Matthew 4. 1-11
Br Benedict’s sermon from Sunday 1st March
Bringing about new life is hard work. Any mother can tell us that, and so can fathers too, come to that. Also, farmers, gardeners, pet breeders, tree conservators, and any who are involved in the bringing to birth of new life. Even in terms of inanimate creation, any artist, novelist, or even photographer can tell you that creativity is a hard process that involves a lot of work. Creativity, like genius, is 90% perspiration. Even God, the Bible says, had a rest after creating the world.
Here, today we are celebrating new life in Baptism [for a child shall be baptised in the communion later, a reminder that we all share our Baptism into Christ] and through Lent, but we are also acknowledging the hard work that it will involve.
Baptism marks the start of a journey. A journey that begins with washing and prayers in preparation for the new life in Christ that they will lead. In Baptism we are marked out as Jesus’s own with the sign of the Cross; we die and rise with him in the cleansing waters; we are clothed in Christ and join his Holy Church as one of the holy ones of God; we are given a candle to remind us that we shine with Christ’s reflected light. Every Baptism is a new life that will, we pray, be full and joyful and enriched with the gifts of Jesus Christ and his Spirit. It is a new life that can look forward with hope to joyful salvation. But it is a life that will involve hard work, growing to be a good person, growing to be a kind and loving person. There will be tears, for there always are. But the tears will be comforted, protected, safely held in the love of God, the saints and angels, the love of family and friends, the love of the whole Church of God. And in the end the tears will be only for a while – the joy will last forever.
The beginning of Lent also marks the start of a journey. A journey that begins with ashing and prayers in preparation for the renewal of our lives and baptismal vows at Easter. The journey of Lent is, or should be, hard work. We may discipline ourselves by giving something up. We may discipline ourselves by taking something on. Ideally, we should do both. There will be moments of longing for that fabulously appealing chocolate, or moments of “I really can’t be bothered”. But the more we persist in our discipline the more joyful we will be when Lent is ended. The harder the fast the better the feast. The renewed life we receive each Easter, is made more blessed by the hard work we have done in preparation for it.
Not that we should stop at Easter. Because although each Easter is a renewed life, we are still searching for the true New Life in Christ – the fulfilment of our Baptism – the end of our journey. If Lent is merely a 40 day discipline to make ourselves feel jolly at Easter Then we are trying to live on bread alone. Our own discipline – our own joy. Our fasting and feasting needs to let Jesus Christ into our hearts so that we truly are spiritually renewed at Easter to continue on our journey for another year. If Lent is ignored or relaxed – if we say that Jesus loves me anyway, I do not need to work hard for the new life he promises, then we risk putting him to the test - not confident and trusting in his promise, but taking him for granted. Instead let this Lent be a true and heartfelt discipline. Let it be the hard work needed to live out our baptism – our new life in Christ. Let this Lent become the standard for our lives. Let us use this Lent well, so that when Easter comes we will indeed be truly worshipping the Lord our God, and serving only him.
Amen.
Isaiah 6. 1-8 I Corinthians 15. 1-11 Luke 5 1-11
Br Benedict’s sermon
There are times when the news stories get so depressing it seems like there’s no point listening to it. Scandals, tragedies, celebrity silliness and the seemingly never-ending Brexit and a parliament that feels more and more like a school playground “he says, she says and goodness knows what. What is the world coming to? But, interspersed with all this there are the stories of something good and great. The people offering shelter to motorists caught in the snow, the generous workers in food banks, the rescuers and protectors of hapless victims. All this goodness in the background, and often unheralded, even more often unseen, and does not make it to the news – because simple kindness rarely sells papers; and ‘feel-good’ stories so often rely on cuteness and not the true generosity that leads to such simple kindness. And all these kindnesses are performed by human beings no different from us. And they occur because knowingly or unknowingly they have answered the call of God to act, and to serve God’s infinite goodness.
Sometimes it is their job, sometimes they have particular skills, but as often as not they happened to be there. They found themselves in a position to do good, and they did it. Because God does not call only those with particular skills and abilities. He does not only call the very clever; he does not only call the very strong; He most definitely does not only call the high powered and influential. No indeed. God calls everyone, no matter who or what they are. Like Isaiah we are all metaphorically people of unclean lips living among a people of unclean lips. We are all flawed, we all have our shortcomings, we all have things we just can’t do; and we might very well say “woe is me” at the thought that God might actually want us to do something for him that we really don’t want to do. But it is not a get-out clause.
