Milton Keynes-Leipzig link: 25 Years

Silver Anniversary service Saturday 6th October 2012

Sermon by the Reverend Elizabeth Welch

Minister of Clapton Park United Reformed Church 

Luke Chapter 7. 1 - 10

1 Corinthians 9. 16 - 27.

I am delighted to be here at this twenty-fifth anniversary service of the Leipzig-Grunau Milton Keynes partnership. I remember the early days of the formation of this partnership including the key role that Clive Fowle played from the English side in setting it up. 20 years ago this month, I was one of the group that went to Leipzig-Grunau. I had previously visited Potsdam for a World Council of Churches conference, before the wall came down, but the visit to Leipzig was my first visit to the east after the wall came down.

This evening I want to reflect back on three memories from that visit, within the setting of the readings chosen for this service, in order to see the significance of this partnership for the future.

The readings chosen for today pick up on the theme of the ‘other’, the person who is outside, the person who might seem to be the stranger or the alien.

In the Gospel, the focus is on the Centurion who seeks healing for his servant lying on his death bed. In the Jewish world, the centurion, as a Roman and representing the powers of the death, could well be thought to be the stranger and the alien. Yet it was clear that this centurion had already built bridges with the Jewish community, for he had indeed physically built them a synagogue. He is portrayed as a person who is open to the one who is different. The point of the story is not so much the healing of the servant as the trust the centurion puts in Jesus. Jesus comments favourably on this, that he sees more trust in this Roman centurion than in the whole Jewish community.

Out of this story come the words which I hear said regularly in the Roman Catholic Mass, words of complete trust in Jesus: ‘Lord I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word, and I shall be healed.’ Week by week the faith of the centurion is remembered throughout the Christian world, as the basis of the faith that we can share in Jesus Christ today. In an increasingly secularised Europe, we are drawn back to the centrality of our faith in Christ and the ways in which we can grow in that faith by our sharing together.

In the letter to the Corinthians, we get a different angle on the building of bridges between people. Paul writes of his desire to so identify himself with the ‘other’ that he will win them for Christ. He is even identified with the community from which he has come, the Jewish community, for the sake of the Gospel. He comes as one who is in Christ, but who desires to share the good news of Jesus with others as they are, so that they may know Jesus’ blessings. His starting point is not to look to the other and say ‘here is a stranger or an alien’ with whom I will have nothing to do. His starting point is to be alongside the ‘other’ and build the relationship.

These two passages are resonant of Paul’s words in Ephesians, in chapter two when he writes of the way in which Christ breaks down barriers between people, who then are ‘no longer strangers and aliens, but citizens with the saints and members of the household of God’.

Jesus comes to heal, to teach, to build bridges between people of different backgrounds and communities, that all might be one in him.

Building bridges between God’s people involves giving and receiving. It involves that difficult work of becoming the ‘other’ for the sake of receiving the ‘other’. Building bridges becomes possible because we recognise that we are each sharers in the bridge that has been built by Christ, in reconciliation of the world.

Building on the setting of these two passages, I want to share three memories and reflect on what they stand for in terms of this partnership and of our proclamation of the Gospel today.

The 1st memory is the story of the peace prayers at the Nikolai Kirche. I remember on that visit to Leipzig 20 years ago, being taken in to the Nikolai Kirche and listening to the voices of those who had been involved in the peace prayers and the lighting of candles as a sign of the hope for change. I remember particularly hearing of the day when the people came out of the church to face the soldiers outside, not knowing whether they might arrest people or fire on the protesters. Gradually the soldiers just moved back and let the crowd go. It was a sign of the possibility of peaceful change. I was moved to tears at hearing the witness to these significant events. People from different backgrounds and faith positions had come together to protest peacefully and change had come.

This story still speaks to me of the possibilities that God opens up of hope and of unexpected change. Who would have thought that the wall would have come down without violence? Who would have thought that Mandela would walk free without civil war? Who would have thought that the Burmese protester You +1'd this publicly. Undo Aung San Suu Kyi would be talked about as a next possible president of her country? We need to go on looking for and telling the stories where faith in peaceful change has led to courage to resist the powers that oppress. We need models of resistance, when we look to those parts of the world which are moving towards ever increasing violence, such as Syria, or Afghanistan. We need to go on telling the stories of peaceful resistance, and open up new ways of peace-making

My 2nd memory is of a different kind.
I remember the music that was played at the beginning and end of the services, and the way in which people sat still and listened. It struck me because of my experience in this country of the way in which the music at the beginning and end of the service is often a time for movement, for people to come or go.

I have also a larger memory of the musical tradition of Leipzig through the life and work Johann Sebastian Bach and his 27 years as cantor and Director of music. The magnificent music of Bach has been a gift to the whole church and across the world. We have all been his inheritors of Bach. One of the great gifts of music is the way in which it unites a people in a way that goes beyond words. Bach’s settings of music for the Mass lift people together to the heights of heaven.

