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- 00:20 now i will actually go to sleep. safe journey, all. @jallen285--have fun at sidetracks; one of my fave bars in Chicago. #
- 07:50 @nard : Squeaks? The mouse must have been very scared. #
- 08:46 morning, tweeters. sun is shining, it's a bit nippy out, but spring is here. injured squirrel seems better too. #
- 12:47 @jallen285 we are off to Marbella just for sun, sand, drinks, and relaxation. will get a spiel about buying into a holiday club but worth it #
- 15:49 In St*rbucks at Angel. Walkmed to Hoxton White Cube, then up here. 3 or 4 miles. Bushed. #
- 17:12 home now via Tube. Still bushed. #
- 23:16 well, off to bed. tiring day. must be in tip-top shape to preach tomorrow. #
Mar. 22nd, 2009
Sermon for Laetare Sunday
Mar. 22nd, 2009 08:53 amThis Sunday is observed in the United Kingdom as Mothering Sunday. The mothers get little bunches of daffodils in church, and sometimes there are special readings. Unfortunately, St. John's uses the regular readings for today and they are not particularly maternal.
In addition, Jade Goody, the reality show contestant from a few years ago who later was diagnosed with advanced cervical cancer, died this morning. If I were quicker-witted, I could preach on her strange life and her peaceful death on Mothering Sunday, leaving two children. She's a local girl, from Bermondsey just down the road.
Laetare Sunday is the traditional Catholic name for the Fourth Sunday of Lent. The Introit begins with the Latin word which means "to rejoice", and the clergy wear light-purple vestments (referred to as "rose" coloured) rather than purple ones. This to signify that the end of Lent, with its crucifixion story, is drawing closer and we should be living in hope of the resurrection.
I am committed to preaching on the readings, not solely on the newspapers or on the Sunday, so here is my offering for today—nothing about mothers or Jade Goody. This is my 50th sermon since I moved to the United Kingdom 15 years ago.
And to all you mothers out there, happy Mothering Sunday. Those of you in the United States will get this twice, as American Mothers Day is in May.
March 22, 2009 Fourth Sunday of Lent; Mothering Sunday
Sermon delivered at St. John the Evangelist, 10 am.
Readings: II Chron 36:14-16, 19-23; Ps 136; Eph 2:4-10; John 3:14-21
In the name of God, the one, the Undivided Trinity. AMEN.
There is a Radio 4 “comedy” (I hope you could hear the inverted commas around the word ‘comedy’) which has been on the air for a few series now. It’s called “Old Harry’s Game”, and is probably one of the worst offerings Radio 4 has ever put in that comedy slot. In it, the Devil, assisted by various demons, torments (in a humourous way) the people who have arrived in hell. I find the idea of perpetual life in hell not the least bit amusing, and this particular “comedy” is also not the least bit amusing, so we’re even.
The comedy makes use of all the stereotypes of hell and devils that Western tradition provides: there are pitchforks galore, lakes of boiling oil, hordes of demons doing Satan’s every wish. But Satan himself is a bit of a devilish civil servant. Souls are so many pieces of fodder to be placed in the mill and processed efficiently.
My conclusion is that hell is being condemned to listen to “Old Harry’s Game” on Thursday nights into eternity. And my opinion on what eternal condemnation consists of is as valid as anyone else’s.
Today’s Gospel contains one of the most famous passages in Scripture: John 3:16. In the Bronx in New York City, passing by storefronts on the bus one often sees storefront churches where the Word of God is preached to anyone who wanders in on a Sunday morning. More than occasionally you see a church called “John 3:16 Church”, or, more often in the Bronx, “Juan tres:dieciséis”. It’s worth quoting the passage again: “Yes, God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not be lost, but may have eternal life.”
When I opened my Bible to look at this passage again, I saw at John 3:16 a wrinkled silk marker with Chinese characters written on it. I can’t remember where I got it, but when I asked Tan what the characters meant he said they meant “God so loved the world...” and I stopped him and completed the verse. He was astonished and thought that I had suddenly learned Chinese, but I told him where it came from, and placed the marker there in my Bible as a reminder of the universality of this verse.
During the Reformation this passage was quoted in support of the theory that salvation is by faith alone. Believing in God’s Son was sufficient to save you. Protestants and Roman Catholics battled over this passage. But they all took it out of context.