St Peter, responds to Jesus’s call with an initial fear and sense of unworthiness. He did as Jesus had said, somewhat unwillingly perhaps, having had a hard and unprofitable night. But answering the command of Jesus; Peter, together those with him, are astonished by the catch they make. “I am a sinful man” he cries out, all too aware that he has entered into a new situation where it all seems beyond him. But Jesus says do not be afraid. And so he says to us too: “do not be afraid”. Like any person who steps up and does what is right, answering the call of God, we also have to be ready to set foot outside the places where we feel comfortable, and go to the place where Christ calls us. We have to be ready to follow him wherever he asks us to go.
This is because it doesn’t ultimately matter what we ourselves think we can and can’t do, but what God knows we can and can’t do. And when God calls us to do what he knows we can do, he will give us the strength to do it. He touched Isaiah’s lips with the hot coals and empowered him to prophesy in the name of the Lord. He gave St Peter the strength and grace to become foremost among the apostles of Christ. He turned St Paul from a persecutor to a witness. Through all these examples it was the Triune God at work. As St Paul wrote: it was by the Grace of God that he was what he was. It was not Paul alone at work, nor Peter nor Isaiah nor any saint, but the Grace of God at work through them. And so it is with all who do good deeds. And so it is with us.
There is no get out clause. God calls us just as we are. We may feel ourselves to be small, to be unworthy, to be unable. But Christ is calling each one of us to give our lives to his service in some way. In our frail humanity let us answer. Let us answer by listening out for the call. Let us answer by preparing for the call. Let us answer by receiving Christ into our lives. As we come now before God in bread and wine let us each answer: “Here am I; send me!
Br Benedict’s sermon
There are times when the news stories get so depressing it seems like there’s no point listening to it. Scandals, tragedies, celebrity silliness and the seemingly never-ending Brexit and a parliament that feels more and more like a school playground “he says, she says and goodness knows what. What is the world coming to? But, interspersed with all this there are the stories of something good and great. The people offering shelter to motorists caught in the snow, the generous workers in food banks, the rescuers and protectors of hapless victims. All this goodness in the background, and often unheralded, even more often unseen, and does not make it to the news – because simple kindness rarely sells papers; and ‘feel-good’ stories so often rely on cuteness and not the true generosity that leads to such simple kindness. And all these kindnesses are performed by human beings no different from us. And they occur because knowingly or unknowingly they have answered the call of God to act, and to serve God’s infinite goodness.
Sometimes it is their job, sometimes they have particular skills, but as often as not they happened to be there. They found themselves in a position to do good, and they did it. Because God does not call only those with particular skills and abilities. He does not only call the very clever; he does not only call the very strong; He most definitely does not only call the high powered and influential. No indeed. God calls everyone, no matter who or what they are. Like Isaiah we are all metaphorically people of unclean lips living among a people of unclean lips. We are all flawed, we all have our shortcomings, we all have things we just can’t do; and we might very well say “woe is me” at the thought that God might actually want us to do something for him that we really don’t want to do. But it is not a get-out clause.
St Peter, responds to Jesus’s call with an initial fear and sense of unworthiness. He did as Jesus had said, somewhat unwillingly perhaps, having had a hard and unprofitable night. But answering the command of Jesus; Peter, together those with him, are astonished by the catch they make. “I am a sinful man” he cries out, all too aware that he has entered into a new situation where it all seems beyond him. But Jesus says do not be afraid. And so he says to us too: “do not be afraid”. Like any person who steps up and does what is right, answering the call of God, we also have to be ready to set foot outside the places where we feel comfortable, and go to the place where Christ calls us. We have to be ready to follow him wherever he asks us to go.
This is because it doesn’t ultimately matter what we ourselves think we can and can’t do, but what God knows we can and can’t do. And when God calls us to do what he knows we can do, he will give us the strength to do it. He touched Isaiah’s lips with the hot coals and empowered him to prophesy in the name of the Lord. He gave St Peter the strength and grace to become foremost among the apostles of Christ. He turned St Paul from a persecutor to a witness. Through all these examples it was the Triune God at work. As St Paul wrote: it was by the Grace of God that he was what he was. It was not Paul alone at work, nor Peter nor Isaiah nor any saint, but the Grace of God at work through them. And so it is with all who do good deeds. And so it is with us.
There is no get out clause. God calls us just as we are. We may feel ourselves to be small, to be unworthy, to be unable. But Christ is calling each one of us to give our lives to his service in some way. In our frail humanity let us answer. Let us answer by listening out for the call. Let us answer by preparing for the call. Let us answer by receiving Christ into our lives. As we come now before God in bread and wine let us each answer: “Here am I; send me!
