An actor is giving readings from his favourite works, as an encore an elderly Priest asks him to recite the lines of Psalm 23, this he agrees to if the Priest will follow him with his own recital. The actor stands and gives a beautiful rendition of the psalm; it is received with great applause. Then the Priest stands and in a faltering voice recites the psalm, there is a hushed silence in the audience and a few tears. The actor stands and turns to the Priest and says: “Ladies and gentlemen, I hope you realise what has happened tonight. I know the words to the psalm, but this Priest knows the Shepherd”. But what does it mean to know the Shepherd? The Resurrection. Marc ChagallMarc Chagall painted a series of works, telling the story of the Bible, between 1937 and 1948. In 1963 he donated these works to the French state and in 1973 a gallery was opened in Nice to house them. Last week Clare and I visited this wonderful gallery, designed as a house and set in a beautiful park. The paintings tell the story of humanity, but if you look in the corners of these paintings you will see another story, that of the ‘Suffering Jew’. Chagall was of course conscious during these years of the holocaust taking place across Europe. It was a holocaust that had a long history. To tell this story, Chagall’s home town of Vitebsk, which had suffered in the pogroms of the 19th century, often features in the paintings. Most surprisingly there is almost always a crucified Christ figure somewhere. Chagall, an orthodox Jew explained that for him Christ is the ‘suffering Jew’. But for Chagall Christ is not only the crucified, but the resurrected Jew. Here we find Jesus rising up and walking away from the cross. We see the village Vitbebst in the background, and scenes of war and revolution, but front and centre is the risen Christ who brings, in the next painting of this series, liberation. The Sheep and the Shepherd: So what is it to know the Shepherd? Is it not to know Him as an animal knows its master, to trust and believe in the promise of new life beyond suffering and pain. Maybe the best way to understand this is to think back to the days when we were learning French. I remember being drilled in the difference between the verb Connaitre and the verb Savoir; to know a person and to know a ‘thing’. We know God as a person though we may not understand a thing about Him. The focus of Jesus’ words is on our relationship with God, not what we can know about Him. It is, for those who have faith in the resurrected Christ, a relationship of love, trust and commitment, that takes us through the valley of the shadow of death and leads us to the quiet pastures. The shepherd’s voice: It is significant that Chagall always depicts Christ as a Jew, wearing the shawl that would cover the men’s heads in the synagogue. In Christ he recognises the story of the Jewish people. He identifies with the Christ on the cross and he trusts in the resurrected Christ. This is a relationship built on an intimate knowledge of the shepherd, the very tone of his voice. The shepherd’s way: In the midst of war Chagall is able to paint ‘Resurrection’ because he trusted a God who could overcome evil and darkness and lead his people to a new land. It is often pointed out that in the Middle East shepherds lead their sheep, they do not drive them. Though they do not know where he will lead them they have learnt to trust him. To know God then, Jesus says, is to recognise in Him, as the sheep do, as the one who gives life. ‘Those who come to me will be saved’ The shepherd’s love: As we read the story of the Jewish people in the scriptures we will recognise a Christ figure in all the stories, a king, a prophet or a priest who prefigures Christ. Chagall saw this and when he painted the Christ he was making a statement about the Jewish people. In his suffering he sees their suffering, in his resurrection he sees their resurrection. The Christ figure tells the story of the Jewish people. A shepherd too will know each of his sheep, he will recognise their strengths and weaknesses, he will know their history, and to him each one is special, valued and precious in his sight. How extraordinary, that we should be loved by the unknowable God, and yet we know that this is true because we see in Jesus the crucified and resurrected Christ ‘The Good Shepherd who lay down his life for the sheep’ A journey of faith: Chagall drew on the imagery of the sheep and its shepherd. In nearly all of this series there is somewhere in the background a sheep. He recognised that our relationship to God is like that between a shepherd and his sheep. In his paintings we discover the mystery of a God, unknowable yet known in the Christ figure by those who put their faith in Him. A relationship that makes knowing God a reality for us, His sheep. A prayer for peace in the Holy land.O God of all justice and peace we cry out to you in the midst of the pain and traumaof violence and fear which prevails in the Holy Land.Be with those who need you in these days of suffering; we pray for people of all faiths – Jews, Muslims and Christians and for all people of the land.While we pray to you, O Lord, for an end to violence and the establishment of peace,we also call for you to bring justice and equity to the peoples.Guide us into your kingdom where all people are treated with dignity and honour as your children for, to all of us, you are our Heavenly Father.In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen. Rev Simon BrignallI am contactable from Thursday to Sunday.
