Psalm 36vv5-10 notes

 The Lectionary suggests we concentrate on vv5-10 of this fascinating Psalm.

 

You’ll say, “O, Rector, can’t we have the whole Psalm, that would be so much better?”

And in a way I agree with you.

But actually I think there are more than enough ideas in vv5-10  for us to be going along with today.

We’ll be in danger of going over the 22 and half minute maximum regulation sermon length!

I’ve got ten pictures for you.

 

But if (you’re a reader) and you have the Psalm open in front of you, let’s just look at the context of our little section.

V1: “An orcacle… concerning the sinfulness of the wicked”

And you can see he comes back to them in vv11 and 12 in various ways:

The proud, the wicked again, and evildoers.

 

So this is a Psalm partly about bad people.

 

The overall message of the Psalm is to have nothing to do with wickedness or wrongdoing and these verses in the middle which we’re going to look at give us a happy positive alternative: the LORD God, his love, and goodness and kindness, as we’ll see.

You’re far better off sticking with the true and living God of the Bible and trusting him, being loyal to him, knowing him and seeking him.

 

So its nice for us to look at these verses today.

It’s worth us just remembering that this isn’t the whole story.

We know this is a broken world where lots of bad stuff happens.

And we’ll have to talk more about that another day.

But for today look at v5 with me will, you?

 

This is wonderful, marvellous stuff.

 

He’s talking to God:

 

(1)   Heavens / skies (v5)

 

God’s love v5, v7, v10

 

So God’s love is the major theme of this section

 

hesed, faithful covenant love

 

And its worth us just remembering that in Hebrew poems or songs like this they love to say similar things twice.

(Like we love poems that rhyme, they love ones that kind of repeat or vary or sort of riff off the same stuff again, maybe with a change)

(Parallelism – of different types)

(2)   Mountains (v6)

(3)   The deep (v6)

(4)   Humans and beasts (v6)

(5)   Priceless (v7)

(6)   High and low among people find refuge in the shadow of your wings (v7)

(7)   Feast in the abundance of your house (v8)

(9)   Fountain of life (v9)

(10) Light (v9)

 

Will you not take refuge under the wings of this God?

Will you not look to him?

Will you drink the water of life which he gives?

Will you not be refreshed and sustained by him?

Enjoy him and his good gifts?

Receive his love.

Look to his justice.

 I think we know how we ought to respond to these things don’t we?

 Thanks, praise, trust, loyalty.

 Running away from all wickedness.

Neither fearing or trusting the wicked.

 Hesed – covenant loyalty

Love him a little in return.

Or at least pray that our cold hearts might love him more.

 

Full all age sermon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVhF00cVlOw Reading from about 10:25; Sermon: 12:30

Christian Ministry in the C of E Reflection on an image of an Embryo

 

During the shared discernment process for selection for ordained ministry, candidates are invited to talk about an object or image which is meaningful to them.

I quite a verbal person, but I thought I’d have a go at something like this exercise with an image – though perhaps my reflection turns out to be more do with a concept or idea.

 

My mind first turned to Matthias Grunewald’s Isenheim Altarpiece with its famous image of John the Baptist at the foot of the cross pointing to Jesus.

 

 

In fact I’m going to reflect on an embryo – which is arguably not unrelated to the altarpiece.

Both John and Jesus had miraculous births.

And the cross, though a death, is also a kind of birth pang.

It will lead to new life.

The tomb will be a womb.

And Mary the mother of Jesus is there.

If she is the mother of Christ and we are in Christ, is she in a way the mother of us all?

Jesus’ words to Mary and John at the cross might suggest a new family relationship.

 

 

The embryo is a fecund image.

It suggests the value of every individual human life, of all sorts, at every age and stage, and therefore also our desire to resource the church’s life in every place:

That as the Church of England we have a mission to the whole of society, not just to middle class suburbia.

That we don’t want to neglect our inner cities, our deprived coastal towns or our rural areas.

The embryo reminds us of Jesus’ particular concern for the last and the least, the weakest and the voiceless.

 

Everyone with whom we interact is a precious human being and a disciple or a potential disciple, not just a ministry unit to be formed or deployed.

 

Clergy in particular are tempted to neglect their own humanity and their discipleship for the sake of their role. 

 

We must become like little children to receive the kingdom of heaven.

Our life together, however brilliant it might be, must be grounded in humbly receiving from Jesus.

There will be lots for all of us, even the most senior, to learn!

 

This reminder of the preciousness of all life also relates to valuing all spiritual life across the theological traditions and across barriers of age, class, sex, race or sexuality.  

 

The image speaks of the miracle of new life.

We’re dependent on God to grant new life, and so all our ministry should be grounded in prayer.

We should be encouraged that God’s resources are infinite.

 

Often our resources of finance and personnel are stretched, but God loves to “give life to the dead and call into being things that were not” (Romans 4:17).

