Covenant – A Ten Word Sermon

A Sermon for the Covenant Service preached this year.

Covenant is arguably the single most important theme running through Scripture. Scripture is, after all, the human record of God’s people telling their stories of their encounters with God. These encounters were all driven by the sense of covenant, or relationship. That covenant relationship is precisely what made them God’s people. That covenant relationship was precisely what gave God’s people their name and their identity. That covenant relationship was precisely what motivated God’s people to keep going – it was not just their past and present, it was their future direction too.

While we’re here, let’s not make too much of the distinction between the Old Covenant (or Old Tesament) and New Covenant (New Testament). There was no sudden change when Jesus was born. Jesus was, after all, within God right from the beginning of time. There was certainly no sense in which God changed either – so let’s not prop up those tired clichés about “The God of the Old Testament” or “The God of the New Testament”. It’s the same God we’re talking about, whether we read the Old or the New Testaments. The only thing that changed was our understanding of God. When Jesus was born, an awful lot of myths and misunderstandings were shattered. The tables that were overturned were a metaphor for those upended ideas.

This Covenant Sunday, I want to hold before you ten key ideas about the meaning of Covenant. I’ll let you work out for yourselves if there is any link to the Ten Commandments, although to be able to answer that one you would first have to know what the Ten Commandments are, and a recent church survey suggested that most church people who talk about the importance of the Ten Commandments can’t themselves get past naming more than about 7 of them. Anyway, back to the Ten Big Ideas about Covenant.

The first big idea is Incarnation. God becoming flesh; God becoming one of us. God in the midst of God’s people. We first hear of it in the Genesis story, when God is taking a stroll in the Garden of Eden, much to the shame of Adam and Eve. We hear of it in the prophets, when God speaks through a human channel to remind God’s people of the covenantal terms they all agreed but quickly forgot. We see it in Jesus, who embodies the fullness of the Godhead in human form. We see it in the early church, where members are characterised by their love for the unlovely.

The second big idea is Commitment. As with any relationship, it requires effort to sustain it. That effort is called commitment. It’s a giving and not counting the cost. It’s working without seeking any reward. You could use the word ‘faithfulness’ here in this meaning of the word. With Commitment, we see God’s commitment to us and to all God’s people in the Covenant, because God is faithful. God doesn’t give up.

The third big idea is Forgiveness. With forgiveness is the idea too of “willingness to forgive”. Isn’t the story of God an epic story of forgiveness on the grandest scale, over and over again and through century after century? Isn’t the willingness to forgive part of the very nature of God? One of the comedic aspects of the history of the kings of Israel is the alternating good king – bad king nature of successive leaderships, yet time and time again, God forgives the wayward people and the covenant is restored once more.

The next big idea is Kindness. As they say in the internet meme, How old were you when you first realised that “Breakfast” is called that because it is the meal with which you “Break fast” after a long sleep eating nothing? Or, How old were you when you realised that the reason people eat desserts when they are stressed is that “stressed” written backwards is “desserts”. In this case, How old were you when you realised that “Kindness” comes from the same root origin as “Kin” or “Family” – meaning that to be kind to someone is the same as treating them like one of your own family? When God makes a Covenant to show loving kindness to all God’s people, what is actually being said here?

Idea number five is Extravagance. Recklessness. Wastefulness even. Cup running over, Good measure pressed down and spilling over the top. The story of the Prodigal Son was a parable Jesus told to reveal a little about God and God’s Kingdom. “My Gaff, My Rules” as Al Murray’s pub landlord would say. Well God’s Kingdom is God’s Gaff, and so God’s Rules apply – chief amongst them is this reckless extravagance. The Parable Jesus told could more accurately be called The Prodigal Father, since the Father threw that literal kill-the-fatted-calf extravagant party that so upset the other brother who wanted everything to be fair and carefully measured. Right throughout Scripture we see this same extravagance whenever God provides for the people. That’s the kind of Covenant that God offers.

Next is Mercy. What set God’s relationship with the people at odds with the religions of the surrounding people was this sense of mercy, contrasting with the sense of appeasement that had to be bought for other deities. Those other religions were forever offering sacrifices, including human sacrifices, in order to appease the wrath of their remote god figures and ensure good harvests or favourable weather. The God of Israel showed mercy – not of the screaming “Am I not merciful?” from the Emperor Commodus in the film Gladiator, but a gentle loving mercy that had no precedent. Mercy is a character trait that God brings to the Covenant table.

Idea number Seven is Grace. You were probably waiting for that one. Ian Smale, songwriter for kids ministry, summed up the difference between Grace and mercy as follows: Grace is when God gives us the things we don’t deserve; Mercy is when God does not give us what we deserve.
Yet Grace is so much more than unmerited giving. It is a way of being more than doing. It is a way of putting the other first, rather than putting self first. It is an attitude of service rather than control. God is gracious, and God’s Grace is integral to the Covenant relationship.

We couldn’t go much further without Love. This is our eighth Idea. To say God is Love is the closest we can get to explaining the fullness of God in a single word. Some writers have said that God is not a person, God is a verb. Love is an action, after all, and God’s people are all those who receive that love. We are helped in this understanding so much by the metaphors of the Bridegroom and the Bride Church, or by the beautiful and poetic imagery of lovers in the Song of Songs. Poets down through the centuries have tried to explain what love is, especially that rapturous sense of being “in love”. God’s covenant relationship is motivated by love, driven by love and sustained by love. Love is the very essence of who God is.

Idea number nine is Promise. Where commitment was the signing up to the deal at the beginning, and a way to sustain the relationship for the present, promise is constantly looking to the future. Whenever we say “I promise to …” we are talking about our future behaviour, actions and responsibilities. It’s an IOU if you like, just as every banknote in the land bears that famous promise from the Bank of England, “I promise to pay the bearer the sum of…” With the Covenant, God promises a relationship with the words “You will be my people and I will be your God”. Note the future tense there, and note too the emphasis in God’s words on God’s people collectively rather than any individual relationship.

Our tenth idea is … Mystery. Left until last because it was probably the most unexpected in my list, but also left until last because this one is so great that nothing can follow it. When we do our theology, when we talk about what God is like, we must spend the greater part simply admitting we don’t know. God is unfathomable, and any church that claims to have all the answers is therefore blasphemous. We can’t dare to claim we know God, but we can say with confidence that God absolutely knows us, even the bits that we really wish God didn’t know, but also we can say that despite God knowing us fully, warts and all, God loves us unconditionally. There’s so much about God which is and always will be a complete mystery, but we do know that. The mystery of God is absent in so much popular Christian literature, and it is a glaring omission. I would encourage you most urgently to start redressing the balance by reading a book called The Universal Christ by modern mystic Richard Rohr. Highly recommended. Anyway, back to our ten.

