more than he expected.  Yet what a wonderful moment it must have been for him.  It makes sense really. This is because, if God disrupts our plans and we listen to His call there is always a wonderful experience waiting.

This is something that caused Peter, in another of the readings for Sunday  (Acts 10:34-43) to say, of Jesus,

“All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.” (vs.43) 

Confusion

I find the time between Christmas and New Years Day can be very confusing. That can be quite confusing in the Church as well. As we move towards a new year so there are  a number of saints that the Church remembers.  First of these is the first Christian martyr Stephen on 26th December. Then there is John the Apostle and Evangelist on 27th December and the Holy Innocents on 28th. 

I think that the idea of things not being normal fits well with the gospel reading for Sunday (Luke 2:15-21). The reading tells of an incredible time as Jesus was born. Incredible to us and also to those who were there. To be honest though, it must have been rather confusing. I think that everyone who had an encounter with God experienced something confusing. 

Firstly, there was Joseph. His life was sorted out, he was betrothed to a young woman named Mary. The financial agreements between his family and Mary’s family would have been finalised. Life was carrying on as expected. Life was good, but then… shock horror, Mary had some news that shook Joseph’s world.

The lovely young lady to whom he was to be married announced that she was pregnant. He knew for sure that he wasn’t the dad. But then, in case he thought of getting out of the situation an angel informed him in a dream that Mary was not to blame. (Matthew 1:20-21)  Joseph had an encounter with God that was far from normal.

Then there were the shepherds, who to be fair, were just doing their jobs when suddenly there was a bright light and singing. Confused – may have been the right description but they had a message from some angels. A message which caused them to find a baby and not just this but to be so excited that they ran out and told everyone what had happened!!  The shepherds had an encounter with God that was far from normal.

Then we read of Mary. I feel sorry for her, she had just given birth when suddenly some shepherds came to visit.  This must have been confusing, yet we read that Mary treasured these things but not just in a ‘what lovely memories these will make’ kind of way. She really thought about them, she pondered them – what did this all mean? Mary had an encounter with God that was far from normal.

The gospel reading has elements that must have confused people. Of course, with the knowledge that Jesus came to save us it makes more sense. Strangely perhaps my biggest comfort comes from the epistle reading Galatians (4:4-7). In this reading there is the reminder that God sent His son to die for us. Not just this, but we are all children of God and able to call Him Father. 

I don’t do new years resolutions really as I can never decide what to do.  However, I do like to set myself a challenge. The challenge for this year is that I will remind myself everyday that, “I am a child of God and He loves me.” I want this to be my most used phrase in 2023.

What’s different?

I love the TV programme, the Vicar of Dibley. There is one episode when the vicar is getting ready to write her Christmas sermon. Her Churchwarden helpfully points out, that it needs to be good as otherwise you lose the people and send them elsewhere for the next year. The Vicar ends up preaching with the use of a Spice Girls Annual.  An unusual choice of text, perhaps !! There is a feeling that we want to say something new and different to grasp people.

This year, as every year, I have been struck by something which I will carry with me through the season. After all, Christmas is an amazing celebration. We have the best news ever to share. However, perhaps we can be so used to the wonderful news of God becoming one of us, living amongst us and then bringing us salvation, that we need reminding of the sheer surprise and joy of that first Christmas. 

The thing I have been struck by this year, which I will be using to focus my prayers is from an African American pastor, Shadrach Meshach Lockridge. I heard his words as part of my daily prayers with Lectio 365. The words were, 

My King is the King. 

He’s the key to knowledge.

He’s the wellspring to wisdom.

He’s the doorway of deliverance. 

He’s the pathway of peace.

He’s the roadway of righteousness . 

He’s the highway of holiness.

He’s the gateway of glory

Do you know Him?

These words are fantastic and they are a challenge indeed. How well do we  know God ? More than that, how prepared are we to ask people if they know God? 

On Christmas Day we celebrate the fact that Jesus came amongst us. I love the prologue to the gospel of John (1:1-18) which is the gospel reading for Christmas day. It explains not only where Jesus came from but that He is the word, existing before all time. Not just this, but He has shown us what it is to know Him. This is because as we know Him we see our Creator, and the one through whom we can know grace and truth. Absolutely fantastic! 

I have always enjoyed Christmas, it celebrates the most momentous news ever, but sometimes we can be guilty of forgetting how amazing it is. We have a King, who is eternal, we worship God who came in human form. 

As I am writing this I can use the gospel from Luke (2:1-20). In this version we hear of the shepherds being blinded by angels who told them the good news that Jesus had been born, and not just this but He was the one they had been waiting for. The shepherds didn’t wait when they heard the news about Jesus from the angels they ran straight to Bethlehem. Was it curiosity ? Was it complete wonder?

I want Christmas to always have a sense of wonder to it, I never want to become too used to the gospel readings, however many times I hear them. I referred to David Wilbourne last week, and I will do so again now. This is because he said once that the birth of Jesus split history in two. This is amazing, the Word became flesh and dwelt amongst us, and we have seen His glory. My hope is that rejoicing will always continue as I move towards my Lord and Saviour in prayer. Amen