We sometimes need to bring faith and hope where parishes are discouraged and despairing.

 

This image places mystery and wonder at the heart of our life.

We are not primarily running Parish Church PLC but are engaged with the sacred and supernatural.

We are about something ministerial not merely managerial.

 

Perhaps a midwife might not be a bad metaphor for the Christian minister.

The embryo suggests nurturing something precious and fragile which has great potential.

That’s important when we think about new Christians and new vocations.  

It is so easy to snuff out an interest in the gospel or in Christian service – the very thing we know Jesus would not do.

We sometimes have to say hard things to people.

Sometimes we won’t share someone’s sense of calling.

Or we can’t provide the Vicar or Curate or Parish they’d like.

But we have to remember that we are dealing with people made in the image of God and loved by him, and sometimes with their very deep sense of self and their hopes tied up with their vocational journey.

 

I’ve been doing some work on the Church of England learning review into diocesan growth initiatives in rural areas.

And one of the interesting debates is whether one should invest in areas of greatest need or greatest potential.

Whilst we are in the resurrection business, and we don’t want to assume that any parish must be forever barren, there seems to be a strong case for adding resources where there is already life, even if its only embryonic.

 

Formation is the great word in ministry training at the moment - related to the embryo, especially when we remember its biblical basis in Galatians 4:19, where Paul says:

“My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you”.

 

Christian formation is for all Christians and we ought to expect growth, both spiritual and numerical.  

 

This image suggests that there is ideally something natural and organic about Christian growth.

Just as school is important, so we must have programmes of teaching and learning.

But we must also have the family being together around the table.

That eucharistic life is actually infinitely more important than a course or a check-list. 

 

We want to have a pathway, an invitation, for everyone from first contact with a Christian through evangelism and discipleship to training and ministry, some of which will be at parish, deanery, or diocesan level or nationally.

A pathway, not a sausage machine. 

 

Paul tells Timothy to let his “progress be evident to all” (1 Timonthy 4:15)

The standard is progress not perfection.

None of us can ever say we are the perfect Christian or minister and so we should all always be looking to grow.   

 

We want to encourage a culture of growth for every disciple in the parish.

That every disciple should be a minister using their gifts.  

And a culture of growth amongst the clergy.

It should be normal to be reading a slightly stretching book, and a certain amount of risk should be encouraged.

 

We want to encourage lifelong learning so that it’s not possible to tell when the Vicar finished theological college by the date of the books on her shelf.

If a minister has done no Continuing Ministerial Education in living memory, and it would be good to think about how to make him eager to do some.

Something must appeal as potentially interesting or helpful, surely?  

 

As with the embryo, the goal is a degree of independence.

We will always remain an interdependent household of faith.

But we want Christians to look out for their own souls and for one another, and we want our curates to be ready to take on posts of responsibility and so on.

 

We want to encourage clergy to do those things that will make for their growth and well-being for themselves and together, and in many cases I think we know what that is.

I’ve blogged about this before.

 

In our diocese and networks we already have great resources of skills and experiences and it would be exciting to work with parishes and deaneries on using these to do more together.

 

The embryo suggests the necessary pain of being born, of leaving the womb and of growing in a more challenging environment.

We are not to remain in the safety of our inward-looking club.

Most of our curates won’t remain assistants for ever.

 

The image can also be a warning against infantilisation:

Against the training incumbent who doesn’t allow the curate to grow up.

Or against micro-management.

Against the clergyman who is a bottle keck on growth, who won’t release and empower the laity.

 

Lastly, the embryo suggests continuity and development.

That we seek be faithful to the apostles’ teaching and fruitful in new ways.

We are keepers of a tradition, but that tradition is also to be proclaimed afresh in each generation .

We are not to depart from the faith but neither are we to stand still.

We are both rooted in Christ and sent out by Christ as his representatives to proclaim him.

We keep the faith by sharing the faith.

Like good parents, we encourage both a sense of belonging and of individuality.

 

May God grant us life, growth, health and indeed multiplication of disciples and ministers.

Here endeth the sermon!

TV

It is arguably 100 years since the invention of TV and The Church Society is inviting theological reflection sparked by this.

https://www.churchsociety.org/resource/the-global-anglican-essay-prize-2026/

I don't think I have an essay in me, but perhaps I have a few jottings.

German comedian Henning Wehn speaks of the Parochialism of Facts. Every German child is taught that Friedrich Braun was the inventor of television.

The Traitors and its extraordinary popularity perhaps calls for some Faithful theological reflection. It was interesting to see this spill over into political discourse as Health Secretary Wes Streeting repeated his line that he is and always has been a Faithful.

Way back in the mists of time we read Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business (Methuen, London, 1985) at theological college. It might be worth asking how that looks after all this time.

