Talks, Sermons and Reflections

Matthew 12.1-8 The window at the West end of church is our harvest window. It is the largest West Window of any parish church in the country. It was given by the farmers after a particularly good harvest in 1854. It illustrates this particular incident. You can see the disciples plucking grain, and the Pharisees arguing with Jesus. Jesus disciples are hungry. This is not about them having a snack in between meals. This is not like walking along, seeing blackberries, picking them and eating them. It is not natures equivalent of a Freddo bar. They’ve been on the road. They have no regular income. Each day they are dependent on the generosity of others. And today they are hungry. So they pluck the grain, they rub their hands together and they blow away the husks. Technically they are reaping, threshing and winnowing. And although you could do that on other days, the religious law said that you were not allowed to prepare food on the Sabbath. And the Pharisees watch ...

Deuteronomy 8.10-20 We are here today to give thanks for the harvest. God has given us the most astonishingly generous gift. Yesterday we went for a circular walk around Clare. We are so privileged. The Suffolk countryside is beautiful and fertile. And I know that some people – even people here – are seriously struggling, but as a rule we have so much. Few of us, if any here, will have known starvation. The only times in my life that I have gone hungry are by choice. And most of us really do have genuine choices about what we do with some of our money. Yes, the rent or the mortgage, the electricity and the food bills need paying, but most of us have at least a little at the end of the week or month to buy something that is not essential. And we have a pretty good system of public services, of education and the NHS. We know who we can turn to when we are sick. And although the recession and austerity has badly affected large numbers of people, overall and looking at the big...

Matthew 25:14-30 The parable of the talents I'd like to speak about being ambitious  - about being ambitious for God. This is the story of three people. They were each given a share of the masters property. Two worked hard. They used what they had been given in order to make more. One did nothing. He buried the gift. And when the master returns he is condemned. Margaret Thatcher famously used the parable of the talents. She spoke of how it was a story of taking what you have, working hard and making something for yourself from it.  But the parable of the talents is not a theological justification for unbridled capitalism. It is not about the person who made good, who says ‘God I came from a council estate, I had limited education, I never knew my dad, and mum was messed up and I had nothing – but now I have £56 million. I’ve used the nothing that I had but now look at me’. That is great - depending on how you have made your £56m! It is good to take what ...

John 12:23-26 I would like to tell you the story of Gregory the Grain. He lived in Gressingham. He was a grand grain. He was a grain with a brain. He was a graduate with a degree from agricultural college. He was a bit of a grafter and got a good grade. He learnt to say, 'Grateful graylags grazing green grasslands' - which for a grain is quite impressive. He deserves congratulations. Yes, there was that incident when, against his granny's advice, he ran away to Gretna Green to marry Grace the grasshopper, but it had come to grief. Grace had tried to eat him. When he came back he had to grovel. But now he was the star of a TV advert for Granary.  He dressed immaculately. He wore the finest designer label: Gravitas; and the most expensive body spray: Husk. He had two good friends: there was Granville the grocer and Grit the grunter. Gregory had a problem. He was gregarious, famous, funny, smart, well-dressed. He had influence and respect. But he...

Mark 8:1-10  During those days another large crowd gathered. Since they had nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples to him and said,   “I have compassion for these people;  they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat.   If I send them home hungry, they will collapse on the way, because some of them have come a long distance.” His disciples answered, “But where in this remote place can anyone get enough bread to feed them?” “How many loaves do you have?”  Jesus asked. “Seven,” they replied. He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. When he had taken the seven loaves and given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people, and they did so.   They had a few small fish as well; he gave thanks for them also and told the disciples to distribute them.   The people ate and were satisfied. Afterward the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. ...