Through the written word and the spoken word, may we know your living word, Jesus Christ our Saviour. If there is one thing that we as British people excel at, it is talking about the weather, it is our national icebreaker, our reliable conversation filler, our default small talk. But this past summer the weather stopped being small talk, it became the main story. We lived through weeks of scorching heat, parched fields, cracked garden soil and the return of hosepipe bans across the country. For many, a hosepipe ban feels like a mild seasonal inconvenience: we cannot wash the car, the lawn turns brown and the garden looks the worse for wear. Yet if we pause to listen, that notice dropping through the letterbox carries a much deeper message, it gently confronts our illusion of control. It reminds us that water – the very life blood of our fields, our crops and our bodies – is not an unlimited commodity on tap, it is a fragile, precious gift. Today as we celebrate our Harvest Festival alongside the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, two realities cross paths. We give thanks for the soil and the food on our tables, while, St. Francis, the Patron Saint of Ecology, invites us to look afresh at our relationship with the earth. St. Francis famously spoke of Creation as a family, praising God for ‘Sister Water’ who is very useful and humble, precious and chaste. When ‘ Sister Water’ becomes scarce, our human instinct is often to panic, to hoard and secure our own boundaries, but our Scriptures today offer a radically different way to live – shifting our focus from fear to patience and from bigger barns to overflowing rivers. In our Gospel reading from ‘Luke 12’, Jesus tells the story of a farmer who experienced an extraordinarily successful harvest, his fields produced more than expected, but notice his immediate, internal response. He doesn’t look up to offer thanks to God, nor does he look around to see which of his neighbours might be hungry but instead engages in a self-absorbed monologue. “What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops --- I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, there I will store all my grain and my goods”. The rich farmer viewed a good harvest, not as a blessing to be shared, but as a private asset to hoard against an unpredictable future. He was driven by a fear that there would never be enough and that his ultimate security lay in the height of his barn walls. In our New Testament reading James issues a sharp prophetic warning to those who operate with this exact mindset. He confronts those who hoard wealth while withholding fair wages from the labourers who reaped their fields. James warns us that when we hoard, exploit or over consume, Creation groans and the vulnerable suffer. When drought hits, heatwaves bake the land or fossil fuel pollution degrades our atmosphere, it is always the poorest communities and most fragile Ecosystems that bear the heaviest burden. When we live life like the rich farmer – treating the Earth’s resources as private property to extract and exhaust – we break our Covenant with God, with our neighbour and with creation. So how do we break free from this anxiety and greed? James offers an answer, that feels directly relevant. Who has stared at a cloudless sky during a dry summer – Patience. “Be patient brothers and sisters until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crops, patiently waiting for the Autumn and Spring rains.” A wise farmer knows that you cannot force the soil to produce on command, you cannot command the rain to fall, nor can you rush the seed in the ground. Agriculture demands humility, rhythm and trust, it requires us to recognise that we are not the masters of creation but it’s stewards. This is where St. Francis becomes our guide, St Francis did not look at the natural world as a collection of resources to be burned, bought or be stockpiled. He saw Creation as a choir of praise. He called the sun his brother, the wind his brother and the earth his mother. Today caring for creation means translating Franciscan love into modern action, when we pray for the healing of the earth our prayers must have feet and hands. Moving away from polluting petrol and diesel toward clean electric transport, harnessing the power of ‘brother sun’ through rooftop solar panels, turning of ‘brother wind’ through offshore wind turbines, retro fitting our homes and churches with clean heating. These are not political choices or engineering tasks, for the follower of Jesus they are acts of Worship. They represent a moral commitment to stop burning up our children’s future and to live in peaceful harmony with God’s Natural Order. While the rich farmer in Jesus’ parable builds bigger barns, Ezekiel gives us a breathtaking vision of what true divine abundance looks like. In Ezekiel 47 we go from water trickling out from under the temple and flows East towards a dry rift valley, it grows deeper and wider from ankle deep to knee deep, to waist deep until it becomes a river so vast it can only be crossed by swimming. When it reaches the Dead Sea, the dead salty water is transformed into a thriving Eco-system, teaming with fish. “Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river, their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit fail, every month they will bear fruit, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them, their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing.” Human harvests are seasonal, fragile and subject to drought, but the river flowing from God’s presence never runs dry. When we root our lives in God’s Spirit, we no longer need to live like the rich fool, building bigger barns, instead we become like the trees planted along Ezekiel’s river. We draw from the inexhaustible source of Grace, allowing God’s Blessing to flow through us, to bring life, clean air, nourishment and healing to the world around us. This Harvest Festival, as we reflect on the dry summer behind us and the produce gathered before us, we are faced with a fundamental choice: We can live like the rich farmer operating out of fear and scarcity, trying to build bigger barns to safeguard our lives, while turning a blind eye to our neighbours and the cries of a warming planet, or we can choose the path of St. Francis and the prophet Ezekiel – learning to wait patiently on God, treating Creation as our kin and opening our hands so that God’s river of life can flow through us. Let us this day be channels of Grace rather than reservoirs of greed. Let us share our bread with the hungry through our local Foodbank. Steward God’s energy with care, advocate for clean renewables and live as Faithful Guardians of this beautiful Earth that our Heavenly Father has entrusted to our Care. Amen