Paul Kingsnorth mentions TV in his Wendell Berry lecture along with some sources that would be worth following up. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTlM-6nZNdE. He is interesting on the Latin origin of the word "focus", as the hearth or fire place (with its associated gods). Which of course feeds in to discussion of TV and focus. Once family viewing was a thing with one TV as the new hearth-light around which the family would gather of an evening. Then there may be a TV in every room. Now there is a devise in every hand too.

The transition from limited linear TV to online is of course also worthy of reflection.

American journalist Nicholas Carr's The Shallows: How the Internet Is Changing the Way We Think, Read and Remember (2010) would be a book to consult. .

Peter Hitchens also has some comments about TV in The Abolition of Britain, if I remember correctly.

TV could also be situated in a broader biblical theology of creation and of making. TV and TV shows are works of sub-creation. The cultural mandate has resulted in this culture! TV is an aspect of technology and of humanity's dominion work , but it can easily have dominion over us. We have created the machine which can become a beast, even a serpent.


The Bible also has things to say of relevance to news, leisure, words and images.


We are to give our consideration to whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent or praiseworthy. Like other media, TV is a mixed bag.


We might compare moral panic around TV to that over the printing press, the novel, the telephone or the internet.

Family Evangelism

 Today's Gospel (from John 1) raises the question of Christian witness to non-Christian family. This has its pros and cons. They know you. And they know you. This is not hit and run gospeling but you hope for an ongoing relationship. 

The gospel's account is not really one of deliberate strategy but of spontaneous enthusiasm: we have found; come and see! Perhaps there is a particular opportunity in the first days of conversion to bravely speak up. 

Is Britain broken?

 It seems to be a matter of great debate at the highest and popular levels whether or not Britain is broken. This threatens to be a dividing line in our politics. The shadow cabinet allegedly could not agree.  

 

But as ever, of course, we must distinguish. In what sense is Britain broken or not? For whom? In what ways?

 

For us, in leafy Sussex, life is mostly pretty good. Of course funds are limited. Retirement housing is a worry for this Vicar. And there are pot holes. There are all sorts of challenges and frustrations. Many things we would like, we do not have. And yet we are all in good health. The children’s state secondary school is officially good. It is certainly more than adequate most of the time, even if its not optimal.

 

But if you get ill with certain conditions and you can’t go private, you can probably expect to wait a year or more in some degree of pain and disability. For some issues (children’s mental health?) you could perhaps forget ever getting effective timely help.

 

I suspect in some parts of Britain for many people everything does pretty much feel broken. Nothing works. The state is unresponsive or unhelpful. The police and the GP aren’t on hand when actually needed.

 

Does it really matter whether or not we label Britain as broken?

 

Certainly some aspects of Britain are somewhat broken for some people.

 

Surely we must hope that Britain is not broken beyond repair.

 

So we can all agree there are things which need fixing.

 

A more sensible conversation is how we can go about the job, rather than debating how big the job is. Yes, we know it’s a big job and it’s going to cost us, but the sooner we have a plan and get started, the better.

Parish Magazine Item for February 2026

 

From The Rectory

 

I said last time that, in line with the Diocesan focus for the year, I would try at least to mention Matthew’s gospel here each month.

 

The Church of England has set Lectionary Bible Readings for each Sunday of the Year. The modern Common Worship liturgy (from 2000 onwards) uses the Revised Common Lectionary. Something like this is used by the Roman Catholic church and many other churches around the world. It has a three-year cycle (this is Year A) with a gospel given prominence each year (this year it is Matthew). So as I write I’ve already preached a couple of times from Matthew’s gospel this year. As usual, you can find those sermons on the Warbleton church website or indeed the whole service is on the church’s YouTube channel (@warbletonparishchurch849 or simply search for Warbleton Parish Church). Remember you can easily look up or listen to Matthew’s gospel online. I refer to parts of chapters two and three a bit further below.

 

I know I mentioned the wise men here a couple of months ago. And I must have preached on them countless times in Christmas and Epiphany sermons. But I do find they’ve somehow captured my imagination. I can’t quite shake them off. Maybe it’s the mystery around them. That journey. The danger. The T. S. Eliot poem. I’m not sure. Their example urges us to seek Christ in the Scriptures, whatever the cost, and to appreciate something of Jesus’ true significance. How much they really knew we cannot tell. Yet they gave Jesus gifts fit for a king. And perhaps, if the carol can be believed, they saw that a deity was nigh, but also the bitter perfume spoke of gathering gloom and of an impending death of great import. A Bible study on gold, frankincense and myrrh is instructive. The only passage where all three are actually named together is in Old Testament love poem The Song of Songs (that is, the best song ever), sometimes known as The Song of Solomon. The gifts are associated with the arrival of this great bridegroom king famed for his wisdom, the object of the bride’s love and longing.

