FATHER DAVID'S LEAVING SERMON

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

This is the last time I shall Preach and Celebrate the Eucharist as Rector of the Loggerheads Benefice. This is my Farewell Sermon and there are a few things I would like to say to the mark the occasion. All of it good and with a sense of humour. So you can relax and join me on my faith journey.

Leaving is a time for reflection on the past, evaluation of the present and setting goals and aspirations for the future. I would like to begin by reminding you about the importance of history. In Britain, we are proud of our grasp of history, our understanding of who we are and how we came to be us in the world. Let me share with you some highlights taken from student writing on the subject of Western history. You will recognise many of the landmarks, I am sure. I offer you then a Short History of the European World.

The Greeks were a highly sculptured people, and without them, we would not have history. The Greeks also had myths. A myth is a female moth. Eventually, the Romans conquered the Greeks. Julius Caesar extinguished himself on the battlefields of Gaul. Then came the Middle Ages, when everyone was middle class and middle aged. Magna Carta provided that no free man should be hanged twice for the same offence. Another story was about William Tell, who shot an arrow through an apple while standing on his son’s head. From the womb of Henry 8th, Protestantism was born. The Tudor Age was an age of great inventions and discoveries. One important invention was the circulation of blood. Sir Francis Drake circumcised the world with a 100-foot clipper. Now that’s the one that make my eyes water – it’s a man thing. During the Renaissance, America began.Later, the Pilgrims crossed the Atlantic Ocean, and this was called the Pilgrims’ Progress. Newton invented gravity, which is chiefly noticeable in the autumn, when the apples are falling off the trees. Bach was the most famous composer in the world, and so was Handel. Handel was half-German, half-Italian, and half-English. He was very large. The sun never set on the British Empire because the British Empire was in the East and the sun sets in the west. Queen Victoria was the longest queen. Her death was the final event that ended her reign. The nineteenth century was a time of a great many thoughts and inventions. Charles Darwin invented fossils. Madman Curie discovered radio. And Karl Marx became one of the Marx brothers. So did Lenin, he was the silent one.

Jokes aside, as we can see history is dangerous if you get it wrong but very useful if you get it right. What right and wrong mean here has caused much debate. This is not as abstract as it may seem at first because one very real and very important element of Christianity is looking back. On a more serious note, what has all this got to do with the celebration of the Birth of John the Baptist? Well John knew his birth story; he knew that he had a very particular mission to perform. He was steeped in his religion and passionate about his calling and urgently wanted everyone else to enter into this relationship with God.

John the Baptist was the last of the Prophets who sought to prepare the world for the coming of Jesus Christ. He knew that God had chosen him to be the voice, crying in the wilderness, preparing the way for Jesus. It couldn’t have been easy, there must have been times of great doubt, but he did it, trusting in the strength of God who had given him this task. John’s preaching was blunt and practical. He was like Elijah that Old Testament prophet of ancient justice, who had denounced the mighty for robbing the poor. If John’s teaching had been a preaching of personal kindness, the government of the day would have left him alone. If it had been merely the urging of the rich to share, to some extent, with the poor, he would have got away with it. But John the Baptist encouraged good works as a preparation for the coming of a world that could only be established on the ruins of the present order. This terrified those in positions of power and authority. In this new world, the first would find themselves last and the last would be first.

So John the Baptist was more than a prophet, for he was permitted to see the Messiah, and prepare his way. We know his joy when he did so. So what went through his mind when he saw Jesus at the Jordan? He certainly was not self-serving; despite all the adoration he received from the crowds. By its very character, John’s baptism pointed to something beyond itself, it was a baptism of preparation. John’s Baptism was about external cleansing, it prefigured baptism as we know it. Through acknowledging the baptism of John, Jesus transformed it into the sacrament as we understand it today. So all of us, in a sense, are children of John, inheritors of his mission to call to the rulers of this world to be faithful and just. Called ourselves then to be latter day heralds for Jesus’ Second Coming.

Referring to John’s dietary programme of locusts and honey they are bursting with natural sugars and protein. The Atkins diet. No wonder John had such energy when he burst out of the desert. And as for Locusts they are associated with destruction. And John’s message was one that threatened the then world order, a dismantling was what he called for, a taking apart in order to restore righteousness. So there is a lesson for us all.

Christianity is an historical religion and it is intimately bound up with the actual events of the world. If God operates within human history, then that imbues our history with divine significance. Looking back to the example of the saints, seeking encouragement and guidance from past generations of Christians. All this is important – it is the basis of our Christian faith. But even more important is the present.

If our faith was concerned only with the past, it could not be a living, vital faith.

Jesus, we believe rose from the dead on Easter Day and lives forever. As Christians, we believe God is the creator of all things, and that he had a purpose in creating the world. There is a supreme purpose in life. This life is incomplete in itself – it will find its completion in the fullness of eternal life with God. Therefore, while we are aware of the past and living for all we are worth in the present, we have an eye on the future. We are forever looking forward. Pressing onward toward the fulfilment of God’s will. This is what gave birth and life to the Christian Church.

We believe that Jesus is with us now and always. We are the bones and the flesh of Jesus’ continuing body on earth. And so we must be very much concerned with the opportunities that arise to love and serve Christ in the present. With angels, archangels, and all the saints in heaven, we join in giving glory to the living God here and now. So we are not enslaved to the past, but we are servants of the God of new beginnings and of forgiveness. I thank God for that.

With my retirement from Parochial Ministry we have an opportunity to look back over the last four and half years in the life of this Benefice. We should look back not with an attitude of self-satisfaction, nor indeed of self-disappointment. Rather we should look with an eye to the future, thanking God for the signs of his presence. And asking God for forgiveness for opportunities to love him we have allowed to slip past for whatever reason. Asking above all for grace to preserve, to press on, to do his will.

Therefore, we are concerned with the future too. I am leaving Loggerheads to retire to become a Theologian and Author, a ministry with a different challenge but the same mission: to keep the love and knowledge of God alive in the heart of this world. Please pray for me as I shall pray for you. It is never easy leaving parishes and moving on. However, Rector’s come and go but parishes do go on to find new leadership. I believe it is right for me to retire at this time. I also believe it to be right for Loggerheads. So please start to pray for the best person to succeed me as Rector.

I would like to express my thanks for the opportunities I have had of ministering to you, and for your friendship during the past four and half years. These have been good years for me, and I thank you all for that. I shall always have a corner of my heart for the good folk of the parishes that make up the Loggerheads Benefice. I have felt welcomed and affirmed here. You have welcomed me warmly during my ministry. Heartfelt thanks to you all.

Your witness of love and support for each other and for the Gospel have been tremendous deeds of mission that have spoken to our wider community not of our fallen nature but of the grace of God alive and working through us. And now it is time to go, sad to be leaving but good to face a new challenge. Goodbye and thank you, for I know that I go with your prayers as you stay with mine.

Amen.