Trinity 18 year A – Phil 3:4b-14; Matt 21:33-endOver the last couple of weeks, in Bishop William Ward school, in Great Horkesley, they have been focusing on Perseverance, one of their school values. And so I have lead a couple of collective worships themed around Perseverance, and we have thought about Noah, and the perseverance he would have had to have shown, building the ark, especially when you consider how big it needed to be, and how long it must have taken, after all there was no B&Q on the doorstep, Amazon deliveries available 24/7 or powertools to work with, and of course he did all this, with his neighbours most likely thinking he was completely mad. But he carried on … and on … and on and eventually built the ark and after the floods had subsided gets the promise from God in the rainbow, that he would never send floodwaters like this again. And then this last week, we were back on the water, and thinking about Paul and the shipwreck, and the one thing that Paul continued to do, as he travelled from place to place, town to town, village to village, whether he was free to travel, being shipped to prison, or under house arrest. He carried on telling others about Jesus and encouraging others in their faith, he never gave up, he always persevered. And we have also been into the school, to run a Prayer spaces, and one of the activities was entitled ‘Perseverance trainers’, as the young people were given a trainer to colour in, they were encourage to think about something that they might be struggling with at the moment, something that they are needing to really keep on going on with, and think about how they might ask God to help, as they then placed their trainer onto a running track. And as we did this prayer activity, we were thinking about the verse in Hebrews which says, ‘And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.’ Perseverance – let us keep on running. And so as I read the passage for this morning from Philippians, I was reminded of this image of perseverance, as Paul writes in verses 12 – 14; ‘Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead, I press on towards the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenwards in Christ Jesus.’ And I was reminded of a very famous race, the athletics meet had reached a critical stage, one of the final races was left to be run: the 440 yards (the old version of todays 400meters). The athletes were bunched together as they came to the first bend, and one of them was pushed over and fell right off the track. Quick as a flash he was back on his feet, as though electrically charged by the incident, caught the other runners with a few paces to go and overtook them to win on the line. It was a famous victory, which features now in the film, ‘Chariots of fire.’ I wonder, what would I have done, what you would you have done in similar circumstanced? Most of us, I suspect, would have accepted from the moment we fell, that we were out of the race, with no hope left. We might be feeling angry, but there would be nothing we could do about it. What had in fact just happened would keep us enslaved, with no hope of going on to what might have happened. With the athlete in question – the famous Eric Liddell – it was just the opposite. It was as though he had been reading this passage of Paul: forget what’s behind, strain every nerve to go after what’s ahead, and chase on towards the finishing post. Keep on going on, keep on pushing towards the goal. Persevere Yes, the past is useful in shaping our future, in helping us not to repeat past mistakes, but we can’t dwell in the past, we need to keep our eyes fixed on what is before us. For us, not simply the finishing line, but the promise of eternity with God in heaven. Paul, for all his credentials, as listed at the beginning of our passage from Philippians today, reminds as that true maturity means knowing that we haven’t arrived and that we must keep on pressing forward towards the goal. The seasoned athlete knows that the race isn’t won and lost until the end has been reached. To imagine that because you find yourself out at the front of the pack you can slack off and take it easy, ‘having arrived’, would be disastrous. But perseverance, can sometimes feel difficult, carrying on carrying on, takes energy, and can be emotionally draining, particularly when it feels like you aren’t getting anywhere. Our Christian journey is not meant to be a gloomy struggle, we keep on pressing onwards, for that which Christ took hold of us. All of our efforts, take place within the context of God’s grace: King Jesus has grasped hold of us and what we now do, is a matter of responding in love to the firm hand of Christ we have on our shoulder. I wonder where we might be feeling the strain of perseverance at this moment in time? perhaps as we face change? perhaps we are feeling uncertain, wondering about how we can carry on. Can we offer it up to king Jesus, knowing that he is the author and perfecter of our faith, and trust that he will keep our feet on the right path, as we keep our eyes focused on him. Amen
A firm place to stand It could be said, that in many aspects of life today, we face uncertain and in some cases difficult times. The world is troubled, there are tensions rising between nations, distrust, fear and anxiety, which bubbles up into violence. This last summer has been extremely hot and dry and we have seen wildfires sweep devastatingly across swathes of land, destroying precious ecosystems, and we are being warned that the El Nino will bring storms and rain this autumn, and potentially an even hotter summer next year. So what do we do when life seems difficult? Whilst walking the Camino, one of my hardest days, was a very steep, rocky descent from the highest point, into the town of Molinaseca, the path was treacherous, and at one point, I found myself walking alone for what seemed like ages, I could see no one in front and no one behind. I had started the day, reading a couple of verses from Psalm 40: ‘I waited patiently for the Lord, he turned to me and heart my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.’ As I walked I found myself crying out to the Lord, asking him to give me a sign, that I wasn’t alone, that if I fell, someone would find me! Immediately, from behind I heard the familiar and unmistakable sound of a second set of walking poles, it was as if, though not literally, my feet had been set on a rock, and I had been given a firm place to stand. I had the reassurance I needed, that I was not alone, indeed that I am never alone, God is always there, before, behind, beside, above and inside me. We don’t need to feel overwhelmed by the troubles of the world, we just need to wait patiently on the Lord, knowing that he is with us, he has not abandoned us, he will set our feet on the rock and give us a firm place to stand. May God bless you Reverend Heather