Music is both a reality of worship that transforms God’s people and is a symbol of what it’s like when God’s people come together. Each musician has his or her own instrument. Each person who sings has his or her own voice. Yet together, something much more powerful happens. In both Milton Keynes and Leipzig we celebrate the way in which Christians across different traditions can share together. It’s an important gift to be offered to the wider church. When we participate in God’s music, our differences our taken up together in a larger harmony, to the greater glory of God

My 3rd memory is only of a small incident, but one that has major implications. At the end of the visit 20 years ago, I went into a big store in Leipzig, in order to buy gifts to take back home with me. I specifically wanted to take back something that was from Leipzig, or from eastern Germany. So went to a counter and asked where I could buy something that was made in the east. The person just looked at me and said ‘we only sell goods made in the west.’

The question of economics and the issues of the financial crisis Europe and the rest of the world are going through, is one of the biggest challenges we have to face at present. The framework for the debate is often one which puts money, consumerism and the free market at the heart of the matter, with the assumption that these are normative values. The danger is that the pursuit of these values fragments the human community and puts people against each other – rich against poor, German against English, north against south.

As Christians, we stand together against values that fragment human communities and are destructive of people and of creation. We stand together for values that come out of our faith – faith in God who chose a person and a community and the creation through which to reveal himself. Our shared Christian faith values the person and the community at the heart of the matter, not in isolation, but in fundamental solidarity with all God’s people.

Paul, in the passage we heard from the letter to the Corinthians knew that the road he was travelling down was not going to be an easy one. But he wanted to give himself fully to this race he was running, whatever the cost. We share today in that costly journey, as we build partnerships that take us across boundaries and as we witness together to the Christ who comes to overturn this world’s values.

To God be the glory, in Christ Jesus and to all eternity.

“I want my house full!”

1 Corinthians 12:12–27 One body, many parts;

 Luke 14:12-24 Filling God's house

Sermon by the Reverend John Bradley

2nd September 2012

Last month the Olympic Games brought together the fittest, strongest, healthiest people in the world to compete in a wide range of sports. The original Olympic Games in Ancient Greece were also a festival of the highest ideal people. For the Greeks, the ideal person was young, male, fair-skinned, clean-shaven, healthy and athletic. Anyone else fell below the ideal. So if you were no longer young, you were less than the ideal. If you were female, you fell further below and if were dark skinned or had a beard, you were simply a barbarian! Those who were not in good health or had some kind of physical or mental impairment were right off the scale. The Ancient Greeks would find the concept of the Paralympics where people compete despite their impairments totally incomprehensible.

Of the seven billion people in the world today, one billion have some kind of physical or mental impairment. If we all belonged to one nation, it would be the third largest in the world after China and India. It would have the highest rate of unemployment, the lowest standard of education and in terms of Christian mission would be one of the most unreached nations in the world. The rise of the Paralympics from its beginning at Stoke Mandeville Hospital near Aylesbury through years of widespread neglect by the media to today when the same organisers and venues provide both the Olympics and the Paralympics has been a long and arduous one.

There was a time when those who saw the world population growing exponentially seriously proposed that people with disabilities should be exterminated. ‘Social Darwinism’, which was not the view of Charles Darwin himself, said that if nature teaches the survival of the fittest, only the fittest should be allowed to survive. Those who consume the earth’s resources but make no contribution to its production were termed 'useless eaters' an expression favoured by the Nazis. In many parts of the world today, children with disabilities are hidden away from sight because they are considered a curse on the community. Not long ago in this country it would have been unthinkable to have a Home Secretary who was blind. Whenever President Franklin Roosevelt appeared on television, his wheelchair was always hidden to camera. Seventy years ago it was politically unacceptable for the Commander in Chief to be disabled, even though his wheelchair enabled him to manage his impaired mobility.

In our Gospel reading, we heard Jesus turning the world upside-down again! “When you give a dinner party,” he tells his wealthy, healthy host, “don’t invite your wealthy healthy chums. Instead, invite the people on the margins, the ones you usually ignore.” Then he presses the point home with one of his subversive stories! The healthy wealthy people had accepted the invitation to the banquet but when the time came, they all found something more important to do. But the host no more wanted empty seats at his banquet than did the organisers of the Olympic Games. So the uninvited – those whose diaries were empty because nobody ever invited them to anything – became the invited. But still there were empty seats so he sent his stewards out again to the margins, to the excluded, and told them to make them come in because, the host says, “I want my house full!”

Here at Cornerstone there is good news and bad news about the car park outside. The good news is that on most Sunday mornings, particularly damp ones, the car park is usually full. The bad news is that most people are not here worshipping God but are across the road worshipping Mammon! What do you think would happen if I were to go across there and grab complete strangers by the arm saying “you thought you were coming here today just to get your weekly shopping but actually you are invited to the greatest banquet in the universe? Even the long-life bread you buy here today will go stale and leave you hungry for more but come now and receive a foretaste of the heavenly banquet prepared for all mankind!” Perhaps they won’t come until they are hungry enough.

