Thomas Traherne on The Cross

 Thomas Traherne speaking quite marvellously about the cross: 

"(58) The Cross is the abyss of wonders, the centre of desires, the school of virtues, the house of wisdom, the throne of love, the theatre of joys, and the place of sorrows; It is the root of happiness, and the gate of Heaven. 

(59) Of all the things in Heaven and Earth it is the most peculiar. It is the most exalted of all objects. It is an Ensign lifted up for all nations, to it shall the Gentiles seek, His rest shall be glorious: the dispersed of Judah shall be gathered together to it, from the four corners of the earth. If Love be the weight of the Soul, and its object the centre, all eyes and hearts may convert and turn unto this Object: cleave unto this centre, and by it enter into rest. There we might see all nations assembled with their eyes and hearts upon it. There we may see God’s goodness, wisdom and power: yea His mercy and anger displayed. There we may see man’s sin and infinite value. His hope and fear, his misery and happiness. There we might see the Rock of Ages, and the Joys of Heaven. There we may see a Man loving all the world, and a God dying for mankind. There we may see all types and ceremonies, figures and prophecies. And all kingdoms adoring a malefactor: An innocent malefactor, yet the greatest in the world. There we may see the most distant things in Eternity united: all mysteries at once couched together and explained. The only reason why this Glorious Object is so publicly admired by Churches and Kingdoms, and so little thought of by particular men, is because it is truly the most glorious: It is the Rock of Comforts and the Fountain of Joys. It is the only supreme and sovereign spectacle in all Worlds. It is a Well of Life beneath in which we may see the face of Heaven above: and the only mirror, wherein all things appear in their proper colours: that is, sprinkled in the blood of our Lord and Saviour.

(60) The Cross of Christ is the Jacob’s ladder by which we ascend into the highest heavens. There we see joyful Patriarchs, expecting Saints, Prophets ministering Apostles publishing, and Doctors teaching, all Nations concentering, and Angels praising. That Cross is a tree set on fire with invisible flame, that Illuminateth all the world. The flame is Love: the Love in His bosom who died on it. In the light of which we see how to possess all the things in Heaven and Earth after His similitude. For He that suffered on it was the Son of God as you are: tho’ He seemed only a mortal man. He had acquaintance and relations as you have, but He was a lover of Men and Angels. Was he not the Son of God; and Heir of the whole world? To this poor, bleeding, naked Man did all the corn and wine, and oil, and gold and silver in the world minister in an invisible manner, even as He was exposed lying and dying upon the Cross.

(61) Here you learn all patience, meekness, self-denial, courage, prudence, zeal, love, charity, contempt of the world, penitence, contrition, modesty, fidelity, constancy, perseverance, contentation, holiness, and thanksgiving: With whatsoever else is requisite for a Man, a Christian, or a King...." (Meditations) 

How I like to start and end a sermon

 In some circles, it is typical to start a sermon with a joke. But I can never remember any good ones. 

Or something from the newspaper. But I don't normally read one. 

I sometimes like to start by saying: 

"In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen."

This reminds us all what we are about, I think. 

It gestures to the Proclamation Trust slogan that: "When God’s word is faithfully taught, God’s voice is truly heard."

Or in the words of the Second Helvetic Confession:

Wherefore when this Word of God is now preached in the church by preachers lawfully called, we believe that the very Word of God is proclaimed, and received by the faithful; and that neither any other Word of God is to be invented nor is to be expected from heaven: and that now the Word itself which is preached is to be regarded, not the minister that preaches; for even if he be evil and a sinner, nevertheless the Word of God remains still true and good.

The preached word is the Word of God.  

The minister, then, speaks as Christ's authorised representative, his spokesman and ambassador. This reminds him what he is about. Not to entertain but to proclaim good news. 

We don't want best thoughts from the Vicarage or commentary current affairs. Give us the Word of God, preacher!

And I like to finish by saying: 

And so to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit be all honour, and power and glory, for ever and ever. Amen. 

I think I got this from The Revd Paul Blackham but if anyone knows anything about the origins and prevalence of this tradition, I would be interested. 

