Dear friends,
Welcome to this week’s update.
Please find below the text of today’s sermon at St Mary’s in Goathland, the readings we had, and a reminder of our services and the growing number of events coming up across our Middle Esk Moor church communities.
With prayers and all good wishes,
Anthony
Church Services and Events Coming Up
Sunday 10 September – 10:30 am at Glaisdale, St Thomas, Holy Communion.
Saturday 16 September – 10:00 am to 4:30 pm at Goathland, St Mary, Heritage Open Day – please support this if you can, there’ll be lots of information about St Mary’s Church, refreshments and a chance to ring the bells, but additional volunteers would be most welcome to help.
Sunday 17 September – 10:30 am at Egton, St Hilda, Holy Communion; 10:00 am to 4:30 pm at Goathland, St Mary, the second Heritage Open Day
Friday 22 September – 7:00 pm at Grosmont, St Matthew, ‘Around the UK in Classic Railway Posters’ – an illustrated talk by Jane Ellis.
Sunday 24 September – 10:30 am at Grosmont, St Matthew, Holy Communion.
Thursday 28 September – 2:00 pm at Glaisdale, St Thomas, Harvest Festival in partnership with Glasidale School.
Friday 29 September – 6:00 pm at Goathland, St Mary, Harvest Festival in partnership with Goathland School.
Sunday 1 October – 10:30 am at Goathland, St Mary, Holy Communion.
Friday 6 October – 6:00 pm at Grosmont, St Matthew, Mel Supper and Harvest Thanksgiving with pie and pea supper and entertainment from the Hawsker Village Band - Contact Tammy to reserve food on [email protected] or 01947895309.
Saturday 7 October 12 midday to 5:00 pm, Egton Village Hall, ‘Where next? Charting the future’ – a time to reflect on where we are and imagine what a sustainable Middle Esk Moor family of church communities might look like in 2030. There will be a bring and share lunch.
Sunday 8 October – 10:30 am at Lealholm, St James, Holy Communion.
*every Thursday* – 10:30 am to 3:00 pm at Grosmont, St Matthew’s, Community Café, supporting the wonderful charity Farming Community Network – please support this if you can, there’s a selection of delicious sandwiches, cakes and drinks to buy, and additional volunteers would be most welcome.
Readings for Sunday 3 September, the 13th Sunday after Trinity
Romans 12:9-end
Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honour. Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are. Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’ No, ‘if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Matthew 16:21-28
From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, ‘God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you.’ But he turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling-block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.’ Then Jesus told his disciples, ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life? ‘For the Son of Man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay everyone for what has been done. Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.’
Sermon for Sunday 3 September at St Mary’s, Goathland
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts together be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our rock, and redeemer. Amen.
In last week’s Gospel reading, Simon Peter declared to Jesus, 'You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’ Peter’s faith was especially recognised by Jesus, and Peter was given a new name: he was to be the rock, the source of strength and authority for a new community: the Church. Peter was to be the leader of the followers of the newly revealed Jesus, the Son of the living God. But soon after that, as recorded in today’s Gospel reading, we have Jesus shouting at Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me!”
Jesus is obviously just a little bit angry with Peter! But why, what’s happened? At the beginning of our reading, Jesus tells Peter that he will be killed very soon. He also says that he will be raised on the third day. But Peter doesn’t hear or understand that part. He just hears the bit where the man he loves very deeply says he will be killed. The man that Peter adores, the man that Peter has invested everything in, will be killed. Imagine yourself for a moment in Peter’s shoes. What would you say? How would Jesus respond? You say, ‘this must never happen to you, Lord!’
Jesus shouts at you, ‘get behind me, Satan!’
You’re confused. You love the Lord. You cannot bear to be separated from your Lord and Saviour. Jesus’ death is bad news. That bad news is too much for you to bear. Jesus tells you he’s going to die. But he wants you to know the plan; there are no secrets; this is the plan, the plan God had made long ago. Jesus has explained that to you too. But you still can’t bear to be parted.
Well, I think I would react the same way. I can understand Peter's response to Jesus when the bad news became too much to bear.
