All Saints: Oct 29

Rev 7.9-end, 1 John 3.1-3, Mt 5.1-12

I hope you said hello to St Edith on the way into church today, my offering for the Halloween scarecrow trail around the village. I thought I would put the Hallow into Halloween, and honour our local saint – hallow is just another word for holy, or saintly.

In fact, she is really one of two local saints, because her mother Wulfthryth, was also regarded as a saint, and for very good reason, it seems to me. I wondered about making a scarecrow of her as well, but time ran away with me, and I wasn’t sure so many people would know her. 

In some ways, though, Wulfthryth showed the greater courage and determination, and deserves to be honoured.

I am sure many of you will be familiar with the story, but in outline, here it is. Around 960 AD England was ruled by the 18 year old King Edgar, known as the Peaceable, but only because there were no major wars in his time. He was a bit of a lad, a womaniser, who had at least four children by three different women in the space of five years, and one of those women was Wulfthryth. She was either a nun or, more likely, a nobleman’s daughter entrusted to the keeping of Wilton Abbey near Salisbury, where she could be educated and kept safe from unsuitable men. The defences of a convent couldn’t keep a king out, though, and legend has it that he was entranced by the sound of her voice reading aloud during a meal in the convent. He either abducted her or eloped with her, depending on who you believe, but either way, she probably didn’t have much choice. She was a woman; he was a man, and a king to boot. Soon she was pregnant, so he installed her in what was either a royal house or a convent in Kemsing. He doesn’t seem to have married her, though marriage was a fairly flexible concept at the time, and in any case, very soon after Edith’s birth his roving eye had roved on to another woman, Elfrida, who he definitely did marry and who eventually became his queen.

Edgar always acknowledged Edith and supported her, and seems to have been on good terms with Wulfthryth too, but, discarded by a king, the best she could have hoped for was to be married off quietly to someone who would turn a blind eye to her past, and Wulfthryth wasn’t going to put up with that. She insisted on going back to Wilton, where she became a nun, and eventually Abbess. She brought Edith up in the convent, where she became a nun herself.  

Edith died in her early twenties, but Wulfthryth lived on many years afterwards, dying around 1000 AD, with a reputation for holiness and loving care, having built up Wilton Abbey and influenced generations of nuns. One of her more tangible achievements was to build a stone wall around the Abbey, perhaps in the hopes of giving the nuns in her care more protection against rapacious kings than she had.

It would have been easy for Wulfthryth and Edith to have been consumed with bitterness, but they weren’t. They decided not to let their past dictate their future – our history doesn’t have to fix our destiny. Instead they found within the difficulties of their lives real and living faith in God which enabled them to serve others and make a difference to the world around them.  They chose to make their own lives, and what lives they made!

The truth is that those who we call saints are often people who at the time would have seemed to those around them unlucky, awkward, cursed rather than blessed, people with no obvious success or attractiveness to recommend them. Jesus’ words to his disciples in today’s Gospel reading sum that up. The disciples had seen the crowds flock to Jesus, needy people, battered people, “harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” as the Gospel puts it elsewhere. I can just imagine the disciples rolling their eyes and tutting as yet another leper, yet another woman hysterical with grief because her child was ill, yet another man whose life had gone off the rails, yet another prostitute stretched forward their grubby hands to try to touch him. What was the point of helping these people? What use would they be to God’s mission? Surely the chaos of their lives was proof that God wanted nothing to do with them? Surely they should be written off, as people might have been inclined to write off Wulfthryth and Edith.

But Jesus takes his disciples aside and calmly, cooly overturns all those unspoken thoughts in the words we now call the beatitudes.  Blessed are the poor in spirit, he says, the meek, the mournful, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. Blessed are those who don’t play the power games of the world – the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, those persecuted for righteousness’ sake. In them God is doing a holy thing, he says. In them, the kingdom is coming into being.  The rewards he talks about aren’t some arbitrary prize they are given after death. They grow out of the situations they face. When we are poor in spirit we don’t have the security that comes from wealth and status, but that means we value much more the loving support of others and the loving support of God. It is impossible to be comforted unless we truly mourn. Being hungry and thirsty for righteousness, knowing we need it, is the first step on the road to justice and peace. Jesus knew the truth of this because this was his experience.

In John’s Gospel Jesus says “I am the Way – no one comes to the Father but by me”. Being a Christian isn’t a matter simply of praying the right prayers or believing the right things; it is about following a way, the way that Jesus walked before us, which led through the squalor, hardship and shame of the cross. Yet in that suffering, not despite it, hope was born. 

Our first reading, from the book of Revelation echoes that truth. It starts out sounding like a fairly standard image of an earthly court, with rank on rank of loyal subjects, waving palms and cheering, a glorious throne surrounded by triumphal music. But who is on the throne? The sacrificial Lamb,  that symbol of the crucified, humiliated, powerless Christ.

Our natural sense is that when things are falling to pieces around us we must be doing something wrong – we feel ashamed - but God doesn’t see it that way. That is the message of Jesus’ beatitudes, and the message of his life too. When Wulfthryth found herself pregnant, unmarried, and discarded, I doubt whether she felt blessed. When Edith was growing up, illegitimate, dependant on the whim of a father who might or might not support her, I doubt whether she felt blessed either. And yet they discovered the blessing of God in their vulnerability. And that meant they could become blessings to others. 

“Beloved” says the letter of John, “We are God’s children now”. Now when we are in a mess. Now when our lives have gone awry. Now when our plans seem to be backfiring.  “We are God’s children now” he says, but then he goes on, “what we will be has not yet been revealed.” The past doesn’t have to define the future. The things that have happened to us, the things we have done, are not the last word. God has that word, and whatever it is, it will be a word of love. 

