Month: January 2023

Church in the Pub – Hymns Night: an Introduction

The Lake House, Clapham, 29 January 2023

The hymn writer and broadcaster John Bell tells the story of his once meeting a musician from El Salvador, William Ramírez, and asking him to teach him a song from his country. 

“He gave me the text in Spanish,” John says, “which I had translated into English so I could try to fit the English text to the Hispanic tune. When I looked at the words I saw that they were far too political—all about corrupt judges and corrupt courts. Then I discovered it was Psalm 94.” [1]

Psalm 94 is the song of one who has been ill-treated by the judicial system, whose anger is raised up against those in positions of power who abuse the widow, the stranger and the orphan, a singer whose praise is for a God who sees this injustice, and whose hope is that God will punish it:

For the Lord will not fail his people,  

neither will he forsake his inheritance.

For justice shall return to the righteous,  

and all that are true of heart shall follow it.

Who will rise up for me against the wicked?  

Who will take my part against the evildoers?

If the Lord had not helped me,  

my soul would soon have been put to silence.

… your loving mercy, O Lord, upheld me.

In the multitude of cares that troubled my heart,  

your comforts have refreshed my soul. [2]

John Bell reflects on this encounter saying that “By teaching me that song William Ramírez opened me to the witness in the Psalms of God’s preferential option for the poor and of God’s engagement in matters of social justice. Otherwise I would not have known that. I would have sung and read the Psalms as private spiritual nuggets and never have known they had a political and economic dimension.”

Where are people singing today? On the streets of Memphis, where those protesting the police killing of Tyre Nichols are chanting “No justice – no peace!” Outside our town halls and workplaces, where workers campaigning for the renewal of our wound-down public services and a living wage are raising their voices with the words “Enough is enough!” On the streets of Brighton the substantial Iranian community are this week singing together in solidarity with their brothers and sisters in Iran, “for women, for life and for freedom”. [3]

We come together to sing our hymns today aware of these other people singing, and as we sing together let us join our hearts with the struggling people of the world.

John Bell and his songwriting partner the late Graham Maule in 2004 published a collection of Psalms with the title ‘Songs of Patience, Protest and Praise’. These words sum up the great themes of our faith – and of the life of all humanity. We wait patiently for change, we wait on God; we protest passionately for change, crying to God; we lift our hearts, in hope and faith and love, we lift them to God.

John Bell says that “The culture of music has gradually moved away from a participative mode. In the 1970s everybody sang songs of the Beatles, Joan Baez and Bob Dylan. Since then we’ve moved toward a performance mode. When new pop songs come out they are accompanied by a video. The presumption is not that you’ll sing the chorus but that you’ll watch the performer.” 

But the church is – and always has been – about something else altogether. “The church should be proud of being countercultural;” John Bell says, “we believe that music is a community activity and that all God’s children can and should sing.”

Whether we are singing songs of ‘patience, protest or praise’ it warms us, encourages us, sometimes even thrills us, to do so alongside others. ‘Being countercultural’ means having a vision of a world which can be different than the tired, corrupt old world we know. Singing that vision is primarily our gift to God, but we find that as we sing, these songs should lead us to a change in the way we behave.

And so we come to celebrate tonight some of the hymns and songs which have been important to us, which have helped our understanding of life and the world and of God; hymns and songs which have comforted us, strengthened us, inspired us and provoked us to action. Music which has helped us to give voice to those things so deeply important to us which are otherwise hidden in our hearts.

We are very grateful to the friends here who have agreed to share your choices of hymn with us all. We appreciate the time and thought you’ve put into preparing for this evening; and we are sure that as we hear what is said and as we sing together, then we will find that the Lord is here, his Spirit is with us. 

 

Notes

[1] Sing a new song: John Bell on music and congregations, an interview in Christian Century, July 25, 2006

[2] Psalm 94.

[3] Victoria Bekiempis and Sam Levine, US protests begin after police release footage of fatal beating of Tyre Nichols, Guardian, 28 January 2023; Enough is Enough campaign; George Carden, MP Caroline Lucas makes speech at Iran protest in Brighton, The Argus 23 January 2023.