 

The gospels tell us next to nothing about Jesus’ childhood and adolescence. Matthew goes straight from the wise men and the associated sojourn of the Holy Family in Egypt to the baptism of Christ. Scholars imagine Jesus was about 30 years old at this point which marked the beginning of his public ministry. Now John the Baptist fades from the scene and Jesus takes over. In three years’ time he will be crucified.

 

John’s baptism is a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And in Christian theology Jesus is the perfect God-Man. He has no sins of which he needs to repent. So why is he being baptised? The Baptist recognises something of this oddity. He at least says to Jesus it ought to be the other way round: “Jesus, you should be the one giving me a wash, not me you.” Baptism in the Bible can be a picture of death, of flood waters which overwhelm. Here is the shadow of the cross again. Jesus is standing in the place of sinners. He is the innocent one on whom our guilt will crash. The judgement of God will expend itself on him that grace and mercy, blessing and love might flow to us.

 

The baptism is also rich with Biblical associations. Water, God speaking and the Spirit hovering recall the creation narrative. Jesus is the New Adam who will bring in a New Creation. Like Noah, who is associated with a dove, Jesus will be the Saviour. The church is a kind of ark. There will be a fresh start for planet earth. Jesus is called God’s Son whom he loves, with whom the Father is well pleased. Later in the gospel these words are repeated with the instruction “listen to him”.

 

Seek Jesus. Listen to Jesus. These are great new year’s resolutions as relevant in February as in January. And if we haven’t managed this brilliantly well so far this year, Jesus is always ready to receive us back, to welcome us, embrace us and go with us on the Way.  

 

The Revd Marc Lloyd

Towards a pattern for clergy well being

 Clergy need to take responsibility, at least to some extent, and under and with Jesus, for their own well-being. 

Hopefully "the diocese" are supportive of you. But they won't turn up with a big pile of money and make you do what you ought to do. The Bishop cannot stand over you to make sure you pray or set the out of office email. If she tries to make you go to her study day, you will probably resent it! 

Likewise your best and right thinking parishioners, if they consider these things, will be all for them. These things will in fact benefit them if done wisely. No one wants an angry / tired / stressed / drained / resentful / worn out / hopeless / frazzled Vicar! 

It is hard for others to get what it is like for you and hard for them to know what would help you. 

You should pray for self-knowledge. And perhaps get some help. Talk to your spouse and someone else about what might work for you. 

Take your day off and your holidays. There is always some good work you could do on your day off. Don't! Or at least if you do, take some other time off. Ideally a full 24 hours. That is the rule and it is a wise one. Don't feel guilty about saying you will be on holiday (even if you can't afford to stay outside the parish) and don't come back from your holiday to do that funeral. Or at least not more than once a decade. 

You are meant to say Morning and Evening Prayer every day. Do this, or some other devotional practice, in a way that actually feeds your own soul too. There is little more important than each day remembering something of the gospel, saying thank you to Jesus and seeking his grace which is new every morning.  

And then find what will work for you. Perhaps some of the following: 

A quiet away day three times a year?

A planning and review afternoon each term?

A spiritual director or soul friend or group?

Reading? Perhaps have some things you want to read and some time marked out in the diary. 

Writing?

A retreat or conference or study week?

Walking the dog?

Going to the gym?

Hobbies?

Music?

Art?

Get away from your desk. Get out in creation. Breath. No one expects you to work 7am - 11pm six days a week. Allow yourself a little space.  

These things need not be self-indulgent. They are a way of serving God and others for the long haul.

Toil and suffering are normal. Sometimes there are emergencies or busy periods. But in the midst of all the challenges, seek to be a joyful human being, not just a sermon and Bible study machine, or the world's best administrator. 

Gillhammer, Light on Darkness: The Untold Story of the Liturgy

Perhaps towards a review (update pending):

Cosima Clara Gillhammer, Light on Darkness: The Untold Story of the Liturgy (Reakiton Books, 2025)

 

I bought this book after listening to the Spectator event on the renewed interest in traditional Christianity in which Dr Gillhammer took part. I was also encouraged to spend my cash by the fact that Dr Gillhammer is currently employed at my old college, LMH.

 

Gillhammer teaches English. She examines the Western Liturgy here, especially in the Medieval period according to the Roman rite. Her interest is not primarily historical. She sees these texts and their ritual use as illuminating universal human experience and she pays attention to the interaction of liturgy, art, music and literature. The Biblical text is quoted in Latin with English translation. The BCP Psalter is used.

 

The earliest use of the term “liturgy” in the OED is  1564. The medieval English may have referred to an office, rite or observance.

 

Eight main chapters draw on texts from the liturgy related to specific themes as follows:

 

Petition – the Psalms – especially the penitential psalms, especially Psalm 51

Love – the Song of Songs

Hope – the advent Antiphons

Suffering – The Triduum - Maundy Thursday to Easter Saturday

Grief – Good Friday - The Stabat Mater traditions of Mary at the cross

Joy – Exsultet from the Easter Vigil

Death – Dies irae from the Requiem Mass

Revelation – scenes from the book of

 

And then two final chapters consider liturgy in relation to time and space.

