Psalm 133 – St Luke’s.If I asked you to pick a bible verse, or a saying or a phrase, that holds a place in your life; one that settles, anchors or guides you – what would it be?If our roles were reversed today, I might call out: “measure twice, cut once” or “tools and stairs don’t mix”, but I may well have picked Psalm 133 too. And indeed, I have chosen it for our scripture reading today because, as well as it being one of my life-centring verses, it just so happened that it was read out last Sunday during my first service in post, and again at morning prayer in the week.This gave me a welcome sense of connection.We all need points of connection to help us feel like we belong or fit in. Especially on our first visit to church. It might be a conversation. It might be the kind of tea, coffee, biscuits or home-made cake that were served. It might be a piece of art or two on the wall or ceiling. It might be the woollen prayers or a pile of ladders by the organ, or the wires that cross the church that carry endless creative possibility. It might be a phrase that people used to welcome you or part of the liturgy, or the music, or the sermon, or the prayers, or the inclusive invite to communion. Or maybe it’s the clothes or the shoes that people arewearing, or their hairstyles, or the gender, colour or age of the service leaders. Maybe it is the anybody-guess-what’s-coming-next-notices? Maybe it is the physical orientation of the service?Maybe it is ‘all of the above’.Maybe it’s ‘none of the above’.Is this your first Sunday? Will it most definitely be your last? Or will you now be here until the day you die? Stranger things have happened!As I arrive at St Luke’s I see a well-loved church with a strong identity, that is successful and yet fragile in places. Especially after an unsettled season. And I am very aware that you are now being asked to allow an unknown figure, such as myself, to land out-of-nowhere into a key role.It’d be odd if we weren’t all a bit nervous of each other. New and old! But I hope that we can be hopeful, and excited, as we all reorientate for a new season. As we shift in our seats. And as we breathe today, breathing the words from psalm 133 and RS Thomas’ poem.Reflecting on Psalm 133, it is, I think, a psalm of reorientation, where the psalmist gently reminds us of what God really wants, and what the all-round benefits of this are.What does God really want?God wants us to live together in unity.When I cast my mind around the bible I see several key times when God commands unity: “A new command I give you (says Jesus) Love one another” (John 13:34); “the law and the prophets” (Matt 22:38) can be summed up by loving God and loving others. And the apostle Paul agrees in Gal 5:14: “The entire law is summed up by keeping this one command – love one another.”It’s a running theme!But here, in Psalm 133, it reads as less of a command and more of an invite. Where we are encouraged to live in unity because if we do: 1) – Life will be ‘Good and pleasant’: like beard oil and mountain dew. And 2) - That God will bestow blessing on us, giving life forevermore.I know that this isn’t exactly profound power language today, but, pushing the boat out, I think it may well have been back then. And I’d like to offer an explanation of why I think this.The word ‘good’, for example.My youngest son has just done his GCSE’s, and of course people are asking how well he did.‘Good’ in this instance is likely ‘just above average’, or ‘good, considering what kind of a boy he is’. But it’s certainly not excellent. In Psalm 133 however, the word ‘good’ is the same word that God used when God looked at creation and saw that it was ‘good’. And it is also the same word that God used to describe the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.Good in this psalm then is not ‘just-above-average-good’. Unless you think God could have done better with creation. Both physically and morally! But I’m not going there with you. Yes, corruption came in after creation, so you might argue it was not so good. But there’s some philosophy to do here and we can’t get into that now.Suffice to say, in my mind, the psalmist is convinced that our living together in unity will result in things being as good as it is possible to get. In every sense of the word. I’m not sure what else they could be saying. Or why they would be saying something else.And then there is pleasant. Our unity is not only ‘good’ but it’s also ‘pleasant’. ‘Pleasant’ raises the bar by adding another dimension. Pleasant is the same word as sweet sounding. Especially in a musical sense. This is where all the notes hit the sweet spot. Where there is no sweeter spot. Of all possible examples I am randomly reminded of a moment during the live west-end musical ‘hairspray’ when one soloist sang. It was ‘good’. And I felt for a moment that I was in heaven. But then there were more voices. Joining in, filling the space that I had thought was already full. I actually experienced a moment of euphoria. How can I find words to express that divine almost out of body experience? How can I put it in Old Testament language? Would ‘absolutely pleasant’ suffice?How ‘good’ and how ‘pleasant’ it is when God’s people live together in unity?It doesn’t get better than that!To hammer the point home the psalmist then uses the two great failsafe examples that are beard oil and mountain dew!Let me explain:In Ex 30 God told