Worship at the Stone Circle

Every year there is a service at around midsummer at the stone circle of Mitchell's Fold, on Stapeley Common. This year over fifty people were able to join us for a service celebrating "creation and re-creation". This is the address that was preached :-

I was up here a couple and a half weeks ago, just walking; I did a couple of ascents of Corndon, and then I walked the length of Stapeley out and back. Though we were into June, Spring takes its time up here, so the may blossom was still at its finest, mixed with laburnum in the hedgerows. The cuckoo was calling for much of the time - he’ll be packed and ready to fly south by now - and a curlew flew straight over me at one point. The pipits, stonechats and whinchats were all really busy, and the song of skylarks was all about me. In places where the old gorse had been hacked down, bright new shoots of new growth were appearing. Swifts carved through the air, and house martins too on the side of Corndon. The views were of course utterly amazing, and everything about me spoke of life in all its variety and abundance.

People long ago and so beyond our sight and knowledge that we can only guess at their thoughts felt the need to worship up here, and on a day like that I can understand why. We are scientifically astute and aware, and technology has placed at our individual fingertips power that our ancestors of even a couple of hundred years ago, let alone our bronze age forebears, could hardly have guessed at. But even we can have our breath taken away, both literally by the wind, and metaphorically by the wonder of it all, when we come to these high places. This is a place to come to in order to feel small, and it’s good to feel small now and again.

We can guess that for our very distant ancestors, the round of the seasons, and the new life of Spring, these were things that could only be guaranteed if whatever gods they believed in were properly placated and appeased. We know better now, but we also know that the changing seasons have to do with the prison of time in which, for all our technical ability and sophisticated ideas, even we are trapped. We can’t escape. Every year may seem like a circle - Spring into Summer, Summer into Autumn and then Winter, but then Spring again - but it’s actually a spiral, in which each Spring we’re that bit older, and maybe we manage to be wiser and wealthier, but we’re also (let’s face it) that bit nearer the exit door.

And we’re becoming more aware I think of just how fragile it all is. I delighted in the cuckoo I heard and the curlew I saw because last year I never heard the cuckoo, not once; and curlews have had a hard time of it on these moors and commons over recent years. Swifts too.  Our human prosperity is hurting the only home we have, and hurting the creatures we share our home with. Cuckoos and curlews and swifts are like the canary down the mine - their disappearance the first sign of a bigger problem.

We believe all this is made by God, and that God has given us dominion over the world, over the living things with which we share this world, over the direction of our own lives. We are the risk God takes with his creation; he longs for us to respond to his creative love - but we don’t have to. We can ignore him. We can go our own way. Even if that way ultimately leads nowhere.

Covid has also concentrated our minds somewhat, and it would be nice to think it’s given us all a wake-up call. I’ve heard some fellow ministers telling positive stories of new people coming to faith and existing churchfolk catching a new vision; but I suspect there’s also an element of whistling in the dark, and hoping for the best. Some people are less positive; a naturalist friend of mine, not a Christian but quite a spiritual person even so, gets very negative when he talks about the natural world about us. But I could also get depressed when the media insists we all need to get back to just having fun again. Yes, I want to reply, let’s get back to enjoying our world; but responsibly, with care and thought and consideration for others, and especially with real thought for the future. As the saying goes, we don’t inherit this world from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.

Back to my walk on Stapeley two and a half weeks ago. Each Spring is a reminder of God’s generous and prodigal love. Like the jars of water turned to wine in the story of the wedding at Cana, there’s more beauty and richness and loveliness than I can take in. But every Spring is also a reminder of the opportunity and the challenge before me - to think again and start again, and live again.

The cross of Christ is the sign of death changed into the sign of new life, and the means of death turned into a throne. And I learn at the cross that I don’t have to be imprisoned by my past, or by my failures, or by my sin, or by the spiral of time in which (as for my naturalist friend) each Spring isn’t quite what the last one was.