These ten ideas tell us ten different aspects of God’s character that God brings to the Covenant table. If we dare to sign up to the Covenant then we must be prepared to offer all ten characteristics back to God.

Except that it doesn’t work like that. We are not called to think of our Sunday Church attendance as our side of the Covenant. In fact I would suggest that our Sunday Church attendance has nothing to do with keeping our side of the Covenant at all. You see, our response to God’s love, to God’s Covenant relationship is not “upwards” but “outwards”. Our response is to our neighbour.

So, we go through all ten of those big themes one more time, very quickly, and in reverse order, as we consider the way we must reflect the ten characteristics of God just mentioned.

The mystery, as Paul says, is the presence of Christ in all humanity. The Universal Christ of which Richard Rohr writes. The mystery of Christ in our neighbour is what motivates us to respond to them. We make a promise today to keep this Covenant, and that promise is to our neighbour – to the oppressed, the captive, the refugee, those desperate. Our promise is to show love to them, a love which is expressed in our grace and mercy. A love which is expressed in the extravagance of our response to their needs, not seeking glory for ourselves, but secret extravagance which blows them away with our kindness. Kindness even, that sees all humanity as we would members of our own family.

None of this is possible unless we as a church are a healthy representation of the body of Christ. Healing comes when we forgive one another, not seeking revenge or demanding justice on our terms. Forgiveness means letting go, for when we forgive we cease to carry around the pain we feel, and in the Lord’s Prayer we ask God to forgive us as we forgive others. That’s how God’s Kingdom comes on earth.

In this Covenant Service we are making a Commitment – not just to God, but to one another and to all our neighbours. The commitment to love God, love others, love our neighbours and even love our enemies, is never one we should enter into lightly, for it demands everything from us. If you cannot make that commitment today then please sit it out and have another go next year when you may feel ready to do so.

Finally, the incarnation of God lies within us. We are called no less to embody Christ in this world. We are called not just to be Jesus’ hands and feet, but perhaps more urgently today to be his words, his prayers and even his anger – joining others to turn over tables in protest at the sickening injustices of today’s society.

Out of the many characteristics that God brings to this table in the Covenant with all God’s people, I have highlighted just ten today. Can you bring those same ten characteristics in your own response as an expression of your side of the Covenant, of your love for God, but most of of your love for your neighbour?

May God give you the strength and courage to say yes today. Amen.

Revd Stephen Froggatt

Words on the Word – Sunday 22nd November

Today is the final week of Lectionary Year A. The Church year begins with Advent Sunday and takes us through the seasons as far as the Sunday before Advent, which is called Christ The King Sunday. Our readings for Christ The King Sunday this year are as follows:

• Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24
• Psalm 95:1-7a or Psalm 100
• Ephesians 1:15-23
• Matthew 25:31-46

These readings can all be read online here.

Ezekiel 34

Much of the imagery in the New Testament comes from rich seams in the Old Testament – look particularly at the “I am” statements of Jesus in John’s Gospel. Whenever Jesus claims a title for himself he does so not as an idea plucked out of thin air, but as an idea long-embedded in the familiar Scriptures of his hearers. Jesus takes and owns these titles for himself because they belong to God.

Psalm 23 is one of the most well-known passages of Scripture ever, and its popularity at funerals is understandable. Yet it is not the only reference to the idea of God as shepherd. They begin as far back as Cain and Abel (Abel was a ‘keeper of the sheep’); Abraham, Isaac and Jacob all shared this role. Moses too had been tending sheep when confronted by the burning bush, and David – the author of Psalm 23 – was of course a humble shepherd boy when he was appointed and anointed by Samuel to be the future King. The other important Psalm references to Sheep and Shepherds can be found in Psalms 28, 44, 49, 74, 78, 80, 95, 100 and 119.

Music choice for today – a piece which will be sung in churches and cathedrals countrywide during Advent – The Advent Antiphon ‘Matin Responsory’ by Palestrina. Listen out for the quote from Psalm 80.

The passage in Ezekiel is important to us because God announces through the prophets that a new Shepherd will one day come ‘from the line of David’ – and so into that sense of expectation Jesus later announces “I am the good shepherd”.

Yet it doesn’t stop at Jesus. The post-resurrection conversations with the disciples who will build Christ’s church are for us too. “Feed my lambs…take care of my sheep” says Jesus to Peter in John 21. That’s a call for us too.

Psalm 95

This Psalm is otherwise known as The Venite – a Psalm traditionally sung at Morning Prayer. The word ‘Venite’, of course, means “O Come” – the opening words of the Psalm. Why do we come together? We come together to praise God!

Take a moment to read through this Psalm and count the number of reasons given by the Psalmist to praise God. But notice then that the crescendo builds to the phrases “the people of his pasture” and “the sheep of his hand”.

My Shepherd is the Lord! Join me in worship!

Two contrasting musical versions for you – a traditional version sung to a chant by a cathedral choir, and a reggae version sung by the incomparable Grace Thrillers gospel band.

Psalm 100

This Psalm is otherwise known as The Jubilate – a Psalm also traditionally sung at Morning Prayer. The word ‘Jubilate’, of course, means “O Be Joyful” – the opening words of the Psalm. The word might also be familiar to folk who sang the popular “Hebrew-style” Jubilate Everybody back in the 1980s. The word is etymologically linked to various English words too.

In terms of content, the Psalmist is on a similar theme to the words of Psalm 95 above. The call is to ‘be joyful’ and ‘worship the Lord’, and the reasons for doing so are again listed. Notably for us today, “we are his people” and we are “the sheep of his pasture”.

Shepherding was a career of notoriously low reputation, as we read in Philo’s writings (c. 50 BC to 50 AD), which makes it all the more remarkable that God’s people use such imagery to sing of God, remarkable that shepherds were chosen to be the first to witness the birth of Jesus, and remarkable that Jesus would ultimately take that title for himself.

I read with joy today of an initiative called a “tuneless choir”. It is widely known that people love to sing together, but we can’t all sing like Celine Dion or Andrea Bocelli. The idea of the Tuneless Choir is that it is completely unconditional and inclusive. People with dementia, people with learning difficulties, people who couldn’t hold a note if they grasped it with both hands – all are welcome to sing along as robustly as they please.

Surely that is singing joyfully!

Ephesians 1

How effective is your evangelisation as a church? Paul’s letters tell us that there is nothing more praiseworthy, or no indication more healthy, than a church fellowship that has a reputation for its faith and love. Have you seen that church over there? They are so full of faith, they literally live what they say, and their love – not just for one another but for every stranger that comes by – is so palpable that I just have to tell others about it! When Paul hears of such reputations doing the rounds, he gives thanks to God, and then writes to the Church to tell them what he has heard.