Then the second reading was Paul’s familiar picture of the members of the Church being like the different organs which make up a human body. The analogy wasn’t original to him but he used it in a different way. In the version in the Hindu scriptures, the head represents the Brahmin priests, the shoulders represent the warrior princes, the thighs represent the merchants and the feet represent the ordinary labourers who tread the dusty road. The untouchable dalits, the ‘crushed’ people, don’t get a mention; they are like the downtrodden dust. Paul doesn’t have a hierarchy like that. Instead, like Jesus, he turns the world’s way upside down. No part of the body of Christ can say to another part “I don’t need you.” There is no appendix in the Church; no part of the body that we had no idea was there until it started causing us trouble! Those of us with impairments, far as we are from the world’s ideal, not only have a place but have a special place of honour in the body of Christ.

Since the Disability Discrimination Act made it a legal requirement for all public buildings to be reasonably accessible to people with impairments, in my experience the Christian churches have generally made more effort to comply with this than have commercial shops and restaurants. That is to be expected, not because churches are more charitable than businesses but because there is a radical welcome at the heart of the Christian faith for those who are otherwise marginalised and rejected. But before we congratulate ourselves, we should remember that we are still on the journey. I often find that church buildings which have been made totally accessible for wheelchair users like me to join the congregation have barriers to prevent us from taking part in leading worship. When we first came to Cornerstone, the ramp for the dais was stored away in a cupboard and only Jim knew that we had one! When I’m invited to preach in an old parish church where there is a steep winding staircase up to the pulpit, they usually suggest I stay seated in my wheelchair in the chancel. I feel as if I should preface my homily with a disclaimer “don’t worry, I’m not the bishop!”

Much has been said about the legacy of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. The colossal amount of money has been spent not just for a few weeks of sporting entertainment or for the regeneration of a run-down area East of London but that the whole nation shall be inspired to become healthier, more active and engage in sport. For people with impairments, the focus shifts from what we can’t do to what we can do. My own experience of acquired disability has been one of learning to let go of what I can no longer do in order to be available for what I can do. Because of the Centre for Integrated Living in particular, this building is more familiar to people with impairments than are many church buildings. They are most welcome guests here, not only because our practical needs can be addressed but also we are most especially cherished by the Lord of the Banquet who wants His house to be full!

Church Mission

Revd. Canon John Robertson 

Sermon given 8/7/12

Mark 6:1-13 (2 Corinthians 12:2-10)

Introduction

I have now been in the post of Director of Ecumenical Mission in Milton Keynes for 2 months. Before that I was vicar of Grove Parish Church in Oxfordshire, having previously been Chaplain at York University and before that I trained and worked as an engineer.

I am slowly getting used to MK especially the size of it, all the roundabouts and its many churches.

Mission Partnership

Hands up all those who have heard of the Mission Partnership? What do you think it does?

The Mission Partnership brings together churches across MK and other Christian Agencies under the same umbrella. They are brought together to enable, encourage and stimulate MISSION.

Mission

Mission is the central calling of all churches.

It is NOT a separate entity from the churches;

It is NOT just for Local Ecumenical Partnerships

It is NOT a bureaucratic structure

Mission depends on following the 5 Marks of Mission:

- to proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom

- to teach, baptise and nurture new believers

- to respond to human need by loving service

- to seek to transform unjust structures of society

- to strive to safeguard the integrity of creation

The five marks outline an enormous and grand vision but..

It leads us to ask the following questions:

- how effective are we in the central calling of Mission?

- how do we gauge our effectiveness?

Story

When I was a Chaplain at York University I was involved in a scheme to promote skills beyond degree/academic but broadened out to languages, IT, city action, even theology. The launch of the scheme brought together students, academics, business sponsors who were formed into teams to solve a problem.

Problem: A pile of about 40 lego bricks had to be assembled into a complex 3D model which we were only allowed to view for a short period of time.

My team struggled and ultimately had to admit defeat. However, a student working alone produced a perfect solution. How did he manage it? Where did he get the extraordinary collection of abilities in spatial awareness, memory and logic necessary for the task which my team so singularly lacked? He was a very ordinary looking student, a mere teenager, whereas my team possessed the best part of 10 degrees. Did he cheat? I noticed a look of collective jealousy as he was awarded a bottle of champagne. We clapped and smiled and took offence. Somebody suggested his talent was God-given, which excused us from competing with him but hardly lessened our envy and rejection.

Text

Our reaction to the student was identical to the response of the citizens of Nazareth to Jesus in Mark 6^2-3. It is not that his neighbours deny his wisdom or his ability to perform mighty works, but that the source of his activity lies with God. It is not that they deny the ordinary humanity of Jesus, quite the reverse, but that God is revealed in that humanity, that it is as ordinary flesh and blood that Jesus shows forth God and manifests the power of God to transform human lives.