And what the cross also says to me is that what I can’t manage to do on my own I can do with Christ. As Christians we are called to be builders of God’s kingdom. Whenever we pray the Lord’s prayer and say “thy Kingdom come” we’re committing ourselves to do that - it’s not just a pious hope, “thy Kingdom come”, it’s me offering myself in God’s service, you too. But we build the kingdom not by working for God, but by working with God - adding our own effort and enthusiasm and faith to what he is already doing.

And when we make a mess through our selfishness or thoughtlessness of timidity, God always stands ready to forgive; what we damage and break, he gives us the chance to repair. Vessels of clay, Paul calls us, but made to hold immense riches. We are to be channels of God’s love, makers of peace, bringers of hope. God hasn’t created the world, past tense; God is creating the world, and he chooses to do this through me and through you - if we let him, if we open ourselves to his loving and healing and creative Spirit.

So for me this high place each year is a great place to renew a cross-shaped vision of things. The vertical of the cross, like the great standing stone here, reaches between earth and heaven, from me to God. There’s no way I could ever reach that high - but Jesus shows us how God is always reaching down to us. The horizontal of the cross, like the breadth of the view from up here, reaching out. Jesus doesn’t lift his disciples our of the world, but gives us for the world, sends us out, and then comes with us. We have dominion; and our model of dominion is surely the servant-kingship of Christ, where we value each another, and love our neighbour as ourselves, and recognise God’s glory in all that he has made. So let’s live in this world, and for this world, as people of the cross. Amen.

A short service and reflection for the Fourth Sunday after Trinity

 

May the grace, mercy and love of God be with us all. Amen.

Collect

Gracious Father, by the obedience of Jesus you brought salvation to our wayward world: draw us into harmony with your will, that we may find all things restored in him, our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

Confession

Let  us call to mind our sins, and make confession to our heavenly Father.

Almighty God, long-suffering and of great goodness, we confess with our whole heart our neglect of your commandments: our wrong doing and thinking, the hurts we have done to others, and the good we have left undone. Forgive us, Lord, and raise us to newness of life, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

May the God of love bring us back to himself, forgive us our sins, and assure us of his eternal love, in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.

 

Readings - 2 Corinthians, chapter 8, verses 7 to the end :-

You are so rich in everything - in faith, speech, knowledge, and diligence of every kind, as well as in the love you have for us - that you should surely show yourselves equally lavish in this generous service! This is not meant as an order; by telling you how keen others are I am putting your love to the test. You know the generosity of our Lord Jesus Christ: he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that through his poverty you might become rich.

Here is my advice, and I have your interests at heart. You made a good beginning last year both in what you did and in your willingness to do it. Now go on and finish it. Be as eager to complete the scheme as you were to adopt it, and give according to your means. If we give eagerly according to our means, that is acceptable to God; he does not ask for what we do not have. There is no question of relieving others at the cost of hardship to yourselves; it is a question of equality. At the moment your surplus meets their need, but one day your need may be met from their surplus. The aim is equality; as scripture has it, ‘Those who gathered more did not have too much, and those who gathered less did not have too little.’

I thank God that he has made Titus as keen on your behalf as we are! So keen is he that he not only welcomed our request; it is by his own choice he is now leaving to come to you. With him we are sending one of our company whose reputation for his services to the gospel among all the churches is high. Moreover they have duly appointed him to travel with us and help in this beneficent work, by which we do honour to the Lord himself and show our own eagerness to serve. We want to guard against any criticism of our handling of these large sums; for our aims are entirely honourable, not only in the Lord’s eyes, but also in the eyes of men and women.

We are sending with them another of our company whose enthusiasm we have had repeated opportunities of testing, and who is now all the more keen because of the great confidence he has in you. If there is any question about Titus, he is my partner and my fellow-worker in dealings with you; as for the others, they are delegates of the churches and bring honour to Christ. So give them, and through them the churches, clear evidence of your love and justify our pride in you.

