Sunday 9 September 2012

Talk at the Open Air Service – Sunday 2nd September 2012


Talk at the Open Air Service – Sunday 2nd September 2012

One of the really sad things in life is surely that so many people think that Christianity is boring. And where do they get that impression from? Well, sadly, from some Christians and from some of the Church services they have attended. And I have a lot of sympathy with them.

But did you pay attention to our second reading from St. Paul’s letter? Let me ask you, did that sound boring to you? It is Paul’s description of what is involved, what is on offer, what is required, as a disciple of Jesus.

It may well to some of you sound a bit scary – struggling against evil in all its many devilish forms. But boring? I don’t think so. You see, sadly, so much of what Jesus and the Apostles taught about the Christian life, its nature and purpose, has been, dumbed down, sterilised and bottled up by the Church for more palatable consumption ....with the result that so many people meeting Christians or trying a church service come away thinking ‘How boring! ‘

In a few minutes I am going to be baptising Isaac into the Christian faith; and there is hardly a more suitable reading – chosen months ago before his baptism was arranged – for Isaac’s baptism; because in these verses from St. Paul (who faithfully spelt out what following Jesus means and involves) you and I, Isaacs parents and godparents, are being reminded of what the Christian life – as opposed to the comfort blanket of tame Anglican religion (in all its increasingly tarnished and ineffectively tepid glory) is really all about.

The Christian life is about whole-hearted commitment..... NOT to our religious fancies or fantasies but to the life-challenging, life-changing, and life-fulfilling Gospel of Jesus Christ; indeed to Christ himself. This passage spells out what the Christian is called to, what the ‘committed Christian’ (is there any other kind? Not that Jesus and the Apostles spoke of!) is going to face, and what are the vital resources our Heavenly Father can give us in order to be faithful and effective disciples of Jesus. It’s a really good passage to have by your bedside to read first thing every morning...before you get dressed!

It’s chockablock full of what you and I need to know about being a baptised Christian: but I want to draw your attention this morning to three key truths about this life and the life you and I, as Christians, are called to live.

1. We cannot live the Christian life in our own strength. Those who think they can either will end up with a major problem with the sin of pride OR they will end up disappointed and disillusioned. 

We simply CANNOT! And so, verse 1, St. Paul says ‘Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His power.’ If we try to lead the Christian life without God’s help and not ’in the strength of his power’ we are going to come a cropper when faced with temptation  and be utterly useless when facing evil. So, his strength is always our default position.            

2. You and I, Isaac when he is older, are all of us called to ‘struggle’ against evil in all its forms – (often subtle and well-disguised). How do we discern what is evil? Well, the sure-fire test for evil is whatever is opposed to God, flouting  his commandments, or destroying or desecrating his creation or his creatures. 

We need to wise up! There are forces, often not visible, in this world that work in organisations and people that are fundamentally opposed to God. We are called to stand against them; but we cannot do this on our own: we need, verse 11, to ‘put on the whole armour of God’ –that is, those wonderful and powerful  spiritual resources our Heavenly Father gives us to defeat evil.           

3. Verses 14-17 tell us what these resources are: let me paraphrase and interpret them; but keep them by your bedside! We need to seek the truth, to cherish it, and to practise it – to act truthfully (BELT). 

We need to be in a right relationship with God – something we can ONLY do by placing our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as our personal Saviour and Lord (BREASTPLATE). 

We need to be introducing (SHOES) others to Jesus, verse 15, so that they too may know the ‘peace’ that comes from knowing that they are right with God. We need to have (SHIELD) faith in the love and almighty power of God and NOT give in to or be led astray by doubts about him. 

We need to trust, verse 17, that the salvation  (HELMET) Jesus offers to anyone who will accept it is sufficient to keep us safe with God and from the opposition. And we need to immerse ourselves in the word (SWORD) of God so that not only may we deepen our understanding and trust of him, we can also use his teaching, his very words, to overcome evil with truth. 

And finally, it is the CONSTANT relationship of prayer with our Heavenly Father that binds this armour tightly and reveals to us how to use it more and more effectively.

Now does all this strike you as boring? No? Well then, let’s get our armour on! Get into the battle! By some act of love or standing up for Jesus and for the truth give the Devil a black eye today!

The Role of the Collects in the Life of the Church


The Role of the Collects in the Life of the Church

The role of the collects in the life of the Church is to help establish in the hearts and minds of worshippers that which is essential for sound belief

Now in the Christian understanding of that word ‘belief’ is contained the necessity of action or ‘practice’ because, as Jesus and the Apostles constantly remind us, genuine belief – as opposed to mere intellectual assent or wishful thinking about God or about the state of our own lives and souls – must deliver in terms of the two great commandments.  And of course these may only be ‘kept’, i.e. effectively ‘practised’, by commitment to Christ in discipleship of him. Jesus cannot use those Christians who are concerned only about their own goodness but only those who want to be effective for his name’s sake. 

Our collects then remind us of what is absolutely essential in Christian doctrine: sound belief creates sound practice and effective discipleship. The collects emphasise, first, the power and the love of God, as well as our need to respond to that power and love with faith and repentance. 

(I realise that doubt about such things is very fashionable in certain cultural, social, and even church circles these days; but Jesus came to bring truth, life, and a sure hope as regards what happens when we die.) The collects also insist on the absolute necessity of grace, and the prime virtue of love – though certainly not the definition of ‘love’ that is bandied about today in some very topical issues or debates! 

The collects confirm the passing nature of life here and the glorious hope of eternal life hereafter. Especially they make very plain the centrality of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus for the accomplishing of God’s will on earth as it is in heaven, and for the overthrow of all forms of evil that resist that will. 

Whoever says that ‘Christianity is boring’ either has never researched or understood what it entails in terms of human commitment, or else attended one of those schools or churches in which the liturgy, language, and preaching serve more to disguise than to reveal the Gospel of Jesus Christ and his calling. 

Our collect today is meant to be read, considered, prayed through with God, and then acted upon as he will show us and in the way he wants you and me to fulfil our calling. 

Remember, he is always more ready to hear, to forgive, and to give whatever it is we need in order to keep the two great commandments and to serve him and our neighbour more effectively. 

And whatever our track record to date, we must not be afraid - do not let your conscience tell you he cannot forgive you – because he is your loving Heavenly Father.