WHO ARE YOU?When people have masks on it is not so easy to work out who everybody is.“Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”, or “Who do people say that I am?”, two questions that are in the Gospels of Matthew (Ch.16 v13) and Mark (Ch.8 v27). Matthew used the conversation that Jesus has with the disciples to begin his disclosure about his messiahship and the suffering that he must undertake for us, and the sacrifices we must suffer if we really want to be his followers. Matthew uses the passage in the same way as Mark but uses the description that Jesus often uses of himself – “Son of Man”. This is a description of himself, which has been interpreted in many ways by Biblical scholars, I choose to explain as “Jesus the human” or even “This bloke Jesus”.There was for many years a programme on TV called “Who do you think you are”, which could be quite entertaining as a sort of history programme, but could be quite excruciating when a celebrity would break down in tears when they found out that their great-great-grandmother, who had died a hundred years before they were born, had been confined in the workhouse. People don't like to dwell on how hard life for ordinary people was in generations past and still is for so many people in this country and even more so in vast areas of the world. Something for us all to think and pray about.But who do say you are? Do you know who you are? We can all do our family tree and look back a couple of hundred years quite easily and genetics can have some influence on our appearance and perhaps even some health issues, but not much else. But being born into a reasonably wealthy family can still improve your life chances considerably – but that's another sermon.Who do you think you are? Can be used as an insult, implying that you are getting above yourself and need putting down a peg or two.Before I went to Theological College I did a 2 year part-time course, which was known as the Aston Training Scheme. It was quite vigorous both academically and psychologically, as the powers that be tried to assess whether the students truly had a vocation, or were just interested in the high pay and conditions of employment in the Church of England (I jest). Just prior to one's final interview with the Course Director a self-assessment had to be written and handed in. Now that was perhaps the most difficult part of the whole course, because it stretches one's truth capacity to the utmost.Whilst not quite the same, you know those questionnaires that ask you to tick boxes, perhaps a question might be, how honest are you? With box 1 being an absolute rogue and 5 being a saint, what do you answer? You don't want to admit to exaggerating your work expenses, putting you in box 1 and you don't want to exaggerate the amount you give to charity every week, so you tick number 4 (reasonably honest) and hope nobody enquires further.The thing about the self-assessment for the Aston Scheme was that after much praying about it, I came to the conclusion that the Course Director could probably be fooled, but if I tried to fool God I was only fooling myself. A warts and all self-assessment was thus handed in and it was obviously thought to be satisfactory as I am here 36 years later, still trying to work out who I am and if it coincides with God's picture of me.So! Could you write a letter to God to tell him all about your life, honestly telling him about all your sinfulness, confessing how you fall short of his expectations of you and honestly asking him to help you be a better person. It is not an easy exercise but one that might be worth a try, and when you have done it offer it to God in prayer, and then put it through a shredder or burn it in your garden. Writing things down is often a good way to get rid of all those frustrations we have in our lives some of which are noble and some of which are just selfish desires. I was taught this many years ago by a wise counsellor and have found it very helpful. That reminds me of that famous prayer:-Dear Heavenly Father, So far, today, I've done all right. I haven't gossiped or lost my temper. I haven't been greedy, grumpy, nasty, or self centred. I'm really happy about that so far. But in a few minutes I'm going to be getting out of bed and then I'm going to need a lot of help. Thank you! Amen. I like that because it just about sums up life.When Jesus asked the disciples “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”, most of them got it wrong but Peter had worked out that Jesus was the Christ, the messiah. It was a revelation from God and also a charge from his Son that Peter would be the rock on which he would build the church. This was the Peter who a few verses on in the Gospel Jesus would say, “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”. This would then be the Peter who would deny Jesus three times.We have so much in common with Peter. God reveals things to us, but we very often get confused and misunderstand what we should be doing. We also deny Jesus in that we so often fail to live up to his commandment that we love one another, which is the central commandment of our faith. How often do we put human things before divine things?So we start with a question from Jesus and I would suggest that all of us question ourselves about our lives. Do we come anywhere near what God would like us to be? Write it down, offer it to God in prayer and then shred it or burn it. God knows it anyway, but it is good that we assess ourselves to try to see if Christianity is apparent in us. Can others see that we are different – we are followers of Jesus the Christ.Which reminds me of a little story.A little boy walked down the beach, and as he did, he spied a woman sitting under a beach umbrella on the sand.He walked up to her and asked, "Are you a Christian?" She said, "Yes." "Do you read your Bible every day?" She nodded her head, "Yes." Do you pray often?" the boy asked next, and again she answered, "Yes." With that he asked his final question,"Will you hold my watch and purse while I go swimming?"Amen.