The effectiveness of Jesus is found in the question: Where did this man get all this? Of course Jesus has no control over the reaction of the citizens of Nazareth who take offence, but the effectiveness of his ministry is already indicated by the fact that the people find themselves asking that question “Where did this man get all this?”

Now look at the episode which follows. Jesus sends the disciples out two by two to reflect his ministry in theirs

• they have authority over unclean spirits

- they anoint the sick

• they proclaim a message of repentance. ( Compare Mk.1 v15 “The time is fulfilled. The Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe the good news.” Implication is that ‘repentance’ here is shorthand for this wider programmatic message of Jesus)
• Jesus anticipates the same response of offence vs 10-11.
• Which means that he expects their activity to raise the same question

“Where did the disciples get all this?”

Their effectiveness will be shown in the raising of that question by their activity.

Church

Which brings us back to the Church here and now and the question of our effectiveness.

a) We are now the disciples: like them, the church is now sent by Jesus

our mission reflects their mission

our mission reflects the mission of Jesus

Note the impulse towards the 5 marks of mission in the task of the disciples:

Repentance (in extended sense of Mark 1v15) is about proclaiming good news of Kingdom

Casting out demons concerns a confrontation with evil which reflects the transformation of unjust structures in society

Anointing of sick is an example of acts of loving service

b) Are we doing those things??

i) Reflection Day produced 84 things to celebrate under 5 marks

That was just one morning with 40 people

Cornerstone will have its own list

Added to which there was a real willingness to work at improving what we do

ii) My own observations would reinforce that

eg Christian Foundation, Sector ministry in hospital/prisons/hospice, Venture FX, Foodbank, winter shelter, bridgebuilders, soup runs, holiday clubs.

c) Is the Question being raised?

“Where did these Christians/this Church get all this?”

What’s behind all this activity? What drives it?

And the implied answer that it is driven by faith, with God known in Christ at the source of all we do.

It is the raising of that question which shows how effective we are.

d) I don’t know the answer to that yet….

BUT I have yet to hear it coming back at me

Which means that if it is being raised, it is only in muted form.

Does that mean that we are afraid of generating offence??

If so, does that mean that the church has become a nice club like the Rotary or the Round Table doing nice things because we’re nice people?

To that extent, mission is constrained, discipleship half-hearted.

We need to be bold about articulating why we do what we do. When we dare to do that, however tentatively, the Question will be raised

Some may take offence: like Jesus, we have no control over the response of others.

Others will respond positively and seek to know the God revealed in Christ, and then we will know that our mission is truly effective. Amen.

Belonging

Ephesians 2:11–22 and Mark 6: 30–34:  53–56

A sermon by Maggie Prisk

Sunday 22nd July 2012

What goes around, comes around. History repeats itself. There is nothing new under the sun.

Over the last couple of weeks I have heard several discussions on the radio around the subject of circumcision. Periodically this matter is raised and aired whether on religious, moral, ethical or medical grounds however the latest focus appears to have arisen because the medical authorities (not the government) in Germany have decided that the practice of circumcision should be banned except for where there is a medical necessity for the procedure to be carried out. Naturally the Jews and Muslims are up in arms because it is so much part of their religious heritage. The practice clearly still has the ability to cause division and controversy.

Unlike many of Paul's letters, the epistle to the Ephesians seems to be more general in its approach rather than being written to address a particular issue or issues. Neither does it appear to have been written in response to questions which the young churches have posed to Paul to get his view of. And since I am neither of the Jewish or Muslim faith nor a man I do not intend to dwell on the ins and outs, rights or wrongs of the circumcision debate. However it gives us an opportunity to consider the 'reality of our unity in Christ'.

The pious Jews of Jesus' and Paul's day 'considered all non-Jews ceremonially unclean. They thought of themselves as pure and clean because of their national heritage and religious ceremonies'. The very familiar story told by Jesus of the 'Good Samaritan' is a good illustration of this point of view. The fact that Paul is addressing this issue suggests that it has given rise to divisions amongst the Christian communities to whom Paul is writing. He is very concerned that they should live together in unity having all been made alive in Christ because as he points out at the start of this chapter all were 'dead in their transgressions', Jews and Gentiles alike.

Circumcision was given to Abraham as a sign of the covenant relationship between God and his special people. When Abraham first circumcised all the men in his household, Isaac had not been conceived never mind born and Isaac was the promised son, the start of a whole new nation. It appears that the practice had slipped because at the beginning of the Book of Joshua it states that all those who left Egypt had been circumcised but all who had been born during the wanderings in the desert had not. The act of circumcision both in Abraham's story and the event recorded in Joshua are reflections of new beginnings. The old has gone, the new has come. In fact in the story of Joshua this is made quite clear because all those whom God said would not see the promised land as a result of the disobedience, had died in the dessert, these men that Joshua addresses were the new generation, a new start, a new beginning. The same is true for the Christians of Paul's time, through Christ whether they were from the Jewish faith or Gentiles, all who had become believers were part of the new beginning.

