Living with parables - the mustard seed as a sign of the Kingdom of God

Jesus speaks to us in parable – he want us not to be passive listeners or simply to follow rules and regulations slavishly, he wants us to use our minds, ask questions, yes to dream dreams that will inspire our vision and by so doing create a better and hope filled future for those who come after us.

Parables are short stories that illustrate a particular religious or moral idea, short tales that communicate universal truths. Parables are a kind of extended metaphor, which is one way – and maybe the best way – of grasping the amazing wonder that is God within the limits of human language.

And today’s parable is about exactly that: the amazing wonder that is God. Jesus refers to it as the “kingdom of God,”

It refers not to territory, as in the United Kingdom, but to dominion, as in a semi-autonomous state that is under the sovereignty of another – namely God. The kind of kingdom Jesus describes is a kingdom in which the members have choice, the free will to make decisions about their lives, their involvement, their direction, and their future.

And the first choice we get to make is about which kingdom to call our own. When Jesus talks about the kingdom of God or the kingdom of God, he is talking about a kingdom inhabited by the righteous, and this kingdom is not the only kingdom.

Jesus acknowledge that there is more than one Kingdom, he acknowledges that there is the Kingdom of Satan. In last weeks gospel reading, for instance, he asks, “If Satan is divided against himself, how can his kingdom stand?” The kingdom of evil is real; it’s all around us all the time, and we are lured by it and sometimes swayed by it.

We are faced with a choice, and it a choice that we make minute by minute, hour by hour, day by day in the thoughts we hold, in the words we use and ultimately in the actions we take. Do we choose the path of righteousness that leads to the kingdom of God or do turn inwards and relying upon our own resources treat the path that leads us to death and kingdom of Satan?

When we make a choice that puts our own selfish wishes over the real needs of the community that surrounds us. When we make a choice that wreaks violence on someone else – be it physical, emotional, or spiritual pain. When we make a choice that belittles other people according to category – be it race, or gender, or disability.

We are not walking towards the kingdom of God

In the kingdom of God, we would put aside our own egotistical need to have power over anyone else, and instead cultivate the qualities and gifts that come from the Holy Spirit such as Love, compassion, understanding, and cooperation.

In the kingdom of God, we would cease all violence, repenting of the evil that enslaves us, and instead promote true dialogue, empathy, and acceptance.

In the kingdom of God, we will bring an end to our own oppression of others, and instead foster open-mindedness, willingness to encounter what is new, and appreciation for difference.

This is a hopeful vision of paradise, and Jesus offers this to us every day – in his parables, in the sacraments, and in the spirit embodied in everyone we meet.

It seems so very clear. Kingdom of God: good. Kingdom of Satan: bad. Choose the good and reject the bad. So why is it that so often we do not make the right choice?

One reason – perhaps the biggest reason – is fear.

When we are afraid of something, we sometimes choose what is safe over what may seem challenging.

When we are afraid of what we know about some people, we sometimes choose to disparage them rather than take the opportunity to make new acquaintances.

When we are afraid of what we do not know, we sometimes choose to avoid the growth that comes only through learning something new, retreating instead into a cocoon of ignorance.

But according to Mark’s gospel, in the kingdom of God it is “as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how.”

We do not know how the miracle that is God’s love works, how it grows, or what makes it sprout. This lack of knowledge leaves some even with in the church fear filled – fearful  of the unknown, and so they choose to either avoiding confrontation, or ceaseing in the intellectual struggle that is faith and the heart ache that comes with love, in stead acquiescing to our darker thoughts, choosing what is safe over what is right.

But the choice is for us to respond in hopeful confidence, trusting that God is doing more than we can ask or imagine – even when we cannot see, or refuse to see, or do not comprehend.

When faced with difficult choices we often end up saying “I’ll go with my gut instincts” It may not always be possible to see the clear outcome of analytical thought so we go back to our basic instincts, those that have ensure the evolution and survival of the human race.