 

Mark, chapter 5 verses 21 to the end :-

As soon as Jesus had returned by boat to the other shore, a large crowd gathered round him. While he was by the lakeside, there came a synagogue president named Jairus; and when he saw him, he threw himself down at his feet and pleaded with him. ‘My little daughter is at death’s door,’ he said. ‘I beg you to come and lay your hands on her so that her life may be saved.’ So Jesus went with him, accompanied by a great crowd which pressed round him.

Among them was a woman who had suffered from haemorrhages for twelve years; and in spite of long treatment by many doctors, on which she had spent all she had, she had become worse rather than better. She had heard about Jesus, and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak; for she said, ‘If I touch even his clothes, I shall be healed.’ And there and then the flow of blood dried up and she knew in herself that she was cured of her affliction. Aware at once that power had gone out of him, Jesus turned round in the crowd and asked, ‘Who touched my clothes?’ His disciples said to him, ‘You see the crowd pressing round you and yet you ask, “Who touched me?”’ But he kept looking around to see who had done it. Then the woman, trembling with fear because she knew what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and told him the whole truth. He said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace, free from your affliction.’

While he was still speaking, a message came from the president’s house, ‘Your daughter has died; why trouble the teacher any more?’

But Jesus, overhearing the message as it was delivered, said to the president of the synagogue, ‘Do not be afraid; simply have faith.’ Then he allowed no one to accompany him except Peter and James and James’s brother John. They came to the president’s house, where he found a great commotion, with loud crying and wailing. So he went in and said to them, ‘Why this crying and commotion? The child is not dead: she is asleep’; and they laughed at him. After turning everyone out, he took the child’s father and mother and his own companions into the room where the child was. Taking hold of her hand, he said to her, ‘Talitha cum,’ which means, ‘Get up, my child.’ Immediately the girl got up and walked about - she was twelve years old. They were overcome with amazement; but he gave them strict instructions not to let anyone know about it, and told them to give her something to eat.

Thanks be to God, for this his holy word. Amen.

A Reflection on the Readings - this is a shortened version of the address given in church and on-line

Two long readings today, and in consequence a short reflection. We have Paul encouraging the Corinthian Church to be generous in its giving - this is a topic that parish clergy dread, but they know they have to do it. Without generous giving the church can’t maintain its presence, its ministry, and its mission. And then we have two remarkable miracles of healing performed by Jesus, one of which happened literally while his back was turned.

And what links them all together is the theme of belonging. Paul was asking the Church in Corinth to contribute to the welfare of their sisters and brothers in Jerusalem, for whom times were hard. “It’s about equality,” he told them. “You’re doing OK, so you need make sure others have sufficient too.” In Christ we belong together, big churches and little churches, rich churches and poor.

The woman who touched the hem of Jesus’ garment had been written off by those around her. The nature of her disease rendered her unclean and therefore unacceptable. But no-one is unacceptable to God, and, as Jesus told her, not only God’s power but also her own faith had made her whole.

Maybe the little girl wasn’t dead, but in some sort of catatonic state; what matters though is that those around believed her to be dead, and therefore there was no longer any need for Jesus to be there. Jesus shows them otherwise. We often write off both people and situations as lost causes, and give up when we should persevere (maybe that might even be our attitude to the financial problems we face as churches and as a diocese). But there are no lost causes with God - nor should there be for those who follow his Son.

Statement of faith - We believe in God the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named. We believe in God the Son, who lives in our hearts through faith, and fills us with his love. We believe in God the Holy Spirit, who strengthens us with power from on high. We believe in one God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Prayers - Pray that the Church everywhere may seek constantly to live in the light and strength of Christ and to be renewed in his image. Pray for Christians in Pakistan and for the United Church of Pakistan. In our own Diocese, pray for Bishop Richard, and for the churches and communities of the Abbeydore deanery. Pray too for those to be ordained as priest at the end of this week.

Pray for the world:  where there is conflict and war may God bring peace; where people are belittled, abused or exploited may he establish justice; and where people are hurt, afraid or in a desperate place, may he enable the hungry to be fed and the hurt and frightened to find solace. Continue to pray for nations to   co-operate in the fight against Covid, and for vaccines to be quickly supplied to those who need them.

