Homily for the Commemoration of All Souls

Sermon for All Souls – November 1^st 2009  at  Little Paxton

We have to admit, if we are honest, that change is the one thing that we cannot avoid in our lives.  “ One thing is here to stay” – as the saying goes – “ And that is change”

For some people, change is a depressing word, a negative word, a threatening word.

I often hear people saying that so many things have changed – that  life styles have changed out of all recognition from the times when they were young.  Many feel that the  morals of society have changed for the worst. That life isn’t as safe and carefree as it was  50 years ago. That people aren’t as caring as they used to be. That we are destroying the earth we live on and so on.

With a negative outlook on change can go a sense of decay and of things  running down.

One of the  most popular hymn at funerals is “Abide with me “ which has those words in – “change and decay in all around I see”  There are some really lovely words in the hymn of comfort and encouragement. But the linking of change with decay perhaps isn’t always helpful .

For the person  for whom change feels threatening,  it is most likely that one of emotions that is around for that person is loss. Change often means loosing something very precious, loosing the familiar. Loosing that which feels safe and comfortable. None of us ever wants to feel loss,  and  the wide range of emotions that loss and bereavement brings. – anger, profound sadness, confusion and disbelief.

Change on the other hand doesn’t necessarily have to be all about decay and sadness and loss, though those things might be there to start with.

Take the  never ending  cycles  of the seasons. We know, as surely as the sun courses across the sky, that the seasons continue in their cyclic pattern The leaves fall off the branches in the autumn, they sink down into the earth, making the soil even richer  for next years growth.

Maybe some of you are enjoying the BBC TV Autumn Watch programme on Friday nights. This Friday we saw just how essential the whole process of decay is on a woodland floor – old leaves, bark, dead insects and animals  all going to make  the rich fabric of  fertile soil from which new life in a woodland grows. The cycle of life and death  and death leading to new life is a key feature of the raw world of nature.

We have had a remarkably warm and benign autumn so far – but the forecasters tell us that it is all about to change.

If the seasons teach us anything it is that death  and decay does not have the last word.  For we know with utter certainty that the days will lengthen againafter winter, , and there will appear that day when the temperatures will begin to rise again and the first green will peak through the frozen earth. The dance of creation will continue for yet another  year as the fields will team with life.

Change is  inbuilt, is inherent within nature and indeed within our human bodies and our souls. We never stay still for long.  It’s not how God intended us to be. Change might be associated  with decay – yes. But without change there can be no growth, no new beginnings and no new life. All would become stale. This I believe is as true for us as individuals as it is for the church and for communities.

Many of you here tonight will have been through  some recent changes in your lives – not least your loss of a loved one. For some  of you  that change will have been sudden, leaving you with no time to prepare and adjust to the change. Others of you may have had time to adjust to loosing your loved one, though that can hardly be said to be any easier when the actual moment of death comes.

Our mortality is something we may care not to think about, but it is inevitable, as inevitable as the leaves turn at autumn time.  And maybe if all we had to comfort ourselves was the inevitability of it all, then living might indeed feel bleak. And when faced with the death of a loved one, or if contemplating our own end, if we thought that was truly the end – then there wouldn’t be a lot of hope in the equation.  But the Christian faith  I encourages us to believe there is far more than we can possibly imagine.

The Christian view  on the fact of death and dying is rather awesome. It offers  us  something which, if accepted can transform the way we negotiate the death of our loved ones – and indeed face our own mortality. It wont cut out the grieving process – this natural human reaction to loss must be journeyed through with all the love and support which  hopefully is on offer from those around us.

But allow the powerful message of resurrection  to mingle with grief and see how  heavy burdens might be lifted from our hearts.

Let me take you to a story in John Chapter 11. There are Martha and Mary, two sisters with very different temperaments. There is  brother Lazarus.  They were a happy family – comfortable home.  Good food. Their door  was  always open to friends. Jesus loved to visit.