But this gut instinct will not lead us to God

Think of those who have made the right choice in their lives. Think of Jesus who choose his cross, this was not a gut instinct, that would have been to run away, nor was it a calculated risk, the odds were stacked too high against him, it was a choice of love and faith.

We heard this morning in Mark 4: “For the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs.”

What seems like a trivial matter, then, can become the pattern of a lifetime.

The smallest of seeds becomes the greatest of all shrubs.

The tiniest of babes can become the greatest of human living.

And even the worst human can become the greatest of all examples of what it is to choose to live in the kingdom of God.

Because that choice comes not once in a lifetime, not ever so rarely, not only now and again. The choice to live in the kingdom of God comes to each of us every hour of every day.

So let us walk by faith, not by sight, with confidence. For the love of Christ urges us on. Everything old has passed away, and in Christ there is a new creation.

That new creation is us. And it is up to us to make the choice for the kingdom of God.

A family under God

The place and role of the family is never far from headlines. Pope Francis has at the beginning of this ministry as Pope sent tremors through the world wide Roman Catholic community in the way in which he chooses not just to live, simply, but also last year when he  Catholic bishops gathered in Rome to listen hard to the “beat of this age” as he opened a landmark assembly that many hope will spark reform of some of the Roman Catholic church’s stances on marriage, sex and divorce.

Congratulations to Egzon and Christina married at St John 

With the change to the definition of marriage in this country last year

to include same sex union, there is much debate on not just the place and role of marriage but sexuality and the impact on our understanding of family. Some see these moves as eroding the family and contributing to the further disintegration of society where as others take a more hope- filled view that new understanding of marriage and sexuality will enhance and strength the institution of the family.

It interesting that when it comes to the pages of the bible the image of family is not a “Hello” or “OK” airbrushed version but a more realistic and dare I say dysfunctional description of family life. From Cain and Able the children of Adam and Eve to Noah and his sons, Isaac and Esau, Samuel, Moses and  David; family life is not without its tensions and even violence.

Consider Jesus' family, for example. His birth is surrounded with scandal as Mary finds herself with child but unmarried. St John in his gospel uses language that suggested that Jesus' relationship with his mother was rather strained, Jesus is only recorded as referring to his mother as “Woman” and at the wedding of Cana in Galilee he seems to be rather abrupt with his mother. Similar tensions appear to have existed between him and his siblings, as well.

And then we have the occasion referred to in our Gospel this morning, Mark 3.21 which says: "21When his family heard it, they went out to restrain him, for people were saying, ‘He has gone out of his mind”.

This episode in Marks account of Jesus’ life is set in a wider context that runs through out the gospels, namely that people around Jesus find it hard to understand who he really is. Jesus does not fit in with the expectations or traditions held dear by those around him. His own family assume he has lost his sanity and the religious authorities see him as an evil and dangerous force who will destroy their power and the traditions handed down since the time of Moses concluding that he must be possessed by Satan.

The scene underscores how those who presumably they were in the position to understand Jesus were not immediately able to see him as God's agent. As Jesus announced and re-inaugurated God's intentions for human flourishing, many could not overcome the disorienting character of his message. Even close relatives and religious insiders were bewildered by what he said, which threatened to disrupt so many aspects of human society.

Maybe Jesus' relatives were dismayed that the first-born son wasn't supporting his family but was gallivanting around Galilee as a self-appointed prophet. Or maybe they wanted him, as Messiah, to have bigger and better ambitions, such as promising a revolution instead of preaching and healing the sick. The Gospel of Mark does not explain; it merely sets up a showdown of sorts when the family arrives to seize Jesus.

When the crowd says that his family is summoning him from outside the crowded building, Jesus answers with a shocking statement: "Who is my mother? Who are my brothers? ... Look, here [these people seated around me] are my mother and my brothers. Whoever does God's will is my brother, sister and mother."