Moses to make a very special perfumed oil, which included cinnamon, and sprinkle it on things to make them sacred. This included Aaron’s head (and subsequently his son’s heads), but nobody else’s heads.For the oil to get over Aaron’s head and onto his beard and robes a lot of oil would have been needed. I suspect that it was hard to imagine that much oil, especially not that much special oil. For what was usually used for sprinkling would now be pouring. This image can only mean one thing: there is no place more anointed – no place more sacred - than when the oil runs down onto Aaron’s beard, collar and robe. It would have been the most sacred place, thing or person anywhere – ever!I don’t know what you imagine when you think of sacred. But whatever, and wherever that is, I think that the psalmist is trying to say that it isn’t more sacred than us dwelling together in unity.The other failsafe example that the Psalmist uses is the dew of Hermon on mount Zion. Hermon was apparently a very dewy place, and Zion a very fertile one. People would have known that. Maybe land values reflected it. How fruitful, then, would a place with the conditions of both those places be? Would it have been the most fruitful place known to humankind?So, according to the psalmist: living together in unity is good and pleasant, and sacred and fruitful, to the extreme. To the point even that the psalm ends with the assertion that under these conditions things are so good that there is actually no end at all. For they are the conditions of eternity. They are where God bestows blessing forever. Peak blessing. ‘Good’ blessing.At this point, if we haven’t already, we should probably acknowledge now that what we are describing here is the very essence of the Holy Trinity. The eternally-voluntarily-united-more-than-one-as-one-GodWho we are invited to join in with.Which is wonderful! And it would be great to end this sermon there.But, of course, easy said – not so easily done.Even Jesus, in his act of trying to bring unity to the cosmos, said: “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me”(Matt 26:39). He was personally deeply troubled by the cost of unity.The week before last Emily and I celebrated our wedding anniversary by walking up a small mountain in Wales with our dog. It was a joyous celebration of our love and unity. Until we got to the top and our dog decided to stop, lie down and not move. This has never happened before, but she is now 12 and maybe the walk was too much for her. So, faced with the choice of leaving her on the mountain to die or carrying her down I picked her up and began carrying, while Emily kindly decided to lead us by a different, more direct route down.Soon I was standing on steep unstable rocky ground surrounded by gorse and snakes, with no hands, a distressed dog, a bad back, and nowhere to go.Do you ever have those moments when you love somebody (in theory) but you really don’t like them?Unity, by the way, doesn’t always require that you like or agree with people. I wonder if the Holy Trinity are like that sometimes?After perseverance, prayer, contortion, swearing and no small amount of scratches, we eventually found a stream where I put the dog down for a drink. Here she drank for about 5 minutes and then lay down in the stream, and didn’t move.Now I was faced with the choice of leaving her to die in the stream or carrying a wet dog!One of the books that I have been given to read as part of my entry to St Luke’s is ‘Fully Alive’ by Elizabeth Oldfield. And in her chapter entitled “Wrath: from Polarization to Peace-making” she talks about how wrath (which she describes as vengeful or vindictive anger) is a ‘delicious pleasure, akin to a sugar high’. Unity is not only difficult, but it is also not always immediately desirable. Not when the addictive sugar-high-delicious-pleasure of wrath is an option too.Happy anniversary darling!And here we are today at church, reading Psalm 133 as though we mean it. As though we believe it. Choosing, I’d like to think, to allow it to become a point of connection for us, and to trust it as a centring psalm of reorientation after our own walk through the landscape of church in West Holloway, however scratchy and uncomfortable it might have been. I’d like to finish with one more life-centring phrase as a prayer. It is probably what first kickstarted my feeling drawn to St Luke’s, and it’s found at point 28 of 30 things about St Luke’s on the ‘about us’ page of the website.“At St Luke’s, we always try to be open even when we are closed”AmenPS - The dog survived, as has our marriage!Psalm 1331 How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!2 It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard,running down on Aaron’s beard, down on the collar of his robe.3 It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion.For there the Lord bestows his blessing, even life forevermore.The Bright Field By R S ThomasI have seen the sun break throughto illuminate a small fieldfor a while, and gone my wayand forgotten it. But that was thepearl of great price, the one field that hadtreasure in it. I realise nowthat I must give all that I haveto possess it. Life is not hurryingon to a receding future, nor hankering afteran imagined past. It is the turningaside like Moses to the miracleof the lit bush, to a brightnessthat seemed as transitory as your youthonce, but is the eternity that awaits you.