The story of Easter contains all the details of the TV reality shows we love to watch, the story of the builder, the gardener and the cook. Together they give us a portrait of Jesus, the master craftsman who has come to rebuild God’s temple, the gardener who comes to replant God’s creation and, and the cook who gathers us together around his table in a new community.Jesus the builder: John’s gospel reminds us that the resurrection took place on the first day of the week, the day in which the creation story tells us that the 'Word' went out into the chaos of space and built a universe.Today we shout ‘Alleluia, Christ is risen’ to celebrate his victory over darkness and destruction. We celebrate the rebuilding of God’s world.‘Destroy this temple and in three days I will rebuild it’ Jesus said to the High Priest. He said this,' notes John, ‘not referring to the temple but his own body’. John 2: 19. Today we share in the work of rebuilding creation!Jesus, the gardener. John’s account tells us of Mary Magdalene who comes across a man she takes to be the gardener. It is, but not the gardener she imagines, instead the master gardener! The one who walked in the garden with Adam and Eve, and so like the first Eve she is to be the mother of the new people of God.It is Mary, the penitent and broken woman who is invited to be part of the replanting and repopulation of the world. Just as it is the penitent and broken of the world who are to be God's new family.Restored and forgiven, they know they are much loved.Today we shout 'Alleluia, Christ is risen' to celebrate the new life that springs up in us and around us in God’s new world.Jesus, the cook. Many of the stories of the resurrection centre around the meals the risen Jesus shared with his disciples, reminding us of the new community he has come to gather together around his table. Jesus is not just the cook but the host of this meal. Indeed he is the one who feeds us with his own body and blood in the sacrament for the work to be done. Today we shout ‘Alleluia, Christ is risen’ to celebrate the restoration of communion with God and man through the broken body of Christ.The reality of Easter: the Easter message is sometimes understood to be a bit like the ‘make over’ on reality TV. We throw out the old and bring in the new. In fact it's more like the 'Repair shop' The message of Easter is more like the restoration of a beloved old clock. God comes, in Jesus Christ, to restore His broken creation, not to destroy it but to restore it to its former glory.Today we shout ‘Alleluia, Christ is risen’ because he invites us to share in recreating his world. We are to be his builders, his gardeners, his cooks, to share in the work of rebuilding, replanting and restoring 'community' in his world.The good news is that we do not have to throw away the old and start again, instead we work together with Christ, the one through whom the universe was created to make it new again. The people of God are reborn, and the creation restored to a renewed communion with our maker.
King Louis XIVWhat does a King look like? If we want to know we can see an image of one of the most powerful monarchs who has ever reigned. Louis XIV the Sun King who reigned as absolute monarch in France from 1643 to 1715, an incredible 72 years, on the throne from the age of 4 until his death at the age of 72.The portrait by the court painter Hyacinthe Rigaud in 1701 shows Louis at the height of his powers, regaled with all the pomp and circumstance of monarchy. He held the staff of power alongside the hand of justice and the Crown of France placed on the dias to his left. He is clothed in ermine, and stands in a way which suggests style and grace. Looking down at us with a disdain with which, I imagine, he regarded lesser mortals, ready with his sword to put down his enemies.His reign is justly famous for the building of the palace of Versailles in which he obliged all his noble families to live so he could keep an eye on them. He is justly infamous for the slaughter of Huguenots on St Bartholomew's day, after the revocation of the Treaty of Nantes in 1685. Rigaud’s gives us an idealised portrait that became a model for other European painters to