It's good news for those inside the house, who seek to identify with Jesus and his message. Its good news for the disciples who have left their families and their homes (Mark 10.28-30) and its good news for Christians from the earliest time to our own day who face persecution from their families when they embrace Jesus as their Lord, especially those who convert.

It is bad news, however, for his relatives on the outside of the house who seek to impede his mission and ministry to the poor, sick and dispossessed and for others who have dedicated their lives to preserving the traditions and customs of the past in order to sure up their own position of power and provide social stability

Jesus redefines Family. Jesus redefines the criteria for who constitutes his true family.

This goes beyond striking back at his mother and brothers' opinion about his sanity. More foundationally, Jesus makes a claim about what it might mean to belong to the community he is creating, the Kingdom of God  and later the Church.

He makes a claim about identity. Families, or "households," were the primary social and economic units of first-century society as much as they are in our modern urban societies. Jesus speaks to deeply embedded cultural assumptions when he defines his true family not by blood relations or kinship ties but by doing the will of God.

For Jesus, family -- at least, one type of family -- is a community of people joined as an expression of their commitment to discover and manifest God's will. It would appear that Jesus is allowing for a new understanding of family, one defined by those who promote God's will.

As many in our day are urging society, and yes the church too, to redefine our understanding of family I wonder if we will find ourselves on the outside of the house as Jesus’ family or on the inside with his disciples?

Obviously, Christians have not found consensus on these topics, as discussions of sexuality and marriage have polarized many communities.

Jesus did not abolish the idea of family or household. It goes too far to suggest he overthrew his culture's values about family, society and religion -- in this passage or any other. But he does consistently unsettle and sometimes redefines those values.

When Jesus teaches, heals and makes pronouncements, everything gets put up for renegotiation. Old values aren't necessarily flawed, simply by virtue of their being old or established. But God's presence in the world, manifested through Jesus' words and actions, repeatedly turns on their head the conventional assumptions about what's "real" or what's "normal."

Jesus’ actions and words upset those around him as much as they are upsetting our world today. Jesus creates a reversal of priority, not to change for change's sake, but so we might reconsider just how  our living  can be authentic manifestations of who God is and how God can be known.

The Holy and blessed Trinity

The Prophet Isaiah finds himself in the awesome presence of God and he can only fall to his knees admitting his unworthiness, but God is not content to leave him there - God touches him, via an angel, and  in response Isaiah declares “Here I am send me” Isaiah 6.1-8

For me the passage is about majesty, the majesty of God, and service- the service of the prophet- and so it is speaks to us about our discipleship yours and mine.  We see Isaiah with all his faults, in the midst of feelings of unworthiness, on his knees in his shame and guilt over come with feelings of loss and abandonment but then, by the Grace of God, he like us must respond to the question that God asks each one of us – Whom shall I send? by answering “Hear I am send me”

 Over the last month, as part of the 75^th Anniversary of VE day, there has been a great deal of remembering of those who in their generation responded to the call “Whom shall I send” when it came to these islands own moment of peril in the 20^th Century.

On Saturday with the anniversary of D Day, we will remember again those who responded to the call “Whom shall I send” by setting out in their dinghies , their sailing ships, indeed an armada of  700 “little ships” to pick up the stranded troops of the British ensuring that they would serve another day in freeing the world of the evil of Nazi Germany.

I the Lord of sea and sky

I have heard my people cry…….whom shall I send? 

Here I am lord, it is I lord, I will go Lord if you lead me…

( Servant king Dan Shuttle) 

In an another popular modern hymn called the Servant King written by Graham Kendrick the chorus rings out " This is our God the Servant King, he calls us now to follow him.....   "The Servant King" is our understanding of God that we have to share as distinctive to others who believe in God and distinctive within a world were many strive to be gods and servants are treated with contempt.

Today as we remember and celebrate our understanding of God as Father Son and Holy Spirit, , we remember that God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit is not a heavenly Tyrant – a distant individual, ruling in splendid isolation but God who has come among us as one of us to bear our burden and bring us peace. 