We have a trinitarian prayer in the next section, as Paul writes “I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation” and we note that “Father of glory” is an unusual phrase. The sense of ‘glory’ is close to the overshadowing presence of God in the burning bush, or in the pillar of fire and cloud, or on Mt Sinai, or at Jesus’ Tranfiguration, and this helps us to understand the prayer for wisdom and enlightenment that comes from God and not from human effort.

It is then that we understand the reason for Paul’s prayer – a prayer we can pray too – that our hearts might be opened (“enlightened”) to know the hope of our glorious inheritance as people of faith.

Matthew 25

In this, our third reading in consecutive weeks from Matthew 25, we reach the familiar parable of sheep and goats. Not only do we have a shepherding image at the start which connects us to other readings today, but we have another watching and waiting story as we have had on prevous weeks.

The shepherding imagery concerns the shepherd who separates sheep and goats. In Bible lands and times these scraggy animals wouldn’t have been quite as easy to separate as the fluffy white lambs and coarse-haired goats of today’s farms, so it required manual sorting, thus giving the image of the Son of Man separating people from one another a more individualised context.

The parallel imagery continues for a moment longer, however, because in the parable, the people become sheep and goats as they are sorted with the righteous sheep going to the right and the wayward goats going to the left. In passing, the “right hand” always signified the “favoured ones” – see for example the hands used by dying patriarchs as they chose to bless their adult children.

What’s interesting about this particular story about watching and waiting is that the characters in the story don’t know that they are in the story – they don’t know that they are the ones watching and waiting. Suddenly the Son of Man calls them to account for the previous behaviour and they hadn’t realised that their previous behaviour was going to be assessed.

I saw a wonderful story recently of a man who was being interviewed for a high-powered job in the city and was told that he had blown the interview even before he had been asked the first question. Little did he realise that the CEO of the company had disguised herself as the front desk receptionist. The man had swaggered in to the building, not even making eye contact with the receptionist, treating her like dirt as he mansplained his way to the interview waiting area. It was only when the men in suits stood up to greet the CEO, when she finally entered the room to take up the vacant seat behind the interview table, that the man realised what he had done. [Tip to interview candiates: treat every member of the team from cleaner to executive as your boss!]

I find Paul’s opening words to the Ephesians helpful (above) as he prays for God’s Spirit to bring wisdom and enlightenment. When the eyes of your heart are open, then you can see Christ in “the very least of these my children” and respond accordingly.

Grace and peace,

Stephen

This concludes the series “Words on the Word”. To those who have been with me for the past seven months and 50,000 words, I thank you for journeying with me through the Lectionary Readings this year. God bless you.

Words on the Word – Sunday 15th November 2020

Today is the Second Sunday before Advent Year A (Proper 28) or 33rd in Ordinary Time. We are coming towards the end of Year A. The Lectionary Readings for today are as follows:

• Judges 4:1-7
• Psalm 123
• 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11
• Matthew 25:14-30

Judges 4

The gift of the Lectionary offers a 3-year journey through Scripture, but with a tendency to leave out both the most boring and the most controversial passages. Here we have skipped daintily over Ehud’s eye-watering assassination of the oppressive (and very fat) Moabite King Eglon. To find out more, read Judges 3:21-22 – actually, don’t!

We enter this passage with the report of the death of Ehud, the good guy, but rather than renewing their allegiance to God for this victory over the Moabites, the Israelites simply fall back into their old ways, and are caught napping by the next oppressor – King Jabin of Canaan. We are told that the commander of his army was Sisera – a name which may be familiar to those who have a fondness for the Bible’s gory bits. But perhaps I am getting ahead of myself!

We are also introduced to Deborah, who is clearly a woman not to be messed with. Another feisty woman comes later – Jael, the wife of Heber. It’s refreshing to see strong female leads in the Bible every now and again! Under Deborah’s command, Barak completely overpowers Sisera’s forces to the point where Sisera is the lone survivor fleeing on foot. Jael is the one who urges Sisera to take refuge in her tent, and Sisera acquiesces to her charms. Sisera is then the victim of the next eye-watering assassination. To find out more, read Judges 4:21-22 – actually, don’t!

Why are these extraordinary stories part of our Bible? Well the bigger picture is of course the story of people of Israel as they stumble through their history with their fluctuating allegiances to God along the way. We learn that while the faithfulness of God’s people is of varied levels of commitment, God’s faithfulness is everlasting, and God’s mercy is eternal. It is not the actions of God’s people that define the people of God, but the actions of God.

Psalm 123

These short Psalms in this section of the Psalter are called the Psalms of Ascent. They were pilgrim songs, learned off by heart and sung by God’s people as they travelled up to Jerusalem for the various festivals. As the people look up while walking, they see the mighty Jerusalem rising above them and are drawn to praise God.

Incidentally, one of the most mis-quoted Psalms of Ascent begins with an entirely different punctuation from that mis-remembered by so many.

Psalm 121 does NOT begin with the words:

I lift up my eyes unto the hills, whence cometh my help!

Instead, it begins:

I lift up my eyes unto the hills. Whence cometh my help?

In other words, the hills do not bring me any help at all. When I look to the hills I find no help. Where does my help come from then? My help comes from the Lord!

Similarly in this Psalm 123 – I lift up my eyes, certainly, but it is not to majestic mountains or mighty buildings. I lift up my eyes to you, O Lord, who are enthroned in the heavens!

As the pilgrims continue upwards on their journey, so they dare to pray for God’s mercy. May this festival be a time of renewal, that through the mercy of God, their souls might know God’s peace. What a way to approach any time of worship!

1 Thessalonians 5

The thrust of Paul’s charge in this reading is the instruction to ‘walk in the light’. Perhaps you know the song “The Spirit lives to set us free” which has that phrase as a refrain (although you’ll have sung the phrase no fewer than 36 times by the time you arrive panting and breathless at the end…), but here Paul makes good use of the contrast between light and dark, day and night; the things ‘of the night’ refer to sin – and how many sins are committed at night, today as ever was; the things ‘of the day’ refer to good deeds and acts of righteousness. In the night belong sleep, drunkenness and debauchery. In the day belong sobriety, faith, hope and love.

Much as the night time is attractive in what it hides, and in what opportunities it presents for climbing into bed (literally and metaphorically), let the reader understand that the call to follow Christ is the call to go beyond the darkness of Gethsemane and live in the light of the resurrection morning.

Matthew 25

A ‘talent’ in this context is a unit of weight, as measured on the balance scales. We don’t have the specific context here, but elsewhere a talent has been equivalent to the money need to pay one day’s wages to 6,000 labourers. Whatever the interpretation, this is a life-changing amount of money. What should the servants do with such a vast sum?