Pray for all in need today: those who are grieving, lonely, worried or anxious, and all who are ill. Pray for places were new variants are causing numbers of Covid cases to rise. Pray for the care, treatment and recovery of all who are ill, and for the health and safety of all who care for them. Pray too for those who live with loss of both sight and hearing, and for assistance and support for them.

Pray for families and friends, and for the life of our communities. May we not be too frustrated by the delays in removing restrictions. In Children’s Art Week, pray for all that helps children to express their feelings, joys and hopes in painting and other forms of art. And may we all act with care and thoughtfulness, looking out for one another and keeping safe ourselves.

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory for ever and ever.  Amen.

Blessing - May the almighty and eternal God sanctify and govern our hearts and minds in the ways of his commandments; and may the blessing of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, surround and sustain us now and always.   Amen.

A short service and reflection for the Third Sunday after Trinity

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

May the grace, mercy and love of God be with us all. Amen.

Collect

God our saviour, look on this wounded world in pity and in power; hold us fast to your promises of peace won for us by your Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

Confession

Let  us call to mind our sins, and make confession to our heavenly Father.

You were sent to heal the contrite: Lord, have mercy.    

Lord, have mercy.

You came to call sinners: Christ, have mercy.                    

Christ, have mercy.

You plead for us at the Father’s right hand: Lord, have mercy.  

Lord, have mercy.

May the God of love bring us back to himself, forgive us our sins, and assure us of his eternal love, in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.

God’s Word - 2 Corinthians, chapter 6, verses 1 to 13 :-

Sharing in God’s work, we make this appeal: you have received the grace of God; do not let it come to nothing. He has said: “In the hour of my favour I answered you; on the day of deliverance I came to your aid.” This is the hour of favour, this the day of deliverance.

Lest our ministry be brought into discredit, we avoid giving any offence in anything.  As God’s ministers, we try to recommend ourselves in all circumstances by our steadfast endurance: in affliction, hardship, and distress; when flogged, imprisoned, mobbed; overworked, sleepless, starving. We recommend ourselves by innocent behaviour and grasp of truth, by patience and kindliness, by gifts of the Holy Spirit, by unaffected love, by declaring the truth, by the power of God. We wield the weapons of righteousness in right hand and left.

Honour and dishonour, praise and blame, are alike our lot: we are the impostors who speak the truth, the unknown men whom all men know; dying we still live on; disciplined by suffering, we are not done to death; in our sorrows we have always cause for joy; poor ourselves, we bring wealth to many; penniless, we own the world.

We have spoken very frankly to you, friends in Corinth; we have opened our heart to you. There is no constraint on our part; any constraint there may be is in you. In fair exchange then (if I may speak to you like a father), open your hearts to us.

Mark, chapter 4, verses 35 to 41 :-

In the evening, Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Let us cross over to the other side of the lake.’ So they left the crowd and took him with them in the boat in which he had been sitting; and some other boats went with him. A fierce squall blew up and the waves broke over the boat until it was all but swamped. Now he was in the stern asleep on a cushion; they roused him and said, ‘Teacher, we are sinking! Do you not care?’ He awoke and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ‘Silence! Be still!’ The wind dropped and there was a dead calm. He said to them, ‘Why are you such cowards? Have you no faith even now?’ They were awestruck and said to one another, ‘Who can this be? Even the wind and the sea obey him.’

               Thanks be to God, for this his holy word. Amen.

A Reflection on the Reading

Sometimes our set readings seem to have an obvious connection; while at others they seem to go in quite different directions - today’s being a case in point. Paul is writing very frankly to the Church in Corinth about the struggles and obstacles he faces as an apostle. Sometimes it must have felt as if the whole world was against him; and, having had a very assured place among his own people as a Pharisee, Paul now has no place, no standing in society. But what he does have is worth more than everything he’s left behind: so he writes, “We are the imposters who speak the truth . . . penniless, we own the world.”