This is at the heart of what Jesus tells Nicodemus in the darkness of his night in our gospel:

God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. 17Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.’ V16-17

The doctrine of the Trinity takes us to the opening pages of the Bible, deep into the time before time and we see that before there was anything to rule, the Father, Son and Spirit existed and they existed in relationship with one another. 

Their life is a life of caring, sharing, give and take, back and forth.  Before God’s life was a life of majesty over the creation, God’s life was a life of service among the Persons.  The Father pours His love and life into the Son in the power of the Spirit. 

The Son offers up His love and life in the power of the Spirit.  The very essence of God’s Majesty is service.  God’s life is a life of mutual self-giving.

The servant-heart of God is a glimpse of something holy.  Because of Trinity: Majesty and service belong together.

Now imagine if this were not the case.  Imagine if God were just a solitary individual. Think of him there “in the beginning”, with no-one and nothing besides him, just his own thoughts for company.  Such a god could not be a god of service.  There’s no-one and nothing for this god to serve.  There’s no caring or sharing.  This god would be defined by supremacy, by power, by pre-existence but not by love.

But not with Trinity.  With Trinity: service is supreme.  With Trinity: self-giving is ultimate reality.  With Trinity: God is love, the love that exists between the three persons of the God head – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It if from this relationship of love that creation is created for the Trinity exists as a dynamo creating the power of love that is found woven in to the very fabric of creation and our own existence as his children.

And this love, indeed any love cannot be kept to itself.  In the beginning of Johns gospel we see that the God of love wanted to share.  John writes:

Through the Word all things were made.

This is where we’ve come from.  From the overflowing life of the Father, through the Word – the Lord Jesus – in the power of the Spirit, the world was born.  It was as if the Father, Son and Spirit had said “This thing is too good to keep to ourselves.”  And so a world is made, that we might share in their love.

And so here we find the meaning of life – in the Trinity – in relationship and love of God and one another. God the Holy Trinity make you strong in truth and peace, guard you and save you and bring you to that heavenly city where he lives and reigns for ever and ever. AMEN

Unless the eye catch fire - Feast of Pentecost

Unless the eye catch fire,


The God will not be seen.


Unless the ear catch fire


The God will not be heard.


Unless the tongue catch fire


The God will not be named.


Unless the heart catch fire,


The God will not be loved.


Unless the mind catch fire,


The God will not be known.     William Blake

Central to our relationship with God, is the desire to catch something of that flame of life, the Spirit itself. This is what we are here to catch with ear and tongue with our hearts and minds this morning in our Pentecost celebration.

On the first Pentecost the Spirit descended in tongues of fire. Elsewhere the Spirit is described as a dove, a breath or wind. Each description catches a particular sense of that Spirit of God which underlies everything and, what St Paul speaks of as awaiting its birth in the lives and actions of humanity – the whole creation has been groaning in labour pains writes St Paul, ready for the moment when the fruits of that Spirit can be set to work. Romans 8.22

It is the Spirit deep within the heart of humanity made in God’s image, which enables us to pray and to engage with God himself. And, as we have been reminded time and again in the letters of St John red in these last weeks of Easter, God is love and through his spirit we are able to encounter, engage and live in that Love.

At times the Holy Spirit is like a fire, like love that is a burning passion enflaming us with a sense of God’s loving presence, a fire that purifies us from the death of self love and selfishness.

At times it is like a wind that blows where it will – we know its power and presence even though it cannot be seen. Like the winds that blow across the Sahara molding and giving form to the landscape of blown particles of sand.

At times it is just like breath, a thing so small, faint natural and almost unnoticed – yet essential for life. Like a softly spoken word “I love you” that can change our reality for ever .

At times we picture it as a dove – a sign of hope and promise landing in our midst as it did in the story of Noah when the dove brought a leaf in its beak showing the flood was ended.

Today we celebrate the gift of that Spirit of God, promised by the Risen and Ascended Lord.