It is always good to praise the Triune God! But I like this ending because it reminds us that the sermon is doxology. It is worship, our response to God's Word and his grace. And it is oriented to worship: that we might love God with heart, mind, word and action. The sermon is not for information but for transformation. We pray that in the light of what is said, in this brief hour together and in the week ahead we might more faithfully live lives of worship to King Jesus. If the sermon is not to the glory of the Triune God, we'd better not bother with it. 

Just in case the preacher might enjoy being six feet above contradiction too much, this ending reminds us that it is all Soli Deo Gloria, for the glory of God alone. 

As we finish our sermons, we give glory to God and we encourage our hearers to do the same by adding their Amen and by responding to God's word in faith and gratitude. 

May God make the middle of our sermons more attuned to their beginnings and endings. Amen. 

Sing Old Songs

 I am all for contemporary Christian songs. The Christian faith is ever relevant and every song was contemporary once.

But we should also sing things that have stood the test of time.

Indeed, we want to express our unity with all Christians down the ages and around the world.

I find it especially encouraging when we can sometimes sing some of the oldest Christian songs. If they sang this 1000 years ago, perhaps we will also be singing it in 1000 years time, or 10 000 years. If the church in the UK has its problems today, then this was also true in the past. There are past glories and we look to God for future glories.

Let's not be stuck in one particular century or decade for our singing.

(I'd love people to share links to their favourite old stuff in a tongue understanded of the people)

Go local! On not driving past a Bible-believing church that is trying

This is a plea to those who would like to think of themselves as bible-believing people with a heart for the gospel. (And perhaps especially to those who have been committed believers for a few years). 

I know you will have your important theological convictions that might be more aligned with a church a few miles away. 

You will have your musical and liturgical tastes. 

You will want times and groups that can work for you. 

You need to have your needs met if you are to grow in loving Jesus. That is totally true.  

You're looking for peers for yourself and maybe for you kids. I sympathise. 

But I want to urge you to try your nearest church. Perhaps especially if you are an evangelical and the local church is trying to believe and share the gospel. If this church is finding it hard to grow and thrive, maybe the motor car is partly to blame. 

If you have a car, you could no doubt find something bigger and better. There are many advantages to a larger church. I am all for larger churches. I belonged to one as a student although it was across town. I benefited hugely. Maybe that was the right thing for me at that time. I found some ways to serve there. 

But your local church might need you. There might be wonderful opportunities to use your gift and to serve. 

In a church of say 50 people or fewer, your presence could make a big difference, whereas if there are already 100 people, your impact is likely to be rather less. 

Humanly speaking, there can be quite a fine line between small and likely to dwindle and viable with potential to grow. But if we all despair of the day of small things, we can guess the result, unless the Lord graciously sends revival. 

If you and a few other people dedicated themselves to the local church, together, and perhaps working with other Christians in the wider area (perhaps to put on some joint youth work, for example), you could have a huge impact on your local community. 

How much easier to invite your neighbours to the church in your parish.

Belonging to a smaller local church may certainly have its costs and sacrifices. But it a bit easier to be involved and serve if your travelling time is reduced. You can be there a bit earlier and linger longer. Getting to something midweek may be less of a juggling-act ordeal.  

If you join a smaller church, it could lead to a music or singing group, or a good service sheet, or effective AV, or a prayer triplet. Perhaps a few of you could start a new Bible study or home group. Or put on an outreach event. 

I confess we use supermarkets. There is lots of choice. It is probably cheaper. But we also use our village shop. We really want it to continue. So we try to support it, even if there are some things we can't get on special offer at 3AM there. Well, I'd like the local church to grow and thrive to serve the local community. 

You could be part of something wonderful. You could be a huge blessing to others. Maybe your local church needs you. 

You must do what you feel is right. It's not for me to tell you which church to go to. But would you think and pray about it? If you're moving, try local! Maybe your pastor would bless you if you said you are thinking of moving to your nearest church and throwing yourself in for the sake of the gospel in your immediate locality. 

By all means tell me how wrong I am, but maybe...?