copy. It is what the 18th century expected its monarchs to look like.King JesusThe expectations of the crowds that greeted Jesus on his triumphal entry into Jerusalem were that Jesus would demonstrate his power by marching with the crowds who greeted him to the Roman fortress of Antonia.Jesus, hailed as ‘The Son of David’ chose not to march on the fort of Antonia where he could have confronted the military forces of Rome, instead he marched on the Temple where he confronted the Religious authorities.He chose not to put himself at the head of the crowd, but instead retired to Bethany. Instead of resisting arrest he allowed himself to be captured. Instead of defending himself at his trial he allowed himself to be accused falsely. Instead of calling on a legion of angels to rescue him from the cross, he allowed himself to be crucified.Paul gives us a clue to the reason behind the choices he made.‘The foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength’ 1Corinthians 1: 25.The crowds who came to Jerusalem that week were looking for a wonder worker. They wanted a military leader who could take away their shame and defeat. Someone who would give them back their pride. Someone with the power to solve life’s problems. Today we look for answers to our questions about the world’s injustices from those who exercise power.The expectations of world peace and universal happiness were not fulfilled then and have not been fulfilled since. The answers to life’s riddles remained unsolved. Suffering and poverty remain with us now as they did then. Disease and death it appears remain with us still, and the struggle against injustice and oppression continue to dominate our world.Many reject the ‘Messiah’ for the same reasons as they did then; he has not fulfilled our expectations! Jesus chose not to exercise his power, but his authority is not in doubt, in his encounter with power it is Jesus who is in control of his destiny for he knows from where all power comes. As Pontius Pilate asks him ‘Do you not know that I have the power of life and death’ he answers, ‘ All power is given by God’.The Easter journey takes us through all the disappointments and defeats of life’s journey. It confronts us with all the questions of suffering and injustice that face us today. However if we stay with Jesus on this journey we discover the way of God. In his weakness Jesus confronted the military and religious powers and overcame them. Through the foolishness of the cross with its shame and defeat Jesus opened up a new way of peace and healing for mankind.There is no easy road to Easter, there are no easy answers to life problems, only the ‘Way of the Cross’. To travel that road we need first to come to terms with our own weakness and foolishness when we follow our own ways. The way of the Cross is indeed a humbling experience but through the Cross we come to recognise in Jesus the wisdom of God and the power of God who chose ‘The foolish things of the world to shame the wise and the weak things of the world to shame the strong’ 1Corinthians 1: 27.Power and authority are two very different things. Power is exercised by the sword, authority is the acknowledgement of those who exercise their power by the gift of God.Rev. Simon BrignallServices in Holy week Maundy Thursday 28th March 6.00 pm.Passover supper. Vicarage Cottage Barn Good Friday. Readings and Hymns with the Coln choir.6.00 pm ST Swithin’s Easter day. St John the Baptist.10.30 am Easter Holy Communion A prayer for peace in the Holy land.O God of all justice and peace we cry out to you in the midst of the pain and traumaof violence and fear which prevails in the Holy Land.Be with those who need you in these days of suffering; we pray for people of all faiths – Jews, Muslims and Christians and for all people of the land.While we pray to you, O Lord, for an end to violence and the establishment of peace,we also call for you to bring justice and equity to the peoples.Guide us into your kingdom where all people are treated with dignity and honour as your children for, to all of us, you are our Heavenly Father.In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen. Rev. Simon BrignallI am contactable from Thursday to Sunday.