But we should not see the Spirit just as an extra boost, something we call upon to help us do what we want. It is rather the very presence of God deep within his creation and therefore deep within our communities and indeed deep within each one of us. The invitation of Pentecost is to open ourselves to that presence and embrace his presence.

Yet if we do this, let us be aware of what it is we are letting ourselves in for. This is a Spirit that will not just support our ambitions for the Church or for our world or for ourselves. This is the Spirit of God which will lead us in his ways, to fulfill his will for his church, his world and us his people.

In his book, A World to Love, author George Knowles tells about a party of explorers who found themselves perplexed by something they found in a remote  African jungle. In a clearing, they discovered 35 carefully laid fires that had never  been lit. They had the appearance of 35 little tepees, with dry leaves surrounded by small, dry twigs and, finally, larger pieces of wood arranged in a good Boy Scout  fashion.

Who built the fires? Why had not even one been lit? The mystery cleared up  when the explorers saw dozens of chimpanzees watching from the trees. The  chimps had watched campers and copied the art of fire building. But they had no fire.

Many people say the same kind of thing is true of the Church today. We

have been trained in fire building, but we have no fire. If we are going to reach people today with the Christian message, faith must involve the head and the heart.

The gift of the Spirit bequeathed to us by the Risen and Ascended Christ offers us not just extra support, but leads to a radical change. We are  placing ourselves in the hands of the one who created us, and who invites us to choose to live our lives in his way rather than ours.

But this Spirit cannot be controlled, it shapes changes and defines us - not the other way round. We are the clay not the potter to borrow an image from the Prophets of Old.

The feast of Pentecost is an invitation to live in God’s grace. It is something we wrestle with every day, abandoning ourselves to God, following the path that he has for us. But a stronger passion for control, especially when we loose faith or allow our selfish desire to dominate our choices, works against this invitation to live by God’s grace.

Part of the story of that first Pentecost is the gathering of  nationalities Parthians, Medes, Elamites, residents of Mesopotamia,  and all the rest who heard the first disciples speaking of God’s love in Jesus Christ.

They were surprised that each heard in their own language – but what they heard was human speech, human imagination set on fire, inspired by that Spirit of God  and they were united in responding to God’s love.

We are called as followers of Christ to allow the love of Christ to become real in the lives of this broken world. It is to enable those imprisoned by violence, oppression, need or greed, to find that Spirit of God’s love deep within themselves bringing  freedom from their captivity. It is to enable those who are blinded by their power, their success and their comfort in this world, to have their eyes open to the needs of all around, to change and be changed, to live differently.

It is to find the Spirit of the living God breathing new life into the dry bones of our society and our world, that all may have life, and have it abundantly; life that is both here and now, and lasts into eternity.

So we must catch the fire of the Spirit to live each day.

Unless the eye catch fire,
 God will not be seen.
Unless the ear catch fire
 God will not be heard.
Unless the tongue catch fire
 God will not be named.
Unless the heart catch fire,
 God will not be loved.
Unless the mind catch fire,
 God will not be known.

May this Pentecost enflame our eyes, ears, tongues, hearts and minds, that God and his love may be seen and heard, named and loved, and known by all his children in every part of his world.

St Matthias our Patron - 14th May

Almost nothing is known of St Matthias. Perhaps he is most important because his election as an apostle shows the way the that Church would continue to choose its pastors and guides, by bringing forward members as the Spirit led.

Our Patron Saint’s name is the Greek form of Mattathias, Hebrew Mattithiah, signifying "gift of Yahweh." The late mediaeval Golden Legend says “Matthias in Hebrew is as much to say as given to our Lord, or a gift of our Lord, or else humble or little.” St Matthias is certainly humble in terms of personal fame! He is not mentioned in the Gospels, but according to Acts 1.21 was one of the disciples of Jesus, and had been with Him from His baptism by John to the Ascension. Indeed the lack of definite information has led some people to identify him with this or that little-known figure, including Nathaniel, Barnabas, and even Zacchaeus.