As so often is the case, when something is new, fresh and exciting people set aside their differences for the project, adventure or cause, but as things settle down the old prejudices begin to surface and when insecurities creep in then divisions come more and more to the fore. Instead of individuals pulling together for the good of the whole they begin to focus on their differences with the result that dissent and discord take over. Relationships, bands, businesses, sports teams - the list goes on and on, high profile break ups and splits, the the world watches as accusations are thrown around and what had been a successful union begins to disintegrate and pull itself apart. Paul doesn't want that; for the sake of the gospel he wants all believers to work together as witnesses to God's saving grace through the death of Jesus Christ.

In my wallet I have a number of loyalty cards. Cards which if I use them in a certain place will give me something back. I have a Costa coffee club card which gives me points every time I buy a drink in one of their cafes. I have a card from Marks and Spencer which gives me a free greetings card whenever I have buy six and and have the card stamped. I have Tesco club and Nectar cards on my key ring. Belonging is very important to most of us. For some it may only be wearing the colours of the football team you support. For others it might be a particular way of dressing which shows they are part of the group. Some go further by getting a tattoo or other identification as a more permanent reminder of belonging. Then there are those who go to the extreme of showing they belong by undertaking a task and sadly for those wanting to become a member of a gang it could involve attacking someone who has nothing to do with the group. To be accepted is part of who we are.

You have had a busy hectic week, you're exhausted and someone suggests you go away for a long relaxing weekend. Sounds idyllic doesn't it? The disciples were well and truly ready for a rest, they have lots to tell and they want time alone with Jesus to relate to him what happened when he sent them out but no sooner have the set out for their well deserved break when they arrive they realise that the people have got their first both times. But Jesus had 'compassion on them'. The people were looking to this young teacher to give them guidance and more importantly to heal their sick. They recognise their needs and are looking to Jesus to meet them. If the disciples had had their way they would have been sent back to where they came from but that's not Jesus' way. Jesus ministry is not only 'spiritual', (the story of his feeding a huge crowd sits in between the two parts of Mark chapter 6 we read this morning), he 'ministers to their every need, touching every part of their lives, accepting them, healing them, teaching them'. And is not just to individuals, when he arrives in Gennesaret the whole community has come out to work together to bring their sick to be healed.

However by the time Paul was writing his letters to the Ephesians both Jewish and Gentile Christians have become divided by the issue of circumcision. Part of the covenant relationship these believers were to demonstrate to others was 'the divine riches of God's grace' to those who did not believe. Yet again on our television screens and in newspapers are pictures of men, women and children fleeing from their homes and countries as a result of famine or war, searching for somewhere to live. 'What refugees want above all, assuming they are not able to return to their homeland is to be accepted into a new community where they can rebuild their lives and their families'. Nearly two years ago my nephew married a young Canadian woman. For the year after their marriage he waited, having provided masses of information, for his citizenship to come through, until it did he couldn't leave the country without the penalty of beginning the process all over again. Now he was not a refugee but in many ways it is the same, he has been accepted into a new community. The relief felt in my sister's family when he got both his citizenship and his work permit was immense, for refugees too getting their passports is the sign that they have been accepted.

Paul wants the Christians to work together, for there to be unity. He wants the Gentiles to recognise that they have hope because of Jesus' death and resurrection, they have been received into God's family not because a ritual has taken place but because of the love and grace of God. He wants the Jewish believers to accept their right to be God's special people but not because they have been circumcised but like the Gentiles they too were lost and in need of the saving, healing power of Christ's death and resurrection. This was the new beginning, the new start, the 'creating of a new humanity which is radically different from both groups and open to all'. The issue of circumcision was dividing the fledgling church and possibly putting off others who might be in need of God's mercy, healing and acceptance. God has accepted both Jew and Gentile, 'they are all citizens of God's people and members of God's household'.

Abraham and the nation of which he was the founder had a covenant with God their side of this agreement was to be a blessing to all nations. The challenge for us today is to 'work in the power of the Spirit, both to break down social and ethnic barriers within the church, and to encourage those currently outside God's people to become part of his new creation'. The cross means nothing if divisions persist whatever their origins, the cross also means 'peace between believers and peace with God, in a community where God himself dwells'. We like the Israelites are to be a blessing to others and divisions will hinder that, we are all members of God's household and part of his new humanity which lives together in unity.

Victims

Mark 6. 14-29

A sermon by The Reverend Wendy Carey

Sunday 15th July 2012

‘Have you been injured by an accident that was not your fault?’ Or ‘Have you been mis-sold insurance in connection with a loan from a Bank?’ If so, you are a victim. And being a victim today, appears to call for one of two things – anger, or compensation, or perhaps both.

