Remembering the beginning and ending of the 1914-1918 War

Remembering the beginning and ending of the 1914-1918 War

During WW1 8.7 million men from the UK served in the Army from 1914-1918 – equivalent to the total Population of London in 2014

956,703 were killed or died from their wounds equivalent to the total Population of Birmingham in 2014

For every soldier who died 9 came home.

Came home having seen and been part of the horrors and reality of First World War.

They came home traumatised by what they had seen and been part of.

They came home to a country, a city, a town, a village where every man, woman and child had for 4 years done their part of this modern war – Total War.

They came home to a nation of men, women and children who had been traumatised, who had lived with the real fear of death be it for the first time from aerial bombardment, starvation or the fear of defeat in this titanic struggle.

Today we remember

Tuesday we will remember at the 11^th hour on the 11^th day of the 11^th Month that the guns fell silent.

But will we really learn the lessons of our past?

We teach our children in the play ground that fighting is wrong.

We teach our children that there is another way to resolving our problems than resorting to violence.

And yet for the last 100 years we have been taught to hate the foreigner

we have seen how war turns family in to foes

we have seen how war turns neighbours into enemies

we have seen the shattering of faith in Christian nations

we have yet to find the other way to resolving our problems that we tell our children can be done without violence?

Come let us go up to the mountain of God

to the house of the God of Jacob

That God may teach us his ways

and that we may walk in paths

For he law shall go out of Zion

and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem

God shall judge between the nations

and shall mediate for many peoples

They shall beat their swords into ploughshares

and their spears in to pruning hooks

Nation shall not lift up sword against Nation

neither shall they learn war anymore       Isaiah 2.3-4

Love is subversive

Today's gospel reading presents us with Jesus' 'summary of the Law':

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

There is a danger of taking this too much in our stride. After all, we might think, we know what love is. And we sometimes achieve it - in our romantic relationships, friendships, and families. Love for our neighbours is basically just a matter of us being nice to those round about us. God is calling us to love; in other words God is nice, and wants us to be nice. Beyond that, God doesn't care too much what we do. As for love for God - well that's easy, because God is lovable. End of story.

The previous paragraph parodies only slightly a view of the commandment to love that has been all too common in the Church of England. The truth of the matter is much more difficult, and far more amazing.

The catch with the second commandment lies in the question asked elsewhere in the gospels, "who is my neighbour?" 

The answer of course is 'everyone', and in particular those we would least expect, or perhaps like, to be our neighbours. The call of this commandment is to a love that is universal in its scope. Love is not the same thing as being nice; I can sometimes only show love for someone by being very un-nice to them, by preventing them from oppressing someone else, for instance. Happily, however, often love does involve being open, generous, even nice to others. But either way there's a problem. We do not live in a world that is set up to encourage, value, or otherwise support a love that is boundless. On the contrary, the daily basis of our lives is competition against one another, for jobs, for housing, for relationships, for happiness itself. And when this doesn't work out well for us, as it often doesn't, there is always a newspaper or a politician ready to blame a convenient scapegoat - immigrants being the current most popular target. The world is not wired for love; yet love we must.

Given that things are the way they are, there will inevitably be a tension, a discomfort, about our attempts to live in a way that show love for our neighbours (all of them). This is what happens when people attempt good living in a bad world. If our efforts are not characterised by tension, and are not met with opposition, this ought to be a sign to us that we are doing things wrong, that it's all just a little bit too cosy. Beware, in particular, the idea that the Church should 'fit in', should have a fixed place in society into which it slots comfortably. Conformity is the greatest temptation the Church of England, in particular, faces.

We have to love our neighbour because we love God. Why is this? Why does love of God lead to love of neighbour? The point here is that we are simply incapable by nature of loving God. We might fear, or respect him, or be impressed with him, or have vague spiritual feelings towards him - but none of this is love. We cannot love God unless God first loves us and draws us into that love that God is - the life together of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This love, symbolised and made effective for us in baptism, is freely offered to every single one of us, without exception. And there's the point : there is no such thing as the love of God for me to the exclusion of others. If I accept God's love for me, and (which is just a different way of saying the same thing) return love to God, then I also accept a relationship that is shared with others, and a future that is shared with all humanity in all its diversity - a future scripture calls 'the Kingdom'. There is no other love on offer, there is no other future on offer. There is no a la carte version of the gospel according to which I get to spend eternity exclusively with people of the same skin colour, or sexuality, or interests, or whatever. 

Or, to put the point as the New Testament does, "Those who say, “I love God,” and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen."

Film night

We are gathered to watch the film "saving Mr Banks" 

The jacket potatoes are almost ready.....

Our Lady of the Rosary

Today is the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary.

All Christians are called to pray. The rosary is a way of praying that many find helpful - in praying it we join with Mary, reflecting on the life death and resurrection of her Son. You can find out more about the rosary here.

We're celebrating the feast this evening with Mass at 8pm, which will be attended by the local chapter of the Guild of Servants of the Sanctuary - an organisation for altar servers. All are welcome.

