Dear friends, Welcome to this week’s update. Please find below the text of today’s sermon at St Mary’s in Goathland, the readings we had, and a reminder of our services and the growing number of events coming up across our Middle Esk Moor church communities. With prayers and all good wishes, Anthony Church Services and Events Coming Up Sunday 10 September – 10:30 am at Glaisdale, St Thomas, Holy Communion. Saturday 16 September – 10:00 am to 4:30 pm at Goathland, St Mary, Heritage Open Day – please support this if you can, there’ll be lots of information about St Mary’s Church, refreshments and a chance to ring the bells, but additional volunteers would be most welcome to help. Sunday 17 September – 10:30 am at Egton, St Hilda, Holy Communion; 10:00 am to 4:30 pm at Goathland, St Mary, the second Heritage Open Day Friday 22 September – 7:00 pm at Grosmont, St Matthew, ‘Around the UK in Classic Railway Posters’ – an illustrated talk by Jane Ellis. Sunday 24 September – 10:30 am at Grosmont, St Matthew, Holy Communion. Thursday 28 September – 2:00 pm at Glaisdale, St Thomas, Harvest Festival in partnership with Glasidale School. Friday 29 September – 6:00 pm at Goathland, St Mary, Harvest Festival in partnership with Goathland School. Sunday 1 October – 10:30 am at Goathland, St Mary, Holy Communion. Friday 6 October – 6:00 pm at Grosmont, St Matthew, Mel Supper and Harvest Thanksgiving with pie and pea supper and entertainment from the Hawsker Village Band - Contact Tammy to reserve food on whin74@yahoo.co.uk or 01947895309. 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. Sunday 8 October – 10:30 am at Lealholm, St James, Holy Communion. *every Thursday* – 10:30 am to 3:00 pm at Grosmont, St Matthew’s, Community Café, supporting the wonderful charity Farming Community Network – please support this if you can, there’s a selection of delicious sandwiches, cakes and drinks to buy, and additional volunteers would be most welcome. Readings for Sunday 3 September, the 13th Sunday after Trinity Romans 12:9-end Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honour. Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are. Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’ No, ‘if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Matthew 16:21-28 From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, ‘God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you.’ But he turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling-block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.’ Then Jesus told his disciples, ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life? ‘For the Son of Man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay everyone for what has been done. Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.’ Sermon for Sunday 3 September at St Mary’s, Goathland 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 last week’s Gospel reading, Simon Peter declared to Jesus, 'You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’ Peter’s faith was especially recognised by Jesus, and Peter was given a new name: he was to be the rock, the source of strength and authority for a new community: the Church. Peter was to be the leader of the followers of the newly revealed Jesus, the Son of the living God. But soon after that, as recorded in today’s Gospel reading, we have Jesus shouting at Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me!” Jesus is obviously just a little bit angry with Peter! But why, what’s happened? At the beginning of our reading, Jesus tells Peter that he will be killed very soon. He also says that he will be raised on the third day. But Peter doesn’t hear or understand that part. He just hears the bit where the man he loves very deeply says he will be killed. The man that Peter adores, the man that Peter has invested everything in, will be killed. Imagine yourself for a moment in Peter’s shoes. What would you say? How would Jesus respond? You say, ‘this must never happen to you, Lord!’ Jesus shouts at you, ‘get behind me, Satan!’ You’re confused. You love the Lord. You cannot bear to be separated from your Lord and Saviour. Jesus’ death is bad news. That bad news is too much for you to bear. Jesus tells you he’s going to die. But he wants you to know the plan; there are no secrets; this is the plan, the plan God had made long ago. Jesus has explained that to you too. But you still can’t bear to be parted. Well, I think I would react the same way. I can understand Peter's response to Jesus when the bad news became too much to bear. By this stage of Jesus' ministry, it was clear to Peter and the other disciples that Jesus was their Messiah, but they had yet to understand that he wouldn’t be the conquering military king that would expel Israel’s enemies from the land given to them by God. They simply couldn’t grasp that part of the plan. Of course, we have the benefit of knowing the whole story. But when Jesus has a go at Peter so angrily, we see his human side and a very human frustration: Peter is still thinking in the old way and not in the radical new way of Jesus, and his rule of love rather than the rule of power and vengeance. The amazing thing about Jesus is that he’s fully human and fully God, so he gets frustrated, he gets angry, he knows what life is