Over many years of work in prisons I have thought a great deal about victims. When I was often asked to speak outside the prison of my work as a Chaplain, a common comment was to chide me that in showing so much concern for convicted prisoners, I was failing to be aware of, and respectful to, the needs of victims. This was a rather simplistic comment, as it failed to recognise that dealing with the needs and the motivation of current prisoners was an effective way of ensuring that the number of future victims of crime was reduced. But a more compelling reason that the comment is too simple, is that a community of criminal offenders is likely to contain a much greater proportion of victims of crime, than does the general population. The matter is complex. Being a victim of crime, can never excuse or support becoming an offender, a perpetrator of crime, but it can go a long way to explain the matter, and that is a first step towards a solution.

These thoughts were prompted by reading our Gospel passage for today, St. Mark’s account of the beheading of John the Baptist, following the conspiracy of Herod and Herodias and her daughter. At first glance, this story seems quite simple, we have a victim, John the Baptist, and we have three perpetrators of varying culpability, Herod, Herodias, and her daughter, Salome. Surely this is a straightforward story of good and evil. But wait a minute, think again about Salome, is there not a case for viewing her as in some ways a victim as well? Is she a victim of the subservient role of young unmarried women at this time? Is she a victim of Herodias’ implacable hatred and desire for revenge? Is she simply a victim of poor parenting, and the lack of what has sometimes been called a moral compass? And what of her mother? Is she purely a perpetrator of crime, or is she a victim of circumstance, or treatment by others. Is Herod her victim, or she his?

If we think deeply about any situation, small and personal, or global and of major significance, we will see this complex web of perpetrators and victims. Court cases and judicial enquiries devote themselves to searching out whose fault lies at the bottom of any issue, but searching for such an answer may be just too simple. In a situation where journalists feel the need to tap phone calls and hack into emails, is there no recognition of the culpability of a society which loves to read a bit of scandal or gossip, and in general doesn’t much care how it is gathered, until the chance arises to become sanctimonious.

The complexity and interweaving of cause and effect, victims and perpetrators is bewildering, and almost inexplicable. But it can be, and is explained by a word we shall use several times in this and in most of our worship. It is, on the whole, an unfashionable word, but it lies at the heart of our Christian understanding. The word is sin. I suppose very few preachers set out to preach about sin in our times, but today you can go home and report that the sermon was about sin.

This evening, at St Mary’s church Bletchley, eight people, teenagers and adults, from the Parish of St. Frideswide, Water Eaton, where I now minister, will be confirmed. They will confirm the promises made by themselves, or on their behalf at Baptism:
‘Do you repent of your sins?’
‘I repent of my sins’.

Our Confirmation candidates have been preparing together using the ‘Start!’ course, led by two lay people. One young teenager had not been baptised, so last Monday evening at her baptism, I asked her that question: ‘Do you repent of your sins?’ How can one explain and help a young person to understand what is being asked? One way would be to point to this complicated and interminable web of victims and offenders, stretching back through time, to a root cause that can be explained by the word sin. Janet Morley wrote a collect for the readings that centre on the story of the Fall of humanity in Genesis chapter three. She writes: ‘Holy God, we are born into a world tissued and structured by sin....’ So where do we find an answer?

Before I began to write this sermon, I looked up the word Victim in the dictionary. Its earliest use in English is in the late 15th Century, denoting a creature killed as a religious sacrifice. So here we are, taken straight back to those words of a much used Good Friday hymn, whether or not you agree in detail with its account of Jesus’ sacrifice:

There was no other good enough to pay the price of sin
He only could unlock the gate of heaven, and let us in.

And here it is, the answer to our questions about how we untangle and begin to cleanse that unending trail of victim and perpetrator, of accusation and counter accusation that so besets our life as a community. Jesus, the ultimate Victim takes upon himself in crucifixion the sins of the whole world. Soon we shall recall again Jesus words at the Last Supper: ‘this is my blood of the new covenant which is shed for you for the forgiveness of sin’.

One of the most worthwhile things we can do for one another is to begin to break the unending chain of sin, of victim and offender, of action and reaction, of offence and response: ‘he hit me, so I had to hit him back’ that begins in the playground, and can continue into, and even dominate our adult life. Supporting those who decide to stop this chain of action and reaction, by absorbing the hurt rather than passing it on, is one of the most vital and the most privileged tasks of the Prison Chaplain. It is in the conscious decision not to pass on the hurt, not to create more victims, that we ourselves can become Christlike. But we cannot do this alone.

And that is precisely why in Baptism, in Confirmation, and in the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, we turn to Christ, the Victim, and the Victor.

So we pray Janet Morley’s prayer:

Holy God, we are born into a world
tissued and structured by sin.
When we proclaim our innocence,
and seek to accuse each other,
give us the grace to know that we are naked;
that we may cry out to you alone, through Jesus Christ, Amen

Cup Glory!