The Gospel reading is a very familiar story, one of what are sometimes called the “nature miracles”, to distinguish them from the miracles of healing that Jesus performed. Crossing the lake, he and his disciples run into one of the very fierce and sudden storms that can build up on the Sea of Galilee. The disciples are terrified; Jesus is asleep, until they wake him. And with a word, he stills the storm, leaving them awestruck.

So what’s the connection between these two readings? Indeed, is there one? I think there are things that connect our readings, and the first and simplest one is simply that what gave Paul the strength and determination and constancy to keep pressing on as an apostle even when so much was against him was that he had come to believe that all the creative power of God rested in Jesus. The truth this imposter spoke, the truth that drove him on, was that in Jesus the love of God had defeated for all and for ever the power of human sin, opening the way to a new creation, a new beginning, a new relationship with God.

Back to the Gospel for a moment. That storm on the lake must have been a particularly fierce one; after all, several of the disciples were experienced sailors, and used to the lake with its stormy moods. But for the Jewish people generally, the sea was thought of as a place of chaos and disorder. They weren’t natural sailors, and the Sea of Galilee is in reality just a large freshwater lake; sailing on the real sea was left to the maritime peoples among their neighbours, like the Phoenicians.

The story of creation in Genesis chapter 1 begins with chaotic waters; waters on which the Spirit of God moves, stilling them to bring life and goodness into being. In stilling the storm, Jesus demonstrated that this creative power and authority rested in him. They had witnessed miracles of healing, in which Jesus had brought order and peace to human bodies and minds; but this was a stage further, even a glimpse of a time when danger, destruction and death will be no more. No wonder they were awestruck.

One interpretation of this story sees the little boat as representing the Church of Christ. The main part of a church building is called a nave, and, like the word navy, it comes from the Latin navis, meaning a boat. Given the arched roofs of most churches, you could fancifully think of the church building as an upturned boat. When times are turbulent and the storms rage against the Church, we can be sure that even through the worst times, Jesus will guide his Church to safety. Indeed, it may be that it’s in the stormy times that we recognise his love most fully.

Paul knew this. It was fundamental to his faith. From where we stand today, we may look back on a time of calm for the Church, when to belong to the Church conferred status and respect; and we may look ahead to more difficult times, when  the faith is met with ridicule or pity or even opposition. What counts, and what commends the Gospel, isn’t our social standing, but our integrity and resilience, and our determined resolve to do what is good and to desire that good for all; and in Christ we can find an inner peace to guide us through life’s storms.

Statement of faith - We believe in God the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named. We believe in God the Son, who lives in our hearts through faith, and fills us with his love. We believe in God the Holy Spirit, who strengthens us with power from on high. We believe in one God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Prayers  - Pray that the Church everywhere may take seriously its call to faithful service, and may find the resilience to maintain a Christ-like love in all the storms of life. Pray for Christians in India and for the United Church of North India. In our own Diocese, pray for Bishop Richard and for all that enables our life and ministry to be fully inclusive and welcoming to all.

Pray for the world, and for all who are denied human rights and access to justice. Pray too for the landless and refugee peoples of our world, and for those nations hosting large numbers of refugees. Pray for wise leadership here and in every nation; and pray this week for those who offer their services as reservists within our armed forces.

Pray for all in need today, and especially for those who are ill - for their care, treatment and recovery, and for the welfare of all who offer care, within our health services, in care homes, and within our social services. Pray this week for all who live with breathing problems; and also for Hope House and other hospices dealing providing care and respite for children and families.

Pray for families and friends, and for the life of our communities. Pray for those planning weddings and other important life events in the uncertainties of these times, and for all who work in hospitality and tourism. May we all act with care, looking out for one another and keeping safe ourselves.

Our Father, who art in heaven,   hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory for ever and ever.  Amen.

Blessing - May the love of God in Christ Jesus guide and shield us through the storms of life, and be our security and peace; and may the blessing of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, surround and sustain us now and always.   Amen.