So, let’s thank God for our local saints, for Wulfthryth as well as Edith. Their lives remind us that the things that seem like the end of the world can, in fact be a new beginning. Others may think we will never amount to anything. We might think that others will never amount to anything. But God sees us all as his beloved children, heirs of his kingdom, and if we can see that too we are truly blessed.

Amen

All Saints: Oct 29

Rev 7.9-end, 1 John 3.1-3, Mt 5.1-12

I hope you said hello to St Edith on the way into church today, my offering for the Halloween scarecrow trail around the village. I thought I would put the Hallow into Halloween, and honour our local saint – hallow is just another word for holy, or saintly.

In fact, she is really one of two local saints, because her mother Wulfthryth, was also regarded as a saint, and for very good reason, it seems to me. I wondered about making a scarecrow of her as well, but time ran away with me, and I wasn’t sure so many people would know her. 

In some ways, though, Wulfthryth showed the greater courage and determination, and deserves to be honoured.

I am sure many of you will be familiar with the story, but in outline, here it is. Around 960 AD England was ruled by the 18 year old King Edgar, known as the Peaceable, but only because there were no major wars in his time. He was a bit of a lad, a womaniser, who had at least four children by three different women in the space of five years, and one of those women was Wulfthryth. She was either a nun or, more likely, a nobleman’s daughter entrusted to the keeping of Wilton Abbey near Salisbury, where she could be educated and kept safe from unsuitable men. The defences of a convent couldn’t keep a king out, though, and legend has it that he was entranced by the sound of her voice reading aloud during a meal in the convent. He either abducted her or eloped with her, depending on who you believe, but either way, she probably didn’t have much choice. She was a woman; he was a man, and a king to boot. Soon she was pregnant, so he installed her in what was either a royal house or a convent in Kemsing. He doesn’t seem to have married her, though marriage was a fairly flexible concept at the time, and in any case, very soon after Edith’s birth his roving eye had roved on to another woman, Elfrida, who he definitely did marry and who eventually became his queen.

Edgar always acknowledged Edith and supported her, and seems to have been on good terms with Wulfthryth too, but, discarded by a king, the best she could have hoped for was to be married off quietly to someone who would turn a blind eye to her past, and Wulfthryth wasn’t going to put up with that. She insisted on going back to Wilton, where she became a nun, and eventually Abbess. She brought Edith up in the convent, where she became a nun herself.  

Edith died in her early twenties, but Wulfthryth lived on many years afterwards, dying around 1000 AD, with a reputation for holiness and loving care, having built up Wilton Abbey and influenced generations of nuns. One of her more tangible achievements was to build a stone wall around the Abbey, perhaps in the hopes of giving the nuns in her care more protection against rapacious kings than she had.

It would have been easy for Wulfthryth and Edith to have been consumed with bitterness, but they weren’t. They decided not to let their past dictate their future – our history doesn’t have to fix our destiny. Instead they found within the difficulties of their lives real and living faith in God which enabled them to serve others and make a difference to the world around them.  They chose to make their own lives, and what lives they made!

The truth is that those who we call saints are often people who at the time would have seemed to those around them unlucky, awkward, cursed rather than blessed, people with no obvious success or attractiveness to recommend them. Jesus’ words to his disciples in today’s Gospel reading sum that up. The disciples had seen the crowds flock to Jesus, needy people, battered people, “harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” as the Gospel puts it elsewhere. I can just imagine the disciples rolling their eyes and tutting as yet another leper, yet another woman hysterical with grief because her child was ill, yet another man whose life had gone off the rails, yet another prostitute stretched forward their grubby hands to try to touch him. What was the point of helping these people? What use would they be to God’s mission? Surely the chaos of their lives was proof that God wanted nothing to do with them? Surely they should be written off, as people might have been inclined to write off Wulfthryth and Edith.

But Jesus takes his disciples aside and calmly, cooly overturns all those unspoken thoughts in the words we now call the beatitudes.  Blessed are the poor in spirit, he says, the meek, the mournful, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. Blessed are those who don’t play the power games of the world – the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, those persecuted for righteousness’ sake. In them God is doing a holy thing, he says. In them, the kingdom is coming into being.  The rewards he talks about aren’t some arbitrary prize they are given after death. They grow out of the situations they face. When we are poor in spirit we don’t have the security that comes from wealth and status, but that means we value much more the loving support of others and the loving support of God. It is impossible to be comforted unless we truly mourn. Being hungry and thirsty for righteousness, knowing we need it, is the first step on the road to justice and peace. Jesus knew the truth of this because this was his experience.

In John’s Gospel Jesus says “I am the Way – no one comes to the Father but by me”. Being a Christian isn’t a matter simply of praying the right prayers or believing the right things; it is about following a way, the way that Jesus walked before us, which led through the squalor, hardship and shame of the cross. Yet in that suffering, not despite it, hope was born. 

Our first reading, from the book of Revelation echoes that truth. It starts out sounding like a fairly standard image of an earthly court, with rank on rank of loyal subjects, waving palms and cheering, a glorious throne surrounded by triumphal music. But who is on the throne? The sacrificial Lamb,  that symbol of the crucified, humiliated, powerless Christ.

Our natural sense is that when things are falling to pieces around us we must be doing something wrong – we feel ashamed - but God doesn’t see it that way. That is the message of Jesus’ beatitudes, and the message of his life too. When Wulfthryth found herself pregnant, unmarried, and discarded, I doubt whether she felt blessed. When Edith was growing up, illegitimate, dependant on the whim of a father who might or might not support her, I doubt whether she felt blessed either. And yet they discovered the blessing of God in their vulnerability. And that meant they could become blessings to others. 

“Beloved” says the letter of John, “We are God’s children now”. Now when we are in a mess. Now when our lives have gone awry. Now when our plans seem to be backfiring.  “We are God’s children now” he says, but then he goes on, “what we will be has not yet been revealed.” The past doesn’t have to define the future. The things that have happened to us, the things we have done, are not the last word. God has that word, and whatever it is, it will be a word of love. 