Then we read that Lazarus, the beloved brother, is dead. We don’t know why. We don’t know if he had been ill for long. We can imagine that he would have had every tender care from his family that was possible from day one.  During his illness, the sisters  had longed for Jesus to come to them. But he hadn’t. This really is a puzzle as we read that although Jesus knew Lazarus was sick, he still waited two days before visiting.  The sisters had to go through their own Gethsemane experience – and the worst happened- Lazarus died.   Why on earth did Jesus let his friend die? How could he have let this  happen?   We expect to read “ Jesus rushed to his house” But he didn’t.

How often, when a loved one has been very ill have we asked – please, God, come and make him or her better.

By the time Jesus does get there, Lazarus is well and truly dead. He’s been placed in a  tomb  for four days.  Not a lot of hope there.   Jesus we are told groans when he arrives and hears the news about his friend. This is a strong  greek word – equivalent to our sense of deep mourning, that aching of bereavement and loss.  He asks, in his deep pain, to see Lazarus. He comes to the tomb. And no wonder Martha says to him – in modern language – hold on. Think about this. He’s been dead four days. This isn’t pleasant.

The place where Lazarus lay was a dark place of decay. But was it to be a place of new birth – was the tomb  in fact a womb? Across the entrance to the tomb was a stone. Jesus askes for it to be removed. But Martha, in her horror of facing the unimaginable.  Says no.  I’m sure most of us would echo Martha’s No!

But listen!

The Resurrection of Lazarus, Byzantine icon (late 14th — early 15th Century).

There are some words of Jesus. “I am the resurrection and the life. Did I not tell you that if you have faith, you  will see the glory of God? “

He lifts his eyes up to heaven – to God . He gives thanks. He lifts Lazarus up to God – he exposes death to  God’s transforming love.  With a loud voice he shouts

“ Lazarus!  Hither! Out!” Jesus hurls all of his authority into that command.  Come out and live!  Let the power of the  resurrection  flow through you now!

And he that was dead came out, his hands and feet tied with bandages. Jesus said,  “Loose  him and let him go”

Lazarus is free.

Of course, our loved ones don’t come back to physical life as Lazarus did.  This miracle of Jesus, this great sign, was done to show those around him just who he was and how in Gods power, even death can be overcome and new life flood in.

Jesus was to show even  more  remarkably  in a few weeks  time how in Gods power, he too would rise to new life after death.

Herein lies the Christian antidote to our painful awareness of death and decay. To  our grappling with loss and sadness.  For if we can just believe, take that leap of faith, that in Jesus all will be made new, that our loved ones do live on in his power and in his love – then we have such a message of comfort and hope.

The seasons turn – there is nothing we can do but enjoy what we have when we have it. We know things will change. We know life moves on and what may be great and strong and seem permanent does not last for  ever. We are invited to live in the present and drink in all that is good. We are invited to believe that when the end does come, there is new life and rebirth. We have to let go and let God. We have to trust. We have to remember Jesus’  great  promise – I am the resurrection and I am the life. He who comes to me shall never die.  And he who believes in me though he dies, yet shall he live”

May God’s peace and hope be with you all as you journey on with your own precious stories and particular sadness. As surely as spring follows winters coldness, may each of you find the warmth of God and the power of Jesus’ resurrection  sustaining and  guiding you. Amen

Getting ready for All Souls/All Saints

So,  tomorrow, I must apply brain and get prapring for a very important sunday – a mixture of All Saints and All Souls.

Heres a peaceful scene at Little Gidding which I visited on  Wednesday. The sunlight coming through autumn trees on a single grave stone in the churchyard.

“Requiescat in pace“

This old tree is well past its sell by date but is home to teeming insect life and is dramatic in its demise.

An open fire

Nice to see my son  and his girlfriend Lottie for a little while mid week. They bought along their new lap top and showed me how to use one – easy really  as  long as you get used to the integral mouse.  I well remember when my grandparents had their first old black and white TV in the early 1960’s in Bournemouth – what a phenomenal change in our technology since then.

Give me one of these any day though:

When the Diocese revamped the vicarage last year, they kindly resurrected the old firplace and now it burns most nights in winter with wood and coal. Love it!

Out and about in the autumn

Its been good to have a few days off from work – Im very bad at taking any time off  and certainly havent taken the suggested four weeks off this year – but thats been partly as I havent wanted to be far from my mum who is still very frail in her nursing home.

