Preacher: Canon Graham
Date: 09/08/2020
St Lawrence Patronal 2020
A question that I keep being asked is this, how have you coped with the Covid situation?
Had I known then what I know now, I think I would have been more optimistic from the outset.
The journalistic reporting across all forms of media was depressing, the situation back in March looked bleak, and I recall standing in the Parish Church the day that John Lawrence finished and went onto to furlough, it was not nice. Since then we have adapted, and changed in order to cope with just about everything that has been thrown at us.
Is this the point of the Gospel reading this morning…Jesus knew what was coming around the corner, the challenge for him was how best to prepare the disciples for what was undoubtedly going to happen. ‘See, I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves’.
I preached on this on Wednesday and spoke about the need to get into the mind of the author of the Gospel. The language used is not the kind of language that one would consider to be used by Jesus, so what point is the evangelist trying to make here?
Clearly Jesus’s prediction was, not everyone is going to be welcoming him with arms out stretched, rather the opposite in fact! ‘you will be hated by all because of my name’. The hint from the evangelist and I guess the dilemma wrought in Jesus mind, “have these disciples got what it is going to take, to stick by me?” We have the added advantage that when we read the gospel we do so with the knowledge of hindsight.
Of course the prediction comes through when we note as I said on Wednesday evening…the men all deserted…it was the women who actually followed through. So here we have a text that is speaking about preparation and strength of conviction.
Turning now to the Old Testament scripture from Isaiah, the constant reminder…
“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.”
Similar challenges face the followers, indeed those same challenges facing the prophets and leaders of Israel’s community, as without a shadow of doubt history was going to repeat itself and the community would be challenged….
the language of fire and water consuming and overpowering, but my children, says the Lord through the vice of the prophet, “Do not be afraid for I am with you”
The prophet continues to echo the words of the Lord, you are precious in my sight and honoured.
This tremendous writing and words so powerful in their encouragement of that gathered community. Could they be saying…despite everything don’t lose heart, the Lord your God is with you.
So perhaps it is to the Epistle that we must turn for an understanding of what is really happening here…
the language of abundance, the language of sowing generously, the language of harvest and the place of righteousness at the very core of all that is happening.
Righteousness….
the quality of being morally right or justifiable, it is all about ethical conduct.
Other key words that are amplified by this understanding are commitment, good works, piety, emotions and/ or intellect. All of these begin to give credence to the righteousness that is being spoken of in this context.
‘He scatters abroad, he gives to the poor; his righteousness[a] endures for ever.’
In my language this begins to translate into “have you got what it takes to stand alongside Jesus as one of his disciples?”
We all have to face that question for ourselves. But thank goodness we have the example of St Lawrence to encourage us… from the collect today….
A loving servant of your people….
A wise steward of the treasurers of your church…
Encouraging us to walk in the way that leads to eternal life…
The hallmarks of the Saint begin to stand out a mile… yes and they are hallmarks that we can identify with, indeed underpinned through the values that we see exposed in this scripture before us this morning…. allegedly one of the most venerated Roman martyrs, celebrated for his Christians valour.
Did you know, he is also the patron saint of the poor and of cooks?
Such a pity we are in this lockdown because, Joe, one of the things I have come to appreciate enormously since being vicar here, is the hospitality that this church gives, indeed amongst all the fine cooking in Cirencester, the sausage rolls here are to die for.
Lawrence’s martyrdom came about through a most appalling death, tortured on a gridiron and roasted to death! He suffered death rather than deny his religion. Lawrence followed his faith conviction through to the end.
The Gospel today challenges us, not that we should perhaps face such grim consequences, and yet we acknowledge in our own context, we face the struggles of living a Christian life in the context of a world that is seemingly ignoring those basic values of ‘sowing and reaping’: especially in terms of knowing the unconditional love of God.
Is this what Paul is referring to when he says one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and one who sows bountifully will reap bountifully?
In today’s church we are constantly thinking about numbers attending, but do we put as much effort into thinking about the missional element of reaching out and sowing the knowledge of God’s unconditional love?
Our diocesan life vision emphasises for all of us the need to focus on qualities of leadership, being imaginative in the way in which we engage with the world around us. Delving into our deep wells of faith that will sustain us when the going gets tough, but striving continually to engage at the very heart of our communities.
This I believe brings us almost full circle as we endorse and embrace those values from the collect set for today:-
We are all called to be loving servants of your people….
And wise stewards of the treasurers of your church…
So the challenge that comes from all three of our scripture readings I believe is this…
“Have you got what it takes to stand alongside Jesus as one of his disciples?”
Only you can answer that!
Amen.