Thankfully the experience of ‘Lockdown’ is now a memory, but it has left scars on the lives and landscape of us all. Many town centres have lost their big stores as we have turned into internet shoppers. Many meetings are now online, many city centre bars and restaurants have lost their customers who are now working from home and many churches now have virtual worship services.All of these changes pose a question about the ways in which we relate to each other. The human creature has evolved as a social animal, we need each other to be ourselves, but new technologies have constantly changed the way in which we do that. How does the Church respond to these challenges?What does it mean to be the Church of Jesus Christ?This is not a new question, in fact in every generation new challenges, technologies, and sadly abuses have raised the issue of the role of the Church in mediating our relationship with God.The Reformation in Northern Europe was such a response. In part it was a response to the challenge of scientific discoveries, in part to the development of new print technologies, and in part to the perceived abuses within the Catholic church.The Counter Reformation in the Catholic world was not just an attempt to counter the Protestant critics but to renew from within the medieval practices of the Catholic church.Emerging out of this movement there was, in Spain, an emphasis on the mystical and spiritual relationship that each worshipper should seek to develop with Christ.Traditionally the Church had acted as ‘Door Keeper’ to God, granting access through the ‘Means of Grace’ and the ‘Acts of Penance’ but the new ‘Mystics’ talked about a ‘Conversion’ experience through which the faithful could come to God in their own right.Instead of the ‘Sacrament of Penance’ as a public act of ‘Reconciliation’ with the Church, there was a change of emphasis to private confession and personal experience. The image of the Church as an Ark carrying all to God was replaced by the image of the soul as a pilgrim on his path to heaven.The Mystic writers and poets of the Spanish Catholic Church were at the forefront of this renewal of faith and practice and the painter ‘El Greco’, in the words of one commentator, ‘became the vital visual representation of Spanish mysticism, reflecting its religious spirit in his paintings’.The Purification of the Temple 1605El Greco was himself a ‘Mystic’ sitting in a darkened room as he conceived his works of art, so that the ‘Inner light’ might illuminate him.His depiction of the ‘Purification of the Temple’ should be understood in the light of this new ‘Mystical’ understanding of the Church.Here each figure seems to carry its own light within, or reflect the light that emanates from Jesus. Anatomically each figure has become ‘Otherworldy’ as if somehow ‘On fire’! It is a work not of reality but of imagination and intuition, described by contemporaries as ‘Mad’, ‘Strange’, ‘Odd’ but by others as ‘Original’. Along with El Greco’s otherworldly paintings it was an image that was to influence, hundreds of years later, the Romantic and Impressionist painters.‘Destroy this Temple, and In three days I will raise it up’ John 2:19The Temple was for the Jews the place where heaven and earth met. It was where God spoke to his people and one day would come to meet with His people. Jesus was about to redefine ‘The Temple’Jesus had come to the Temple courtyards where the sacrificial animals were sold to the worshippers, but the coin they needed was not that which they normally bought and sold their goods. The Temple coin did not bear the idolatrous image of Caesar and had to be used in the Temple precincts.The exchange of Roman for Temple coins provided the Temple authorities with a considerable income and financed the many priests and Temple officials necessary to run the business of thousands of daily sacrifices.Jesus now brought this business to a halt, threatening the functioning of the Temple itself, no wonder then that he caused outrage! His offence was not so much that he turned over the tables of the traders but that he struck at the heart of the Temple’s business model! A Business model that we might call‘Marketplace’ economics.The buying and selling of access to God or the exclusion of the poor from worship because they cannot afford to pay, is an abuse of the free gift of God’ grace, his forgiveness, his love.The prophetic words of Jesus to destroy the Temple will indeed bring the whole business of access to God through the sacrifice of an animal to an end. In El Greco’s painting we see two carved images, one of the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the garden and the other of Abraham offering his son as a sacrifice. They help to explain for us the significance of Christ’s words.He will now provide the sacrifice for all, and through his death and resurrection grant access to God to all, without cost.The Temple of his Body. Does Jesus then make the Church necessary? A few days after the events in the Temple he meets with a Samaritan woman who asks him whether it is the Jewish temple or the Samaritan Temple where God meets with his people. The response suggests that it is not the place where we meet with God that matters, but how we meet with God.‘The hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth’John 4:23The new Temple, (the Church), is the ‘Body of Christ’, and as the ‘Mystics’ taught us we all have access to it through the Holy Spirit who leads us into all truth. As such the reality of the Church is not the bureaucracy that organises it, or the money that finances it, nor as many demanded the signs and miracles that claim to authenticate it, but the love that brought it into being in the first place.Through service and sacrifice the Church is to make known the love of God and the wisdom of God. As Paul says, in his letter to the Corintians, this seems like foolishness. The wisdom of God is indeed foolishness to the world.As we leave this building this morning we do not cease to be the Church. We are the Church at home, at work and to all who we meet along the way. God has chosen us, called us, to make his love and wisdom known to the world. It might seem like a foolish plan, but then God’s wisdom is made known through foolishness and his love made known in weakness. We can have confidence that God can and does use us to be His presence, His power, and His love in the world. We are the place where heaven meets earth.‘But to those who God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.For the foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength’.1 Corinthians 1:25Rev Simon BrignallWe continue to pray for Clare Claper and her family.Next week's Mothering Day service will be a celebration of our Mums and Grandmas in St John the Baptist Church, Coln.