Thoughts for Today From the real world, sublime and challenging Costa Rica, a tropical railway and crocodiles- with bananas and coffee…The four-day sailing to Costa Rica and its largest port of Puerto Limon meant many things. We were never far away from live music and strange ceremonies on the good ship Balmoral. On the first day sailing we had the 9am Morning Prayer in the Observatory (153 steps up) commending these sea days and every day in thanksgiving. This meant all eventualities were faced. I helped one of the passengers to work on a funeral order of service for a close loved one back home. Sudden bereavement a long way from home is always challenging. Several times on this voyage I led fellow passengers in ‘mirror’ services to remember loved ones on the day and time of the service back home. This means so much to those involved and to the families wherever they are. The Fred Olsen line usually has a Chaplain on board on voyages of over 21 days duration.Longer voyages give the time to reflect on many things and much of the Chaplaincy role is to be there when people need to share particularly challenging life events. They are also there to witness much fun like the crossing of the Equator. King Neptune, his Queen and consorts (my fellow members of the ‘entertainments team’) pronounce the taxing sentences on different members of the Staff and Crew (650 altogether). This includes the kissing of the fish and a thorough dunking fully clothed into the swimming pool. Friday 21st February was the turn of our Captain Henrik and Stelios the Executive Chef.In contrast there was soothing music from Soprano Lindsay Aldrich and Tenor David Fearn, both recent scholars from the Royal College of Music. It was a good preamble to afternoon 4pm tea, and before table tennis. There was the Emergency Crew Drill on the eve of our arrival in Puerto Limon, an event which happens reassuringly every two weeks. Interest groups were invited during the cruise to meet with hospitality, and this day it was the turn of any members past or present from the Girl Guides and Scout Association. This was well attended and so varied. On top of that, the evening entertainment after dinner was the treat of Steve V. King telling and singing us the story of the formation and recent history of the Drifters.Steve performs out of the UK and was for 7 years lead singer of the official Drifters. He brought the house down and performed later in the cruise on deck on a balmy Caribbean evening.Early morning of Monday 24th February Puerto Limon swept into view with the local band singing on the quay ‘Welcome to Limon’ in calypso style. We were coached to the Tortuguero National Park and the river of that name leading to the mangroves. Costa Rica means ‘rich coast’ and has a population of 5 million people. This part of the country represents the mixed Afro-Caribbean community comprising Italian, Jamaican and Chinese labourers who built the Limon to San Jose railroad during the 19th century. It fought for, and gained its independence from Spain in 1821. Christopher Columbus dropped anchor off Limon in 1502. African slaves were acquired in 1569 for the Cocoa plantations but their emancipation wasn’t achieved until 1824. The Costa Rican government did not recognize the Afro Caribbean people as citizens until 1948 and even then their movements were restricted to the Limon province. Many to this day have English names and speak English with a Jamaican accent. Carnival time in Limon has been celebrated on 12th October since their citizenship was granted.The trade winds and the tropical rain forest (with an average temperature of 25 degrees C ) export a huge coffee and banana crop from the Central Valley. Our eco-river trip was preceded by the story of bananas. Twenty bananas grow from each leaf of the plant, producing a big bunch. The process takes a full 9 months from the bulb called rhizome to maturity. Its 6-12 day freezer container voyage to us then continues in the ripening rooms before arriving in the shops and supermarkets in UK. The banana takes its name from the Arabic word for finger. Along with tomatoes they are the most popular fruit in the world.We did not expect to come so close to the three-toed sloth on this wild day but we did and saw Mum protecting her newborn baby in the upside down position.Exotic does not describe this trip. It was more than that. Within a few miles we encountered a bare throated Tiger Heron, the great blue Heron, Baliscus Lizards, a Jesus Lizard, a spectacled Caiman (who winked at us) and Howler monkeys in numbers. That was before the giant termite nests, gleaming swallows from the mangroves and the delicate tiny Artibious bats hanging from the ‘OMG’ railroad bridge (already mentioned) which has seen better days. Fresh pineapple and banana refreshed us as we watched the Costa Rican dance troupe give us their local dances and invited daring limbo participants.We returned to our ship through the city of brightly-coloured park areas and municipal buildings of Limon.The next day I had negotiated Ash Wednesday should be Ash Tuesday as we were due to be in port at Cartagena de Indias, Colombia on the actual Holy day. Ash Tuesday was much appreciated. It is not very often that you get ahead of the rest of the Christian world!Viva Costa Rica – Viva Columbia to come.Blessings, Edward and Jane