So, let’s thank God for our local saints, for Wulfthryth as well as Edith. Their lives remind us that the things that seem like the end of the world can, in fact be a new beginning. Others may think we will never amount to anything. We might think that others will never amount to anything. But God sees us all as his beloved children, heirs of his kingdom, and if we can see that too we are truly blessed.

Amen

Sunday worship podcast and other news from Seal Church: Oct 29

 

Dear Friends As usual, the link to our podcast is above - click on the picture to access it. with best wishes Anne Le Bas Online Worship podcast - Click on picture above Order of service You can also access this podcast by phoning 01732 928061 In the church building today 10 am Holy Communion 6.30pm All Souls' Service Next Sunday Nov 5 10 am Holy Communion 6.30pm Evensong This week:  Mon     1.30pm Funeral: Sir Jonathan Benn Bt   Wed    10 am Good Book Club in the vicarage. Revelation 21             4.30 children's choir             7.15 pm Adult choir  Fri        9 am Morning Prayer in Church             10.30 - 12.30 Friday Group in the church hall All Saints & All Souls Today we celebrate the feast of All Saints in our podcast and at church in the morning, giving thanks for all who have shown the light of Christ in the world, and thinking about our own calling to share God's love too. This evening we will mark All Souls' day, (see details below) with a special service in which we will remember those we love who have died, and lighting candles in their memory. (All Saints is actually on Nov 1, and All Souls on Nov 2) It's no accident that these festivals take place as the nights are closing in - the clocks went back in the middle of last night, in case you missed it!  Our ancient ancestors knew that darkness could be dangerous - who knew what lurked within it? - so it was natural, and sensible, to fear it. The obsession with "things that go bump in the night" is a way of acknowledging and confronting those fears, as people do at Hallowe'en. But it's important that we remember that Hallowe'en is, literally, the eve of All Hallows - All Saints; we may acknowledge the darkness, but we are also bearing witness that, within that darkness we can find the light of Christ, which no darkness can overcome.  In today's sermon, I explore the story of two of our local saints, St Edith and her mother, St Wulfthryth, women whose courage and tenacity in the face of their societies expectations and attitudes enabled them to shine a light which illuminated the lives of many others. You can find out more about them here, in the blog I wrote following my sabbatical a few years ago. My scarecrow offering for this year also introduces us to Edith, so say hello to her if you are passing the churchyard in the next few days (she will be there until next weekend).   All Age Ideas Today at church we are celebrating All Saints and All Souls, two special services in which we remember the people who have shone like lights in our lives and in the wider world, who have helped others or given us good examples to follow.  You could: Cut out some paper people, and draw on them to represent people who you think are inspiring, or who have helped you. I'm sure you know how to do this already, but in case not, there are instructions here  Make some pictures on thin paper or greaseproof paper and stick them to your window, or shine a light behind them. The light makes the colours glow.  If you are carving a pumpkin or making other decorations for Hallowe'en, why not include something that represents love, joy and peace for you, and pray for people who are going through dark and scary times at the moment? CHURCH AND COMMUNITY NEWS SEAL OVER 60's SOUTHERN STRUMMERS UKULELE GROUP SAT NOV 11th 2.30 SEAL VILLAGE HALL Following last year's resounding success, the Southern Strummers Ukulele Group are returning to Seal Over 60's and all are welcome to come along. The cost is £6 to non-members and includes the usual Over 60's delicious afternoon tea.  To book, please call Chris on 07759 808814.   SEAL VILLAGE HALL FREE SOCIAL INFORMATION SESSION SAT 11th NOVEMBER 5pm-7pm  Come and join the Village Hall Trustees and volunteers, for a free glass of wine, or a soft drink, and nibbles, and find out what is going on in your Village Hall. All are welcome. SEAL TIDDLERS FUND RAISING PAMPER EVENING - ENTRY BY PRE-BOOKED TICKET ONLY Pamper evening Thursday 23rd November Seal church hall (TN15 0AR) 7.30 to 9.30pm (Parking is limited so please walk or car share if possible). £5 a ticket with a glass of prosecco or orange plus a goody bag in aid of funds for Seal Tiddlers.  Tickets and bookable appointments from Stephanie_barnes1990@outlook.com (Please bring cash on the night). Hair and make-up demonstrations. Hair, nails, Neal's Yard hand massage, wax melts, Indian Head Massage and stalls include jewellery, cupcakes, fashion, Body Shop and a raffle. Appointments for nails and hair/hand massage Lots of stalls to start your Christmas shopping! CHRISTMAS WREATH MAKING  Friday December 1st in Seal Church Hall £30 per head There will be 2 sessions - 3pm and 7.30pm , providing all you need to make a beautiful Christmas wreath, a glass of wine and mince pie.Please bring your own secateurs! To book, please contact Chris on 07759 808814 or 01732 763585. SEAL VILLAGE ALLOTMENTS Seal Village Allotments are now renewing rentals for the 2024 season, and have some plots available. If you would like to join us and grow your own produce, then please contact: sealvillageallotments@gmail.com VILLAGE CHRISTMAS LIGHTS We have had an amazing offer from a new resident to Seal, Marcus, who is willing to take on the lead role for the Christmas lights this year, taking over from Marion Gilchrist. We are very grateful for this offer, and would welcome at least a few people to put their names forward now, to help Marcus with this task. As usual, they will probably go up on the last weekend of November or first weekend in December. If you can register your interest now, by contacting marionjgilchrist@gmail.com, she will give Marcus your names, and maybe have a little get together before that time.