(I'm grateful to those who have commented on FB and elsewhere. I've made a couple of small additions to this since I originally posted it). 

Ascension Deficit Disorder?

 A brief sermon for the Ascension 

Look away now if you are coming to church tonight (St Giles, Dallington, 7:30pm, Thurs 18th May)

Acts 1:1-11 (p1092)

Luke 24:44-end (p1062)

 

In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

 

It’s so easy to be distracted or pre-occupied, isn’t it?

 

Perhaps we live in an especially anxious age.

And maybe TV and social media have destroyed our attention spans.

But these dangers of distraction and pre-occupation seem to have afflicted the Apostles too.

They are very much part of life in 21^st Century Britain, but they are also part of the human condition.

Indeed, if we wanted to risk being corny, we might say that we are in danger not only of attention deficit disorder but of ascension deficit disorder.

Perhaps the ascension can help us if we feel distracted or preoccupied.

 

First, the disciples seem distracted.

They have a pressing question for Jesus in Acts 1v6.

It’s on page 1092 if you want to look at it and you’ve lost it.

The disciples ask Jesus, 1v6, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”

That’s their big question.

Jesus has been speaking to them about the kingdom of God (v3), and they have a question about the kingdom of Israel.

Maybe they hope to see a proper king of Israel restored and the Romans booted out.

Perhaps they think still in nationalistic terms, whereas Jesus is going to send them to the ends of the earth.

We know that the disciples competed for the top jobs in Jesus’ kingdom:

They wanted to sit on Jesus’ right and left when he came into his kingdom.

Perhaps they’re still hoping for earthly power and prestige.

They are going to receive power from on high, but maybe not quite the sort of power for which they hope, and maybe not for the purposes which they imagine.

Jesus’ disciples, perhaps, still have much to learn.

And no doubt, so too, do we.

Jesus’ ways are not often our ways.

He might surprise us, as he often seems to have surprised his first disciples.

 

Jesus tells them, in effect, to mind their own business – not worry their heads with these matters.

V7, Jesus says to them, “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.”

Don’t worry, he tells them, God the Father has it all under control.

He has his plans and he doesn’t necessarily want to tell you the schedule or all the details you’d like to know.

But God also has a plan for you: a purpose, a mission.

V8: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

That’s the programmatic verse of the book of Acts which we see playing out in the following chapters and in the rest of human history.

Jesus doesn’t give his disciples all the answers, or all the information they’d like.

He doesn’t satisfy their curiosity.

But he does give them a job to do.

He tells them what they need to know to do it.  

And he’s going to give them the power to do it – the supernatural power of God the Holy Spirit.

 

So Jesus’ ascension challenges our priorities.

It might encourage us to ask new and better questions:

To change our focus and our hopes:

To look to the Kingdom of God and the Word of God, rather than our own hopes and plans.

 

Jesus then ascends to heaven and is hidden from their sight (v9).

It’s hardly surprising that, v10, they stand there looking intently up in to the sky.

No doubt they’re amazed and preoccupied.

If they had questions before, perhaps they have even more now.

Who knows how long they would have stood there looking up into the sky if the angel hadn’t intervened.

The angels ask them why they are standing there looking up into the sky (v11), and it’s not hard to say why:

We’ve never seen anyone ascend to heaven before!

Suddenly Jesus is gone.

It takes some getting your head round.

They have to sort out their ascension deficit disorder.

 

But the angels speak of the plan of God:

V11: “This same Jesus, who has been taken from you in to heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”

 

Maybe they are distressed and confused by Jesus’ going.

The angels want them to think too about Jesus’ return.

 

Jesus had spoken to them about the kingdom of God.

Jesus was God’s king.

When Jesus came he announced and inaugurated the kingdom of God in a new way.

His death and resurrection secured his kingdom and demonstrated his kingship.

Now Jesus’ ascension is his enthronement as king.

It was very nice of the UK to arrange a coronation as a helpful small-scale illustration of the enthronement of the world’s true king.

 

And one day the king will come again as judge to bring in his kingdom in all its fullness.

