Dear friends,
Welcome to this week’s update, including a copy of my sermon as usual plus a link to the readings for the first week of Lent. My sermon is about our ‘calling’ and how we might be able to explore that over the next few weeks as we look forward towards Easter.
Please check out all the services and events coming up on our website at the usual link: middleESKmoor.org
Following on from our Community Forum last month we’ve put together a survey that begins by asking what the church can do to help you, and has also been designed to find out what you might like to do or get involved with to help us build our communities across Middle ESK Moor. Are you able to contribute some of your time and talents in the year ahead to support us? Are there areas of our life and work that you might like to get involved with?
If you’re able to spare 15 minutes or so to complete the survey I would be very grateful. It has been designed to draw people together with common interests into some new groups, and to explore areas and roles needing more support or development.
You might already help in many ways, and your contribution is very much appreciated if you do, but please could you still complete the survey so we can gather up to date information on what people do or would like to do.
There are quite a few questions, listed in alphabetical order. If you’ve got limited time, please just do what you can and skip past any questions that don’t seem relevant. There are three ways to respond, one of which I hope works for you:
- complete our survey online by clicking this link.
- email me back and I’ll email you a copy of the survey for you to print out and return if you would prefer to do that.
- give me a ring on 01947 899842 to arrange for me to come round and discuss with you, or arrange for me to post a copy of the survey to you, and then to come and collect it.
I do hope that you can have a look at the survey, that you find my latest sermon below useful, and that you will enjoy the week ahead.
With blessings and all good wishes,
Anthony
---
Sermon: What’s your calling?
Please follow this link for the Readings and Prayers.
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.
I wonder what you think God might be calling you to do in your life, in this place at this time?
For me, I think my calling in the church, is about enabling people to work better together so that we can harness the talents, gifts and passions of each other, and orientate ourselves towards building God’s kingdom. This is all so that the church is better placed to serve the hidden corners of our communities. By doing all that I think we’ll be able to attract new people. And, fundamentally, that’s what we need to do if we’re going to build a long-term sustainable Church of England in this place. Maybe your calling is to help me and be part of that process? Or it could be something related, or something quite different.
I’ve just been on a residential for priests new to the Diocese of York. We meet up every three months and this week we’ve been thinking about calling. We spent some time talking about the American spiritual writer, Frederick Buechner, who died in 2022, and suggested in one of his 39 books that:
“The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.”
Hold that thought.
So, our calling from God is something that gives us a sense of deep gladness, a deep sense of purpose. We might call that happiness possibly, or maybe consolation, or wholeness.
But we can only experience that wholeness when some aspect of ‘the world’s deep hunger’ is the focus of our attention. The focus of our lives. The world’s deep hunger has a myriad of interconnected aspects tied up with the misuse of power and the pursuit of selfishness and greed. And there’s a deep hunger in our world for meaning; for purpose; for hope; for justice; for fairness; for love; for compassion in people’s lives. We can nurture a deep gladness in our souls through helping to nurture that meaning, that purpose, that hope, that justice, that fairness, that love, that compassion. For me, that’s what serving our communities is about, and part of my calling has something to do with seeking out the hidden corners in our communities and telling people about the hope we have in Jesus Christ:
Intimate Jesus; Infinite Christ; Fully Human; Fully God;
The Person that chose to live amongst us.
The Person that chose to die for us.
The Person that was raised to new life, to show us quite clearly that death does not have the last word.
That’s all to do with my calling as a priest. But I wonder what you think God might be calling you to do, at this time, in your life?
As we gather on the First Sunday of Lent, we’re embarking on a sacred journey, a journey into the wilderness of our hearts. Rather than Lent being a time of giving things up, I think that Lent is more about taking stock and preparing ourselves for the journey ahead with God. Lent is a season of preparation. It helps to prepare us for the rest of our lives. Lent invites us to discern how God might be calling us. And, Lent is a time to work out how to meet God, a God that resides at that intersection where our deepest gladness meets the world’s most profound hunger.
Imagine the scene in our Gospel reading: the waters of the River Jordan, the heavens opening, the Holy Spirit descending. Jesus, the Beloved, affirmed by the Father. His baptism reveals not only his identity but also ours. We, too, are beloved children of God. Our deepest gladness lies in knowing that truth. We are loved deeply by God: cherished, forgiven, and called into purpose.
Our deepest gladness arises out of our inheritance as Children of God.
But, in our Gospel reading, as soon as Jesus is affirmed, “…the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.”
The wilderness is a place of solitude, struggle, and revelation. Jesus faced temptation, hunger, and the wild beasts. But notice that the angels took care of him. In our own wilderness, we encounter our own hunger, the hunger for meaning, purpose and hope, but also the hunger for connection with others. And it’s amidst those connections, those relationships, that God calls us. Our deep gladness meets the world’s hunger when we respond to the cries around us. And the wilderness of Lent is the place where we learn compassion, humility, and dependence on God so we can respond to those cries.
Our Gospel reading ends with these words, “…after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.’”
The good news echoes through the ages: the kingdom of God is near, and Lent beckons us to discern our role in God’s kingdom. Repentance - turning back towards God - is our compass. But this isn’t about sorrow; it’s a redirection and transformation of our lives. As we follow Jesus, we discover our deep gladness, a gladness fuelled by the unique talents, gifts, passions and desires that God has bestowed upon us. And there, at the crossroads of gladness and hunger, we find our purpose.
Where and how is God calling you? What stirs your soul?
Perhaps it’s comforting the broken-hearted? Or visiting the sick? Or doing a myriad of other acts of service? Our deep gladness aligns with God’s purpose when we listen to the cries of a hungry world.
We Listen.
In silence we listen to the Holy Spirit’s whisper. What brings us joy? What breaks our hearts?
We Serve.
In service we step into the wilderness; the places of need.
We Persist.
Like Jesus, we endure the wilderness. Temptations will come, but angels will sustain us.
We Proclaim.
In declaring the good news we proclaim that the kingdom of God is near! And, like our calling, the Kingdom of God is the place where our collective deep gladness meets the world’s collective deep hunger.
As we journey through Lent, may we discern our meeting place with God at the intersection of gladness and hunger. Let us follow Jesus, because, in him, the kingdom draws near. May our lives echo the words spoken over Jesus: “You are my beloved.” And may our response be to listen; to serve, to persist; to proclaim.
Amen.
---
The Reverend Anthony Bennett
Interim Minister – the Benefice of Middle ESK Moor
middleESKmoor.org