Sunday worship podcast and other news from Seal Church: Oct 29

 

Dear Friends As usual, the link to our podcast is above - click on the picture to access it. with best wishes Anne Le Bas Online Worship podcast - Click on picture above Order of service You can also access this podcast by phoning 01732 928061 In the church building today 10 am Holy Communion 6.30pm All Souls' Service Next Sunday Nov 5 10 am Holy Communion 6.30pm Evensong This week:  Mon     1.30pm Funeral: Sir Jonathan Benn Bt   Wed    10 am Good Book Club in the vicarage. Revelation 21             4.30 children's choir             7.15 pm Adult choir  Fri        9 am Morning Prayer in Church             10.30 - 12.30 Friday Group in the church hall All Saints & All Souls Today we celebrate the feast of All Saints in our podcast and at church in the morning, giving thanks for all who have shown the light of Christ in the world, and thinking about our own calling to share God's love too. This evening we will mark All Souls' day, (see details below) with a special service in which we will remember those we love who have died, and lighting candles in their memory. (All Saints is actually on Nov 1, and All Souls on Nov 2) It's no accident that these festivals take place as the nights are closing in - the clocks went back in the middle of last night, in case you missed it!  Our ancient ancestors knew that darkness could be dangerous - who knew what lurked within it? - so it was natural, and sensible, to fear it. The obsession with "things that go bump in the night" is a way of acknowledging and confronting those fears, as people do at Hallowe'en. But it's important that we remember that Hallowe'en is, literally, the eve of All Hallows - All Saints; we may acknowledge the darkness, but we are also bearing witness that, within that darkness we can find the light of Christ, which no darkness can overcome.  In today's sermon, I explore the story of two of our local saints, St Edith and her mother, St Wulfthryth, women whose courage and tenacity in the face of their societies expectations and attitudes enabled them to shine a light which illuminated the lives of many others. You can find out more about them here, in the blog I wrote following my sabbatical a few years ago. My scarecrow offering for this year also introduces us to Edith, so say hello to her if you are passing the churchyard in the next few days (she will be there until next weekend).   All Age Ideas Today at church we are celebrating All Saints and All Souls, two special services in which we remember the people who have shone like lights in our lives and in the wider world, who have helped others or given us good examples to follow.  You could: Cut out some paper people, and draw on them to represent people who you think are inspiring, or who have helped you. I'm sure you know how to do this already, but in case not, there are instructions here  Make some pictures on thin paper or greaseproof paper and stick them to your window, or shine a light behind them. The light makes the colours glow.  If you are carving a pumpkin or making other decorations for Hallowe'en, why not include something that represents love, joy and peace for you, and pray for people who are going through dark and scary times at the moment? CHURCH AND COMMUNITY NEWS SEAL OVER 60's SOUTHERN STRUMMERS UKULELE GROUP SAT NOV 11th 2.30 SEAL VILLAGE HALL Following last year's resounding success, the Southern Strummers Ukulele Group are returning to Seal Over 60's and all are welcome to come along. The cost is £6 to non-members and includes the usual Over 60's delicious afternoon tea.  To book, please call Chris on 07759 808814.   SEAL VILLAGE HALL FREE SOCIAL INFORMATION SESSION SAT 11th NOVEMBER 5pm-7pm  Come and join the Village Hall Trustees and volunteers, for a free glass of wine, or a soft drink, and nibbles, and find out what is going on in your Village Hall. All are welcome. SEAL TIDDLERS FUND RAISING PAMPER EVENING - ENTRY BY PRE-BOOKED TICKET ONLY Pamper evening Thursday 23rd November Seal church hall (TN15 0AR) 7.30 to 9.30pm (Parking is limited so please walk or car share if possible). £5 a ticket with a glass of prosecco or orange plus a goody bag in aid of funds for Seal Tiddlers.  Tickets and bookable appointments from Stephanie_barnes1990@outlook.com (Please bring cash on the night). Hair and make-up demonstrations. Hair, nails, Neal's Yard hand massage, wax melts, Indian Head Massage and stalls include jewellery, cupcakes, fashion, Body Shop and a raffle. Appointments for nails and hair/hand massage Lots of stalls to start your Christmas shopping! CHRISTMAS WREATH MAKING  Friday December 1st in Seal Church Hall £30 per head There will be 2 sessions - 3pm and 7.30pm , providing all you need to make a beautiful Christmas wreath, a glass of wine and mince pie.Please bring your own secateurs! To book, please contact Chris on 07759 808814 or 01732 763585. SEAL VILLAGE ALLOTMENTS Seal Village Allotments are now renewing rentals for the 2024 season, and have some plots available. If you would like to join us and grow your own produce, then please contact: sealvillageallotments@gmail.com VILLAGE CHRISTMAS LIGHTS We have had an amazing offer from a new resident to Seal, Marcus, who is willing to take on the lead role for the Christmas lights this year, taking over from Marion Gilchrist. We are very grateful for this offer, and would welcome at least a few people to put their names forward now, to help Marcus with this task. As usual, they will probably go up on the last weekend of November or first weekend in December. If you can register your interest now, by contacting marionjgilchrist@gmail.com, she will give Marcus your names, and maybe have a little get together before that time.

Trinity 20

 

Isaiah 45:1-7,  1 Thessalonians 1:1-10 & Matthew 22:15-22

Did you have any coins about your person today? A simple question to which the answer is yes or no.I expect that many people don’t use cash much anymore, preferring to tap or use their mobile devices to make payments.

Much of our Gospel reading is centred around coins and questions today.When you take time to think about it there really are ‘questions’ and then there are ‘questions’.

Simple ones like is there a train service from Sevenoaks to London Bridge? Yes.

There’s questions like, how does the person that drives the snow plough get to the depot in the morning?

Then there’s those annoying sarcastic type questions like ‘Did you mean to cut your hedge all wonky like that’?

I heard of a child who had to move out of their house because it was to be rented to someone else who asked one of those questions that makes adults hearts sink ‘why don’t we all just share’?

But, while we eat our breakfast or drink our morning tea, radio and TV presenters ask all sorts of difficult questions to people in the public glare, sometimes smugly, sometimes because they think they already know the answer or that there simply is no acceptable answer. These are not straightforward questions.