Consider verses 17 and 18, where John records Jesus saying that those who refuse to believe are condemned. Oddly enough, the streetcorner evangelists who quote John 3:16 do not go on to John 3:17 or 18. This might turn any prospective Christian away. It is easier to get souls with the spiritual honey of eternal life than with the spiritual gall of possible damnation.
But those of us who are Anglicans of the Catholic tradition can’t just close our eyes to some of the Scripture when we don’t like it. Are then our atheist, agnostic, and simply indifferent friends all going to hell? When I was a lad, the definitive answer was “Yes, of course they are. No doubt about it.” And some even today hold this opinion.
Others believe that everyone will be saved by the life and death of Jesus. No one will be excluded from eternal life because of unbelief.
So we could hurl proof-texts at each other (and the New Testament contains lots of them) proving one side of this question, or the other side. I have little or no patience with Bible-thumpers and proof-texters. You know the kind of person I mean. They will get into a discussion with you on religion, and start quoting the Bible at you in support of what they are asserting, but only the verses that support their own position. They make me feel intensely uncomfortable, as if they were trying to bore a hole in my skull, the better to pour their ideas into it.
Don’t get me wrong—I believe, with the Sixth Article of Religion, that the Bible contains all things necessary for salvation. The trick is that the Bible also contains many things that are not necessary for anything at all. Quoting Scripture passages may or may not be the best way of carrying on an argument, but there is no guarantee that the passages quoted, out of context, are germane to the topic under discussion.
But what if I said that the nature of Hell, and whether those who are not Christian will end up there is unknowable this side of the grave? How would you feel then?
I am very loth to state the disposition of any person’s soul after their death. It isn’t possible to second-guess our good Lord, or to know the bounds of His mercy and love. No soul, not the worst offender’s soul, broadcasts its disposition after death, and even if it were possible for me to know where a particular soul ended up, I’d rather not know, really.
On the other hand, only we, and God, know the innermost feelings of our own hearts and minds. We know whether we believe or not—we may be struggling toward the light of faith but not there yet, we may already bask in the light of faith, or we may close our minds and hearts to faith. Many men and women today do. But only they, and God, know their unbelief as a certainty.
So how do we treat this Gospel passage in the light of our own faith? I like to think of verse 21 as the fulfillment of verse 16. “The man who lives by the truth comes out into the light, so that it may be plainly seen that what he does is done in God.” In order to show that we are children of God and bask in his light, our lives in Christ are conducted in public. We are baptised in public, not in private. We worship in public, open to all who are themselves open to the grace of God.
Rather than seeing John 3:16 as a proof-text, we need to see it as a doorway into salvation for everyone. We may all live by the light, through the life and death of Jesus. If you think that eternal life is worth pursuing, read the Gospel passage again, and choose the light, rather than the darkness. AMEN.
In addition, Jade Goody, the reality show contestant from a few years ago who later was diagnosed with advanced cervical cancer, died this morning. If I were quicker-witted, I could preach on her strange life and her peaceful death on Mothering Sunday, leaving two children. She's a local girl, from Bermondsey just down the road.
Laetare Sunday is the traditional Catholic name for the Fourth Sunday of Lent. The Introit begins with the Latin word which means "to rejoice", and the clergy wear light-purple vestments (referred to as "rose" coloured) rather than purple ones. This to signify that the end of Lent, with its crucifixion story, is drawing closer and we should be living in hope of the resurrection.
I am committed to preaching on the readings, not solely on the newspapers or on the Sunday, so here is my offering for today—nothing about mothers or Jade Goody. This is my 50th sermon since I moved to the United Kingdom 15 years ago.
And to all you mothers out there, happy Mothering Sunday. Those of you in the United States will get this twice, as American Mothers Day is in May.
March 22, 2009 Fourth Sunday of Lent; Mothering Sunday
Sermon delivered at St. John the Evangelist, 10 am.
Readings: II Chron 36:14-16, 19-23; Ps 136; Eph 2:4-10; John 3:14-21
In the name of God, the one, the Undivided Trinity. AMEN.
There is a Radio 4 “comedy” (I hope you could hear the inverted commas around the word ‘comedy’) which has been on the air for a few series now. It’s called “Old Harry’s Game”, and is probably one of the worst offerings Radio 4 has ever put in that comedy slot. In it, the Devil, assisted by various demons, torments (in a humourous way) the people who have arrived in hell. I find the idea of perpetual life in hell not the least bit amusing, and this particular “comedy” is also not the least bit amusing, so we’re even.