Trinity 15/A - Genesis 50:15-21; Matthew 18:21-35 & Romans 14:1-12You might have seen, Norwich Prison featuring on the local news this week, which reminded me of the time I spent in Norwich prison, as a visitor I hasten to add! Whilst I was there, I got to meet several of the men who attended the prison alpha courses and one of the chapel assistants. As we sat and chatted, he told me about how he had come to faith whilst in prison, and it was a profound story of hope, he told me about how the Holy Spirit had completely transformed his life, and how it felt to him to know the forgiveness of God. He told me a little of his story, but of course, he told me nothing of why he was in prison in the first place, just that he was a ‘lifer’ and so clearly, whatever it was it was significant. But what struck me and has always remained with me, is his comment, that although he knew he was forgiven by God, he could never forgive himself, he would live with the guilt for the rest of his life. And that challenged me, because I could see a man, who although he had accepted Jesus into his life, was still trapped, not just by the four walls of the prison, which was justice, but by his guilt. And it made me wonder about what being forgiven looks like, how does it, how should it change us, if know that we have been forgiven? Now of course, this is an extreme example, but in our bible readings today, this is something that crops up a couple of times. Let us look again at our passage from Genesis. In our reading, it said that when the brothers sent their message to Joseph saying ‘your father left these instructions before he died: ‘This is what you are to say to Joseph: I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and the wrongs they have committed in treating you so badly. Now please forgive the sins of the servants of God of your father.’ Joseph wept. Joseph wept … why … because he had already shown his brothers forgiveness, he had already forgiven them, but had the brothers ever fully recognised the forgiveness they had received, or as it appears, did they believe it was only conditional on their father Jacob still being around, and so when he died, they panicked and thought Joseph would know exact his revenge … no wonder Joseph wept and in his compassion, reassures them, that they are forgiven, and assures them of his ongoing provision for them and their families. To know you are forgiven is to be freed from the bondage of fear and doubt, wondering when the person that has forgiven you might just change their mind? In psalm 103 we are reminded, ‘as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.’ When we consider the forgiveness of God, our sins are forgiven and forgotten … so that we might be set free, or as we will be singing later ‘Long my imprisoned spirit lay, fast bound in sin and nature’s night, thine eye diffused a quickening ray, I woke, the dungeon flamed with light; my chains fell off, my heart was free; I rose, went forth and followed thee.’ So to know that you are forgiven is to be freed from the bondage of fear and doubt, but what about our reading from Matthews gospel this morning. It is a familiar parable, told in response of course to the question, how many times should I forgive my brother when he sins against me and so the bedrock, I am sure for many sermons on forgiving others. But what about what it looks like to know you are forgiven. Because as I was reading and reflecting on this parable this week, I wondered did the unmerciful servant really know that he was forgiven … certainly his actions didn’t match the forgiveness he had been shown. And so of course, he is freed from a huge debt by his master, only to then not forgive one of his fellow servants who owed him a small debt, having him thrown into prison. I wonder if that really looks like the actions of someone who knows that they are forgiven … and in the light of our reading from Genesis, I think he looks a little like the brothers, anxious that his masters generosity may not be sustained, there is fear. And perhaps he was right to be anxious, after all when his master hears word of what he has done, he is handed over to the jailors to be tortured until he paid back what was owed … an impossible amount. But only because …. He didn’t show the same amount of mercy as he himself had been shown. Being forgiven, knowing that we are forgiven, should lead to a change in our hearts a change which leads to action, as you see the world with fresh eyes. With compassion and with love. Mercy, love, justice, kindness and forgiveness are all gifts from God. These are the signs and symbols of God’s living presence with us. God is calling us today to live a life of forgiveness. Over and over we are forgiven by God. Not seven times seventy, but endlessly. God’s love precedes us, is beside us, surrounds us and leads us home. Our call, our response is to live as forgiven people, forgiving others and ourselves. Paul in Romans reminds us ‘We do not live to ourselves and we do not die to ourselves. If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord’ so then, whether we live or whether we did, we are the Lords (Romans 14:8). Such forgiveness is not something we do alone, but in community. As we model forgiveness, we receive abundant forgiveness and help others see God’s mercy working in their lives. So how do we become the people of forgiveness and mercy in this fractured world? We start by forgiving ourselves. God forgives you, so forgive yourself. And when we accept our own flawed humanity, we notice that others around us are human too – and as prone to failing as we are – and compassion grows. To know we are forgiven ourselves, frees us to be people of forgiveness, forgiving others and ushering in God’s kingdom of mercy and justice. So as we leave our worship later today, may we live into the freedom of the forgiveness we have received. Amen.
