Welcome to our latest weekly update. I do hope you find these news items useful? Please find below the text of today’s sermon at St Hilda’s, links to the readings we had, and a reminder of our services coming up over the next month. We had a wonderful Summer Fair this afternoon at St Matthew’s in Grosmont. Thanks to all involved for making it such an enjoyable occasion. Many people came and it was a time to notice and celebrate the building of the Kingdom of Heaven in our midst.
With prayers and all good wishes,
Reverend Anthony
Church Services Coming Up
Sunday 6 August – 10:30 at Goathland, St Mary, Holy Communion
Sunday 13 August – 10:30 at Lealholm, St James, Holy Communion
Sunday 20 August – 10:30 at Egton, St Hilda, Holy Communion
followed by refreshments/lunch in The Vicarage – please do come along – we’ll be having an extended ‘house warming party’ all afternoon (until 5 pm) - Just bring yourself and any friends/family too, all welcome!
Sunday 27 August – 10:30 at Grosmont, St Matthew, Holy Communion
Readings for Sunday 30 July
follow these links to view the readings:
Sermon for Sunday 30 July at St Hilda’s, Egton
Today’s question for us: what do we think the kingdom of heaven is like?
Jesus answers this question with a number of illustrations in today’s Gospel reading. And, in my sermon last week we started to think a little bit about the Kingdom as we read the difficult passage from Matthew about good and bad seeds. I talked about badly behaved children and how teachers work hard to find out the root causes of challenging behaviour. They listen carefully to the children in their care. I was pondering whether a bad seed can change its nature, and I concluded that the answer to that is "no": a bad seed cannot change its own character, but God can change our character and transform us into good seeds! God can transform lives!
I ended last week by posing another question: how can we join in with that transformation? Well, I said that just as teachers work very hard to listen and understand why the children in their care react like they do, perhaps we need to continue to listen carefully to the people we care for too? Have you managed to sit down and listen to anyone this week, and share the Blessing from Numbers we’ve been looking at the last few weeks?
‘The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.’
And I wonder that, if you did, whether the kingdom of heaven is anything like the conversation you had?
I find it wonderful and fascinating listening to Jesus’ words and the illustrations he uses. They are rooted in everyday experiences and the jobs people would have done – farming, baking, trading, fishing. Some of us had a wonderful morning last month celebrating the Summer Solstice in Goathland, sat in a beautiful garden. And many gardens are looking their best at this time of year, despite the rain we’ve had in the last couple of weeks: flowerbeds in full bloom offering a magnificent array of colour, vegetable gardens producing mouth-watering crops – thanks again to Paul for the courgettes and cucumbers he gave me yesterday. There are so many gardens to enjoy in this part of the world.
And as we wander around our gardens, enjoying the rich colours and beautiful shapes and scents of flowers, or anticipating the tastes of freshly harvested fruit and vegetables, perhaps questions, (unspoken and mysterious, maybe even spiritual), come to mind, questions like: Does it really all begin with a small seed? How do you know what to sow, where, and when to sow it? How do you know what to harvest, and when?"
Today's Gospel tells of Jesus "sowing seeds:" being a gardener if you like. In nearly all his parables Jesus "sows seeds," seeds of wisdom and encouragement, seeds of knowledge and confidence. All these seeds grow in the hearts and minds of his listeners including, of course, all of us. Jesus’ seeds are seeds that, when nurtured, will flourish and be fruitful. And, typically, Jesus uses those everyday experiences as his seeds, things his listeners will recognise and know:
the tiny seed which grows to become a strong bush; the single cell of yeast helping all the other ingredients to become a wholesome loaf. Jesus talks about people who, in their everyday lives, spot real treasure in the field and among the pearls, treasure which they value so much that they give up everything to find it. The "seeds” that Jesus is sowing here are seeds that help to describe the kingdom of heaven.
The kingdom can be a challenging concept for many of us to try and understand, but Jesus' words affirm to us how just a little bit of faith, a seed of love, if nurtured, will grow into something big and good. Jesus shows us that this seed of love is of great worth beyond price. It’s something to be desired above all things, beyond our known measures of wealth. And the kingdom is all-embracing: there's a place and room - for all of us. It’s not restricted by our limited understanding of space and time.
As we recognise Jesus sowing "seeds" it’s important to understand that, whilst Jesus may well be looking ahead to the end product – the magnificently colourful flowerbed in full bloom, or the vegetable garden heaving with prize winning crops of courgettes and cucumbers – Jesus is, in fact, in the parables of our Gospel today, focusing on the starting point. Jesus begins with:
the tiny seed which grows to become a vibrant plant,
the minuscule yeast cell which acts to produce a wholesome tasty loaf.
I wonder, who first sowed a seed of faith in you? Did your faith come through what your family and friends shared with you and rooted in you? I’ve told some of you about my faith journey. I would love to find out more about yours if I haven’t managed to talk to you properly yet. However we received that faith, and however small and frail it may sometimes seem, that faith has brought us into the kingdom. So, the kingdom is like a community of faith. Maybe that’s one answer to my original question: what do we think the kingdom of heaven is like? It’s like a community of faith.
And, if we take nothing else from today's Gospel reading, I think we should recognise that the small seed of faith in us…
that small cell of faith working in us and helping us grow,
that single jewel,
that small but rich treasure,
…is our own seed of love.
And the potential for that seed of love to grow and grow is unlimited. And grow it will, as we grow and grow into being more like Jesus Christ. Our seeds of love grow and enhance the kingdom. The small seed of faith growing and working in us makes us part of the kingdom: a great multiracial, multicultural, multi-generational harvest of all sizes and scents, of all colours and shapes.
The most basic of meals or the grandest of banquets is enriched by the inclusion of vegetables, great or small. And our gardens and hedgerows, flower arrangements at home or in church, are all enriched by small flowers as well as large blooms, the hidden surprises as well as the bright colours. So, too, is God's kingdom. You - we - are all part of the kingdom, God's kingdom. Let's nurture those seeds of love in us. Let’s sow and share the blessings of those seeds of love with the people we meet, and so help God's kingdom to continue to flourish and grow in this beautiful part of the world.
Amen.
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these two books, edited by Jane Williams, are continuing to be very helpful with planning my sermon writing:
Williams, J (2009), Ed., ‘Lost for Words, A Sermon Resource for the Anglican Three Year Cycle,’ Redemptorist Publications, Chawton, UK.
Williams, J (2011), Ed., ‘Lectionary Reflections, Years A, B and C.’ Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, London, UK.
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The Reverend Anthony Bennett
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Interim Minister & Deanery Enabler
Middle Esk Moor | Whitby Deanery | York Diocese
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email: [email protected]
landline: 01947 899843
mobile: 07484 735284