Isaiah 9.1-4, Matthew 4.12-23

The Third Sunday of Epiphany, 22 January 2023

Austwick, Clapham, Keasden

’The people sitting in darkness saw a great light, and light dawned upon those sitting in the region and shadow of death.’ [1]

I think it’s pretty uncontroversial to suggest that we are living through dark times right now; so many are seeking the light of comfort, help, and the hope of new beginnings.

Every day we hear of people like Rona, a disabled mother and her daughter who has special educational needs, who sat in the cold and dark over Christmas. Rona had struggled to cope with rising energy bills and got into debt with her supplier. Without warning, her supplier switched her smart meter to prepayment mode, leaving her without gas and electricity. 

‘I assumed it was a power cut,’ Rona said. ‘I had no way to make any calls, so my daughter and I were left in the dark all night with no heating, lights or means of making any food. I was really anxious.’

Her local Citizens Advice spoke to her supplier and found they’d switched the smart meter to a prepayment one. 

Rona is on the priority services register, and in a wheelchair and unable to access her meter, but none of this made a difference to the energy company. She now relies on her sister or brother in law to go to the post office to help her top up her meter.

She said, ’Over Christmas I went without energy because the credit ran out, and the post office was closed, so my daughter and I sat there cold, in the dark. How can I live like this?’

Rona’s story is not unusual. Citizens Advice report that 3.2 million people across the UK ran out of credit on their prepayment meter last year because they didn’t have enough money. Prepayment meters are typically more expensive than paying by direct debit, and charities have criticised the energy suppliers for trapping people in poverty by forcing hundreds of thousands of customers onto these meters when they fall into debt. [2]

And we’re more than aware of the many thousands of others who are literally in the dark today: people sitting in darkened hospital corridors awaiting the delayed attention of exhausted medical staff; pensioners sitting in their cold dark living rooms, huddled under blankets and hungry for lack of money to eat, and heat and light their homes; mothers whose wages from two jobs are nowhere near enough to make ends meet, fearing eviction; fearing starvation; paralysed by fear.

Is there a different way for our society to organise ourselves? Is there a way for us to let the light in?

Sometimes we’re in the dark because we simply won’t open our eyes. Like the group of sheep stood frozen behind a farm gate, saying ‘We’re stuck in this field and there’s no way out!’, unable to see that there is open space all around the gate into which they could freely roam.

In a time of darkness, is not the role of Christianity to be a source of light to those who sit, currently, unable to see how they can make ends meet, paralysed by anxiety about their future. 

For into a world whose leaders, would bleat, ‘We’re stuck in this field and there’s no way out’, Jesus came preaching ‘Good news to the poor… recovery of sight to the blind’.  Into a world where country girls like Mary were denied the power to effect change, she saw in God’s choosing her his intention to ‘cast down the mighty from their thrones and lift up the lowly,’ to ‘fill the hungry with good things and send the rich away empty.’ [3]

Christianity began on a shore of Lake Galilee where Jesus met a group of men at their workplace, a family fishing business, and called them to a new vocation: to spread light into the darkness of their place and time. In a world whose powers will have us believe that ‘We’re stuck in this field and there’s no way out’, 

Jesus is the great light shining upon people whose whole existence is described as ‘sitting in darkness and in the region and shadow of death.’ He is light and will give light, by his teaching and healing, by his suffering and his rising, and through the community of his disciples. It is a magnificent Epiphany message! [4]

– It insists, there is another way; there is a way out … and indeed, it is the way; it is the truth, it is the life. [5]

As Christians in a fallen world we are engaged in a battle of ideas — but not for the ideas themselves. No Christian has the luxury of being an intellectual, a theologian, a theorist. Our ideas, Christ’s ideas which we embrace, must serve the people. [6]

Now, some will say that an institution which has for centuries cosied up to power and wealth, is today incapable of bringing light into darkened corners of our troubled world. But at the grassroots this is disproven by the plentiful activity of those in and around our churches who feed the hungry, work supportively with those in debt, campaign for the renewal of broken public services, give their spare rooms over to refugees, protest for the planet, host meetings for recovering addicts. Sometimes they’re criticised for what they do; sometimes they meet fierce opposition. But they keep reaching for the light.