As the disciples set about their mission to be witnesses for Jesus in the whole wide world, they must keep in mind that second coming of Jesus.

That is the great event to which all history is now moving.

They are to urge people to get on board with the way the universe is going, to be ready for what’s coming:

To be ready for who is coming, because Jesus the risen king will return in glory to judge the living and the dead.

 

So as Jesus’ disciples, we are to be neither distracted not pre-occupied.

Rather, we too share in the Apostolic Mission to be witnesses to Jesus the King to all the nations.

He now claims their allegiance.

And God the Holy Spirit will empower us.

 

Jesus the King has come.

Jesus reigns as king.

Jesus the king will come again.

 

If we are distracted or preoccupied, perhaps the ascension can help to heal our disorders.

 

So let us be about the business of the King.

Let us give ourselves to His Majesty’s Service:

Confident of his rule and equipped for his service.

 

And so to God the Father, God the risen, ascended Son, and to God the Holy Spirit, be all honour and glory and power, for ever and ever. Amen.  

(The phrase “ascension deficit disorder” was taken from a cartoon seen on Facebook)

Parish Magazine Item for the Coronation II

From The Rectory

 

As I said last month, I’ve long been an enormous fan of the coronation service. I was glad that my favourite bit about the Bible as “the most valuable thing this world affords” remained in. And for all my love of traditional pageantry and so on, I think the desire to make the occasion seem more inclusive was, on balance, understandable and probably well done.

 

If you’re interested in reading more about the service, I enjoyed Tom Holland’s Comment is Free piece in The Observer / Guardian which you can find free online: ‘Our bronze age coronation rites seem to speak to a modern love of the sacred’ - https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/apr/30/bronze-age-coronation-rites-seem-to-speak-to-a-modern-love-of-the-sacred

 

The order of service was on The Church of England website and in particular there was a version with commentary which is worth a look - https://www.churchofengland.org/coronation/liturgy. (As I say, I draw your attention to the presentation of the Bible towards the beginning).

 

I’ve also been giving out a slim book by Roger Careswell from 10ofThose called God Save The King! I’m afraid we’ve used up all our stock, but you might even get it at a much better discount now if they’re not all sold out! - https://www.10ofthose.com/uk/products?q=Coronation

 

Though I thought I was quite familiar with the service, I admit I was a little rusty on the royal regalia. We all think we know about the crown jewels, of course. But who knew about the significance of spurs, one glove and bracelets? I’m still not sure what the redemption of the sword was all about.  

The orb remains a powerful symbol, I think. The globe is under the cross. Christ is the king. And the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of God and of his Christ.

 

As we marvel at the King’s regalia, we might think of the regalia of Christ and of the Christian.

 

Jesus was crowned with thorns. His wounds are the trophies of his victory. We may glory in the crucified and risen Messiah.

 

And the Bible has much to say about the Christian dress code. It speaks of what we out to put off (all sin) and what we ought to put on.

 

One of the most striking images of the coronation was Charles divested of all his royal robes. As he stood in a simple white shirt, the humanity, weakness and frailty of us all was proclaimed. Even the best of men are only men at best. God sees our hearts. And all of us have things which we ought to put off: sinful attitudes from which we need to turn.

 

We are to put on Christ (Romans 13:14). We are to clothe ourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience (Colossians 3:12). The believer is not to lounge around in her pyjamas but is to put on the full armour of God. A look at The Apostle Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, chapter 6 would show us the Christian also splendidly arrayed for a life of real meaning and significance. Here we are dressed not for the ceremony of court but for a real fight.

 

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹ Put on the full armour of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. ¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. ¹³ Therefore put on the full armour of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. ¹⁴ Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵ and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ¹⁶ In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷ Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

 

If the apparel of the King at his coronation matters, so does what we put on and put off each day.

 

As we pray for King Charles, let us also pray that we would be clothed with Christ by faith and by all his virtues which would adorn our lives. In the title of the coronation service, we too are “called to serve” Christ the King and all people as made in the image of God. May we more and more reflect the likeness of Jesus, crucified, risen, ascended.

 

The Revd Marc Lloyd 

The Revd Marc Lloyd