Talks, Sermons and Reflections

On Friday we had the funeral of my mother. Although it is a bit too soon, it is good for me to be here, to remember, together with you. We are coming for them and for us – to say that they matter. Whether their death was a few days ago, a year ago, or many years ago, they mattered to us and they still do matter. We come to remember who they were, what they gave and to express our love. For each of us grief will be different. For me it is a deep sense of sadness and emptiness, and – if I’m honest now – a weariness at what seems the futility of it all. For others it will be an emotional overwhelming, like a huge wave breaking over you. You are swept off your feet and there is nothing to hold on to. Or it may be, especially after the death of a lifelong partner, a sense of utter isolation and loneliness, of being on my own. And no other person will ever really be able to fill that gap, however loving and supporting are our family or friends. And that can all come with a sense of fear. We ...

Nelson was possibly England’s greatest hero, a military genius, and a brilliant commander of men. That puts him at the top of a plinth in Trafalgar Square, in the centre of London, 51 metres above us all. But Nelson was also quite like us. He was born in this village. His dad was rector here. He would have held these keys. He was a Norfolk man, loved the place (called it ‘dear Burnham’), and we have a letter in which he says that he expects to be buried here. And he was also like us because, despite his brilliance, he was also very flawed. There was his failed marriage, his treatment of Fanny, his – at times – very wrong calls, and his craving for recognition and titles. And that does not make him someone we should ditch, but it makes him someone we can identify with. And today I would like to focus on one of those things that we can both identify with and learn from. It was an idea that was very big for him, an idea expressed in that message that Nelson shared with his fleet before th...

This is a story that I read in Anthony Bloom's 'Beginning to Pray' and which I rewrote for a harvest assembly.  If anyone would like to send me an illustration that I can put with this, that would be wonderful!  This is the story of Joachim. He was an old man, kind but simple. He was a shepherd and he had a flock of goats. Every night, after he had milked his flock, he took the best of his milk, the cream at the top, and he put it into a saucer and placed it on a rock. Rev Moses was visiting and saw him do this and asked him, 'What are you doing?' Joachim answered, 'Every night after I have milked my goats I take the best of my milk, the cream at the top, and I put it into a saucer and place it on a rock. I give it to God. I am saying thank you to Him for all He has given. This beautiful place, my precious flock, this tasty milk and the beautiful people among whom I live. It is an expression of my love for Him. And every night God accepts my offering. He drinks ...

Matthew 21:33-46 Happy Harvest! Our reading today is a story that Jesus tells about tenants who do not give their harvest offering to the landlord. ‘When the harvest time had come he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his produce’ (v34) ‘He will lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the harvest time’ (v41) ‘The Kingdom of God will be .. given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom’ (v43) The audio of this talk can be found here The focus when people usually look at this passage is – rightly – on the rejected Son who is the cornerstone of the Kingdom of God. But today – our harvest – I’d like to focus elsewhere, at the reasons that the tenants reject the landlord and do not give him the fruit of the kingdom. 1. The tenants have forgotten the goodness of the landlord. The vineyard, in this story, is the people of Israel. Jesus is echoing Isaiah 5. God in love ‘plants a vineyard’. He gives it a hedge and a heart.  And he gi...

Matthew 21:23-32 Two stories, two sons and a choice. The audio of this talk can be found here It is quite hard to see a connection between the two stories The first is about a question of authority. Jesus has just turned out the money changers from the temple. The elders and chief priests ask Jesus about his authority, and he turns it into a question about the authority of John the Baptist. The second is about two sons. The first says No to his father, but then does what his father asks. The second says Yes, but doesn’t do it. Jesus disputing in the temple with the Pharisees who ask him to prove his authority. Cristoforo De Predis (1440-1486) in 'The History of the New Testament' .  And the thing that these two stories have in common – is that in both Jesus refers to John the Baptist. I was utterly hopeless at chemistry at school. But I did seem to be able to manage the litmus test. You put a piece of litmus paper into a test-tube with some liquid and if it came out red it said...

Matthew 18:15-20 Today we are looking at the Church’s grievance policy! And that might sound very contemporary, risk averse and dry. But the astonishing thing is that Jesus gave his followers a grievance policy 2000 years ago – and modern organisations could do far worse than making Matthew 18 the basis of their policy. The audio of this talk can be found here There are a number of challenging elements to what Jesus says. 1. We are part of a recognisable community of believers , with real bonds, responsibilities and boundaries. Our reading speaks of being a ‘member’ of the people of God. The Greek speaks of being a ‘brother’ or a ‘sister’ within the Christian community. It is a family term We are not simply isolated individuals who happen to believe similar things. we are brothers and sisters who belong to one another. Jesus Christ is for everyone. The Church is open to everyone. To become part of the family of God is not to do anything – it is not to pay a subscriptio...