An Eighth Circle of Hell?

I've wondered for some time whether the little bit of lead we had on our church roof might prove too enticing to opportunistic perpetrators of metal theft. And so it has been. Now it's gone and won't be replaced.

Here are some of my thoughts seen through the prism of what I put together for last Sunday's Feast of the Baptism of Christ:

“In the wilderness John proclaimed a baptism of repentance.” I was going to say that’s how St. Luke begins the section of his Gospel which we read today - the lead-in to the Baptism of Jesus himself. But in fact it’s not! I only realised this when I looked away from the reading as we have it in our pewsheets to check in my Bible just what has been happening up to this point. The words as we have them have been inserted by the compilers of the lectionary as a summary of what John the Baptist was doing out in the desert by the River Jordan. They’re not the actual words of Luke - but they do give the context. “In the wilderness John proclaimed a baptism of repentance.”

Words like “repentance” ring different bells with different people. John the Baptist does use the word himself. Earlier in his Gospel, St. Luke tells us that John had warned the people who came to him for baptism to make sure they bear fruits worthy of repentance. Bishop Tom Wright translates his words: “You’d better prove your repentance by bearing the proper fruit!” Repentance is what is required by John of people who seek baptism. It’s still asked for in the course of Christian Baptism. The candidate for Baptism - or their godparents - is asked “Do you repent of your sins?” And they’re expected to answer, “I repent of my sins.”

So it’s not surprising that since I returned from holiday late on Friday to find that someone had removed the lead from the vestry roof at St. Cuthbert’s, people have been expressing to me something of what they feel. Do the criminals who cause so much trouble, loss and expense deserve a special sort of punishment for what they have done? How can people do this to a church? - a sacred place? Should we pray for their forgiveness? Should we forgive them ourselves? The Church of England is the main target of lead thieves - and if Dante came up with Seven Circles of Hell for his various classes of sinner, the C of E would really like to add another one for the perpetrators of metal theft.

Crime like this raises all sorts of questions for Christian people. About wrong-doing itself - and finding ourselves on the receiving end. About the punishment of those who might get caught (our lead has a special watermark on it that a scrap dealer or the police could detect). About the sheer pointlessness of it - the thieves will get so little from the dealer they sell the metal to, and it’s going to cost us (at St. Cuthbert’s) a lot to get it fixed. About forgiveness - do you withhold forgiveness until you’re really sure that someone is truly sorry for what they’ve done? About security - when we find ourselves targeted by wrong-doers it shakes our confidence and feeling of safety.

Perhaps that’s when we realise that God’s promise is not that he will provide us with a trouble-free life. But he does promise us the grace to endure. This is a prayer for use with one of the Psalms at Evening Prayer yesterday:

How generous is your goodness, O God,
how great is your salvation,
how faithful is your love;
help us to trust you in trial
and praise you in deliverance;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Trust comes in the time of trial. And the promise starts with Baptism - even a Baptism of Repentance. “Repentance” is not just a matter of saying you are sorry - it’s not something only required of people who are obviously wrong-doers. “Repentance” in the Gospels is metanoia, literally changing your mind. It’s something for us all to do.

Do we pray for the people who have done this damage to our church? Or for anyone who has caused us pain in any part of our lives? There’s an answer in the Intercession for today’s Feast of the Baptism of Christ: 

Lord Jesus, bringing forgiveness to all who repent,

teach your Church dependence on your grace … 

Forgiveness is a reality for those who repent - who are sorry for past wrong-doing and want to make a new start. It can be difficult for the person who has been hurt in the process to share that forgiveness themselves. I understand when someone who has been really wounded by wrong-doing - still more when they have seen a loved one hurt - when they say, “I can’t forgive them for that.” One of the hard things about being a Christian might be to accept that God can and does forgive people for wrong-doing - even when it’s done against us. Because if he didn’t, then where would we be when we come to him in need of forgiveness? The Christian needs to learn that part of the prayer: “teach your Church dependence on your grace…”

There’s a hymn written specially for today’s Feast of the Baptism of Christ:

When Jesus comes to be baptised,

He leaves the hidden years behind,

The years of safety and of peace,

To bear the sins of all mankind.

Jesus could have simply remained in Nazareth. He could have had the security of employment, a happy family life, neighbours who respected him, friends who would always be there for him.