By this stage of Jesus' ministry, it was clear to Peter and the other disciples that Jesus was their Messiah, but they had yet to understand that he wouldn’t be the conquering military king that would expel Israel’s enemies from the land given to them by God. They simply couldn’t grasp that part of the plan. Of course, we have the benefit of knowing the whole story. But when Jesus has a go at Peter so angrily, we see his human side and a very human frustration: Peter is still thinking in the old way and not in the radical new way of Jesus, and his rule of love rather than the rule of power and vengeance. The amazing thing about Jesus is that he’s fully human and fully God, so he gets frustrated, he gets angry, he knows what life is like, he gets emotional. And we have two emotions clashing here:
Peter’s sense of loss, of grief.
Jesus’ sense of frustration, of anger.
Peter's response would have been my response, I’m sure of that. Would you have reacted in the same way? I’m guessing so. We don’t want Jesus to suffer either, we don’t want him to die. "God forbid it, Lord!" Peter says.
"God forbid it, Lord!" we say.
But Jesus, fully man and fully God: will not forbid it, will not prevent it either, will not prevent the humiliation, torture, suffering and death. The free will that humanity has means that God, too, must be put to death. The horror of what man does to man must be put on display for all to see. And Jesus is as scared as any of us would be. He gets angry about it. We might imagine that Jesus calmly accepts all that is to come. And the Gospels do paint that picture when the time comes, and we arrive at Good Friday. But today, in our Gospel reading, Jesus is angry, he displays his full humanity. Jesus just doesn’t have to deal with his own feelings. No, those feelings are exacerbated by Peter's inability to understand and accept the full reality of what’s to come.
Jesus didn’t really think Peter was Satan, of course, but simply that the title ‘Satan’ represents everything which opposes truth and is aligned with secularism and materialism. This is in opposition to the need to be aligned with the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus doesn’t want the natural anxiety and sorrow in our Gospel reading to result in pessimism and negativity. Instead, Jesus’ anger reinforces his message of hope. It’s OK to be angry if that helps people see the bigger picture.
So, how does this speak to us today, in this place? I’ve been writing quite a complicated report this week examining my first three months here, and outlining the issues I’ve found. And, let’s be honest, I‘ve uncovered quite a lot of anger and frustration in the way resources and support have not quite reached Middle Esk Moor over the last few years. My appointment here is a response to that, of course: I’m here to bring change. But change can only happen if we have the space and time to be able to acknowledge what is wrong with the old way of doing things. Change can only happen amidst the reality of the world we live in. There will be challenges. Things will not go according to plan! We’re not going to get all 2,500 people that live in our Middle Esk Moor area interested in joining our churches. There will be opposition. There will be restraining factors, holding us back. But, if we can acknowledge all those, then we can ensure that we live in the real world, not an imagined version of it. And we need to acknowledge the restraining factors currently present within our church communities and our church structures: the diocese; the deanery. We need to acknowledge the quite understandable anger and frustration that those structures have caused. We need to face the reality of our lived experience head on.
It’s OK to be angry. Jesus’ anger in today’s reading reinforces his message of hope. It’s OK to be angry if that helps people see the bigger picture. The good thing about facing reality, seeing the bigger picture, is that it unlocks us from the fear of unknowing, it frees us to make change, it enables us to move forward and live more fully. Yes, change will be scary at first. But everything becomes possible when we have nothing to lose, when we can let go of the past, when we can fully re-imagine the future.
Jesus knew this.
Jesus was prepared to risk everything.
Jesus didn’t need Peter's fussing, however well meant, or needy. Jesus wanted Peter to face the truth and then accept what must come, so that he and Jesus could be free to pursue the next phase of their shared ministry. Jesus knew that Peter and the disciples would eventually find the strength to found and maintain the future Church: from his example, but also from within themselves.
Facing reality, with hope, rarely disappoints when we undertake it with Jesus!
Amen.
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these two books, edited by Jane Williams, are still continuing to be very helpful with planning my sermon writing:
Williams, J (2009), Ed., ‘Lost for Words, A Sermon Resource for the Anglican Three Year Cycle,’ Redemptorist Publications, Chawton, UK.
Williams, J (2011), Ed., ‘Lectionary Reflections, Years A, B and C.’ Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, London, UK.
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The Reverend Anthony Bennett
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Interim Minister & Deanery Enabler
Middle Esk Moor | Whitby Deanery | York Diocese
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email: [email protected]
landline: 01947 899843
mobile: 07484 735284
web: middleeskmoor.org