Pour forth, we beseech you, O Lord, your grace into our hearts, that we, to whom the Incarnation of Christ you Son was made known by the message of an Angel, may, through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, by his Passion and Cross be brought to the glory of his Resurrection. Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Amen

Fr Luke's visit last Sunday

On Sunday we welcomed our archdeacon, Fr Luke Miller, to celebrate harvest with us at both churches. He preached about our call to give ourselves entirely, through and with Christ, who gives himself for us.

Fr Luke took some photos at St Matthias. Of churchwardens, past and present:

And of tidying up after Junior Church:

I stole these photos from Fr Luke's Twitter account. You can follow him here.

working in the vineyard

Jesus told His followers a story about two sons. The father asked both sons to go and work in their vineyard (place where grapes are grown). One son said that he would not go and work. But later he decided that he would work in the vineyard. The second son said that he would work, but he did not go to the vineyard. Jesus asked in verse 31a, "'Which of the two sons obeyed his father?' The Jewish leaders answered, 'The first son.'"

A common experience isn't it!!  And therefore a perfect experience for Jesus to use as an example of what obedience is and isn't.

This is the important question that is prompted by the simple but true story of a father and two children. We are left to ask which one is us?

The gospel is not a gospel of what work we must do or not do.

It is not a matter of whether we give a tenth of our income to God

each year  and successfully avoid committing one or other of the

seven deadly sins...

The words of Jesus concern faith.

It is the gospel of believing - and in believing - in hoping, and in praying,

and opening oneself to the power of God and to the will of God.

Today it is not too late to get right with God, it is not too late to say to God “I believe” help me in my unbelief.

It is not too late to say to God yes!  I will go out in the vineyard after all. I will go with you as you go with me and work to bring the good news of your love to my family and my friends and to the whole world in all that I say and do. I will worship you and work with you and obey your will.

our new garden of remembrance at St Matthias was used for the first time after the Sunday Mass. May Robert Grimwood rest in peace.

Jonah - a sign for our times

Capital vision 2020 was launched last Summer within the Diocese of London. Our bishop of London, Bishop Richard, wrote to all his 400 clergy at the time:

We are continuing to build a church for London that is Confident, Compassionate and Creative. These three words have emerged from nearly 2,000 conversations over the last 18 months and they inform our Capital Vision 2020. As a Diocese we have reflected on the times we live in, listening and responding by identifying areas where we must be more purposeful and more imaginative.

At the same time we must of course maintain our day to day mission and ministry across London. We remain committed to serving the communities where we are already; through prayer, worship and practical service in the name of Jesus Christ.

We have already begun to responded here at both churches

We are being more creative with our churches, removing chairs and pews that are hardly ever used and creating space that can be used throughout the week for work with young people and create space for fellowship

at times when we meet to worship.

The possibility of creating new compassionate space in the form of a GP surgery and more community space on the ground originally designed as a third aisle for St John’s church seems tantalizingly near, just as the possibility of transforming a car park into compassionate housing for elders at St Matthias seems a possibility.

We are using the next four months as a season of invitation, beginning this month with back to Church Sunday - each one of us inviting someone to special services between now and Christmas as we continue with confidence to share out faith with those around us.

But there remains still a great deal more to be done within the community we stand. The needs of our community seem daunting when compared to our meager resources and maybe like Jonah  we would rather run that stay and with creative compassionate confidence engage with the challenges that face those living in or city and sharing the gospel of Gods love revealed through Jesus Christ.

However we can neither run nor hide from the challenge and our shared Vision as a parish and a Diocese. If we try and run away from the challenge that is before us and bury our heads in the sand thinking the issues might go away –Jonah stands as a sign – a warning to us

When Jonah is confronted with the task at hand, to go and convert, to transform, that great city of Nineveh, his response is to run away. He tries to get a boat to Spain – for some sun and sangria no doubt. He convinces himself that he can do something other than fulfill the command of God “to go”. May be like many of us, we hope that someone else will do the job or if we look the other way the challenge, the issues, the task will quietly go away.

We may be masters at deception but of course Jonah learns the hard way that God is not to be deceived. Jonah may have a little break in a health club or detox clinic planned but of course God has something else in mind.

Capital Vision is in part a challenge for us to respond to the call of our Baptism – to be a light in the world, to renounce evil and follow Christ. Capital Vision is not an attempt to make us feel inadequate or even guilty, but to face up honestly to the issues that confront the church in this city.

Once Jonah comes to his senses, and of course it is only when he is faced with a crisis that he does – namely when he finds himself in the belly of a large fish. Once Jonah comes to his senses he is ready to accept the challenge and face with honesty the task that is before him.

When faced with the confusing landscape of the 21^st century, when we are part of a church that at times does not seem to be singing the same song, a church in which we are not using the same hymn book, in all this confusion and turmoil it is easy to throw up our hands is panic or even despair. To give up hope and as Jonah did allow ourselves to be thrown to the storm as an act of fear and despair will not thwart the purposes of God.

What the story of Jonah reminds us is that when we are all at sea, not all is lost, purpose and meaning is still found even in the depths of the storm around us, yes even in the belly of a large fish!

As we consider the challenge that is before us as individuals, as congregations and as a diocese, let us not filled with despair, as Jonah was, let us not deceive ourselves but let us work together taking inspiration from the words of St Paul writing to the Philippians “Stand firm in one spirit, striving side by side with one mind for the faith of the gospel.” 1.27