But there are so many lovely places to visit not many miles from Little Paxton – and my first blog is about my trip to Ramsey today.

After a baked spud in a Ramsey pub I headed for the Church of St Thomas a Becket.  It is splendidly open – the front porch door wide open for anyone to go in. The guide book  says that ” It has an unusual origin: it was not built as a church at all, but as a hospital – that is a guest house for pilgrims, or perhaps a hospital which was founded c 1180 and seems to have been dissolved before 1291″ … The chancel was built in pure Norman style c 1180…. the lectern is probably  the oldest double lectern in the country c 1450… the nave has been described as ” singularly  elegant and light, simple and refined”.

The font Pevsner dates to 13th….. there are many other fine features in the church but due to it being rather dark in there, my humble camera wouldnt play with me. There is an excellent web-site:

http://stthomasabecket.org.uk/ for those who cant get enough about church architecture.

Outside is the most attractive green with large pond with some lovely elegant period properties alongside it.  I also found a little lane with some delapidated cottages crying out to be restored…

Ripe for restoration – though they looked a bit challenged structurally.

The Abbey Gatehouse is in the care of The National Trust ( or was it EH?)  and is reached across another wide green which today was covered with autumn leaves.

This carving high up on the gatehouse I reckon is a green man.

The Abbey at Ramsey has along and notable  history:

Ramsey Abbey was founded in 969 by Saint Oswald, Bishop of Worcester through the gift of a local magnate, Æthelwine. The foundation was part of the mid-10th century monastic revival (when Ely and Peterborough were also refounded). It paid 4000 eels yearly in Lent to Peterborough Abbey for access to their quarries of Barnack limestone.

In the order of precedence for abbots in Parliament, Ramsey was third after Glastonbury and St. Alban’s.^[1]

The abbey prospered until the Dissolution of the Monasteries. Stone from the abbey was used to build Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, King’s College, Cambridge and Trinity College, Cambridge.

The above from Wikipedia.

There were other interesting things to see in Ramsey – I saw an angel in a cafe

and a duck at the pond with a fine face

I would thoroughly  recommend a trip to Ramsey for an afternoon and maybe you might see an angel too.

Hot air

Hot air balloon over Little Paxton c 4pm.

Isnt it amazing how we are all different? For c £100 or so you can buy a hot air balloon ride ( or maybe someone will buy you a ride for a present) and go very high up in the sky and look down on the world. Some people would truly love to do that. I’m afraid I wouldnt do that even if somone paid me  a million pounds. Cant do heights you see.

You might like to know this:

Hot air balloons are based on a very basic scientific principle: warmer air rises in cooler air. Essentially, hot air is lighter than cool air, because it has less mass per unit of volume. A cubic foot of air weighs roughly 28 grams (about an ounce). If you heat that air by 100 degrees F, it weighs about 7 grams less. Therefore, each cubic foot of air contained in a hot air balloon can lift about 7 grams. That’s not much, and this is why hot air balloons are so huge — to lift 1,000 pounds, you need about 65,000 cubic feet of hot air.

To keep the balloon rising, you need a way to reheat the air. Hot air balloons do this with a burner positioned under an open balloon envelope. As the air in the balloon cools, the pilot can reheat it by firing the burner.

I see – thats why, when I was watching the balloon this afternoon, from time to time I could see the bottom bit lighting up – the burner is being fired up. Sounds dodgy to me!

Still it was very intriguing to watch it overhead – I wonder who was looking down on us all on a very still autmnal afternoon in East Anglia?

Iona

A shore line on Iona

Lord of the Morning

Let the brightness of your Presence

Scatter the darkness that is about us

Open our eyes to your glory

Open our hearts to your love

Fill our minds with your peace

Fill our days with your light

Come, Lord, and change us

Set us on fire with desire

For you and your goodness

@David Adam

St James Church, Little Paxton – The Church For Tomorrow Project

This morning Little Paxton Church launched their Church For Tomorrow Project – CHUFT for short. Here is the homily I gave before the presentation was made. I must admit that I heard the opening joke at the Ely Diocesan Synod meeting yesterday – but I  thought  it rather appropriate!

“Someone said to me recently that they hadn’t heard a joke from me for a while.