For as Jesus’ first followers found, so might we: that ‘the call to discipleship demands more than an assent of the heart; it invites an uncompromising break with business as usual.’ [7]

 

Notes

 

[1] Matthew 4.16 in David Bentley Hart, The New Testament: A translation.

[2] Isabella McRae, Millions are going without heating or hot water because they can’t afford to top up their meter. Big Issue,12 Jan 2023

[3] Luke 4:14-22, Luke 1.46-55.

[4] F. Dean Leuking, in Roger E. Van Harn, ed, The Lectionary commentary, Theological Exegesis for Sunday’s Texts. The Third Readings: The Gospels, p.24-26

[5] John 14.6.

[6] ‘We are engaged in a battle of ideas — but not for the ideas themselves. No socialist has the luxury of being an intellectual. Our writing must serve the people.’ Ronan Burtenshaw, Editorial: The story of ‘Enough is Enough’ Tribune, Issue 16, January 2023.

[7] F. Dean Leuking, in Roger E. Van Harn, ed, The Lectionary commentary, Theological Exegesis for Sunday’s Texts. The Third Readings: The Gospels, p.24-26

Isaiah 49.1-7, John 1.29-42

The Second Sunday of Epiphany, 15 January 2023,

Austwick, Clapham, Eldroth

I’m just of the age to have been a keen childhood follower of Pele; who was at his prime when I was in school. Of course in the pre-SkyTV age, sightings of the Brazilian genius were rare. But that made the news clips of him in action for Santos, and the feast of football he and his teammates served up at the Mexico World Cup, all the more special. 

In the park, with a goal set up between two coats dropped on the grass, I tried to emulate Pele’s wonder goal against Czechoslovakia when he jumped to take the ball on his chest, and whilst still in mid-air controlled it, dropped it at his feet, and with the outside of his right boot, volleyed it past the goalkeeper. Needless to say, my attempts at this seldom came off, so instead I tried looking like Pele by saving up my pocket money to buy a yellow replica Brazil shirt. [1]

At the turn of this New Year you will have seen pictures of the crowds of everyday Brazilians filing past Pele as he laid at rest in Santos football ground in Sao Paulo, and the very similar scenes of those who went to pay homage to the late Pope Benedict XVI in state in St. Peter’s Basilica. [2]

Pele was a worldwide football star followed by millions; and when leader of the world’s Roman Catholics Benedict had over 1.3 billion followers. [3]

These events caused me to reflect on a universal aspect of being human, that we are all followers. We all have people who we admire, sports people or musicians who inspire us; writers or performers we love. 

Think of who you follow; those who you’ll always switch the TV on to watch; or whose next piece of writing or music you’re eagerly awaiting; those whose radio shows or podcasts or exhibitions or performances you relish.

And consider how your following them affects what you do: like me with Pele’s replica shirt do you wear the clothes that they wear; if they’re a baker do you follow their recipes and use their tips in the food which you create; if they’re a musician do you hum their tunes in the kitchen; if they’re a moral leader like Benedict do you try to emulate their service and devotion…?

Reportedly, Pope Benedict’s last words were ‘Jesus, I love you’. It was hardly in doubt, given the life he’d led, but he made it very clear at the moment of his death, that he was a follower of Jesus. A disciple. [4]

We are all followers. Christ included. When we look at the accounts of Jesus’ early life, we observe that before people began to follow him, he himself was a follower – of John the Baptist. He went to John at the Jordan, soaked in his teaching and in response Jesus waded into the river to be baptised by him.

And today’s gospel story describes the day, some time afterwards, when some followers of John the Baptist decided to follow Jesus. They did so because John recommended Jesus to them.

‘Look at this man!,’ he told them. ‘He is the Lamb sent from God, who will sacrifice himself to rid the world of sin! He is the One I have been saying will come after me, who existed long before me and is much greater than I am.’

These followers of John spent the rest of the day with Jesus and then, we’re told, ‘followed Him for the rest of their lives’. 

We know how following Jesus changed these disciples: turning them into people of prayer, who with his encouragement found themselves able to emulate his acts of healing and kindness towards others. We know especially how following Jesus changed Peter: the one who, seeing Jesus walking on the waters of Galilee, jumped out of his boat and for a glorious few moments walked on water  too; the one who, as Jesus predicted, eventually became a leader of the church, a precursor of Pope Benedict, the Palestinian fisherman who now has a Basilica named after him.