Perhaps we can at least chuckle at the irony that at least when it was written, putting the money in the bank would have earned better returns than burying it in the ground! Yet then, as now, the way to grow money was through buying and selling (actual goods or ‘stocks and shares’ – it is the same idea). Another option was to lend the money at high interest. My own Dad always taught us to “make your money work for you” rather than simply wasting it on things we didn’t really need.

This reading parallels the Epistle in the ‘burying’ of the money being allied to the ‘darkness’ of sin. Be out in the open! Live in the light! Furthermore, we have the ‘watchfulness’ theme of Matthew 25 as the servants await the arrival of the master. As with the Bridegroom story earlier, there is a judgment pronouncement in the story when the expected one finally arrives.

Al of this, of course, points us towards our Advent theme which we shall be marking for the four weeks from 29th November, when we look forward not just to the recounting of the first coming of Christ as God in human form, but also to the second coming of Christ in all his fearful majesty. The word ‘Advent’ means ‘Come towards’. We are being urged to ‘walk in the light’ as we wait for Christ to come, and to be prudent in the manner of our living.

In the meantime, it may be helpful to contemplate the ‘gifts’ or ‘talents’ you have been given. How will you use them for God’s glory?

Grace and peace,

Stephen

Words on the Word will conclude next week with the 22nd November edition.

Words on the Word – Sunday 8th November 2020

Year A Proper 27 (Ordinary 32) is the Third Sunday before Advent Sunday (29th November). Year B begins on Advent Sunday, so this series of ‘Words on the Word’ is shortly coming to an end. The Lectionary readings for this week are as follows:

Joshua 24:1-3a, 14-25
Psalm 78:1-7
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
Matthew 25:1-13

Joshua 24

This is a fine example of a Farewell Discourse – a “Goodbye Speech”. Jesus uses a similar structure for his Farewell Discourse at the end of John’s Gospel. Many other Old Testament characters have a form of Farewell Discourse too. Notice the various components that build up from Chapter 23 (22?) onwards.

• Joshua knows he is old and is going to die soon
• He gathers together his people around him
• He tells them he is going to die
• He commends them for their work to date
• He assures them of their share of the inheritance
• He urges them to be strong
• He reminds them that God is with them, and will still be with them
• He urges them to remain loyal to God and the Law
• He reminds them of God’s blessings to come

This pattern outlines as well much of what Jesus says in his Final Discourse speech, especially in John Chapters 13-16. It would have been a familiar structure to the Disciples.

The verses omitted in the Lectionary are largely historical details, which can of course be looked up if desired. We conclude with the death and burial of Joshua – repeated in Judges 2 for continuity – and life for God’s people in the Promised Land begins its new chapter.

Psalm 78

Did you enjoy History at school? I can’t say I was a big fan. There’s only so many times you can learn about the Romans AGAIN before the fog descends. In my day it really was names, dates and battles with no mention (that I can recall) of any global consequences or metanarrative giving us the overarching themes or the big picture. These days my history teacher friends have at their disposal such exciting resources that far more pupils get swept up in the thrill of the storylines as they weave in and out of time – and frequently repeat themselves.

I am left, therefore with only a rudimentary knowledge of British history, let alone World history and politics from the past 2000 years, and so I am still frantically trying to fill in the gaps with the help of the likes of Simon Schama or Andrew Marr.

Nothing would have been further from the truth for the people of Israel, who would have known their history going back centuries, right down to individual names, and they would have known their place in the continuum through their rigorous ancestral record-keeping. Their history was not taught through dry texts filled with black and white images of indistinct Roman coins – their history was SUNG. And as every teacher knows, if you sing it, you memorise it.

In this passage we read only the introductory verses of Psalm 78, but the whole Psalm is a History lesson set to music. Children would have delighted in showing off their memorisation skills by singing this Psalm in full, word perfect. In this way, the story of God’s involvement in the history of God’s people is recounted afresh for each new generation.

1 Thessalonians 4

“We believe that Jesus died and rose again” (verse 14) – this passage today provides an early Christian Creed in its full, succinct and memorable form. The Lection is one of the several recommended passages to be read at Christian funerals, with good reason, and it is particularly useful as a reading for Remembrance or Memorial services, especially on All Saints’ Day which has just passed. If we do not begin with the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ then we face a hopeless end. If, however, we do begin with the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ then we face an endless hope.

The words ‘rise’ and ‘caught up in the clouds’ suggest a supernatural post-mortem vertical motion (head first? feet first?) which strikes me as more comical than helpful. It may work for Hollywood movies or whimsical Christian art, but I find it all rather twee to be honest. The Greek ‘rise’ could just as well be translated as ‘wake up’ or ‘get up from sleep’, or even simply ‘stand up’ (after sitting or lying down). There’s a sense here for me of opening the eyes properly, of truly being alive, of seeing things so brilliantly now that it is as if we had been blind all along before. As for ‘caught up in the clouds’, we get a better picture of this by reading the Transfiguration narrative, where Jesus ‘caught up in the clouds’ mirrors Moses ‘caught up in the clouds’ and actually means being in the presence of God. When we dig deeper into Celtic or mystical spirituality we become more willing to accept the always-on presence of God in all things, the liminality of the heaven-earth boundary. We see an interdimensionality of God’s presence which goes far beyond our working models of up-down-left-right. You no more have to go upwards in order to be in God’s presence than you need to go upstairs in order to think.

These words must be taken for the joyous symbolism that they represent. No-one can tell us what it will be like when we die, but we do know it will far exceed our imagination.

Matthew 25

So we come to the first of the three readings from Matthew 25 as we conclude Year A. This is the story of the Bridesmaids and the Bridegroom – and the bridesmaids are presented in this parable as being either ‘wise’ or ‘foolish’. In fact this is the theme of the whole chapter – in each of the three parables the characters are divided into those who made the right choice and those who didn’t.

What is Wisdom? We are told that ‘Fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom’. We have a portrait of Wisdom personified as a female in the famous Proverbs 31. Jesus calls us to be ‘wise as serpents’. Wisdom, in New Testament terms, means being constantly open to the movement of God’s Spirit as we live in this strange period we call both the ‘now’ and the ‘not yet’ in an eschatological sense. Ever vigilant. Ever ready.

Jesus the Bridegroom is preparing to meet his Bride the Church – a vision celebrated too in Revelation 21. Is the Church ready? Is the Church prepared for the denouement of 1 Thessalonians 4?

In this short journey leading up to Advent we are awaiting the coming of the New-Born King. It won’t be long before we sing “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel”.

But will we be ready?

Grace and peace,

Stephen Froggatt

Words On The Word will finish on 22nd November.

Words on the Word – Sunday 25th October

The Lectionary Readings for Today:

• Deuteronomy 34: 1-12 or Leviticus 19:1-2, 15-18
• Psalm 90: 1-6, 13-17 or Psalm 1
• 1 Thessalonians 2: 1-8
• Matthew 22: 34-46

You can find the Lectionary readings together online here.