 

For those new to such things, Gillhammer provides a brief outline of the Christian year and of Christian belief (in the form of an exposition of the Apostles’ Creed).

 

There are 21 illustrations. A website https://liturgybook.com/ provides, amongst other things, YouTube videos of the music referred to chapter by chapter.

 

* * *

“Liturgy is at the roots of Western culture. Our music, art, literature and architecture are shaped by and developed out of the liturgy. Without it, Dante’s Divine Comedy would not exist, and neither would Michelangelo’s Pieta. Not even Star Wars would have its memorable soundtrack had it not been for the medieval liturgy.

 

…. Perhaps it is one of the best-kept secrets of our time that the liturgy stands at the centre of the cultural history of the West. It deserves close attention and appreciation. It is a common assumption that liturgy is stuffy and stale, but nothing could be further from the truth. The rites of the liturgy are endlessly rich and imaginative, generating in turn new artistic responses throughout the centuries.” (p8-9)

 

“The story of Jesus of Nazareth is the central story around which the Western artistic imagination has revolved for thousands of years, but for audiences in the modern secular world this tradition can seem inaccessible. The liturgy can therefore provide the key for unlocking this tradition, and with it, the story that has shaped the West.” (p19)

 

Stupid Reading

 There is obviously a tension between Psalm 51v16 and v19. Does God want animal sacrifice or not? But it would be stupid to call this a contradiction. And stupid to say that one or other of these ideas must be a later editorial addition. This would assume that either the author or the editor or both were a bit thicker than we are. Maybe the original author was as sophisticated as we are, or perhaps more so, and was making a complex point in an artistic mode. Of course God had commanded animal sacrifice. But of course he wanted those sacrifices offered with penitential hearts. Clearly the author of the Psalm knew that the more important thing is to offer up our broken and contrite hearts, and that we should also perform our external religious duties. It's almost as if Jesus had taken this Psalm to heart too (e.g. Matthew 23:23).

Temporary Assistant Archdeacon's Charge

 

Swearing in of Church Wardens

Visitation

Hastings Archdeaconry

2025

Charge

Psalm 84

1 Corinthians 3

John 2:12-end

 

It’s not every day that I find myself in a room where I’m sure most of the people are about to swear at me! [I stole this joke from Tom. At Eastbourne they didn't really seem to get it but folk at Crowborough kindly laughed.]

It’s a pleasure for me to be with you again like this.

But it’s an even greater pleasure to say that next year, God willing, if everyone stays well and avoids promotion, we should have a full cast of full full-time Archdeacons, and I can spend my summer evenings cultivating my garden, or something.

In particular, you will have heard that The Revd Russell Dewhurst has been appointed Archdeacon of Hastings.

[I said some nice things about Russell here. I won't embarrass him by posting them on the internet] 

 

I think we could perhaps add another unofficial oath to the swearing in tonight.

If you do solemnly and sincerely declare that you will read all the papers you have been given carefully, I won’t read them all out to you now.

 

Perhaps I could encourage you to take an interest in the new Parish Dashboard for safeguarding with your safeguarding officer.

This will give a live tool which will allow every PCC member to see how your parish is doing.

 

I have been reflecting on what might be a good collective noun for church wardens.

Perhaps you could tell me your ideas afterwards.

Perhaps a maintenance.

Maybe even a mission.

Hopefully a collaboration.

 

Last time I took this service, I suggested encouragement.

Today I want to leave you with a grander churchy word: edification.

Edification.

Building up.

 

When the Psalmist speaks of God’s dwelling place does he have in mind heaven, or the temple in Jerusalem, or both?

“How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord.”

That could certainly be said of the Old Testament temple when the Psalm was written.

One way of thinking of the earthly temple is as modelled on God’s heavenly throne room.

With the royal palace, the Jerusalem temple would have been by far the most impressive building in the nation – a bit like our Westminster Abbey and Palace of Westminster, perhaps.

You can read the elaborate instructions for the tabernacle and temple construction in the Bible, and the accounts of their making.

It would have been lovely, overwhelming.

 

I hope you can say of your parish church:

How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord.

 

Perhaps you would say it’s too large or too small.

And too cold.

And leaky.

And not in the right place.

And could do with wifi and a loo and better parking and…

Nevertheless, I hope you have a soft spot for it.

 

We all have to try hard not to covet the facilities here.

 

I hope, even if your parish church has its challenges, you find ways to make it serve your mission and ministry.

And that in itself it provides a witness in your community of the priority and centrality of the worship of God.

Perhaps your church building has been a pointer to the glory of God at the heart of your parish for centuries.  