Stories Revisited, by The Reverend David Moore 

A chance conversation with an MK Dons supporter re the ‘religious’ parallels in football and the onset of the European Championships quickened me to recall the occasion when I was interviewed on the (then) Radio 4 Friday PM programme on the eve of the Cup Final. The trouble is that I cannot be sure, 32 years later, what is fact and what is creative memory.

Fact or fiction here it is.

In 1980 West Ham won the FA Cup for the second time in six years, (some facts are easy to remember) beating Arsenal. At the time I was minister at Bow Road Methodist Church which is situated on the main road into the City from East London.

At the time my son Tim was 15 and hoping to study graphic art. We went to the Semi-Final, which was played at Aston Villa, and on the way home made plans to use the large church notice board at Bow to celebrate this success. Within two days this very large notice board was painted in claret and blue quarters and carried the words:

O HAPPY DAY WHEN WEST HAM BRING THE CUP THIS WAY AGAIN

and the artwork included the FA Cup and crossed hammers of West Ham.

We only managed one ticket which my Tim used. The eve of the final arrived and the excitement was increasing in the Moore household. On that Friday morning a phone call came from the BBC with a request for an interview saying they wanted a light-hearted but sharp comment for the PM programme that afternoon. The reporter knew nothing at all about sport, his area of expertise being European economic issues.

He described the location of the interview and described the Church notice board. Then turning to me he asked how the Arsenal supporters in the congregation felt about the notice board. Without any serious thought I replied “there are no Arsenal supporters as we have already excommunicated them”. I recall the look of complete surprise on his face! He then asked if we prayed for West Ham and my reply was that I had no need to do so as they were already in the Final! He followed that with “you give me the impression that West Ham is your religion.” “Oh it is”, I said, “West Ham is my local religion and Christianity is my life style”. At this his jaw dropped and his eyes opened wide!

I was then asked how a sport could be a religion. I think my explanation included: sport is like opera and indeed popular music contains the whole drama of human existence - the fall, the struggle to overcome heartbreak and exhilaration - relegation/promotion - death/resurrection. Seeing his defence crumbling I got into my stride and invited listeners to consider the role music (vocals) plays, and how supporters in effect engage in chanting which is, in its own way, akin to antiphonal chants. Then there were the songs ‘owned’ by local teams which were both their battle cry and call to worship. I spoke of Shakespeare’s ‘Harry, England and St George’ and how this emotion was replicated all over the world before football matches. At Liverpool it is You’ll Never Walk Alone and at West Ham it is Blowing Bubbles.

It seemed to me that any activity provoking such loyalty is dipping into the hidden reaches of human emotion, loyalty, identity, significance and hope - the very stuff of religion.

The conversation concluded with a request that I send a message to a loyal West Ham supporter - a Vicar, who not only lived in Highbury (home of Arsenal) but whose wife and daughters supported the Gunners. My reply was for him to remember the story of Daniel in the lions’ den and to keep his chin up!

Post Script

The following week the Chairman of the NE London Methodist District (the person to whom I was accountable) was inundated with letters of complaint, demanding I be sacked! Clearly I had hit a nerve, further confirmation that in the sentiments of Bill Shankly, the legendary manager of Liverpool, soccer is far more important than life or death.

It may also be noted that football (as with most sports) springs out of a complex set of factors - ability of raw intelligence, spatial awareness, creativity, imagination, intelligence and a willingness to put oneself ‘on the line’. There is a lot of stuff you may associate with Jesus!

The day after the match (Sunday) the West Ham Team passed the Church in an open-topped bus. We had ended the service early and the congregation gathered on the roof balcony applauding the Team and Bubbles music came from the bell tower!

On the back of all this I was invited to the Victory Banquet - but the less said about that the better!

To my mind the many of the superficial and hidden elements of our public and private passions are part and parcel of the stuff we offer up in worship week by week - but the preachers never seem to pick I’m For Ever Blowing Bubbles!

Christ is Risen - he is Risen indeed.

A sermon preached at Wolverton 

 The Reverend David Moore 

 Easter Day 2012

Christ is Risen - he is Risen indeed. How do we make sense of such words in our world today. How do we take these words into ourselves not as comfort but as awful, disturbing 'truth'? How do we avoid using these words as some kind of spiritual shower gel which make us feel nice and sleek about our faith?

Last week I had a mailshot from a Christian Charity. This appeal leaflet, speaking of a child, led with these words:

She went into hospital with cancer in her leg
and came out with Jesus in her heart.

So, appalled with these words, I immediately deposited the appeal into the recycling bin!

I am still trying to come to grips with why I reacted so strongly to this form of advertising. I think it was something far deeper than the fact that it was cheap, insensitive, exploitative.