The comedy makes use of all the stereotypes of hell and devils that Western tradition provides: there are pitchforks galore, lakes of boiling oil, hordes of demons doing Satan’s every wish. But Satan himself is a bit of a devilish civil servant. Souls are so many pieces of fodder to be placed in the mill and processed efficiently.
My conclusion is that hell is being condemned to listen to “Old Harry’s Game” on Thursday nights into eternity. And my opinion on what eternal condemnation consists of is as valid as anyone else’s.
Today’s Gospel contains one of the most famous passages in Scripture: John 3:16. In the Bronx in New York City, passing by storefronts on the bus one often sees storefront churches where the Word of God is preached to anyone who wanders in on a Sunday morning. More than occasionally you see a church called “John 3:16 Church”, or, more often in the Bronx, “Juan tres:dieciséis”. It’s worth quoting the passage again: “Yes, God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not be lost, but may have eternal life.”
When I opened my Bible to look at this passage again, I saw at John 3:16 a wrinkled silk marker with Chinese characters written on it. I can’t remember where I got it, but when I asked Tan what the characters meant he said they meant “God so loved the world...” and I stopped him and completed the verse. He was astonished and thought that I had suddenly learned Chinese, but I told him where it came from, and placed the marker there in my Bible as a reminder of the universality of this verse.
During the Reformation this passage was quoted in support of the theory that salvation is by faith alone. Believing in God’s Son was sufficient to save you. Protestants and Roman Catholics battled over this passage. But they all took it out of context.
Consider verses 17 and 18, where John records Jesus saying that those who refuse to believe are condemned. Oddly enough, the streetcorner evangelists who quote John 3:16 do not go on to John 3:17 or 18. This might turn any prospective Christian away. It is easier to get souls with the spiritual honey of eternal life than with the spiritual gall of possible damnation.
But those of us who are Anglicans of the Catholic tradition can’t just close our eyes to some of the Scripture when we don’t like it. Are then our atheist, agnostic, and simply indifferent friends all going to hell? When I was a lad, the definitive answer was “Yes, of course they are. No doubt about it.” And some even today hold this opinion.
Others believe that everyone will be saved by the life and death of Jesus. No one will be excluded from eternal life because of unbelief.
So we could hurl proof-texts at each other (and the New Testament contains lots of them) proving one side of this question, or the other side. I have little or no patience with Bible-thumpers and proof-texters. You know the kind of person I mean. They will get into a discussion with you on religion, and start quoting the Bible at you in support of what they are asserting, but only the verses that support their own position. They make me feel intensely uncomfortable, as if they were trying to bore a hole in my skull, the better to pour their ideas into it.
Don’t get me wrong—I believe, with the Sixth Article of Religion, that the Bible contains all things necessary for salvation. The trick is that the Bible also contains many things that are not necessary for anything at all. Quoting Scripture passages may or may not be the best way of carrying on an argument, but there is no guarantee that the passages quoted, out of context, are germane to the topic under discussion.
But what if I said that the nature of Hell, and whether those who are not Christian will end up there is unknowable this side of the grave? How would you feel then?
I am very loth to state the disposition of any person’s soul after their death. It isn’t possible to second-guess our good Lord, or to know the bounds of His mercy and love. No soul, not the worst offender’s soul, broadcasts its disposition after death, and even if it were possible for me to know where a particular soul ended up, I’d rather not know, really.
On the other hand, only we, and God, know the innermost feelings of our own hearts and minds. We know whether we believe or not—we may be struggling toward the light of faith but not there yet, we may already bask in the light of faith, or we may close our minds and hearts to faith. Many men and women today do. But only they, and God, know their unbelief as a certainty.
So how do we treat this Gospel passage in the light of our own faith? I like to think of verse 21 as the fulfillment of verse 16. “The man who lives by the truth comes out into the light, so that it may be plainly seen that what he does is done in God.” In order to show that we are children of God and bask in his light, our lives in Christ are conducted in public. We are baptised in public, not in private. We worship in public, open to all who are themselves open to the grace of God.
Rather than seeing John 3:16 as a proof-text, we need to see it as a doorway into salvation for everyone. We may all live by the light, through the life and death of Jesus. If you think that eternal life is worth pursuing, read the Gospel passage again, and choose the light, rather than the darkness. AMEN.