 

Let me urge you to see the building up of the church as part of your vocation as church wardens.

You may of course wish to be a benefactor of the arts and install some marvellous new paintings in the parish church, having carefully checked permissions with the DAC, of course.

Or to build a new chapel or children’s area or office.

Perhaps it will be all you can do to have the gutters cleaned.

Archdeacons always have to urge the cleaning of gutters.

It’s a kind of secret law.

 

I know a priest who used to say to his PCCs: Me liturgy; you gutters.

There’s something in that.

It would be good if the Vicar didn’t have to spend too much of her time shovelling pigeon poo out of the tower.

But nevertheless I hope we could all give ourselves together to the building up of the church, each in our own ways.

And by that I mean not only the maintenance of the parish church.

Priest and people together will care for the building.

But even more important is that we all work together to build up our life in Christ in our Christian communities.

 

The line the New Testament draws from the Temple is not so much to the parish church but to Jesus.

Jesus – not Jerusalem – is now the place to go to meet with God.

All the fullness of God dwells in him bodily.

He tabernacled and pitched his tent and dwelt among us.

Jesus was a walking temple radiating to the eyes of faith the glory of God.

How lovely is the Lord Jesus!

Let us long for him, and dwell with him, and rejoice in him.

He is the ultimate place of sacrifice.

The one to whom we come to be put right with God.

If we want to know God, we don’t have to go to a building but to the Son of God.

 

So I hope you’ll be able to introduce new people to your parish church in the next year.

But our great hope is not only that they will join the rotas and the planned giving scheme, but that they might have a life transforming encounter with the Lord Jesus.

 

The individual Christian believer and the Christian community are temples of the Holy Spirit in which God dwells.

It’s probably a cliché to say to you that in Bible terms the church is not the building but the people.

There’s no Bible verse to say that the parish church building is the house of God, but that’s precisely what you (if you’re a Christian believer) and your Christian community are.  

The dwelling place of God where he especially meets us to bless us, the new and better temple, is the gathering of the people of God around the word of God, to share the sacraments, in the power of the Spirit.

Will you value your brothers and sisters as the precious temple of God, and treat them with reverence and holiness as indwelt by the Spirit of God?

 

Will you look to build them up and to build up your life together?

 

Individually and communally, we are a house, a temple, built on the solid rock of Jesus Christ, on the foundation of the Apostles and prophets, a spiritual house in which God dwells.

Each of us is a spiritual stone integral to that spiritual building.

Let us up build this precious house with the pure gold of God’s word.

 

Let us care diligently for our church buildings and see them maintained and improved.

But let us above all look to the life of God in us, the presence of Christ, the power of the Spirit.

 

Thank you for all that you have done, and do, and will do.

 

Thank you in particular to those of you who are giving a lead in your parishes in a time of vacancy.

We appreciate the demands of this and we’re especially grateful to you.

 

Let me encourage you to take advantage of the church wardens’ training that is on offer.

Afternoon and evening sessions are available.

Even if you’ve been doing this for a while, a refresher might be helpful.

We’re aware of experienced church wardens who have stood down without a great handover, for example.

 

Sometimes your work will be hard.

But may you also find it lovely.

May we rejoice in the living God even more than we rejoice in a watertight roof or a balanced budget.

May you be blessed, happy, as you trust in the Lord, the God of Armies.

Blessed are those who dwell in God’s house now and for ever.

Blessed are those in whom God dwells by his Spirit.

 

Better one day of service to the living God and his eternal purposes than a lifetime with your feet up in front of the telly, though I hope you’ll also find time for rest and relaxation, as well as your own building up in the faith of Christ.

 

May the presence and power of God in you and with you be your strength.

 

May we be an edification of church wardens and clergy in this year ahead.

 

And so to God the Father…

Peace or despair? Or a radical hope?

 

There are two equal and opposite errors. One is to say “peace, peace”, when there is no peace. That is, it is to claim that everything is fine and all will be well, when there are serious problems which ought to be faced. In fact, there are gross sins of which we ought to repent. Perhaps few today would say that all is health and blessing in Albion, so maybe we’ll address that further on another occasion.

 

Maybe we are more tempted to think we are off to hell in a hand cart. Some of us may be Eeore-ish by nature. We may see worrying signs and trends in church and state. We fear the future.

 

But we must not give in to despair. We would do well to remember that England and the West have had more than their fair share of troubles in the past. In fact, God seems to love a pattern of death and resurrection. We might think of Alfred’s founding of national life. Or some of the monastic reform movements of the middle ages. Or of the Protestant Reformation. Or the evangelical awakening. It turns out that these dry bones have been revived before. The body politic and the body of Christ can live!

 

So what are the needs of the moment? Always revival involves repentance and prayer. It involves a new sense of God and his holiness. Of the wonder and urgency of the good news of Jesus Christ.