Dear FriendsExciting news! We have had word from Archdeacon Peter that we are now able to announce formally that Paul Adlington has been appointed as our new ‘Interim Priest-in-Charge’ for the next three years.Paul has been a minister in South London for the last twenty-five years, leading the Bear and more recently serving as a curate in Southwark Diocese. His references were extremely positive and reassured us that Paul is a good fit for our community. We have enjoyed getting to know him a little during the recruitment process and are looking forward to working with him.Many of you have also met him when he has visited, and also when he took part in the Easter Art. He contributed an artwork and helped Meg and the team with the setup.Paul is a creative and practical person as well as an experienced church leader with extensive experience of working in the community. Paul has enjoyed starting to get to know the people and traditions of St Luke’s and is looking forward to starting officially on 1st September.Before then, he plans to be with us for some services and activities in August, so do look out for him and introduce yourself. Please put Sunday 22 September in your diary: Paul will be licensed during the service and it will be a chance to welcome him and his family to St Luke’s.Once again, thank you for your continued support.Jacqui & JoyChurchwardens
Dear St. Luke’s Thank you for your wonderful gifts to Sophie and me - not only the presents you presented us with on Sunday (which were amazing!) but also for your love support and encouragement over these 4 years - I am only sorry to be leaving you at such an exciting stage in our community’s life. The heat pump is operational - the works have well and truly begun on the south roof and after that has been insulated and tiled an array of solar panels will be installed. Joy said on Sunday that an Eco-Church gold award is within our grasp - a very rare thing indeed - so keep up this fantastic work as St. Luke’s leads the way and helps others take the right steps in doing our bit in the climate emergency. Thank you too for that great community lunch after church - it was very pleasing to see people from the church community and the wider community there, joined by Claire - our local councillor and friend of St. Luke’s. Special thanks to all who prepared our food- I don’t know who you all were but I know that Rosie and Rachel where in the kitchen when I arrived before church in the morning and still there as Sophie and I left!!Sophie and I were very moved seeing lots of old friends at the service and we received many messages from those unable to attend. As I said on Sunday - you are an amazing community and it has been an honour to be your Vicar, my prayers are with you all especially Jacqui and Joy, Martin and the PCC as they guide you through the next few months - you couldn’t be in better hands - please do use your voice as the community discerns who you are looking for next - and I know that you will choose a great new Vicar. Much love as always, John
The Grand Scheme is an opportunity to combine fundraising and the good people of St Luke’s getting together in small groups for social events.How does it work?Individual members of the community offer to organise and host an event (in the church, in their home, in whatever location is appropriate). Tickets are sold for the events and the money goes to St Luke’s.Join in and support The Scheme. (It will be Grand.)EVENTS PLANNED (with more to be announced, check back regularly)18-Feb | The Food of Love: Concert of Music & Poetry04-Mar | Sacred & Profane: Writing Workshop08-Mar | Menopause Matters11-Mar | Film Night: Boyhood11-Mar | Bigger Birding18-Mar | Easy Peasy Birding29-Mar | Silver Hallmarking31-Mar | Games EveningDate TBC | Climate FreskTHE FOOD OF LOVEA Valentine’s cocktail of love songs, music and poetry from Greensleeves to Gershwin performed by Justin Butcher, Caroline Faber & Daniel Zappi.Songs by Irving Berlin, Hoagy Carmichael, John Dowland, George Gershwin, Paul Simon & Hank Williams. Arranged by Harvey Brough (of the Wallbangers).Click here for the flyer.Date: Saturday 18 FebruaryTime: 8pm (doors open at 7.30pm)Location: St Luke’s ChurchTickets: £10 available hereSACRED & PROFANE, A WRITING WORKSHOPCo-hosted by the prize-winning poet Jenny Mitchell and Martin Wroe.Anyone interested in writing is welcome to join us as we explore ‘how poetry can reimagine traditional ideas of the sacred and profane’. Email for more info - martinwroe@mac.comBeginning at 10, the day will be conversational and informal and finish up with a reading at 3 where people are invited to share their work - and Jenny and I will read from our poems. Here's the flyer. Date: Saturday 4 MarchTime: 10am – 4pmLocation: St Luke’s ChurchTickets: £8 - £15 available hereMENOPAUSE MATTERSAre you going through the (peri)menopause? Can you see menopause on the horizon and are wondering what to expect? Or have you come through the other side and want to reflect on your experience and share your wisdom? Then this event is for you.Learn what the menopause really is, options for dealing with symptoms (medical solutions, complementary therapies and lifestyle), how to protect your future health, and more. It will also be a safe space for women to share their experiences and swap information about what they’ve found helpful.You’ll receive a free PDF copy of the book First Steps Through The Menopause by Cath Francis after the session.This is a female-only event. However, if partners or family members want to learn how to support the menopausal woman in their life, PDF or paperback copies of the book can be purchased for £5 (all money goes to St Luke’s Grand Scheme) – speak to Cath.Joy Hinson is a retired professor and research scientist specialising in endocrinology (hormones).Cath Francis is a magazine journalist, health writer and author.Date: Wednesday 8 March (International Women’s Day!)Time: 7pm (TBC)Location: St Luke’s Small HallTickets: £10 buy at church on Sunday or email to reserve your placeFILM NIGHT – BOYHOODFilmed from 2002 to 2013, Boyhood depicts the childhood and adolescence of Mason Evans Jr. from ages six to eighteen as he grows up with divorced parents. Highly acclaimed and with a host of nominations and awards.Drinks and Nibbles provided.Date: Saturday 11 MarchTime: 7pm (TBC)Location: St Luke’s Small HallTickets: £10 buy at church on Sunday or email to reserve your place2 BIRDWATCHING WALKSWith Andy HarrisonBad Birdwatching Rules apply - if there's nothing to see, we get bored and/or it's wet we’ll adjourn to the pub.Bigger BirdingBring binoculars and sandwiches.(Binoculars for hire, sandwiches, snacks available at reserve centre)N.B. the £10 ticket fee for this is the donation to St Luke’s for Andy’s expert guidance and facilitating.Participants will need to pay their train fare and £6 entry to the RSPB Reserve.Date: Saturday 11 MarchTime: 11am – 3pm (approx.)Location: Meet Finsbury Park Station - rear entrance outside M&S at 9.15 (Blackhorse Road, Barking, train arrives Purfleet at 10.36). Or people make their own way to Rainham Marshes.All meet in Rainham Marshes RSPB reserve visitor centre at 11.15am. Entry free for RSPB members, £6 adults.Tickets: £10 buy at church on Sunday or email to reserve your placeEasy Peasy BirdingBring packed lunch.Bring binoculars.Date: Saturday 18 MarchTime: 11am – 3pmLocation: Meet Oxford Road entrance to Finsbury Park 11am. Check the park then stroll to and around Woodberry Down reserveTickets: £10 buy at church on Sunday or email to reserve your placeSILVER HALLMARKSWhat are they and what do they do?If you have ever wondered what Hallmarks are, come along and learn all about them.Bring along any silver item that you would like to learn more about.Norman Willson will lead us through an evening of discovery with a glass of wine and a magnifying glass.Date: Wednesday 29 MarchTime: EveningLocation: TBC – St Luke’s or nearbyTickets: £10 buy at church on Sunday or email to reserve your placeCLIMATE FRESKSt Luke's is Going Green – Are you?Play Climate Fresk and be inspired, consoled and informed about the reality, dangers and demands of climate change.This is a collaborative workshop with a card game that teaches all the causes and effects of global warming, directly from the UN IPCC scientific reports. The team must layout out the concepts of climate change in sequence of cause and effect, with help from the descriptions on the cards, the pooled knowledge of the group, and the trained Fresk facilitator (if you really get stuck), followed by a discussion of what this means for us, personally and socially.Facilitated by EcoCounts volunteer Adam Hardy.Halfway through we will break for a supper of home-made soup and bread.Date: TBC - please email so we can find the best date.Time: 6pm (or 6:30 – depends on what suits the participants best)Location: hosted in the Cagnoni Kitchen in Penn RoadNumbers are limited so please email pccsecretary@saintlukeschurch.org.uk asap to secure your placeand be sent full details.Tickets: £10BACKGROUND OF THE GRAND SCHEMEWhat is it?An opportunity to combine fundraising and the good people of St Luke’s getting together in small groups for social events.How does it work?Individual members of the community offer to organise and host an event (in the church, in their home, in whatever location is appropriate). Tickets are sold for the events and the money goes to St Luke’s.Join in and support The Scheme.(It will be Grand.)