In such situations with whom do you think the balance of power rests? Occasionally it’s surprising to the interviewer when the person being interviewed produces unexpected evidence or a strong argument. And so we edge closer to Jesus’ situation.

Enter the Pharisees and Herodians, opposing groups, but united in their desire to destroy Jesus, give them some credit, they have really thought about the question and feel confident that whichever way Jesus answers he’s going to cause problems for himself.

They start with a bit of empty flattery. Beware of flattery, even though it works a treat on egotistical people.

There are wise words about it throughout the bible but several in the book of Proverbs. Here’s two examples…

‘Whoever flatters a neighbour is spreading a net for the neighbour’s feet’ and ‘Whoever rebukes a person will afterwards find more favour than one who flatters with the tongue.’

So Jesus ain’t falling for that one!

The Pharisees believe that they have put Jesus in a ‘no win’ situation. If he answers that people should pay taxes to the hated Roman occupiers to fund their brutal regime, he will lose all credibility with those who hope he is the true Messiah, radical and liberationist.

If he says that the people should withhold their taxes then he’s going to be in immediate trouble with the Roman authorities and liable to be arrested.

His first response is ‘show me the coin used for the tax’, he probably doesn’t carry them routinely unlike the pharisee who immediately has one to hand.

Next he asks, and here we see the art of the balance of power being turned upside down in the questioning process, ‘Whose head is this, and whose title’? ‘The emperor’s’ they reply.

Those who study Roman coinage will know that all sorts of abbreviations were used to minimise the labour required to communicate the title of the emperor as they needed to fit this on a small coin and the work was done by hand.

Coinage was a way of projecting power. With an Emperors head on coins throughout the region he was hard to avoid and a constant reminder of who was in charge whether the people liked it or not.

Forced into a situation where they must study the coin the Pharisees would have been observing an image likely to be that of Ceasar Augustus Tiberius, a man whose followers regarded him to be a living god, the inscriptions are likely to have referred to him as son of the divine Augustus, reinforcing his ‘godliness’.  Jewish law prohibited any form of idolatry and it must have suddenly dawned upon the Pharisees that they continuously carried a symbol of their complicity with Rome and of blasphemy to their God. Just having this coin in the temple was against their own law, oh dear, they really were finding themselves in a muddle.

By saying ‘Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s and to God the things that are God’s’ Jesus makes it clear that earthly and divine rulers are entirely separate and these coins have no value to God.

Despite the fact that Jesus’ message has political implications he has rejected the political ambitions of those who would make him a king in earthly spheres. The changes he wants to see will come from peoples’ hearts and not the change of regime which they think they need.

it can be hard for us to look at the subject of taxes dispassionately. It was Benjamin Franklin who wrote in 1789 ‘in this world nothing is certain but death and taxes’. Whilst taxation in its various forms is currently at an historic high, thankfully, we at least are paying it to our own Government rather than a foreign occupier.

We may not always approve of how our taxes are spent but at least we have hospitals, emergency services, a military, schools, refuse collectors and other valuable public services which are funded by them.

Although there were significant resistance movements against paying tax to Rome even in Jesus time there will have been those who appreciated some of the benefits the occupying Romans brought with them. What have the Romans ever done for us? You probably know that this was a question posed by the fictional Peoples Front of Judea. Apart from medicine, irrigation, education, public health, baths and some other things, absolutely nothing!

Back in the temple those asking Jesus won’t be pleased with the answer they have received but they also know in their hearts that it wasn’t a real question and they only wanted an answer which would cause trouble for Jesus, so their hatred and resentment  of him continues to grow and just few days later Jesus would be arrested and crucified.

The Pharisees make Ceasar the subject of the question whilst Jesus wants to bring these so called religious and pious people back to the subject of God and our duty to him. No wonder he calls them hypocrites as they conveniently fail to acknowledge that God reigns over all in their frenzied enthusiasm to entrap him.

Of course, they should use all their study, their alleged wisdom and their learning from Jesus to recognize him and help others to know him as the Son of God, but this is the one thing they are absolutely determined not to do.

Was it that the Pharisees were scared that God has come this close to them, and they don’t like what they are hearing? Was it that despite all the wacky religious preachers in Jerusalem at the time this one stood out as different and couldn’t just be dismissed.

Contrast what Jesus tells to the Pharisees and Herodians with Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians . When he had visited Thessalonica previously the people he is writing to would have worshipped many cults including the ideals of the Roman empire. The coverts to Paul’s message would have faced persecution and rejection as they made a clear choice to follow Christ and it this message, rooted in God, that he praises and encourages so enthusiastically.

Perhaps the Pharisees thought If only God were like Ceasar they could just pay their taxes and be done with it, but a relationship founded in generous love is so very different.

By Jesus pointing to the emperor’s head, we are encouraged to reflect of the earthly things that distract us from God and all that competes for our obedience and loyalty.

But it’s important that we remind ourselves the image we bear is not that of Ceasar, any political party, nor the ruling monarch but that of God. We are created in his image and called to be his children.

So whilst we may accept that death and taxes are certainties of our lives, as children of God we also have the opportunity to show that the third certainty in life is the love of God for each and every one of us.

Amen

Kevin Bright                                                                                                                   22^nd October 2023

Trinity 20

 

Isaiah 45:1-7,  1 Thessalonians 1:1-10 & Matthew 22:15-22

Did you have any coins about your person today? A simple question to which the answer is yes or no.I expect that many people don’t use cash much anymore, preferring to tap or use their mobile devices to make payments.

Much of our Gospel reading is centred around coins and questions today.When you take time to think about it there really are ‘questions’ and then there are ‘questions’.

Simple ones like is there a train service from Sevenoaks to London Bridge? Yes.

There’s questions like, how does the person that drives the snow plough get to the depot in the morning?