 

But we might also mention hope. Prognostications of doom can be self-fulfilling. The gloomy and despairing are not always attractive. “Come follow me, we’re going to be defeated and it’ll be miserable” is perhaps not a great rallying cry.

 

It is obvious to even the casual observer that the West has lost its way. We have said that we come from nothing and are for nothing and it is unsurprising that teenagers don’t see why they should leave their bedrooms. We have said that all is meaningless and so there seems no point in exerting myself for anything unless I happened to be moved to do so. And I sometimes find myself moved to social media, or video games, or drink or drugs or…. So….

 

We need to say that the hope for the world, for civilisation, and for your soul is Jesus Christ. He is Lord. And you were made for friendship with him. His Kingdom has come and will come, and will triumph over all. This seed will be the largest tree in the garden in which the birds of the air may come and nest. The yeast will penetrate the whole dough. This rock not made by human hands will be the largest mountain that will fill the whole earth. The world will be full of the glory of God as the waters cover the sea. Jesus has defeated sin and death and hell. Love wins. The light is coming. The gospel day has dawned and we must walk in the light. Perhaps we will see its noon day brightness but this is a flame that will never die. Jesus will build his church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.

 

Christians can say to our young people: here is something good and proven. It is hard, and wonderful. And it works. Maybe Jesus will have you found a school, or a hospital. Or raise a family. Or grow a business. Or preach his word. Or win one soul. Or be a godly bin man or woman. Or perhaps die a martyr. Who knows! The options are many. But you can be sure of his grace and power. A life lived for Jesus will matter. And God sees all. Why not start today on the great adventure of following the Way, the Truth and the Life? That is really the only hope, and it is a race we can run with joy and confidence, knowing that Jesus has gone before us and is with us, and will delight to give us the prize of eternal glory which far surpasses all the baubles of this passing world.  

Assisted dying and abortion: a repaganizing culture of death?

 

 

The third week of June was a remarkable one in British public life. The House of Commons voted both to progress the Assisted Dying Bill and to de-criminalise a mother taking the life of her unborn child at any point. The old and the young are not safe in modern Britain.

 

I don’t want to cause any pointless offence. You may be completely uninterested in what I have to say about these matters and if so I invite you to enjoy the summer sunshine. These are highly sensitive matters and it is not pleasant to think about them. I said something about assisted dying on a previous occasion. The abortion numbers in the UK are such that whether we know it or not, this issue almost certainly touches us, our family and friends. I don’t want what I say here to seem horribly blamey and judgemental. And I completely understand if you don’t want to read it at all or if you strongly disagree with it. Perhaps these things are easy for me to say. I am not a 15-year-old drug addict who has been raped by her pimp. I confess these are privileged armchair keyboard warrior opinions that have not been fully tested in the grit of real life. Nevertheless, if you do want to read on…

 

Personally I think that from the point of conception we should behave as if we are relating to a human life. We should treat all human life as sacred with absolute dignity. There is no other safe and objective standard. All human life must count as worthy even if it seems inconsequential or unbearable from some points of view. Human beings are in the Image of God and we owe them the love which is proper to our neighbour. The weakest and most vulnerable have a special call on our care.

 

Certainly when an unborn child might be viable outside the womb, I cannot see how its termination can be justified. The proposed situation of decriminalisation will be absurd. A mother alone will be able to sanction the ending of her child’s life with no legal consequences at, say, 11am, before birth, but if she were to murder her baby at 12pm, after the birth has taken place, she would face a mandatory life sentence. In what universe is this sensible or coherent or good for society? I cannot see that it is good for the mother. And certainly it is not good for babies an hour before they are delivered.

 

You might say this situation will probably never occur. We shall see. But in any case our laws and the operation of our legal system ought to have a measure of logic about them. And they ought to send a message that we love life and human beings. We will never allow the convenience or the wishes of the relatively “strong” to trump the life of the weak, even in theory or in principle.

 

Taken together, the changes to the UK position at the beginning and end of life look like an embracing of a culture of power and death.

 

I am praying for repentance and good sense and righteous laws which are enlightened by centuries of reflection on our Biblical Christian inheritance which made the West great.

 

These proposed moves are a regression to the pre-Christian pagan norm where infanticide and suicide were common. Jesus taught us to love the little children and our elders. The Emperors held them to be disposable.

 

If our culture does embrace folly and death, Christians have a wonderful opportunity to love life. To have children and to care for them. To offer adoption and fostering. To sit with the old and dying and pray for them and care for them.  To take in parents and grandparents if need be or to run care homes which really care and feel like a fitting home from which to be called Home.

 

May God have mercy on us and our society.

 

Team Ministry

The clergy can sometimes feel very isolated. Perhaps you are the only clergy-person in your benefice. 

And maybe your curacy was in a larger church with a staff team. After your induction, you found you could give yourself some photocopying to do in your study. Suddenly there was no training incumbent, administrator, youth and children's worker. You had to be all those things. Or get someone else to do them, which sometimes seemed impossible or harder.