Deuteronomy 34

So much of significance happens in this short passage.

First of all, Moses is shown the entire sweep of the Promised Land, and then within moments he is told that he shall not enter it himself. This follows Moses’ unfaithfulness at Meribah (Numbers 20).

With that, Moses dies. Significantly, we are told, Moses dies and is buried in an unmarked grave somewhere in Moab.

The significance of Moab? Well, the Moabites and the Israelites never really saw eye-to-eye. Moab the person was the son of Lot by an incestuous relationship with his own daughter – the penalty for which sin prevented the Moabites entering the assembly of the Lord down to the tenth generation (Deuteronomy 23). The Moabites saw the Israelites as a threat.

Do you remember Balaam’s ass? Balaam had been commanded by Balak, King of Moab, to curse the Israelites, but as you will recall, Balaam blessed them instead.

Do you remember the story of Ruth? Elimelech’s family were forced to move from Bethlehem to Moab because of the famine, and one of these wives, named Ruth, returned with her Mother-in-law Naomi to Bethlehem when Elimelech died. Ruth the Moabite.

Contemporary histories tell us that Moab fell to the Assyrians in the latter part of the 8th Century BC, as featured in the oracle against Moab in Isaiah 15-16. Moab was then conquered by Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians in the 6th Century BC, before ultimately falling to Rome.

Yet despite even all this humiliation, God provides even the Moabites, via Ruth, a part to play in the history of God’s people. When Stephen Fry chose what he considered the most mocking send-up of obscure Bible references he chose “Moab is my washpot” for the title of his first autobiography. Little did he know that by selecting Psalm 60:8 (or Psalm 108:9) he was in fact choosing a pivotal verse in the history of the Royal Line of David.

We conclude with the introduction of Joshua son of Nun, who will take over from Moses, and despite his ignominious burial, a moving tribute to the great leader.

Leviticus 19

This is the passage “Be holy as I am holy”.

I can offer no finer words than the Blog post I read earlier this week and which I commend to you now. Read it here.

You may also be interested in the Methodist Holiness Journal, edited by the eminent Revd Dr Andrew Stobart. Past issues are free to download. See here.

Psalm 90

We used to sing Psalms in school, as I have previously mentioned. Psalm 90 was a strong favourite, with its thunderous tune in the minor key and its fearful words.
We were reminded in its terrifying poetry of our own mortality (“The days of our age are threescore years and ten; and though men be so strong that they come to fourscore years”), of our sinfulness and of our hopelessness in the face of God’s wrath.
Then the tune would change into a major key at verse 13, as the Psalmist begs forgiveness and mercy, trusting in the God who has been faithful and merciful before to do so again now.

There are many versions available online – here’s a fine one, albeit to another tune, sung by the Choir of Westminster Abbey. Listen to it here.

Psalm 1

BLESSED – so begins the first Psalm in the First of the Five Books of the Psalter. So too begins Jesus’s teaching in Matthew 5, more commonly called The Sermon On The Mount.

This is no mere coincidence. Time and time again, Jewish Matthew is writing to his Jewish audience about Jesus the Jew, stressing over and over again the links with the Hebrew Scriptures (which we call the Old Testament), and more specifically the first five books called the Torah or Pentateuch.

The Psalmist is not promising future blessings (nor indeed is Jesus), but is saying “You are already blessed because…”

That’s why in some translations we see the word “Happy” instead of “Blessed”. It refers to that sense of inner joy, knowing that you have not walked in the counsel of the wicked nor lingered in the way of sinners, nor sat in the seats of the scornful (Jewish repetition for emphasis there).

Note then how the Psalmist turns immediately to the polar opposite of the transgressor, by referring to the delight of the one who meditates on God’s Law.
This is a prequel to Psalm 19, which itself is a foretaste of the rapturous Psalm 119.
While there is a danger of abusing this text for a ‘prosperity gospel’ it is more to do with one’s name being fruitful – held favourably in the memories of our descendants rather than prospering in material terms.

This long-lasting memory is then contrasted again with the transience of the wicked, who like the verses in Psalm 90, are compared to dried grass which just blows away into dust.

1 Thessalonians 2

The preaching of the Gospel is never motivated by a desire to appeal to worldly vanities or the approval of mortals. It cannot be suppressed by threats of oppression – indeed such opposition paradoxically only fans the flames and makes them burn brighter – but is emboldened by the Holy Spirit.

Paul and his companions (Silas and Timothy) wanted to preach to the Thessalonians simply because they loved them, and were determined not to let anything get in their way.

Notice how Paul uses the rhetorical device of “litotes” – using a negative in order to affirm something strongly postive. Just like we would say “It’s not bad” when we actually mean something is very good.

THE ESV Study Bible Notes help to bring this out more clearly:

Paul states his thesis in general terms before demonstrating it with specific regard to the Thessalonian mission. Negatively, Paul insists that the missionaries were not characterised by a faulty message, impure motives, or dubious methods. Positively, he states that they preached the gospel as those approved by God and as those committed to speaking in order not to please their human audience but to please God who tests our hearts. Not only did God sanction the missionaries to proclaim his gospel; God continues to approve of their inner motives and integrity. Similarly, negatively, Paul asserts that he and his fellow missionaries had not spoken as charlatans or false prophets in order to gratify their own vanity, line their own pockets, or gain (even legitimate) honour. Positively, he stresses the missionaries’ sincerity and selfless and profound devotion toward the Thessalonian believers, extending beyond the call of duty.

Matthew 22

What is the Law? It was a question at the very heart of what it meant to be Jewish.
Matthew deliberately organised his Gospel as a commentary on Torah / Law, even down to grouping Jesus’ teaching into five (compare with the Pentateuch!) extended blocks of teaching.

Writing to Jews, his emphasis was primarily on Jesus as the fulfilling / interpretation / embodiment of the Law, as well as Messianic fulfilment of OT prophecies.
What question could they ask Jesus? Are you on the side of the Law or not?

Again a trap is in the balance. If Jesus says “I’m on the side of the Law” then these Pharisees will challenge him for all the breaches of the 613 individual laws that made up their legal code. If he says “I’m not on the side of the Law” then he is admitting that the Law doesn’t apply to him and they’ll get him anyway.

So Jesus begins by reciting the Shema : “Hear, O Israel, The Lord your God is One God. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your mind and with all your strength” thus proving his Jewishness if such proof was needed.

Then he goes straight into the Golden Rule – Love your neighbour as yourself. Within those two laws, he says, the whole Torah is contained. Brilliant! Never has the lawyer’s flabber been so gasted, as Frankie Howerd would say.

Thus we become aware of the link with Psalm 1 (delight in God’s Law), and with Leviticus 199 (the holiness of God).