Then there’s those annoying sarcastic type questions like ‘Did you mean to cut your hedge all wonky like that’?

I heard of a child who had to move out of their house because it was to be rented to someone else who asked one of those questions that makes adults hearts sink ‘why don’t we all just share’?

But, while we eat our breakfast or drink our morning tea, radio and TV presenters ask all sorts of difficult questions to people in the public glare, sometimes smugly, sometimes because they think they already know the answer or that there simply is no acceptable answer. These are not straightforward questions.

In such situations with whom do you think the balance of power rests? Occasionally it’s surprising to the interviewer when the person being interviewed produces unexpected evidence or a strong argument. And so we edge closer to Jesus’ situation.

Enter the Pharisees and Herodians, opposing groups, but united in their desire to destroy Jesus, give them some credit, they have really thought about the question and feel confident that whichever way Jesus answers he’s going to cause problems for himself.

They start with a bit of empty flattery. Beware of flattery, even though it works a treat on egotistical people.

There are wise words about it throughout the bible but several in the book of Proverbs. Here’s two examples…

‘Whoever flatters a neighbour is spreading a net for the neighbour’s feet’ and ‘Whoever rebukes a person will afterwards find more favour than one who flatters with the tongue.’

So Jesus ain’t falling for that one!

The Pharisees believe that they have put Jesus in a ‘no win’ situation. If he answers that people should pay taxes to the hated Roman occupiers to fund their brutal regime, he will lose all credibility with those who hope he is the true Messiah, radical and liberationist.

If he says that the people should withhold their taxes then he’s going to be in immediate trouble with the Roman authorities and liable to be arrested.

His first response is ‘show me the coin used for the tax’, he probably doesn’t carry them routinely unlike the pharisee who immediately has one to hand.

Next he asks, and here we see the art of the balance of power being turned upside down in the questioning process, ‘Whose head is this, and whose title’? ‘The emperor’s’ they reply.

Those who study Roman coinage will know that all sorts of abbreviations were used to minimise the labour required to communicate the title of the emperor as they needed to fit this on a small coin and the work was done by hand.

Coinage was a way of projecting power. With an Emperors head on coins throughout the region he was hard to avoid and a constant reminder of who was in charge whether the people liked it or not.

Forced into a situation where they must study the coin the Pharisees would have been observing an image likely to be that of Ceasar Augustus Tiberius, a man whose followers regarded him to be a living god, the inscriptions are likely to have referred to him as son of the divine Augustus, reinforcing his ‘godliness’.  Jewish law prohibited any form of idolatry and it must have suddenly dawned upon the Pharisees that they continuously carried a symbol of their complicity with Rome and of blasphemy to their God. Just having this coin in the temple was against their own law, oh dear, they really were finding themselves in a muddle.

By saying ‘Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s and to God the things that are God’s’ Jesus makes it clear that earthly and divine rulers are entirely separate and these coins have no value to God.

Despite the fact that Jesus’ message has political implications he has rejected the political ambitions of those who would make him a king in earthly spheres. The changes he wants to see will come from peoples’ hearts and not the change of regime which they think they need.

it can be hard for us to look at the subject of taxes dispassionately. It was Benjamin Franklin who wrote in 1789 ‘in this world nothing is certain but death and taxes’. Whilst taxation in its various forms is currently at an historic high, thankfully, we at least are paying it to our own Government rather than a foreign occupier.

We may not always approve of how our taxes are spent but at least we have hospitals, emergency services, a military, schools, refuse collectors and other valuable public services which are funded by them.

Although there were significant resistance movements against paying tax to Rome even in Jesus time there will have been those who appreciated some of the benefits the occupying Romans brought with them. What have the Romans ever done for us? You probably know that this was a question posed by the fictional Peoples Front of Judea. Apart from medicine, irrigation, education, public health, baths and some other things, absolutely nothing!

Back in the temple those asking Jesus won’t be pleased with the answer they have received but they also know in their hearts that it wasn’t a real question and they only wanted an answer which would cause trouble for Jesus, so their hatred and resentment  of him continues to grow and just few days later Jesus would be arrested and crucified.

The Pharisees make Ceasar the subject of the question whilst Jesus wants to bring these so called religious and pious people back to the subject of God and our duty to him. No wonder he calls them hypocrites as they conveniently fail to acknowledge that God reigns over all in their frenzied enthusiasm to entrap him.

Of course, they should use all their study, their alleged wisdom and their learning from Jesus to recognize him and help others to know him as the Son of God, but this is the one thing they are absolutely determined not to do.

Was it that the Pharisees were scared that God has come this close to them, and they don’t like what they are hearing? Was it that despite all the wacky religious preachers in Jerusalem at the time this one stood out as different and couldn’t just be dismissed.

Contrast what Jesus tells to the Pharisees and Herodians with Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians . When he had visited Thessalonica previously the people he is writing to would have worshipped many cults including the ideals of the Roman empire. The coverts to Paul’s message would have faced persecution and rejection as they made a clear choice to follow Christ and it this message, rooted in God, that he praises and encourages so enthusiastically.

Perhaps the Pharisees thought If only God were like Ceasar they could just pay their taxes and be done with it, but a relationship founded in generous love is so very different.

By Jesus pointing to the emperor’s head, we are encouraged to reflect of the earthly things that distract us from God and all that competes for our obedience and loyalty.

But it’s important that we remind ourselves the image we bear is not that of Ceasar, any political party, nor the ruling monarch but that of God. We are created in his image and called to be his children.

So whilst we may accept that death and taxes are certainties of our lives, as children of God we also have the opportunity to show that the third certainty in life is the love of God for each and every one of us.