They are quite right – it is high time I delivered one – and happily it’s quite appropriate for today.

Two men were out on a boat when a storm blew up. It was a pretty bad storm, but luckily they were washed up on a little island in the middle of nowhere – safe but very sorry for themselves.

The first man, Tom,  said to his companion  called  Dick  “ This is dreadful. We have nothing to eat. We have no resources whatsoever. No-one will ever find us”

“ Don’t worry” said Dick  “ I’m a Christian – all will be well”

“ I don’t know what good that will do” said Tom – “ we are cut off from shops and we have no food  and no radio”

“ Don’t worry” said Dick “ Honestly, I’m a multi-  millionaire – all will be well”

“ Huh” said Tom “ What good will all your money do us out here? I tell you – we are doomed!”

“ I promise you we shall be okay” Dick insisted “ I know my church treasurer will find me” .

St Teresa  of Avila  the 16^th century Spanish mystic wrote:

Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
Compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes, you are his body.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.

St. Paul teaches that all baptized Christians make up the mystical Body of Christ. It is our hands that perform His work when we care for one another at home, in our workplaces, in our church communities.

It is our lips that proclaim His message when we offer kind and encouraging words to each other.  Christ uses our eyes to see the needs of our brothers and sisters. He uses our feet to walk upon the earth and carry on His mission day by day.

St. Teresa of Avila composed her poem on this very theme –  It’s a neat concept and makes me feel honored that The Lord would use my simple body  and abilities to carry on His work.

The question is for every generation of Christians in every place – how are we to be Christ’s body in the communities where we live and work? What form should our endeavors take?

Mission simply means “ sending out “ –  – from the Latin word “ to send out”  – mittere giving us the word mission.

So – what form should our sending out take? We are not charged to keep our faith to ourselves – cosy as that can feel. We are called to be out there engaging with people, being the Body of Christ in every day situations and making a  positive difference.

Okay Annette – we go along with all that – not that it is easy or that we always know what we should be doing – but it sounds right. And let’s be honest many of you in all sorts of ways are very involved in the life of the local community or involved with many other aspects of life beyond this parish.  That’s all well and good – being Christ body in the life of the world as we experience it.

So – why are proposing to raise and spend £350,000 on a project which is all to do with our church building and altering its fabric?  That’s rather different  surely to being  “sent out “ – it sounds more like staying in and pouring money into bricks and mortar and doing our own thing in a warm and comfortable environment.

Good point. So this is where I can only be passionate about my own views. Whether we like it or not we are custodians of an ancient building – a building which to me isn’t just bricks and mortar but is a hallowed place – a place  and space made special by centuries of prayer and praise. It’s is a place which our forebears have lovingly expanded and looked after. A place where thousands have come for all different reasons in different times and  different seasons.

There are 16,000 parish churches in England alone and 43 cathedrals. They comprise our oldest buildings and simply from a heritage point of view are priceless. Many are 900  years old – some like GP nearly 1000 years old and are echoes of Saxon  and Norman times.  They have constantly evolved over the years .

In medieval times, the nave was very much the place of the people – the local meeting hall where the business of the time was conducted. There were no pews, just a few seats along the wall for the infirm. It offered flexible space for a population closely linked with the daily life and prayer of the church. The chancel and sanctuary were the sacred  places inhabited by the priests and deacons – where mass was said and the host blessed. The two areas of the church – nave and chancel were separated by a rood screen – most now long since taken down.

Church history tells us that parish churches have always evolved. When the Victorians got to grips with our parish churches as populations escalated and people had to be seated to listen to hour long sermons, it seemed sensible to build pews – rows and rows of them in neat lines where people could sit still and listen – in an appropriate way – children included. In some churches Georgian box pews had been erected a hundred years before the Victorians to keep folk warm and again seated for long sermons. Many of the Victorian pews were adapted from the Georgian box pews.   The nave was no longer the community meeting place as parish halls and reading rooms were built by the well healed patrons of villages and towns. Hence we inherit the Victorians love of order and compact seating space – even if it is rather uncomfortable.

Well, we aren’t medieval people. We aren’t Victorians. We are 21^st century people looking to be how we can best be the body of Christ in these contemporary times.