We also know how following Jesus brought these disciples into conflict with their families and their communities, and particularly with the institutions and authorities, as the contrasts between their society’s ways of life and the ways and the worldview of Jesus became increasingly clear.

They were still sons and brothers, wives and mothers; they were still subjects and servants; they were still taxpayers and synagogue-goers; but as followers of Jesus they were also willingly under the influence of the ways of another kingdom, and their decisions in life, every day, walked an often delicate line between them.

So it is for us, who today seek to follow Jesus, in a world whose ways are not his ways, whose thoughts are not his thoughts. 

It may be that there is one person in your family who everyone else ignores; for whatever reason they just don’t fit in; but because Jesus said ‘do unto others as you’d have them do to you,’ you include this person in your life, and are criticised for it.

It may be that there is one family in your village who are different and who others write-off as being difficult; but, because Jesus said ‘love your neighbour’, you befriend them, and in consequence you find others closing their doors to you.

‘The normal world has no room for exceptions and always quietly eliminates foreign objects. Anyone who is lacking is disposed of.’ [5] But Jesus’ followers are taught, ‘Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God – what is good and acceptable and perfect.’ [6]

Many people go to great lengths to find out how to be normal, how to conform, even when doing so feels like it is diminishing or damaging them. But Jesus’ followers are invited ‘to present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is our spiritual worship.’ [7]

Following Jesus is a life of joy, but it is a joy which can be tempered by the pain of coexisting with a world which wants us to follow a different set of values. 

So let us pray for each other always, particularly those who are feeling the pain of this challenge, and let us encourage each other as we share in the joy of being followers of Christ together.  

 

Notes

[1] Pele’s goal for Brazil v Czechoslovakia, World Cup 1970. YouTube.

[2] Pele’s funeral: Brazil legend lying in state in Santos’ stadium. BBC News, 3 January 2023; Crowds pay respects as Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s body lies in state at Vatican. PBS, 2 January 2023.

[3] ‘The Catholic churches, with around 1.3 billion believers worldwide, are the largest Christian grouping’ WorldData.info

[4] Gerard O’Connell, Pope Benedict XVI’s last words: ‘Jesus, I love you.’ America, The Jesuit Review, 31 December 2022.

[5] Sayaka Marata, Convenience Store Woman.

[6] Romans 12.2

[7] Romans 12.1

Ephesians 3.1-12, Matthew 2.1-12

The Epiphany, 8 January 2023, Austwick, Keasden

Of all the strangeness in the Christmas story, maybe the oddest part is Matthew’s tale of these Magi, wise men from the East seeking a child born king of the Jews, whose star they had observed at its rising, and who journeyed to pay him homage, carrying significant gifts.

It’s a mysterious story: Matthew shares so very little about these travellers, their home, their background, the details of their journey.

And it’s a strange story because it leaves us guessing at the Magi’s motivation: what impulse drove them to leave behind all they knew to undergo such an uncomfortable expedition towards such an uncertain outcome?

T.S. Eliot’s famous poem, The Journey of the Magi, relates the difficulties they likely encountered along the way, as we hear the Magi describe:

… the cities hostile and the towns unfriendly

And the villages dirty and charging high prices:

A hard time we had of it.

At the end we preferred to travel all night,

Sleeping in snatches,

With the voices singing in our ears, saying

That this was all folly. [1]

Were they fools, these Magi, going out of their way to bring gifts to one who they’d thought to be a king, but who, when they found him among the beasts, must have looked like quite the opposite?

Might they have felt foolish about having entered Herod’s palace naively, seeking assistance and direction for their journey, only to come up against the king’s fearful cynicism and become entangled in his web of manipulation and retribution?

If their holy expedition looks foolish from a rational or a pragmatic point of view, than it stands among the best religious traditions. For as we know, there is good biblical authority for becoming a ‘fool for Christ’.