Working towards a team ministry is vital.

(1) A team within the local church

How can you build an idea of shared leadership and responsibility?

Is there any chance of an ordained colleague?  

Can you promote a culture of every member ministry? Yes, of different roles. But not just me liturgy, you gutters. Every Christian is a disciple with gifts who can serve others. Most people could say a prayer with someone (perhaps silently in their head). Many people could give a tract, or a brief word of encouragement. Or lead a Bible study. Or share the Word one to one. Maybe you could help turn up the theological and spiritual temperature just a little for everyone.

People sometimes have bright ideas for what others should do. Maybe you can encourage a shift from "you should" to "perhaps we might / could we". It's not and can't be a one man band. We're all in this together as fellow workers. 

(2) A team beyond the local church 

What support is there from your Chapter?

From the Rural Dean? Archdeacon? Bishop?

Other local ministers or churches?

Is there something you could do together?

Is there someone you could meet with say once a fortnight in term time to pray with?

Do you ask for help?

What would you like the wider church to do for you which someone might do?

Are there any quick easy cheap wins or first steps you could be proactive about?

Maybe there is some training or support you could seek at your next MDR?

(3) A team through time

Our church buildings go back to the 13th Century and they look set to be here after we are all dead and gone. Perhaps this adds to our sense of responsibility. We don't want all this (the multigeneration family business) to fall apart on our watch. But maybe also it is an encouragement that we belong to something bigger, deeper and ancient. We are responsible just for our little bit for these few years and for the circumstances and resources given to us. The baton was handed to us and we seek to hand it on. 

It is a Relay race. So is there someone who could be a reliable person you could hand something on to? Could you plot for your retirement and redundancy by always trying to do stuff we a co-leader who perhaps might one day step up and maybe train others?

(4) God as the ultimate team leader

Maybe it is right to think that in some ways the buck stops with you. You are The Leader. You are responsible. But you are not the Messiah or the Lord! Jesus will build his church. You are an under-shepherd. Seek his grace to do your bit for a time. Ultimately God is responsible for his work. Look for his well done my good and faithful servant, but don't burden yourself beyond the call of God. As the ordination service rightly said, you cannot bear this very great burden alone. Look to the team!  

Clergy resilience

 I have seen it suggested that perhaps the greatest need for an effective long term clerical ministry is resilience. 

I think there's a great deal of truth in that. 

The life of a minister has its compensations and demands. There are very often pressures, internal, external and spiritual. In a week there might be a couple of funerals (perhaps one especially tricky or emotional), meetings about buildings and finances, which are always a problem, an out of hours call to a bedside, some wedding prep and more. The Vicar is in a public role and people will voice criticism or helpful suggestions. Many will have a vision for what you ought to do. But there may be a lack of time, or money, or support. And the diocese and national church probably have an initiative with which they would like you to engage. Have you done your fees and your statistical return? Where are you on the carbon net zero journey? But you'll also have to drop everything for a safeguarding concern. The school would like you to pop in when you have a moment. And....

There can be resilience good and bad. 

The Vicar is a professional with boundaries. 

But she is also a pastor who loves her people and is called to share not only the gospel but her life with them. She is to rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep. She is a human not a machine.  

So we do not want clergy who are jaded, indifferent, impossible to reach. The Teflon Cleric is not ideal. 

So what are the sources of resilience?

Humanly, some space and rhythm in the week. A cuppa. A dog walk. A piece of music. A day off. Holidays. The support of family and friends. 

Spiritually, prayer. A secret inner life in which grace is received. A heart of thankfulness that offers up life to God with praise. God accepts what we bring and gives it back to us transformed. God loves to heal sick sinners. He delights to use the weak. His power is sufficient. He must pause and think and breath and pray. Some silence may help. Remember God! Remember the gospel! Remember your vocation! You are not an administrator or a fundraiser or.... but a pastor-teacher steward of the mysteries of God, a herald of good news, a watchman for the coming Kingdom.

Nothing can ultimately harm me. Not because I am insensitive and don't care. But because my life is hidden with God in Christ in the heavenly places. 

First I am a child and heir of God by grace. I am held in covenant love. 

My ministry and what I do and all I must absorb or face to day is secondary. 

Let us so look and cling to things eternal that we can pass through temporary trials if not unscarred but still heading for heaven with a measure of hope and joy even amidst the ARRGGGHHH!s and the tears. 

May God be kind to us and help us. 

And may we give ourselves and others a break!

* * * 

I forget what it says now but I'm sure The Revd Dr Kirsten Birkett will have useful and interesting things to say here: Resilience: A Spiritual Project: 84 (Latimer Studies) - 2016 - https://www.latimertrust.org/product-page/resilience-a-spiritual-project