And more and more now church communities are seeking to be the body of Christ  out in their communities but also of course within the walls of their medieval buildings.

There is a great move towards adapting churches so that not only sacred worship takes place as it always has done – but these buildings are truly accessible and open to the whole community.

The MAProgress  updates which are being collated by the Diocese of Ely  and which will be exhibited on November 21^st at the Cathedral when the Archbishop of York visits, clearly show that many parish churches already have or are embarking on re-ordering.  Diddington finished their project in September and Great Paxton’s should be completed at the end of November.

We go out – yes, but we earnestly want people to come into a building which is flexible, warm, friendly and – radical talk – but OPEN.  We aren’t alone still in keeping our church closed here most of the time – and naturally we would have  worries about having it unlocked all day. But what image does a constantly locked church give out? One of the strengths of the church community at Diddington – small as it is, is that the church is open 24/7.

So – Church for Tomorrow is all about looking to making our church far more accessible so that more people come in for whatever reason and catch something of Gods saving love in Christ by doing so. And meet, when they come in, people who have clearly something special about them – Christ dwelling in their hearts. Faith it is often said, is caught and not taught. Whether we are engaging with people out of the building or inside it – we are here to be speaking Christ’s words to them and  radiating outwards his love.

The PCC  have worked very hard over these last months to create the CHUFT project – to offer a church building where we can truly be Christ’s body day by day – not just on a Sunday for an hour or so. A place where people feel welcomed and loved and safe. A place where children especially feel welcomed and a space where they can be offered creative activities and the Christian faith in an engaging way.

A place where people  with disabilities of any kind feel comfortable. A place where those who are hurting find comfort. A place where most days – if not every day, people may come quietly and pray.  A place where morning and evening prayer may be said sometimes without those gathered feeling very cold. A place where we can enjoy the arts and the heritage of the village. A place where we enjoy each others company and share fellowship and food. A church where people come and find nourishment to help them then go out into the world in mission. There are so many things a church building can be and represent. We are now embarking on a very brave project to make all these things come true.

Before I finish, I must make a reality check and say that whilst it is really good that Great Paxton and Diddington have been able to make their dreams come true, their projects have been on a much smaller scale than our CHUFT proposals – we really are going for some major improvements which I think is only right for a church in a community set to grow to 4,000 plus with new housing developments.

May God Bless our efforts and guide us in the ways he would have us go.

Amen.

You can read all about the CHUFT project on:

http://www.ely.anglican.org/parishes/littlepaxton/index.php?p=chuft

If anyone would like to make a donation to the project, please e-mail Mr Peter Hagger on: peter@hagger.org

The Lord’s My Shepherd

Yesterday at a funeral we said together Psalm 23 – King James version which actually is rather unusual nowadays. Often it is requested to be sung to Crimond, but as there werent a great number present, we said it together.

I have just been for a short walk by one of Paxton Pits lakes and here is a picture I took of the lovely greens reflected in the waters:

And now I have come across a modernised version of psalm 23 – I rather like it….

I am a child of God
I have everything I need.
This beautiful earth feeds my body.
You feed my soul.
You guide me in the ways of Life,
for You are Life.
And though I will walk through dark places, and eventually to death,
I need never be afraid.
For You are with me always,
In You I can find comfort.
With Your help, I can face whatever comes.
My joy overflows.
Your goodness and blessing will be with me
Every day of my life — and forever.

By Christine Robinson

http://doubterpsalms.blogspot.com/2006/09/psalm-23-comfort.html

Busy busy….

Hi blog readers – sorry not to have blogged for a few days – been so busy.

Am delighted to report a first – 104 visitors on blog yesterday – the first time it has  been over 100 on one day. The most popular visits are to my short piece on Hildegaard of Bingen ( Feather on the Breath of God) and Crab Apple Jelly. Also often hit are the swine ‘flu pieces…

This morning we have Chapter meeting at Little Hey Prison – been before but it always is very thought provoking to go.

