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Transfiguration & the mystery of Easter

 Matthew 17: 1-9 In the first part of the service I am telling the Godly Play story "The Mystery of Easter" - this short sermon then follows on, after the Gospel reading. If you want to hear the story, it is  Here   Reflection   This has been a good week to think about transformation – things changing – the way sadness and celebration can belong together.   The weather has given us days when we have glimpsed the daffodils, snowdrops and crocuses in a little sunshine and started to dare that Spring might be just around the corner – and then we’ve suffered days when the cold wind and driving rain have sent us scurrying back indoors.   The news has stories that can leave us feeling appalled and depressed – and yet even in the darkest times there are stories of amazing heroism or stunning compassion.   The mystery of Easter   - that purple and white jigsaw puzzle - reminds us of the reality of sadness but also the trut...
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Salt and light

Isaiah 58:1-9a and Matthew 5:13-20   What are you here for?  What a dangerous question to ask people who have come to worship. You might all suddenly slap your hand to your forehead & say ‘well, now you come to ask, we have no idea – there are so many other things we could be doing this morning – having  lie-in, reading the Sunday papers, washing the car .. the list is endless’.   And if it’s not bad enough to have to face up to self-doubt, we hear a gospel reading in which Jesus says to us “ you are the salt of the earth, you are light for the world” – and we all know that salt isn’t mean to sit in the pot on the table, any more than light is meant to be hidden, it is meant – salt and light – to be spread around, to bring savour and illumination to the whole world.   So why come to this – or any -   chapel building?   Jesus makes it clear to his listeners that the law is there to help people to live lives of righteousness, wor...
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Luke 2: 22-40 Candlemass/ presentation of Christ

   The presentation of Christ in the temple .   Luke 2: 22-40   We got through January.   Sometimes it might have felt touch and go. Storms – Goretti & Chandra and plenty of wind and rain the rest of the time, too. Ilnesses – ‘superflu’ and ‘norovirus’ and others. Terrible turbulence in politics here, in the US, and across the world. Deaths of those we love – in our family across the pastorate & in our birth families. Christmas   - with its bright lights and good news - feels a way off now.   Perhaps today we have had a glimpse back to the infancy stories of Jesus, with the story of the presentation of Christ in the temple. Is this just an attempt to rekindle some of the Christmas feelings.. or is something more going on? This story might just be what we need to face into the ‘not so new’ year with courage and clarity.     On the one hand, Jesus has a very small part to play in this sto...
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Epiphany 3 & week of Prayer for Christian Unity

            1 Corinthians 1:10-18      Matthew 4:12-23        Part 1 Today is the end of the week of prayer for Christian Unity.   It’s not too late for us to pray for unity – but perhaps the fact that we are doing this in our own chapel, hoping that others are doing it in theirs, show we still have a lot of learn about being together. It’s good that we’re part of God’s church and that today we have heard parts of scripture to challenge us.   We heard part of the Letter of Paul to Corinthians.   This letter gets off to such a good start ‘to God’s church at Corinth, called to be saints’…and yet now, just 10 verses in, Paul gets to the real purpose of writing. He doesn’t want to tell the Corinthians how well they’re doing as followers of Christ, but to tell them off for all the dispute and division between them.    Paul is realistic about how...
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Epiphany 2 “Behold, the lamb of God”

      John 1: 29-42 Opticians are very keen to impress upon us the importance of being able to see clearly. Specsavers have got their catchphrase “should’ve gone to Specsavers” into all our brains.   You might remember this advert from the last few years – as it includes the tune we have been singing for the words   “behold the lamb of God”, and includes both sheep and the importance of seeing, I couldn’t resist using it to introduce this sermon:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DV2qiOeUT9E   It is hard to navigate the world if we can’t see clearly. We need to pay attention, look and see.   John’s gospel is full of references to seeing, looking, watching. The part of the gospel we heard this morning contains at least 10 references to seeing, and John the Baptist is clear that he wants the people around him to look and to see Jesus for who he is : “Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world”.  ...
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