Dear friends,
Welcome to our weekly update as my time with you passes the three-month mark!
Please find below the text of today’s sermon at St Matthew’s in Grosmont, the readings we had, and a reminder of the services coming up across our Middle Esk Moor churches.
It was wonderful to welcome Paula Radford to play the violin for us today alongside our organist, Jim Muir. They make the most perfect musical team!
With prayers and all good wishes,
Anthony
Church Services Coming Up
Sunday 3 September – 10:30 at Goathland, St Mary, Holy Communion
Sunday 10 September – 10:30 at Glaisdale, St Thomas, Holy Communion
Sunday 17 September – 10:30 at Egton, St Hilda, Holy Communion
Sunday 24 September – 10:30 at Grosmont, St Matthew, Holy Communion
Save-the-Date Saturday 7 October 12 midday to 5:00 pm, Egton Village Hall
Where next? Charting the future: a time to reflect on where we are and imagine what a sustainable Middle Esk Moor family of church communities might look like in 2030. There will be a bring and share lunch.
Readings for Sunday 27 August
Romans 12:1-8
I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect. For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgement, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness.
Matthew 16:13-20
Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’ And they said, ‘Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’ And Jesus answered him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.’ Then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.
Sermon for Sunday 27 August at St Matthew’s, Grosmont
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts together be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our rock, and redeemer. Amen.
In today’s Gospel reading, Simon Peter declares to Jesus: 'You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’ But who do we say Jesus is? Can we answer that question, not just with our minds, but with our hearts? A big question for you to ponder for the next few minutes: who do we say Jesus is?
Maybe a place to start to answer that question is to think about names, how we got our names, and how the characters in the Bible got their names. Each culture has its own tradition which strongly influences the names we give to our children. There’s a complex mixture of cultural, religious, family and individual meanings involved in choosing names. But, as the centuries go by, some of the meanings of names can be lost. For example, the surname "Carpenter" tells us about a family's trade in the past, but it’s purely by chance whether a 'Carpenter" is actually a carpenter nowadays. In some Christian traditions, first names are taken from the saints, or from characters in the Bible. But today a baptismal name is just as likely to reflect characters from books or films.
I was named after St Anthony the Great. I’m not sure about the ‘Great’ part, so I’ll just go with the ‘Anthony’ bit! Anthony the Great lived in the 3rd Century in Egypt, and he was one of the founders of monasticism; one of the original Desert Fathers that lived a simple life of prayer in the wilderness. Coming from a Roman Catholic family, I know that my mum and dad intentionally named me after Saint Anthony. I’ve ended up as a Priest working in Grosmont, not quite a monk in the wilderness! But, seriously though, there are some interesting similarities between the two roles. So, maybe there’s something in a name?
We may have strong feelings for or against our own name, but it carries power for us.
Names in the Bible are important. Those names tell us something about the roles Bible characters played in the unfolding plan of salvation.
- Abraham means ‘father of a multitude’ or ‘exalted father.’
- Moses means ‘to pull out’ or to ‘draw out’ – drawing the Israelites out of Egypt through the parted Red Sea.
- John the Baptist means ‘Graced by God to Baptise.’
- Mary is an interesting one with two possible, or maybe complementary, meanings: ‘Blessed’ and ‘Rebellious.’
So, in ancient times, if you knew someone's name, then you knew something about them. But can just one word sum up a whole person? And can just one word sum up God, a God so big and complex, a God present everywhere, inside and outside our limited human understanding of space and time? One of the pivotal moments in the Old Testament was when Moses asked God for God’s name and God appeared to evade the question. In the Jewish tradition, God's elusive reply to Moses, often translated as "I am who I am," is never spoken aloud. But in today's Gospel passage Jesus asks his disciples about his identity. To begin with, he is careful with his choice of words. Jesus asks the crowd of disciples who they think the Son of Man is. The ‘Son of Man’ is a title used throughout Matthew's Gospel. The replies the disciples give refer to characters from the past, important people who were part of significant moments in the history of the Israelites. But Jesus, putting history to one side, asks his disciples who they think he is. This is a much more direct question, paralleled with God's elusive answer to Moses. Jesus asks: "But who do you say that I am?"
It’s Simon Peter who answers accurately: "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God."
Jesus is recognised and named by Simon Peter for who he is, and that recognition marks a pivotal point in Jesus’ mission and ministry. God is no longer keeping himself apart, guarding his own identity; God is revealing himself in Jesus to be like ourselves, to walk on this earth with us, to suffer and to die like we suffer and die. And Jesus reveals his own journey towards suffering and death in Matthew’s Gospel in the section immediately following today’s reading. But in today’s passage, Peter’s faith is especially recognised by Jesus, and Peter is given a new name: Peter is to be the rock, the source of strength and authority for a new community: the Church. Peter is to be the leader of the followers of the newly revealed Jesus, the Son of the living God.
Whatever our role in the Church might be, our starting point is the same as Peter and the disciples. We must answer the same question Jesus put to them. Who do we say Jesus is? Have you managed to answer that question, not just with your mind, but with your heart, in the last few minutes? Let’s continue to ponder that. But, as we do, let’s be aware of God constantly revealing himself and emptying himself for us in and through his Son. And, as we do that in faith, let’s turn the question round and ask Jesus the names he gives us: who does Jesus say that we are?
We are all Jesus’ followers but, as Paul points out in our first reading this morning, the good of the Church and the growth of the kingdom require us to have a clear idea of what our individual contribution might be: who does Jesus say that I am? What’s my role in the unfolding plan of salvation in this place at this time, in this congregation, in our Middle Esk Moor group of churches, in the wider Church of England across this place?
It’s not only clergy like me who are called and named and given a specific role in the Church. Every single one of us is called by God and given a name; given a role. Paul lists some of those roles that, when put together, make up a good team:
- prophecy: imagining a sustainable future,
- ministry: serving others,
- teaching,
- exhortation: encouraging others,
- giving generously,
- leading diligently,
- being cheerful and compassionate.
I think we need an overarching team leading us forward across Middle Esk Moor: a team of complimentary people with those characteristics, and the skills we need to move forwards. I’ll be talking to our four church councils about building that team next month, and we’ll be thinking about leadership at our gathering on the afternoon of Saturday 7 October in Egton Village Hall. If you think you might want to contribute to our ‘leadership,’ if you think God is naming you, giving you new ideas, calling you to help us build a sustainable church in this place, then please think and pray about it over the next month, but do also talk to your Church friends, and please have a chat with me too.
It’s through prayer and reflection, and with the help of those who know us, that we can discern how we’re going to live out our calling. We all have a unique contribution to make to the Church and each of our names is known to God: it’s down to us to live out our names to their fullest.
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
web: middleeskmoor.org