MEANWHILE – cribbed from Telegraph online is this piece about the recent RC move to woo dissaffected Angicans… I’m sure there are and will be many blogs about this by commentators more gifted in analysis than me:

It is written by Damian Thompson who I rather think has certain views on the C of E:

The Pope is offering Anglicans worldwide ‘corporate reunion’

This is astonishing news. Pope Benedict XVI has created an entirely new Church structure for disaffected Anglicans that will allow them to worship together – using elements of Anglican liturgy – under the pastoral supervision of their own specially appointed bishop or senior priest.

The Pope is now offering Anglicans worldwide “corporate reunion” on terms that will delight Anglo-Catholics. In theory, they can have their own married priests, parishes and bishops – and they will be free of liturgical interference by liberal Catholic bishops who are unsympathetic to their conservative stance.

There is even the possibility that married Anglican laymen could be accepted for ordination on a case-by-case basis – a remarkable concession.

Both Archbishop Vincent Nichols and Archbishop Rowan Williams are surprised by this dramatic move. Cardinal Levada, head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, was in Lambeth Palace only yesterday to spell out to Dr Williams what it means. This decision has, in effect, been taken over their heads – though there is no suggestion that Archbishop Nichols does not fully support this historic move.

Incidentally, I suspect that Rome waited until Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor’s retirement before unveiling this plan: the cardinal is an old-style ecumenist who represents the old way of doing things. His allies in Rome, and many former participants in Anglican-Catholic dialogue, are dismayed by today’s news, which clears away the wreckage of the ARCIC process.

The Archbishop of Canterbury is unlikely to be pleased, though he was vigorously concealing any displeasure at a press conference this morning. (There was a lot of spin about this decision “arising out of dialogue”.) The truth is that Rome has given up on the Anglican Communion. With one announcement, the Pope has given conservative Anglicans a protected route to union with Rome – and promised that, even once they are members of the Catholic Church, they will be offered a permanent structure that allows them to retain an Anglican ethos.

Thousands of Anglicans who reject women bishops and priests and liberal teaching on homosexuality are certain to avail themselves of this provision. Within a few years, there will probably be “Anglican ethos” Catholic parishes in England and Wales (and one wonders how many conservative cradle Catholics will gratefully start attending Mass there).

Under the supervision of a “Personal Ordinary”, who can be a priest or unmarried bishop, ex-Anglicans will be able to put forward their own candidates for ordination. In the short term, there will be no difficulty in ordaining married former Anglican clergy.

The Vatican would not use the phrase, but this is very close to the setting up of a “Church within a Church”. Yet that is not as unusual as it might seem: Eastern-rite Catholics have their own liturgy and church structures, and in America a small number of ex-Anglicans use service books that borrow from the Book of Common Prayer.

Anglicans will have to request their own “Personal Ordinariate”, to use the Vatican’s clunky term. How might that play out in England? This is just a guess, but the most pro-Roman C of E bishop, the Rt Rev Andrew Burnham, Bishop of Ebbsfleet, could submit a request to Rome. He would be ordained a (married) Catholic priest, and might himself be made “ordinary” (bishop in all but name) of ex-Anglican clergy and lay people who have been received into the Catholic Church together.

This unprecedented canonical structure will affect different countries and dioceses in different ways. But we are not talking about the creation of an “Anglican-Rite” Catholic Church. Although some parishes will want to use the Anglican-usage liturgy, in England many ex-Anglican congregations will be only too happy to avail themselves of the new English translation of the Roman Rite, to be introduced next year.

This is a decision of supreme boldness and generosity by Pope Benedict XVI, comparable to his liberation of the Traditional Latin Mass. The implications of this announcement will take a long time to sink in, but I suspect that this will be a day of rejoicing for conservative Anglo-Catholics and their Roman Catholic friends all over the world.

I add by repeating his phrase:

“Thousands of Anglicans who reject women bishops and priests and liberal teaching on homosexuality are certain to avail themselves of this provision”

Will that really happen? And I still find it so sad that the advent of women preists  and possibly women bishops in the C of E  causes this minority to want to cause such a slpit in the Anglican communion – I suppose I find it hard to see how my ministry – and that of hundreds of women since 1987 can in any sense not be the will of God.

Must go…. have a good day

Landscapes of the year competition

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/8314105.stm

well worth checking out….