Or could he? On the way to the airport on Friday morning I talked with our driver - who happened to own the flat where we stayed - about perceptions of what makes a good or bad neighbourhood. Rather ironically, I now realise, I’d said to him, “I live in a rather low-crime area.” The fact is that I do - Benfieldside Ward a couple of years ago had the lowest rate of reported crime in County Durham. But things happen - wherever we are - which challenge our security. The hymn tells us Jesus left the years of “safety and of peace.” It was a conscious action, part of his calling. And he does it in part to challenge those of us who have grown too comfortable, who simply want to be left in peace, who say that leading a good life is just a matter of not doing anyone any harm. But this is not a perfect world. As I discover as a hopeless housekeeper, we can’t keep everything right and clean simply by not getting it dirty. We need something more.

And that something - in a world as troubled as ours - is the need for hope. For Peace - not merely as the absence of war, but something which may require of us cost and sacrifice. Grace - which sustains when we fall short. Forgiveness - because we all get it wrong. Repentance - because Christ is waiting for us to change our minds, so that we can be conformed to his.

The Last Words of Jesus...

It’s worth thinking about these words. And of course it depends which Gospel you look at. St. Mark’s Gospel doesn’t record any speech of Jesus following the Resurrection - at least if you follow the view of most scholars that the original end of his account is Mark 16, verse 8. St. Luke has two cracks at it - not only the last words of the Gospel which bears his name, but also his account of the Ascension   as we find it in the first chapter of the Acts of the Apostles. The gist here is that the disciples need to stay in Jerusalem, to wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit - and to recognise that the Holy Spirit will empower them in the lives they are to lead as Christians. As we celebrate the Feasts of both the Ascension and Pentecost this month, it’s a vital reminder of how we should live - waiting on God, dependent on his power and ability to guide us.

St. John’s Gospel ends with a conversation and even a note of dispute. Here Jesus’ words are spoken not to any group of Christians or to a crowd, but to one man - the apostle Peter. But they are words that he speaks to anyone who wishes to be faithful in discipleship, “Follow me.”

Take a look at these “last words” - ask what they say to you.

I started reflecting on them myself because of the last words which St. Matthew’s Gospel records: Jesus’ assurance that he will be with his disciples “to the end of the age” - and an instruction: “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit...” That seems to be a large part of my calling at present. We may not record any baptisms for this month of April in St. Cuthbert’s, but there were three baptisms on Easter Day in St. John’s - and more before the month’s end. And in May I’ve booked six baptisms in St. Cuthbert’s with more in St. John’s. We know that Baptism is something people want for their children. But - as people ask me - when will we see them again?

In Jesus’ last words baptising goes along with “teaching people to obey everything that I have commanded you.” I can only do my best in encouraging parents and godparents to take seriously the responsibilities they take on at Baptism. And all of us do well to reflect on what we see in Baptism. Something fundamental going to the core of our relationship with God - vows we renew at Easter and affirm in Confirmation. How can we live out the message of Baptism? - and share it with others so that they live it out with real meaning?

 

(From the May issue of St. Cuthbert's Parish Magazine - now available online)

Starting Lent - the Garden and the Wilderness

Brothers and sisters in Christ, since early days Christians have observed with great devotion the time of our Lord’s passion and resurrection and prepared for this by a season of penitence and fasting.

By carefully keeping these days, Christians take to heart the call to repentance and the assurance of forgiveness proclaimed in the gospel, and so grow in faith and in devotion to our Lord.

I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church, to the observance of a holy Lent, by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God’s holy word.


... So we began Lent in the Liturgy for Ash Wednesday. I'm always rather glad to get into Lent. This year it's taken much longer than usual due to the lateness of Easter - though it's questionable whether for all that I'm any more prepared. But - while it's good to hit the ground running - the point of Lent is not to have everything worked out perfectly from it start; it's to let those disciplines of Lent work in us to prepare us for Holy Week and Easter.

Our Reader, Rosie Junemann, took us into the contrast between the Garden of Eden where things go wrong for Adam and Eve and the Wilderness as Jesus prepares for his public ministry - read her sermon for the First Sunday of Lent here.