Fools for Christ are those who reject worldly cares, social conventions, and a quest for power and gains, to imitate Christ, who himself promoted an other-worldly set of values on this earth, and for it, endured mockery from the crowd and humiliation and censure from those whose worldly powers he challenged. [2]

St Paul coined the phrase when he told the Corinthian believers that ‘We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ; we are weak, but you are strong; you are honourable, but we are despised.’ But in calling himself a fool for Christ he knows he is describing a strength, not a weakness, for he is convicted that ‘The wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight.’ [3]

Far from being feebleminded, as they may appear to others, a holy fool is firm in faith; far from being mad, as others may see them, a holy fool’s rejection of a broken society’s norms, their protest, in reaction to intolerable social conditions, may prove them to be the truly sane ones. [4]

The Magi may have looked foolish to Herod’s courtiers as they may look foolish to agnostics today; but for us they model a compelling attitude to life which elevates hope over hatred, generosity over mean-spiritedness, gratitude over grasping.

The Magi went out of their way to bring their gifts to Bethlehem, to reciprocate God’s gift to them in the form of the child they paid homage to.

Now, if they were fools for doing this, then does that also make us fools, as we frequently go out of our way to bring our gifts to our Lord, in thanksgiving for all he gives to us – whether our gifts of time, or care, or money; whether our gifts of art or craft or love? Well, if we think ourselves foolish in this way, then that is the way of the Magi and of St Paul; that is something to celebrate.

Today is a good day to celebrate those who in the past have responded to God’s generosity by giving their gifts in homage to him. 

Here in Austwick [5] we are grateful to the Inglebys who gifted this church to the community, and later extended it; we are awed by the craftsmanship of those who created the gorgeous stained glass windows variously given by parishioners over the years; for those who skilfully worked the wood for the altar from oak trees growing in Lawkland Wood, and those whose wonderful  embroidery gives us those hangings which adorn our space for worship, at the altar, pulpit, and lectern, and the kneelers which decorate our pews whilst also celebrating our lives. We are grateful for the gift of an organ for our praise, and a kitchen for our fellowship – and that last one is of course a gift which many of you here today have contributed towards giving. 

Today is also a good day to express thanks to one another for the sharing of our gifts which each help generate goodwill and companionship in our church and community right now. 

Today, permit yourself to relish the joy, satisfaction and fulfilment you find in giving of yourself to others for God’s sake: when that friendly word you share with another is received with thankfulness, or that card you’ve kindly sent; when people stop to admire that display of flowers which you’ve toiled at for hours; when people enjoy the baking you’ve donated to a function, or the reading you’ve caringly given, or the performance of the choir you’re in; when you realise how your hard work raising support for a charity has made a real difference to others in need; and how your parish giving helps ensure that the church has not only an active present, but a healthy future.

The world – often in the form of doom-laden newspaper reports – will tell us that the Church is on its way out. But we are foolish enough to keep coming anyway. 

Because we come in hope, bearing our gifts of time and care and prayer; we come trusting that God has a future; and however foolish this may sound to a cynical watching world, our paying homage today affirms that indeed, God holds the future in his hands. Which is good news for those people who would rather not watch on cynically, but rather journey on hopefully together through this life.

 

Notes

This sermon was preached at the dedication festival of The Church of the Epiphany, Austwick, and at the first service of the New Year at St Matthew’s Keasden, at the beginning of its 150th anniversary year celebrations.

[1] T.S. Eliot, The Journey of the Magi, 1927. From Collected Poems 1909-1962.

[2] Wikipedia: Foolishness for Christ.

[3] 1 Corinthians 4.10, 1 Corinthians 3.19.

[4] Christopher Hill, The World Turned Upside Down: Radical Ideas During the English Revolution. p.212.

[5] Alternative paragraph: Here in Keasden we are grateful to James Farrer, Lord of the Manor of Clapham who  150 years ago gifted this piece of land, and paid for the building of St Matthew’s on it, so that Keasden residents could worship nearby rather than travel distances.  We are awed by the craftsmanship of those who created the stained glass windows and murals; those who skilfully worked the wood for the altar and pulpit; those whose wonderful embroidery gives us the hangings which adorn our space for worship, at the altar, pulpit, and lectern. We are grateful for the gift of an organ for our praise, and to all whose gifts of time and skills and financial giving have sustained and grown the life of this little moorland church to this day.