The ground prepared, Jesus asks them about their understanding of the Messiah.
The light goes on, but these Pharisees aren’t brave enough to step away from the shadows.

Grace and peace,

Stephen Froggatt

Words on the Word – Sunday 18th October 2020

Lectionary Readings for today, Year A Proper 24:

• Exodus 33:12-23
• Psalm 99
• 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10
• Matthew 22:15-22

These readings can also be read online here.

Exodus 33

Those Israelites! In Chapter 32 we read of their disgraceful behaviour when they begged Aaron to fashion a golden calf so they could worship it while they waited for Moses. We read of Moses’ violent anger, but in this chapter it threatens to get much, much worse.

Up until now, God’s presence has been with them as a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, resting visibly in their midst when they camped, and going on before them when they travelled. God’s presence was the reason for their identity. God’s presence fashioned them out of “nobodies” into “Israelites”. Now they realise that if God deserts them, their very existence hangs in the balance. They could become “nobodies” again and simply vanish into history. “Go on ahead!” says God to the people in v3 of this chapter, “but I will not go with you”. They are crestfallen and mourn bitterly.

Notice too how in their act of mourning they strip themselves of all their jewellery (v6) – the very items which they had previously taken to fashion the golden calf. Strip them off lest we are tempted that way again, they think to themselves. God’s chosen people are about to become a People With No Name. Can Moses help them again?

Moses goes into the Tent of Meeting for a ‘face to face’ meeting with God. What is the state of the Covenant? Is it broken for ever? No, says God, but things will be different now. From here on we have the re-written stone tablets, the renewal of the Covenant (never broken anyway by God, only broken by God’s people) and the establishment of the Tabernacle in place of the Tent of Meeting.

Show me your glory! Moses pleads with God. This is almost blasphemous in itself, for no-one can see God and live. [Yet still this phrase bizarrely makes its way into several of our contemporary worship songs…] God does not respond with more righteous fury, but rather offers a compromise – God’s glory will appear and pass by Moses while Moses has his back turned, so that Moses might live. 1 Kings 19 tells a similar story about Elijah.

The story continues. There will come a time when we shall see God’s glory.

And the name of God’s glory is Jesus (John 1.14). Full of grace and truth.

Psalm 99

This short Psalm serves as a Prologue for Psalm 100, that great Psalm of praise “Be joyful to the Lord, all you lands!”. Why should all the lands be joyful to the Lord? Simply because God is holy, and this Psalm echoes with that loud refrain.

Choose a couple of different translations of this Psalm and note that whichever version we use, this Psalm is filled with great words of power and awe. Obviously it is a commentary on the Exodus narrative, and as with other Psalms, it gives song to the ancient histories of God’s people so that they will never be forgotten.

You can almost hear the unspoken warning – never again must you dare make a golden calf (in whatever form your idolatry may take). God is holy. Bow down before God’s throne – in fact God is so holy, just bow down before God’s footstool.

1 Thessalonians 1

With any of Paul’s letters, it’s good to pause on the opening words. There’s a three part structure, typical of letters at that time:

• Sender
• Recipient
• Greetings

Note that Paul has already started to ‘Christianise’ the opening of this letter, even before he has finished with the greeting. Indeed, sme writers suggest that this greeting never really ends, and is still going in Chapter 3!

The work of threes continues. Paul says that he and his co-workers Silvanus and Timothy are:

• Giving God thanks
• Remembering the Thessalonians before God
• Mentioning them in their prayers

before commending the Thessalonians for their

• Work of faith
• Labour of love
• Steadfastness of hope

Faith, hope and love – have we seen that somewhere else?

Matthew 22

Now these Pharisees and Herodians didn’t exactly get along. The Jewish people were under Roman occupation: The Pharisees, being Jewish, hated the Romansl the Herodians; being on Herod’s side, supported the Romans. The only thing they had in common, then, was their hatred of Jesus. So here they are, in a rare moment of agreement, plotting to put to Jesus a question so well crafted that whatever way Jesus replies, they will have grounds for a riot.

The tax to the Emperor was money given to support the Roman Occupation. Not only that, it had to be paid using Roman coinage, which was untouchable to the Jews. If Jesus said it had to be paid, then he would be supporting the Romans (and inciting the Jews against him). If Jesus said it shouldn’t be paid then he would be charged with sedition and have the weight of Rome bearing down on him.

The Roman coin in question, we are told, is a Denarius. It would have had an image of Caesar (most likely Tiberius) with the inscription “Caesar Augustus Tiberius, Son of the Divine Augustus”. Remembering that “Caesar” means the same as “Lord” or “King”, this is saying:

Tiberius is Lord. Tiberius is the Son of God.

Jews would see this as double blasphemy – the graven image and the idolatry. Incidentally, you can see now how seditious it was for Christians to cry:

Jesus is Lord. Jesus is the Son of God.

You hypocrites, says Jesus, to the Jews who have been carrying this doubly-blasphemous coin in their robes while accusing others of blasphemy.

Jesus gets straight to the point and once again confounds his opponents. The trap has failed. The coin already belongs to Caesar, so give it back to Caesar. But when you do that, remember that everything of God should be given to God.

It is all the Pharisees and Herodians can do but walk away empty-handed again.

Congratulations Sister Phyllis!

It has come to our attention that 19th October marks a very significant milestone. It was on that date, back in 1949, that a young Phyllis Thorne was accredited as a Local Preacher in the Methodist Church. This year, 2020, she celebrates 71 years as a Local Preacher!

Our huge congratulations go to Sister Phyllis on this remarkable anniversary, and we thank God for her long years of ministry.

Although she is not currently preaching, Phyllis continues to write and have ‘deep conversations’. You can find some of her recent writing here on this Blog.

Words on the Word – Sunday 11th October 2020

Lectionary Readings for today:

Exodus 32:1-14
Psalm 106:1-6, 19-23
Philippians 4:1-9
Matthew 22:1-14

These readings can all be read online here.

Exodus 32

We have just come to the end of seven straight chapters of God’s instruction to Moses about the construction of the Tabernacle – the famed dwelling place of the presence of God in a tangible way via the Ark of the Covenant in the Holy Place. The two copies of this Covenant are inscribed on tablets of stone and are to be kept in the Ark (What else was to be placed in the Ark of the Covenant?). The tabernacle was to be that thin place where God’s presence touched the ordinariness of earth. It was the tabernacle referred to at the beginning of John when John says this had happened again in Jesus – “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us” – literally, the Word became flesh and TABERNACLED amongst us. Tabernacle theology is huge and worthy of of its own study, but perhaps that’s for another day!