I followed the Sung Eucharist with a Baptism of three children (including twins) and approaching 200 guests in church - and in my brief homily (off the cuff so not online) reflected on the imperfect-ness of our world, all too conscious of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami. Questions of theodicy, our fallen nature, redemption and forgiveness are all in that Old Testament reading for yesterday (Genesis 2.15-17; 3.1-7). I'd wondered whether I'd get away with using it in such a context, but we had a great time, a largely responsive congregation and perfectly behaved children. Which in part makes me wonder why General Synod is getting so wound up about the Common Worship Baptism Service - isn't it more a matter of how you do it rather than its content that is the issue? Elements such as the "Commission" don't work off the page - but there's permission to use your own words in order to be more direct; why not use it, rather than asking for yet another text?

From Rome to (more) ice and snow

I took my post-Christmas break last week - and maximised my time by flying off to Rome after the Sunday Eucharist on 2nd January, returning on Saturday. I dressed a little too lightly on a couple of days, but as the week went by things warmed up.

In the parish we kept the Feast of the Epiphany before I left - on Sunday 2nd January as the Lectionary permits. But it was great to find Christmas and the lead-up to Epiphany on its proper feast day of 6th January in full flow in Rome. Lights abounded in the streets - and a profusion of Crib Scenes. Notably a depiction in lights on the roundabout of the Piazza Venezia in front of the Victor Emmanuel Monument (and reindeer on the other side!), life-size and huge at St Peter's Basilica, and a walk-in stable amongst a collection of crib scenes in the cloister of the Church of San Lorenzo fuori le Muro. The Sant'Egidio Community had its own particular take on the Nativity at the entrance to Santa Maria in Trastevere. And perhaps most moving is Il Presepe dei Netturbini, "The Sanitation Workers' Manger Scene," between the San Pietro Station and St. Peter's Square. This scene has developed over the years as the Street Cleaners add to it. The figures are tiny, the stable scene just one small part of a huge project, and around the stable people get on with the humblest of tasks. As in many of the other crib scenes, the stable is not centrally placed. This is something that needs to be looked for. But it's saying that God is here, even if apparently hidden or not obvious - and he honours the lowliest and humblest.

As for the Feast of the Epiphany, it's a public holiday in Rome. The place was heaving, especially in and around the Piazza Navona, which was in fairground mode. And the Via del Corso was packed with thronging crowds - it took at least three times as long as I'd estimated to walk along it (the few motorists who ventured onto the street couldn't move) as we went to Mass at Santa Maria del Popolo. There was a choir of choirs, a marvellous sound with a fantastic acoustic for a short Mozart Mass (strangely the Agnus Dei was said, not sung), and although there were about 700 in church with about half receiving Communion, the whole thing was over in 50 minutes - though the choir then moved into the nave for a performance of sacred music.

I came back to ice and snow - and Church Bank was officially closed at the weekend with a barrier to prevent traffic entering. Our numbers were well down on normal, but a surprising number made the effort to get down to us in the almost the most treacherous conditions I've known. Lots of falls - and I'm afraid one fractured wrist.

No more snow pictures. But you can find lots more pictures from Rome here.

And here's a link to a sermon by our Reader, Rosie Junemann, for yesterday's Feast of the Baptism of Christ.

Feast of St. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist

Homily for the Eucharist

Sunday 21st September 2008

preached by Rosie Junemann, Reader at St Cuthbert’s Church

Baptism of Megan O’Brien

Lectionary: Proverbs 3. 13-18; 2 Corinthians 4. 1-6; Matthew 9. 9-13


Today’s service feels very much like a family occasion.

That’s not just because Jenny and Danny are here with Daniel and Megan. Nor is it just because their wider families are here to celebrate Megan’s baptism. It’s because we are all gathered here as God’s family in St Cuthbert’s Church. We are all here to welcome Megan into our Christian family and to support her as she takes her first steps alongside us on her journey to faith in Jesus Christ.

Over the years that I’ve been a part of St Cuthbert’s Church I’ve seen many children baptised and growing to maturity as part of the Christian community here. Jenny is just one of those children. I hope that I’ll also be able to see Megan and Daniel sharing in the life of the church and growing in faith in the years to come.

Of course this is Megan’s special day. Today she receives a name and an identity which are special to her.

Every faith, every culture, acknowledges the importance of individual identity and each celebrates that with a special naming ceremony.