St Matthias is only mentioned in the New Testament in Acts 1.21-26, when he was one of the two disciples selected as candidates to fill the place among the Twelve Apostles left by Judas. After prayer lots were cast and Matthias was chosen.

Where the canonical sources fail us, legends and church traditions more than make up for. A number of sources tell of him preaching the gospel to the "cannibals of Ethiopia"

A different tradition was that Matthias was stoned at Jerusalem and then beheaded with an axe. This tradition gained the most popularity in the Western Church. There we learn that Matthias was a native of Bethlehem, where he was trained in the Law and the Prophets. After he had been elected to join the apostles, he preached in Jerusalem and worked miracles of healing in the name of Jesus. For this he was accused before the high priest but refused to answer, saying, “to be a Christian is nothing criminal but it is a glorious life”. Offered a chance to repent, Matthias said “God forbid that I should repent of the truth that I have truly found, and become an apostate” (was he perhaps thinking of Judas whom he had replaced?).

He returned to preaching by word and example, converting many, until finally his enemies got two false witnesses to accuse him, and the false witnesses cast the first stones against him. Matthias “prayed that the stones might be buried that the false witnesses had cast upon him, for to bear witness against them that stoned him,” and in the end they beheaded him with an axe, in the Roman manner. He died commending his spirit to God.

Finally we should note a tradition that St Matthias died of old age. Hippolytus of Rome (d. 235) said that “Matthias, who was one of the seventy, was numbered along with the eleven apostles, and preached in Jerusalem, and fell asleep and was buried there.”

These stories have no historical value, although the words “to be a Christian is nothing criminal but it is a glorious life” are well worth remembering. It is very likely that he never went to the country we call Ethiopia.

The concern of the Apostles to complete the number is interesting; for the institution of Twelve Apostles was not maintained in the Church. There is no account of a further election when St James the brother of John was executed (Acts 12:2). So maybe Matthias is unique in this regard and that is why has had captured the imagination of many throughout the ages.

The choice between Barsabbas and Matthias was made by casting lots, not ballots: voting by ballot was not a Jewish custom; the method of discerning the Lord’s will in the Old Testament was by lot. Moreover a ballot would not harmonize with their prayer “show which of these two thou hast chosen”. What they did was to give each candidate a tablet, bearing his name, to place in the urn; and that which fell out, on the urn being shaken, determined which was successful.

This is the only known occasion on which the early Church used lots to ascertain God’s will; it is not stated by what method of choice was used when the Twelve told the brethren to “pick out from among you” the seven to assist in the service(Acts 6.3-5).

So what do we take away from the recounting of some interesting if not rather unreliable traditions concerning St Matthias our patron?

I would suggest two things.

firstly his name:  the meaning of Matthias name is

“given to our Lord, or a gift of our Lord, or else humble or little.”

We are certainty little in number here this morning and I would hope that even though we are small our contribution to the life of the community through our hall and in this church where over the years people come to mourn their loved ones, celebrate new life granted to them and their families and of course to celebrate the love that binds two people together in marriage is of greater significance.

Let me encourage you this morning to think of yourselves as given our Lord and as such a gift for the world we are called to serve and in which we witness to that Lord who calls us as he called our Patron Matthias and join with him in the “this ministry and apostleship” of the church which is ours to share in through our baptism.

We do this at a time in the world where it is Christians who are the most persecuted of all the faith communities in the world. Every 11 minutes a man or a woman or a child is put to death simply for being that “gift of our Lord”

The second are the words attributed to him at his martyrdom: Matthias is recorded in saying that  “to be a Christian is nothing criminal but it is a glorious life”. Let us pray for our brothers and sisters in faith who are treated as criminal, for our brothers and sisters who like our Patron Matthias have left this life to enter their glory by the violent had of another, and let us pray that God will spare us and indeed all his Church from such a fate but that should we ever be faced with such choices that others have to make every day let us take heart from our Patron's own words when face with such a choice:

“God forbid that I should repent of the truth that I have truly found, and become an apostate”