Amen

Kevin Bright                                                                                                                   22^nd October 2023

Trinity 17 2023

Trinity 17 2023

Philippians 2.1-13, Matt 21.23-32

It's hard to get far these days without some sort of formal identification. Passports, driving licences, photo cards and so on. And then there are the biometric checks - phones with facial recognition software and fingerprint detection. It's a sign of the times. Technology develops, but so do the ways criminals use it to defraud us. So ever more complex and inconvenient checks are needed.    

But if the technology is new, the problem is an ancient one. How do we know whether we can trust someone or not? How do we know whether they are who they say they are? That's the core question and it's there at the centre of today's gospel reading. By what authority are you doing these things? The chief priests ask Jesus as he preaches in the temple. Who do you think you are? in other words. It's not just his preaching that's rattled them, though. It's what came before it. 

Just the day before, Jesus had ridden into Jerusalem on a donkey, and then he'd gone straight to the temple and turned over the tables of the traders there. The temple authorities know that his actions weren't just a spur of the moment outburst. They were a deliberate message to anyone with ears to hear it. That triumphal entry on a donkey and the cleansing of the temple echoed well known prophecies in the Hebrew scriptures about the coming of God's Messiah. Jesus knew exactly what he was doing and how it would be understood by people who knew those scriptures. 

We might think that the temple leaders would welcome the Messiah, the chosen one of the God they worshipped, the one who would deliver Israel from oppression. But the problem was that Jesus wasn't the kind of Messiah they were hoping for. They assumed that the Messiah would be one of them, or at least sympathetic to them, not a carpenter from Nazareth who'd consistently challenged the status quo, of which they were definitely a part. It's classic institutional behaviour. Those with power tend to assume they have a right to hang on to it. They tend to assume they have a right to be at the front of the queue, at the centre of whatever's happening, and it didn't look as if that was Jesus’ plan at all. 

But if they wanted to get rid of him, they'd need solid evidence to take to the Romans about the claims he was making. They needed to hear him say that he was the Messiah out loud, clearly, with witnesses. The Romans weren't going to be interested in reenacted Hebrew prophecies. That's why they try to force him into this no-win situation. If he says he's the Messiah, they think the Romans will clamp down on him as a potential troublemaker. But if he says he isn't, the crowds will turn against him because he will have exposed himself as a fraud. 

But Jesus uses their own tactic against them, and in the end it's his accusers who are faced with the no-win dilemma. What about John the Baptist? Asks Jesus. Was he working in line with God's will and God's way? John had been executed by King Herod, but he still had a huge popular following. If they say they think John was sent by God, Jesus will ask them why they didn't follow him. He'd been calling people to live in obedience to the law after all. If they say he wasn't sent by God, though, the crowd, who loved him, will turn against them. 

The temple authorities want Jesus to reveal himself, to declare who he really is. But in the end, he reveals them and their true motivation, which is to preserve their own position and power and the stability of the institution that gives it to them. As I said, it’s classic institutional behaviour. The temple officials aren't bad people. They're just caught up in groupthink, and we are all capable of doing what they did. We're all tempted to defend the groups we belong to, the groups which give us identity and security, to refuse to see anything wrong in them and to refuse to listen to those who've been hurt by them. That's why victims and survivors of abuse so often find themselves ignored or silenced or vilified if they speak out about what's happened to them in churches or in schools, care homes, the police, the military, the NHS, sports organisations or businesses.

The little parable Jesus goes on to tell about two sons and their father hits home because it set in one of the most powerful and complicated institutions that human beings know - the family. A man has two sons. One initially refuses to help out in the vineyard - we aren't told why -  but eventually he goes and does so anyway. The other son says he will help, but doesn't. Which son does the father's will? asks Jesus. The answer is obvious. The first son, who actually does the job, even if he'd said he wouldn't. We might think it would be even better if he’d said ‘yes’ from the beginning, but I think there's a reason why Jesus doesn't set the story up like that - I'll come to it in a minute. His brother’s behaviour is far more frustrating though. If someone says they will do something and then doesn't, when do you give up waiting and do it yourself? Do you wait till the grapes are rotting on the vine? The second son, a dig at those temple authorities, may have looked good in his father's eyes at first, just as all their prayers and sacrifices made them look holy, but what's the point of that if it doesn't make any difference, if the harvest isn't gathered in or people's lives aren't changed? 

The proof of the pudding is in the eating, we might say, or as Jesus puts it elsewhere in the Gospels, by their fruits shall you know them. However unlikely-looking the pudding, or the tree, or the person,  if they produce something which is nourishing and life giving, then obviously something good must be happening in them. That's the message of this parable. And that's why that first son needs to say ‘no’ for the parable to work. He's like the tax collectors and prostitutes  They were all people whose lives seemed to the religious elites to be saying a big ‘no’ to God. And maybe Jesus is also pointing the finger at himself - he was seen as a troublemaker and a rebel after all.  .But the tax collectors and prostitutes had listened to John and to Jesus, and were changing their lives, and Jesus himself brought new life wherever he went. Their lives were bearing fruit.

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, writes Saint Paul to the church in Philippi. Have the same attitude Jesus did, he means. Not clinging to his power, but acting like a slave and dying. The kind of death by crucifixion reserved for slaves and other disgraced people. For Paul, it wasn't just Jesus’ death that was cross shaped, it was his whole life, focused on service rather than status, seeing and lifting up those who are at the bottom of the heap, helping them to find the God who was at work in them, as Paul puts it, enabling them to be and to do what God had intended so they could find their identity as his beloved children. 

And that brings me back to where I started. With those questions about identity. Passports and ID cards can only go so far in telling us - and those who meet us - who we are. To know that truly, we also need to know whose we are - children of a loving, serving, self-giving God who was prepared even to die for us, and who calls us to show the family likeness to him in the way we live our lives. Our hearts are restless till they find their rest in you says today's collect. It's in God that we find our true identity. It's in God that we find our true calling and the strength to live out that calling for the good of others.