On the first Sabbath after a Jewish child is born, her father is called forward at the synagogue to recite a special prayer and to ask blessings for the mother and child. This is when a Jewish girl receives her name. Boys are named on the eighth day after birth, as part of the rite of circumcision.

Hindu babies are named in a special ceremony held on the twelfth day after the child’s birth. The baby is bathed and wrapped in a new cloth and then placed in the father’s lap to be blessed. The priest offers prayers for the protection of the child. Then the father whispers the chosen name into the child’s right ear.

For Megan, Christian baptism marks the start of her life as a child of God – a life with new meaning and new purpose. Although she is still too young to understand it, Jesus has called her to follow him, just as he called Matthew, the tax-collector 2000 years ago. Megan will be signed with the cross, the sign of Christ, to show that she belongs to Christ before anyone else. She will have water poured over her as a symbol of cleansing and new birth. And she will be given a lighted candle to show that she is embarking on her faith journey in the company of Christ, the Light of the World.

Today, Megan receives the assurance of God’s love for her and the assurance of the loving support and encouragement of her parents and godparents – and of the whole Christian community. In welcoming Megan this morning we acknowledge our shared responsibility for her growth in the Christian faith.

The latest edition of the Mothers’ Union magazine ‘Families First’ gives some light-hearted advice on how prospective parents can prepare themselves for the rigours of parenthood.

For example:

‘Dressing small children is not as easy as it seems. First buy an octopus and a drawstring bag. Attempt to put the octopus into the bag so that none of the arms hang out. Time allowed: all morning’!

Or:

‘Go to the local supermarket. Take the nearest thing you can find to a pre-school child – a fully grown goat is excellent. If you intend to have more than one child, take more than one goat. Buy your week’s shopping without letting the goats out of your sight. Pay for everything the goats eat or destroy’!

Joking aside, the article makes some more serious points, to encourage parents to think about their vision for family life.

“It’s very easy to head out into family life without knowing which way we are going. But how much better to have a destination in mind and to feel secure in where we are heading.”

So parents may want to ask:

What kind of a family do we want to be?
What are the responsibilities of each family member?
How can we make a difference to the community in which we live?
Are we living as God would have us live?

As Megan’s Church family we may need to consider how we can prepare ourselves to uphold her in her new life in Christ. The Baptism service reminds us that she will need the help and encouragement of the Christian community, so that she may learn to know God in public worship and private prayer, follow Jesus Christ in the life of faith, and serve her neighbour, following Christ’s example. ‘As part of the Church of Christ’, it continues, ‘we all have a duty to support her by prayer, example and teaching’.

In a new book ‘Worship Changes Lives’ the writers say:

“Baptism happens to us only once. But we go on attending other people’s baptisms throughout our life. Each time, we are reminded ‘who we are’ and where we belong within God’s family.”

We, as a pilgrim community on the journey of faith, can use this opportunity to consider where we are on that journey – and how we came to be here; to explore again what it means to us to be baptised people and members of a faith community; to renew our commitment to live out life in Christ and to ‘shine as a light in the world to the glory of God the Father’.

As she grows, Megan will need all the loving care a family can give. She’ll need food to nourish her and clothes to keep her warm. She’ll need protection - and discipline - and hugs and kisses – and, occasionally, someone to wipe away tears. She’ll need toys and books and help with her homework. That’s what being a family is all about.

But today Megan has become a member of our church family, too. She needs each one of us to walk beside her in the Way of Christ, to pray for her, to encourage her, and to guide her.

Marty Haugen is a modern American hymn writer. At St Cuthbert’s we probably know him best for his hymn ‘Gather us in’. But he’s also written a hymn about the Church called ‘All are welcome’. This is what he says:

Let us build a house where love can dwell
and all can safely live,
a place where saints and children tell
how hearts learn to forgive.
Built of hopes and dreams and visions,
rock of faith and vault of grace;
here the love of Christ shall end divisions:
all are welcome in this place.

Let us build a house where all are named,
their songs and visions heard
and loved and treasured, taught and claimed
as words within the Word.
Built of tears and cries and laughter,
prayers of faith and songs of grace,
let this house proclaim from floor to rafter:
all are welcome in this place.

That sounds like a very special kind of family to me!