Man-made Rules and God’s Commandmentsor ‘Are you hiding behind your mask?’How are you getting on with wearing a mask when, and if, you go on public transport, to the shops, doctors, hairdresser or church building? I think most of us are accepting it as part of the new normal, although it is annoying when your glasses steam up and tricky when you can’t gauge someone’s facial expression or read their lips. Sometimes I have forgotten to take my mask with me when I go out, and have had to go back to get it; this week, having driven all the way to Leicester without one, I had to improvise with a cloth bag I keep in my handbag, so that I could collect my vacuum cleaner that had been serviced. Now you might be wondering what all this has to do with today’s Gospel reading, so let us take another look at the two episodes depicted.At the beginning of Chapter 15 in Matthew’s account, the bit before where our reading started, Jesus was gaining in reputation as he travelled around Galilee, teaching and performing miracles. The Scribes and Pharisees were concerned about the effect he was having and so a group of them travelled nearly 70 miles from Jerusalem to ‘Hicksville’ Galilee with the express purpose of checking him out and to undermine his popularity. Now these were scholarly men, well trained in the intricacies of their laws and traditions: rules which expanded the Law as given in the Torah (the first five books of the Old Testament). They had ritual handwashing rules, meant principally for the priests who served in the Temple, but they wanted to apply these to Jesus’ disciples before they had a meal. I don’t suppose for a moment that the disciples ate with mucky hands, although they probably weren’t familiar with our 20s handwashing rule, but there is a difference between ritual cleansing and handwashing for hygiene. Jesus rebuked the Scribes and Pharisees for their complicated rules, that only they could understand, when the clear simplicity of God’s Laws in the Ten Commandments was quite sufficient. Do you find yourself getting confused about some of our ‘coming out of lockdown rules’? There are so many, sometimes contradictory regulations, that it is not surprising that people like the comedian Matt Lucas have done spoof briefings on YouTube. Jesus called the Scribes and Pharisees hypocrites, because they were hiding behind their cumbersome traditions. It is interesting that the word hypocrite derives from the Greek, meaning actor. When the ancient Greeks put on their plays, the actors used to wear masks to portray different characters or different moods. It can be so easy for us to hide behind our masks, real or metaphorical, to pretend we are someone other than who we are; but God is not fooled because He knows our hearts. The dietary laws helped the Jews to create a sense of a separate people, which was important for their sense of identity. When Matthew wrote his gospel, it was for a church audience who were struggling with the place of Jewish Laws within the life of their community - a church which was comprised of both Jews and Gentiles. Jesus explained to his disciples that the food laws were not as important as the state of their hearts. Today’s emphasis on washing hands helps us to keep infection at bay, but what about the infection in our hearts? Jesus listed what can come out from our hearts: evil intentions, murder, adultery, promiscuity, theft, false witness, slander - each of these come from the 6th to the 9th of the Ten Commandments. These are sins that affect our relationships and they are issues that can damage the church. Our obligation to God is not satisfied by religious ritual, but by our relationship with God and each other. We were born with unclean hearts – only Jesus can change us from the inside out, giving us new hearts and lives.After the hostilities of these encounters by Galilee, Jesus travelled over 25 miles north to the border district of Tyre and Sidon, where he would inevitably meet Gentile people. The Canaanite woman who came to him used the Jewish form of address for the Messiah. This outsider, and a woman at that, showed more reverence to Jesus and recognition of who He was than any of the Jewish people in the previous episode. It seems odd that Jesus ignored her at first, but he knew that he was sent to the Jews first and then the Gentiles. Perhaps he wanted to see if she would persist in asking for his help for herself and her daughter. The disciples thought she was being a bit of a nuisance because she was disturbing them with her shouting out, but she wasn’t going to let anyone discourage her. Next, she knelt in front of Jesus and again asked him for his help. She recognised the Kingship of Jesus, his power and his authority. Jesus referred to her as a dog in reply, which sounds shocking and derisive, but he meant a pet dog that is allowed in the same room as the family when they are eating. Quick as a flash, she replied