Mother Anna writes...What a treasure trove of parables we are getting at the moment! In recent weeks, we have read the parable of the sower and the parable of wheat and tares and now today we get five all at once – so many images and stories for us to learn from in one sitting. As you know, Jesus used parables to help us to understand mysteries. God is beyond our understanding, words are inadequate to describe or explain God, so Jesus used these stories, these images and symbols of everyday things in order to reveal something to us about God. Everything we can possibly say about God is inadequate, but by using parables Jesus lets us glimpse something of the infinite reality of God, but safely within our own limits.But of course symbols and allegories and images are by their nature a bit unspecific – we can’t take them at face value but have to interpret them. Usually, Jesus helps us out, as he does here, by telling us something about what they mean, in this case the kingdom of God. But these parables are all very different, so what exactly are we to learn about the kingdom from these parables? I’m not going to tell you.No, really, I’m not. I am not going to tell you what these parables mean, I’m not going to tell you what you should learn about God from these parables. No. Because that’s your job.It may be that you think you’re not up to the job - I certainly felt like that when I first started reading the Bible seriously. Or maybe you think that you know already what the parables mean – they’re so familiar, and you’ve been told hundreds of times what they mean. Or maybe you think it’s my job to tell you – that’s what I get paid for after all, so why should you try to figure it out? Or perhaps you want to find someone else to tell you what to think – reach for a book or ask Google.But I’m serious – this really is your job. It is the job of everyone who considers themselves Christian to dig deep into Scripture, because it is through Scripture that we get to know God, get to know Jesus. How can we have a relationship with Jesus if we don’t spend time with him? If we don’t listen – really listen – to what he has to say to us? So no, I’m not going to tell you what these parables mean. Instead, I’m going to ask you to spend time thinking about what God is saying to you – to you alone – in this scripture this week. Get the Bible out. Sit quietly. Pray, and ask God to help you hear. Read the passage, then sit and think about it. Pray some more. Live in the parables – imagine you are there, kneading the dough, sorting the fish, uncovering the treasure, buying the pearl. Maybe look to see if you can find things these parables all have in common, or try to find something different in each parable, some unique way in which each one describes the kingdom of God.Do whatever works to keep you thinking about the parables. But above all, spend time praying and listening. Wait confidently for some insight as you hold the parables in your mind. Read. Pray. Re-read. Enjoy being with God as you read and think and dwell in God’s Word.We call it the Word of God for a reason. Listen. God is waiting. Amen.
“This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven”.This quotation from our first reading today is often put up on church doors, as a way of welcoming visitors into the sacred space within. It acts as a reminder that churches are set aside for God and so become holy, a special place where we might encounter and draw closer to God. The quote seems particularly poignant at a time when we are still exiled from our own house of God. But the time is drawing near when we will be able to return, so this seems like a good time to think about what our church building means to us.There are some places in the world where God seems closer, where the veil between this world and God’s seems slightly less opaque – a thin place, as the saying goes, between us and the kingdom of heaven. This is often true of churches. When we enter there is often a shock of silence, as the walls, the dim light and the empty spaces contrast with the busyness, crowds and noise outside. There may also be a sense of awe, especially in a cathedral– it is impossible to enter St Paul’s without being a bit taken aback by the scale of the place.But the sacredness of a church goes beyond physics. It comes, I think, partly from years, sometimes centuries, of prayer - from the knowledge that people have stood, sat and knelt in the building and offered their prayers to God, that they have sung and worshipped, celebrated weddings and baptisms and lamented over coffins there. And it comes from the presence of God. For the Jewish people of the Old Testament, God was physically present in the temple. Not contained there, of course – God is and always was too big to be confined – but physically present nonetheless, a literal, not metaphorical, presence. This is true for us too, though in a different way – no pillars of smoke for us, but the real presence of Christ in the bread of the Eucharist which we keep from week to week in the sanctuary.Of course, God is with us always. Of course, we don’t need a special, sacred place to worship God. Of course we can find God in the world, wherever we are. We are, as St Paul reminds us again today, the children of God, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ – all we need is found in God and we are brought to God’s kingdom through the death and resurrection of Christ, drawn by grace and God the Holy Spirit. So no, we don’t need a special, sacred building and the last four months have shown us very clearly that we can still pray, read God’s word and worship without a building in which to meet. And yet we miss it. We are still drawn to church, still find ourselves longing for the quiet holiness of our church building, in which we can sit quietly or worship together, leaving renewed and restored, at peace and closer to God and one another.St Aldhelm’s is not just a building – it is us, the people, our fellowship and our prayer, But it is also a building, and that building is none other than the house of God, and the gate of heaven, and on 6 September we return. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Readings for Sunday 12 July: Isaiah 55.10-13; Romans 8:1-11; Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23.Take a look at this picture. It’s a bit small, but look closely. It’s a picture of my back garden. It’s a bit rubbish, isn’t it?Look at the earth in front of the fence. It definitely doesn’t look like a good garden – there are no nice plants, just a few weeds, and there are lots of rocks and stones and bits of rubbish. I’ve put the picture in this letter because today in our readings we hear a story Jesus told to his disciples, the parable of the sower. You can read about it in Matthew’s Gospel, but you can also watch a child-friendly video or this lovely animation.In the parable we hear about seeds falling on a path and being eaten by birds and that other seeds fall on rocky ground or in the middle of thorns and that those seeds die. Take another look at my horrible garden and you can see why – surely no plants could grow up strong and healthy there among the bricks and stones and weeds.But some of the seed in Jesus’s story falls in good earth and grows and becomes an amazing harvest. Then Jesus explains to the disciples that the story is about how some people hear about Jesus and God but somehow, because of one thing or another, they don’t take it seriously and it doesn’t take root in their souls and their hearts. Only a small number of people – the good earth – hear about Jesus and understand, and turn to follow him.Here’s a question about this story for you - do you think you are the good earth? Do you think the good news about Jesus has fallen in rich earth in your heart?Sometimes I think that might be true about me, but sometimes I don’t. Sometimes I remember all the ways in which I am a bad follower of Jesus and think maybe I’m more like the rocky earth. And actually that might be true of all of us. We go to church, read the Bible and we pray – but then sometimes we ignore what Jesus asks of us, we forget to love God and love other people, or we get distracted. And in those moments we are more like the rocky earth or the weed patch.But this picture was taken a few months ago, at the start of lockdown. My garden doesn't look like that now - it looks very different. You can still see some of the rocks in there, but now there are also flowers. It looks lovely now. And it reminds me that actually, even rocky bits of garden can grow into something beautiful. We are all of us a mixture of good earth and rocky, stony, thorny bits - and Jesus loves us just as we are, rocks and rubbish and thorns as well as flowers and seeds and harvest. And it doesn’t matter – God’s love for us can take root in the nooks and crannies of our hearts and help us grow and blossom. So hurray for flowers blooming in rocky gardens and for the love of God. Amen.
Fourth Sunday after Trinity - reflectionReadings for Sunday 28 June: Genesis 24:34-38, 42-49, 58-67; Romans 7:15-25a; Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30. Hopefully by now you will have received in the post a little booklet of prayers and readings for every day next week, Monday to Saturday. I put it together because several people have asked me for something to help with their daily prayer and I hope you find it useful. It isn’t always easy to keep up daily prayer, or to keep up daily Bible reading – as St Paul reminds us in today’s reading, “I want to do what is right, but I cannot always do it”. To do right we need the help of God, the grace of God and the love of Jesus Christ. But we can also help one another, which is why I’m sending out this booklet. I put the booklet together and printed it for you, but I didn’t write it myself – it is the Church of England service of Prayer During the Day. There are lots of resources around, online and in books, so you should feel free to use something else if you prefer, but I almost always stick to the Church of England prayer services. That’s partly because it’s what I know best, but also it’s because I really love the way our Church uses the Bible in its services. This is a legacy of the history in which our church was founded in the 16th century, in the Reformation in which churches across Europe, including the church in England, broke away from the Roman Catholic Church. When the Church of England was going through its first stormy centuries, a desire to focus on the Word of God was absolutely central. So when it came to guiding the faithful, the Church of England didn’t start with a doctrinal tract, it didn’t start by nailing its theology to a door or writing out a set of beliefs – the Church of England started with the Bible and from that Bible it built a set of prayers and services which could be used by any individual and had to be used by every church – the Book of Common Prayer. The Book of Common Prayer, the BCP, defined the Anglican faith. But it’s not a historical document – it’s living liturgy, still in constant use in the Church of England and at St Aldhelm’s we use it for Holy Communion every Thursday. If you know the BCP you will know that everything you need is found there – all the prayers, all the Bible readings, the daily psalms, all contained in one book, small enough to pop in a pocket. That is also the principle behind this little booklet – everything you need for daily prayer and Bible reading, in one small package. Life is tough for lots of us at the moment, and it might feel like daily discipleship is too much to expect, so let’s make it easy for one another – because as Jesus reminds us, his burden is light and if we turn to him, if we agree to take on the yoke of faith in him, we will find it easier than we expect. I will be praying these services every day this week at 8am and you are welcome to join me. Those of you who have the technology, on Monday to Thursday I will be doing the services on Zoom – see below for instructions on joining me. Otherwise, feel free to say the service wherever you are, whenever you want, knowing that our prayers are joined in God. Life is tough at the moment, but God’s yoke is easy and the burden is light. Let’s grow together in prayer and discipleship. Amen