Moses, their beloved leader, has been away on Sinai now for 40 days and 40 nights (surely that rings a bell somewhere too…). The people are keen to worship God and so they ask Aaron to help them. This golden calf is not so much a turning away from God as a clueless attempt to sidestep the long instructions about tabernacle construction and create something on their own terms. Aaron would have fashioned the collected gold into a calf because that was a common image for the Divine in the Ancient Near East. The tragedy is that they lost all that Egyptian gold, the spoils of their escape from Pharoah’s power. God’s anger, expressed through Moses, is focused on that phrase “stiff-necked people” – will they never learn that they are being called to be radically different from the surrounding cultures, not to keep falling back into ways of surrounding tribes? God is calling them to be set apart for God’s service – the very meaning of the word holy.

Psalm 106

One of the purposes of the Psalms was to set to music verses which could then be sung to assist God’s people in telling their story. In Psalm 106 the singers recount the Exodus 32 narrative, but all under the thumping refrain that calls the people to give thanks to the Lord “for he is good, for his mercy endures for ever”.

In these verses we see the Psalmist interceding for the people in a new context. Fully cognisant of their sin, they make this appeal to the steadfastness of God, to the God who is faithful and merciful. “Remember, O Lord” is a theme which occurs in several other Psalms (Pss 25, 74, 89, 115, 119, 132, 137 in a quick survey) as the Psalmist appeals to the very character of God which is of course unchanging. Since God is unchanging and steadfast, goes the reasoning, then surely God will act the same way now. The Psalmist is seeking to establish case law based on legal precedence!

Surely our sins are not as great as those of Israel at Horeb? In which case, let me be like Moses and appeal to God to turn aside God’s wrath.

I wonder if our own confessions are as heartfelt. Do we appeal to God’s mercy like the Psalmist, or do we simply shrug off our sins “because God forgives me anyway”? Dietrich Bonhoeffer warned strongly against such “cheap grace” in “The Cost Of Discipleship”. Grace, yes, but look again at the cross to remind yourself that your forgiveness was far from cheap.

Philippians 4

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! If you are a singer of modest experience then at least one tune will be running through your head right now! This whole chapter is a joy, and it would make a fitting reading to close any act of Christian worship.

Rejoice in the Lord though. Not just rejoice in all circumstances like a fool. Rejoice in the Lord always, rather than look to rejoice in things of the world, which are only temporary anyway. Rejoice in the Lord, who is eternal. Rejoice in the Lord always – let your joy always come from your thanksgiving for God’s love in Jesus, who … (and then re-read Chapter 2 again).

Jesus as the source of your joy. Your gentleness is the calmness of one who sees the presence of God in all things, to such an extent that others notice it in you. Brother Lawrence described this gentleness in his little book ‘The Practice Of The Presence Of God’ which I highly recommend. Taking up Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount about not worrying, Paul goes on to provide the consequence: as one who is not worrying, God’s peace will guard your heart instead.

I love the ‘Think on those things’ section towards the end. Delight in all that is true. Stand up for all that is honourable. Pursue justice. Make purity your goal. Seek all that is pleasing. Strive for what is commendable. Aim for excellence. Enjoy all that is worthy of praise. There is a delightful simplicity in this, which modern reflective practitioners are rediscovering today. ‘SImple pleasures’ – a walk after the rain; the smell of home-baked bread; the glow after a morning run; the crunch of a home-grown apple. One of the habits of a truly lived-in Christianity is a recognition of the divine in all things; an appreciation of which contributes to the ‘fullness of life’ to which Jesus refers in John 10.

Think on these things. Rejoice Always. Be at peace.

Matthew 22

A parable, rich in detail, and most likely one which would have set on edge the teeth of the Chief Priests and Pharisees who first heard it. That’s not how the story should go! You don’t invite people like that to a wedding!

Matthew, as ever, talks about ‘the kingdom of heaven’ rather than ‘the kingdom of God’ as he would have adopted the Jewish euphemism of his day. We need to put together all Jesus’ teaching about the Kingdom of God from the Gospel accounts in order to understand it properly – each parable like this only ever gives us a glimpse of the whole.

There is little point in fussing over every detail, for example by having an evening’s Bible study given over to what Jesus really meant by “burned their city” or “one to his farm”. The point is, of course, that the normal rules just don’t apply. As they say in the only joke in a modern book of etiquette, “How do you turn down a request to a Royal Banquet?” Answer – you don’t! Here these people are, though, finding better things to do than attend this royal wedding. You can feel the shock rippling through the crowd. You can’t do that! Even when summoned again, they STILL do not come. This is outrageous!

Only when those originally invited are refusedentry and their places given to the ordinary people of the streets do the Pharisees and Chief Priests realise that they are those former guests and the story is being told against them.

So we see salvation offered to all, for that is the meaning of the parable. Yet there remains that one tantalising detail over the guest who wears the wrong robes. We could let this pass, as we have rightly glossed over some of the other details, but here robes signify the new robes of baptism (remember ‘clothed in Christ’?) so there is a clear expectation that while all are definitely welcome, those who accept the invitation are required to make the most basic commitment of faith.

Matthew is advising his Christian readers – don’t sit there feeling smug at the fate of those who spurned the original invitation; what evidence is there that you have put on new robes?

Christ’s Resurrection – by Deacon Phyllis Thorne

Do you believe in the Resurrection? I guess you have many questions you would like answered. How can anyone experience death and yet live? A new life?

The Resurrection of Jesus makes all the difference. Life is the same, but different.

The death and new life of Jesus spells it out for us. The wonder for us is that He is Alive here and now, sharing with us, loving and empowering us today.

The death of someone we love hits us hard. Grief is natural. For the Christian , coupled with grief, is a sense of peace, because our loved one is experiencing a new life with Christ Jesus.

One day our turn will come, we don’t know when, but we do know we will not be alone. The Risen Jesus will be with us as we leave this life and enter the new life with Him.

Sister Phyllis

Words on the Word – Sunday 4th October 2020

Today’s Lectionary Readings:
Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9 , 12-20
Psalm 19
Philippians 3:4b-14
Matthew: 21:33-46

You can read these Lectionary readings here.

Exodus 20

Have you ever joined a club, a society, a union – in fact almost any group of like-minded individuals? Do you remember the first days in a new school or class? Perhaps you have family conferences to discuss shared expectations? All of these come down to the ‘laying down of the law’ and the establishment of exactly what it is that defines the group in question. We love to do it. Even children, getting together to plot membership of their latest “Supergirls HQ” or “Unicorn Club”, will grab a piece of paper and scribble down an agreed list of DOs and DON’Ts. There’s an excitement and thrill of this shared understanding – a special code that unites its members. Sometimes the list of rules is short (like the necessarily punchy rules of Fight Club) and sometimes the list is long (like the 25-page FIDE official rules of Chess). Sometimes it gets silly, although the reported 26,911-word EU regulations on the sale of cabbages turns out to be a myth.