Amen

Trinity 17 2023

Trinity 17 2023

Philippians 2.1-13, Matt 21.23-32

It's hard to get far these days without some sort of formal identification. Passports, driving licences, photo cards and so on. And then there are the biometric checks - phones with facial recognition software and fingerprint detection. It's a sign of the times. Technology develops, but so do the ways criminals use it to defraud us. So ever more complex and inconvenient checks are needed.    

But if the technology is new, the problem is an ancient one. How do we know whether we can trust someone or not? How do we know whether they are who they say they are? That's the core question and it's there at the centre of today's gospel reading. By what authority are you doing these things? The chief priests ask Jesus as he preaches in the temple. Who do you think you are? in other words. It's not just his preaching that's rattled them, though. It's what came before it. 

Just the day before, Jesus had ridden into Jerusalem on a donkey, and then he'd gone straight to the temple and turned over the tables of the traders there. The temple authorities know that his actions weren't just a spur of the moment outburst. They were a deliberate message to anyone with ears to hear it. That triumphal entry on a donkey and the cleansing of the temple echoed well known prophecies in the Hebrew scriptures about the coming of God's Messiah. Jesus knew exactly what he was doing and how it would be understood by people who knew those scriptures. 

We might think that the temple leaders would welcome the Messiah, the chosen one of the God they worshipped, the one who would deliver Israel from oppression. But the problem was that Jesus wasn't the kind of Messiah they were hoping for. They assumed that the Messiah would be one of them, or at least sympathetic to them, not a carpenter from Nazareth who'd consistently challenged the status quo, of which they were definitely a part. It's classic institutional behaviour. Those with power tend to assume they have a right to hang on to it. They tend to assume they have a right to be at the front of the queue, at the centre of whatever's happening, and it didn't look as if that was Jesus’ plan at all. 

But if they wanted to get rid of him, they'd need solid evidence to take to the Romans about the claims he was making. They needed to hear him say that he was the Messiah out loud, clearly, with witnesses. The Romans weren't going to be interested in reenacted Hebrew prophecies. That's why they try to force him into this no-win situation. If he says he's the Messiah, they think the Romans will clamp down on him as a potential troublemaker. But if he says he isn't, the crowds will turn against him because he will have exposed himself as a fraud. 

But Jesus uses their own tactic against them, and in the end it's his accusers who are faced with the no-win dilemma. What about John the Baptist? Asks Jesus. Was he working in line with God's will and God's way? John had been executed by King Herod, but he still had a huge popular following. If they say they think John was sent by God, Jesus will ask them why they didn't follow him. He'd been calling people to live in obedience to the law after all. If they say he wasn't sent by God, though, the crowd, who loved him, will turn against them. 

The temple authorities want Jesus to reveal himself, to declare who he really is. But in the end, he reveals them and their true motivation, which is to preserve their own position and power and the stability of the institution that gives it to them. As I said, it’s classic institutional behaviour. The temple officials aren't bad people. They're just caught up in groupthink, and we are all capable of doing what they did. We're all tempted to defend the groups we belong to, the groups which give us identity and security, to refuse to see anything wrong in them and to refuse to listen to those who've been hurt by them. That's why victims and survivors of abuse so often find themselves ignored or silenced or vilified if they speak out about what's happened to them in churches or in schools, care homes, the police, the military, the NHS, sports organisations or businesses.

The little parable Jesus goes on to tell about two sons and their father hits home because it set in one of the most powerful and complicated institutions that human beings know - the family. A man has two sons. One initially refuses to help out in the vineyard - we aren't told why -  but eventually he goes and does so anyway. The other son says he will help, but doesn't. Which son does the father's will? asks Jesus. The answer is obvious. The first son, who actually does the job, even if he'd said he wouldn't. We might think it would be even better if he’d said ‘yes’ from the beginning, but I think there's a reason why Jesus doesn't set the story up like that - I'll come to it in a minute. His brother’s behaviour is far more frustrating though. If someone says they will do something and then doesn't, when do you give up waiting and do it yourself? Do you wait till the grapes are rotting on the vine? The second son, a dig at those temple authorities, may have looked good in his father's eyes at first, just as all their prayers and sacrifices made them look holy, but what's the point of that if it doesn't make any difference, if the harvest isn't gathered in or people's lives aren't changed? 

The proof of the pudding is in the eating, we might say, or as Jesus puts it elsewhere in the Gospels, by their fruits shall you know them. However unlikely-looking the pudding, or the tree, or the person,  if they produce something which is nourishing and life giving, then obviously something good must be happening in them. That's the message of this parable. And that's why that first son needs to say ‘no’ for the parable to work. He's like the tax collectors and prostitutes  They were all people whose lives seemed to the religious elites to be saying a big ‘no’ to God. And maybe Jesus is also pointing the finger at himself - he was seen as a troublemaker and a rebel after all.  .But the tax collectors and prostitutes had listened to John and to Jesus, and were changing their lives, and Jesus himself brought new life wherever he went. Their lives were bearing fruit.

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, writes Saint Paul to the church in Philippi. Have the same attitude Jesus did, he means. Not clinging to his power, but acting like a slave and dying. The kind of death by crucifixion reserved for slaves and other disgraced people. For Paul, it wasn't just Jesus’ death that was cross shaped, it was his whole life, focused on service rather than status, seeing and lifting up those who are at the bottom of the heap, helping them to find the God who was at work in them, as Paul puts it, enabling them to be and to do what God had intended so they could find their identity as his beloved children. 

And that brings me back to where I started. With those questions about identity. Passports and ID cards can only go so far in telling us - and those who meet us - who we are. To know that truly, we also need to know whose we are - children of a loving, serving, self-giving God who was prepared even to die for us, and who calls us to show the family likeness to him in the way we live our lives. Our hearts are restless till they find their rest in you says today's collect. It's in God that we find our true identity. It's in God that we find our true calling and the strength to live out that calling for the good of others.

Amen