like, he gets emotional. And we have two emotions clashing here: Peter’s sense of loss, of grief. Jesus’ sense of frustration, of anger. Peter's response would have been my response, I’m sure of that. Would you have reacted in the same way? I’m guessing so. We don’t want Jesus to suffer either, we don’t want him to die. "God forbid it, Lord!" Peter says. "God forbid it, Lord!" we say. But Jesus, fully man and fully God: will not forbid it, will not prevent it either, will not prevent the humiliation, torture, suffering and death. The free will that humanity has means that God, too, must be put to death. The horror of what man does to man must be put on display for all to see. And Jesus is as scared as any of us would be. He gets angry about it. We might imagine that Jesus calmly accepts all that is to come. And the Gospels do paint that picture when the time comes, and we arrive at Good Friday. But today, in our Gospel reading, Jesus is angry, he displays his full humanity. Jesus just doesn’t have to deal with his own feelings. No, those feelings are exacerbated by Peter's inability to understand and accept the full reality of what’s to come. Jesus didn’t really think Peter was Satan, of course, but simply that the title ‘Satan’ represents everything which opposes truth and is aligned with secularism and materialism. This is in opposition to the need to be aligned with the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus doesn’t want the natural anxiety and sorrow in our Gospel reading to result in pessimism and negativity. Instead, Jesus’ anger reinforces his message of hope. It’s OK to be angry if that helps people see the bigger picture. So, how does this speak to us today, in this place? I’ve been writing quite a complicated report this week examining my first three months here, and outlining the issues I’ve found. And, let’s be honest, I‘ve uncovered quite a lot of anger and frustration in the way resources and support have not quite reached Middle Esk Moor over the last few years. My appointment here is a response to that, of course: I’m here to bring change. But change can only happen if we have the space and time to be able to acknowledge what is wrong with the old way of doing things. Change can only happen amidst the reality of the world we live in. There will be challenges. Things will not go according to plan! We’re not going to get all 2,500 people that live in our Middle Esk Moor area interested in joining our churches. There will be opposition. There will be restraining factors, holding us back. But, if we can acknowledge all those, then we can ensure that we live in the real world, not an imagined version of it. And we need to acknowledge the restraining factors currently present within our church communities and our church structures: the diocese; the deanery. We need to acknowledge the quite understandable anger and frustration that those structures have caused. We need to face the reality of our lived experience head on. It’s OK to be angry. Jesus’ anger in today’s reading reinforces his message of hope. It’s OK to be angry if that helps people see the bigger picture. The good thing about facing reality, seeing the bigger picture, is that it unlocks us from the fear of unknowing, it frees us to make change, it enables us to move forward and live more fully. Yes, change will be scary at first. But everything becomes possible when we have nothing to lose, when we can let go of the past, when we can fully re-imagine the future. Jesus knew this. Jesus was prepared to risk everything. Jesus didn’t need Peter's fussing, however well meant, or needy. Jesus wanted Peter to face the truth and then accept what must come, so that he and Jesus could be free to pursue the next phase of their shared ministry. Jesus knew that Peter and the disciples would eventually find the strength to found and maintain the future Church: from his example, but also from within themselves. Facing reality, with hope, rarely disappoints when we undertake it with Jesus! Amen. --- these two books, edited by Jane Williams, are still 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. --- The Reverend Anthony Bennett --- Interim Minister & Deanery Enabler Middle Esk Moor | Whitby Deanery | York Diocese --- email: anthony@egtonvicarage.org landline: 01947 899843 mobile: 07484 735284 web: middleeskmoor.org
This Sunday we'll be meeting in Goathland for a time of sharing Holy Communion and fellowship together, with refreshments afterwards. Do come and join us. All welcome!Check out our 'Services and events' section for further information.
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. --- 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. --- The Reverend Anthony Bennett --- Interim Minister & Deanery Enabler Middle Esk Moor | Whitby Deanery | York Diocese --- email: anthony@egtonvicarage.org landline: 01947 899843 mobile: 07484 735284 web: middleeskmoor.org
This Sunday we'll be worshipping in St Matthew's Grosmont at 10:30. We'll be thinking about the unique contribution each of us makes to our church communities, and what we can do to help lead us into the future together. As ever, there'll be a wonderful selection of refreshments and treats after the service; all are most welcome to join us!Click here for further information