In this passage, God’s people are being re-shaped and re-moulded in their transition between slavery and Egypt and freedom in the Promised Land. What is going to make them special as God’s people? The answer to that, of course, lies in God’s Covenant to them “You will be my people and I will be your God”. The detail of this covenant is hammered out on the two stone tablets as The Ten Commandments. The ‘two-ness’ is important. Unlike the films and the pictures, where we usually see five commandments on each stone, a moment’s thought would reassure you that if God wanted to write down some rules, God would have found a stone tablet big enough to do so, or at least planned ahead enough to write small on the one Moses brought! The two-ness IS the Covenant. It’s the contract – one copy (on one tablet) for God, and the other copy (on the other tablet) for God’s people. The two-ness is even emphasised by the detail that the first set of tablets i broken and their are written out again. Repetition is a biblical theme that always shows us the absolute truth, in the divine sense, of what is happening. Truly, truly I say to you…

These Commandments, then, were all about making God’s people distinct from the neighbouring tribes who had their own belief systems. We see profoundly important details such as strict monotheism (to contrast with the polytheism of their neighbours) , a ban on idolatry (contrasting with the pagan systems which depended on idols), we see a ban on murder (contrasting with the human-sacrificial cultures of others) and a forceful compulsion to honour the marital bed (lineage and ancestry being utterly dependent on secure knowledge of one’s parentage).

Yet let us not get stuck on the Ten Commandments as a restriction of freedoms. They are not all “Thou shalt not” commands – unlike the rather ignorant popular caricatures – but rather a summary of how God and God’s people are going to live together in a distinctive and superior way to all others. God’s motivation is simply LOVE for all of God’s people, and it took all those years for Jesus to point out that actually those ten comandments can be summed up in the formula “Love God and love your neighbour”. As Christians we are not defined by the ten commandments in the same way as those wandering Israelites, again contrary to ignorant popular misceptions. Jesus has given us a new, and arguably much stronger commandment – “That you love one another as I have loved you”. That is surely what makes us, as Christians, distinctive.

Psalm 19

Die Himmel rühmen des Ewigen Ehre! If you have ever sung in a choir or choral society, you are likely to have belted out these fabulous words of Psalm 19 set by Beethoven in his Op. 48 No. 4. You may also know them as “The Heavens Are Telling” from Haydn’s Creation. Either way, we are reminded that this Psalm simply can not be read in a whisper!

The Psalmist here is expressing a delight for Creation in general, and particularly a delight for the mystery of the Sun in its apparent movement around the Earth. How Great Thou Art! we might sing something as well. Sing with me, how great is our God! This goes straight on into a song of praise for “The Law of the Lord”. Note the parallelisms we have mentoned in WOTW before, wherethe first part of a verse is repeated in a slightly different but parallel way to reinforce the point – classical Hebrew poetry. In this Psalm, however, the parallelisms are extended even further as a tumbling succession of verses seeks to put into new words the same basic idea.

When the Psalter was edited and compiled into its current form, it was decided that there would be 150 Psalms. They were arranged into five ‘Books’ – precisely to echo the five-fold structure of the Torah or ‘Law’ (the Pentateuch = the first five books of our Bible), ending respectively with Psalms 41, 72, 89, 106 and 150. In a sense, then, the whole Psalter is a ‘delight in the Law of the Lord’. This Psalm, Psalm 19, acts as a Prologue, a foretaste, to the greatest of all the Psalms, Psalm 119, which is of course placed to be exactly 100 Psalms away. As you read through this Psalm, you may well comes across particularly well-known verses – this has been a source for many songs, prayers and liturgical responses right through the centuries.

All the time, the Psalmist is rhapsodising on the Law of the Lord, not because it is restrictive, but because it binds – through the Law, through the Covenant, the Psalmist is reminded of that great intimacy with God, the Creator of the universe no less.

Philippians 3

Looking forwards and pressing on, not looking back. This is the famous ‘filthy rags’ speech by Paul, and let the reader understand that most translations use extremely euphemistic versions of what Paul actually says in the Greek…

As you know, a great deal of what I do involves working with the bereaved and doing funeral visits – they used to be in the home but more often now they are over Zoom. The hardest such visits are to those families who have no real links with the church themselves, but “Nan’s sister used to go to the Chapel” and they want to give the deceased the best chance of “going to heaven” by having a Christian funeral. As other ministers have pointed out, there are rarely any deathbed conversions to atheism!

I mention that, because I frequently have to listen to the same attempts at point scoring that Paul is parodying here. When asked to expand on the Christian faith of the deceased, the relatives are often left desperately clutching straws. “He was basically a nice person” “He didn’t drink, apart from a sherry at Christmas, and a glass of wine with the evening meal, and a pint with the lads at the weekend” “She loved animals”. Even church members – living ones! – seek to tell me how involved they have been at the church, how long they have been attending, how many roles they have had, how generous they have been in the collection plate, and even how involved their parents were. IT’S ALL FILTHY RAGS. IT’S ALL JUST RUBBISH. NONE OF IT MATTERS.

Really the only necessary statement of Christian faith is “She knew that Jesus loved her”.

In this passage Paul is telling the Philippians that he could have boasted of any number of “points” (which he lists) but ends it all by saying that the only thing of any value is his desire to know Christ more. Furthermore, this is for Paul the ONLY meaning and goal of his life, so Christian discipleship for him is just about ‘pressing on towards that goal’.

Knowing Christ. Not scoring points.

Matthew 21

Possibly the most gory and shocking of Jesus’ parables, this story of the tenants in the vineyard is still a hard read for us today. The reference to vines and vineyards is important though – it’s a well-established Old Testament theme, and the readings paired with this one in the ‘related’ version of the Lectionary readings for today are Isaiah 5 and Psalm 80, although there would have been many other passages that would have been just as suitable. It is well worth looking them up before re-reading the Gospel passage for today. (They can be found in the Lectionary Link at the top of the page.)

Jesus tells a story to highlight the shocking treatment of the prophets before him, and the appalling treatment he himself would endure, even as far as describing his own death outside the city walls (“threw him out of the vineyard and killed him”). God continually calls the people of God back into Covenant, but the people reject that call via the prophets time after time. Even when God incarnate in Jesus comes to speak to them, he too is killed.

Did you not understand the prophecy of the Cornerstone? asks Jesus. You are bringing the consequences upon yourselves. The kingdom of God is enjoyed by those who respond to Jesus, but for those who reject it, the kingdom of God is not part of them. How comfortable are we with the idea of the choice to reject the kingdom of God? Do we may a choice between “heaven” and “hell” or is it more subtly the distinction between living life to the full in the kingdom of God, and living a dminished life which ultimately leads to annihilation by our own choice?

Do post your thoughts in the Comments.

Grace and peace,

Stephen