Meanwhile, the very same day I noticed a news item in the MK Citizen - Over the Rainbow in honor of Harry. This is a story of unimaginable grief, loss, struggle, survival and self belief. A story which, for me, captures the essence of Easter Day, as did another story a few days later in the Guardian.

Listen to these words by John Norgrove, the father of Linda Norgrove:

In 2010 our daughter Linda, an aid worker, was abducted in eastern Afghanistan. She subsequently died during a rescue attempt by US Special Forces, killed by a US grenade. We refuse to apportion blame to the Taliban or the soldiers, preferring to start a charitable foundation to help women and children affected by war.

Three stories - the first overtly religious, the other ones not. For me the stories without reference to religion are immeasurably closer to the Good Friday/Easter story. For me Easter Day means loss without defeat!

Harry and Jessica Mould were twins, they lived on Greenleys and a few years ago I baptised them at Stony Stratford Methodist Church. I have such lovely photos of each twin giving me a kiss following that service. It was a remarkably beautiful occasion.

Sadly, Harry unexpectedly died in March 2009 when he was five. A while later Jessica had a new baby brother, whom I also baptised. The inquiries into Harry’s death dragged on for two years, revolving around issues of medical negligence. The inquest was only finalised in December 2011.

Harry’s Rainbow is a charity set up by Harry’s parents to raise awareness of child bereavement, to raise funds, and provide support for bereaved children. There is a gentle, colourful, friendly website which is, in its own way, a marker for our times as to how to handle issues of life and death. ... for me a genuine Easter sign!

In the last 20 years within the UK hundreds of charities have been founded offering support and practical resources to families confronted by untimely death. Think no further than the many responses to British deaths in Afghanistan.

The Christian Movement came into being in response to a tragic loss and, like the Mould and Norgrove families, and countless others, found ways of turning great loss into a movement of thanksgiving and support.

Some of you will know how deeply I have been influenced, indeed captivated, by the life, witness and writings of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who himself met an untimely death at the hands of Hitler.

It is with family members such as Odette Mould and John Norgrove and with all families mourning unexpected and untimely death we turn to the New Testament and the Easter story.

One of the most profound strands in Bonhoeffer’s teaching was that God called us to live as if he did not exist - the most profound point of Christian believing is found in learning to ‘live a life of faith without God and for God’.

What we have in the Easter story are human beings, like you and me, writing their story of loss and survival and for them it is spun around the events which followed the untimely death of Jesus, their dearest friend.

The way of remembering which we encounter in the New Testament has nothing in common with what might be called ‘the British stiff upper lip’ approach to life. What those first Christians seemed to do was continue practising the art of godliness as portrayed in Jesus who was gone from them. That was a project not without difficulty as the New Testament letters make clear.

Over the centuries, followers in that way have at times drifted further away from the core of the Jesus story but through it all the world has been gifted with some of greatest music, painting and sculpture, inspiring poets, composers, dancers, storytellers who through imaginative action reached beyond what they knew to what they now hoped for.

People deal with life and its grief in many ways - by being stoical, quietly bearing the pain whilst feeding the best they can on the story of resurrection.

Fifty-nine years ago - I was 16. I had done moderately badly at school, excelling most in sport and disobedience! I had, through family, become attached to the Methodist Church and generally got involved in things. The minister of this large Methodist Church in Bath organised an Open Air service on a Council estate, on a summer Sunday afternoon to publicise the fact that a new Church was to be built in that community.

The minister was Charles Clarke who strode ahead of us across a large grassed area surrounded by houses. I had no idea what was going on. Oh I wished I had not gone! I was racked to the core with adolescent embarrassment, longing beyond words to be somewhere else. Then he asked us to sing! I could have died! Many years later I began to recognise something far deeper was going on which I can now best describe like this - my embarrassed journey across that uneven green was like having a deep furrow ploughed across my heart, a furrow which has been producing crop after crop after crop for 59 years.

Like those first disciples, I had grasped just a smidgeon of the Jesus story and fortunately I had room within myself to accommodate it.

Easter Day is discovering death is not the end. Christ is risen - here - in me. How? No idea! Why? After 50 years I am still trying to work it out!

I would encourage you to visit the Harry’s Rainbow website. It contains some of the best practical pastoral advice on bereavement I have ever seen. And it is a pleasure.

And a Post Script - more from the John Norgrove article:

Last week we travelled to Kabul and Jalalabad to meet Linda’s friends and our Afghan-based volunteers. We visited the children’s medical house, where families from rural areas are accommodated while their kids undergo operations. We saw a fantastic Afghan children’s circus - it was great to see kids singing and dancing so carefree, escaping the battle-scarred neighborhoods where razor wire tops every wall. We also visited a refuge where women on the run from murderous families, acid attack and others can receive respite and care.

Now does that not echo in you something of the lightness of touch in the resurrection appearance as told of people on the Emmaus Road.

The story of Easter is for the living not the dead - it tells us grief and bereavement need not have the final word. Is that not good news?