that even pet dogs get some of the crumbs from the table. Surely there would be some blessing left over for a Gentile woman. Jesus was delighted with her faith, more than he had recently witnessed elsewhere. She was rewarded for her persistence and her daughter was healed instantly. This healing was an indication that God’s favour would, indeed, extend to the Gentiles.In conclusion then, how can we apply all of this to ourselves? The church is, and has been, entering new territory. In recent months, previous boundaries have been broken or altered and new ways of being church are being discovered. Our God is in the unsettling business and we have been shaken and stirred, unsure of what the future holds. Today we have heard that Jesus meets with people on the margins, the outsiders, granting them not just a crumb, but a place at the table. I will leave you with four questions:• Are we willing to open our hearts to the ‘outsiders’ in our local community, the people on the borders? • Do we have cumbersome traditions or unrealistic expectations of people who might come to the church? • Do we hide behind a mask of religion, when Jesus wants to renew our hearts and lives? • Are we people of faith, who persist in prayer, obey God’s commandments and recognise Jesus as King over our lives?Amen
Reflection: The Blessed Virgin MaryOne of the most popular Catholic prayers, especially for women the world over, is known as the ‘Hail Mary’. Hail Mary, full of grace, Our Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen In Luke’s Gospel this prayer incorporates two greetings, ‘Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you’, and ‘Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb’. Well, today we are celebrating the feast day of The Blessed Virgin Mary. Mary was a Galilean Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph, and mother of Jesus. She is celebrated by the Western, Eastern, Orthodox, Catholic, Anglican and Lutheran churches as the mother of Jesus and as Theotokos (Mother of God). Mary is also afforded the highest position in Islam for women and she is mentioned in the Quran. The gospels of Matthew and Luke and the Quran describe Mary as a virgin. In the New Testament she is betrothed to Joseph and according to Christian theology she miraculously conceived Jesus through the Holy Spirit while still a virgin. At the end of her life Christian teachings inform us that God raised her body directly into heaven and this event came to be known as the Assumption. Since the time of early Christianity Mary has been venerated as the most meretricious of saints and she has, according to reports, appeared to believers many times over the centuries, mostly to women and poor children. Such devotion to Mary has been fuelled by popular apparitions. Although Mary is mentioned as the mother of Jesus several times in the New Testament she is mentioned prominently at the crucifixion. Nevertheless, she was considered as ‘the one who was full of grace’ and as the ‘favoured one’ who had an important role to play in God’s scheme of salvation. This role was the subject of intense discussion and debate during the fourth century by theologians such as Augustine of Hippo who was key in formulating a theology and doctrine of grace from debating if Mary was subject to original sin, like everyone else, or whether she was preserved from the taint of original sin. Popular Christian piety at the time saw Mary as the new Eve who by her obedience to God’s word reversed the disobedience of the first Eve. Later, during the Medieval period, Mary was regarded as the main representative of mercy and forgiveness to whom sinners could appeal. Many saw her role as offering quiet support and encouraging a tranquil strength of purpose and obedience to God. Later, more emphasis was placed on her humanity and compassion. Her unique position as fully human and closeness to God than any other saint or angel made her an obvious choice for devotion and prayer. While Mary has been called the first believer and representative of the Church, she continues to inspire many today. For example,· Mary stands as a model and example for all and for the Church.· All of us, like Mary, are called to serve God’s purpose.· Like Mary, who was graced with unquestionable faith, we are called to that same faith whatever doubts, upsets of griefs we experience.· We are all acceptable to God and loved by God by virtue of God’s grace and the sacrifice of Christ. Mary helps teach us that and to believe and trust in God.· Mary stands as a Mother for all both women and men, young and old. In John’s gospel (19:26-27), Jesus, from the cross, addresses his mother saying about John, his beloved disciple, ‘Here is your son’. Jesus then addresses the disciple saying, ‘Here is your mother’. To love and care for each other is an essential commandment that Jesus, as the Word of God, calls all to embrace. Also, while we might elevate Mary and the saints to super holy levels that none of us can fully aspire to, that very grace gifted to Mary is the same grace God calls each of us to know, accept and work with. Thanks be to GodFr Graham
