Matthew 13: 1-9, 18-23IllustrationListen! Jesus begins the parable of the sower by asking the crowd to listen. And again at the end, he tells them to listen. ‘Let anyone with ears listen.’ When I was a teacher it felt like I spent a lot of my time asking children to listen. Listen to me. Listen to each other. They didn’t always find it easy. In fact, the first time I preached a sermon I found it really disconcerting because everyone was looking at me and listening at the same time. No one was whispering, no one was playing with their shoe laces, no one was poking the person next to them. I found it really unnerving! Now I’m not going to flatter myself by assuming that they were all listening intently, hanging on my every word. Because adults acquire a skill that many children don’t have, the ability to look like they are listening when they are not. We’ve all done it, you might be doing it now. Our minds wander and we are distracted by what we might have for dinner, what’s on telly tonight or that job we must remember to do. Gospel TeachingIt’s hard to listen carefully as this parable shows. The weeds, the rocks and the thorns get in the way. Unusually Jesus interprets the meaning of this parable. The seed is the word of the kingdom and it only flourishes when it falls on the good soil. But it is easy to be led astray, to get distracted, to lose focus on the word of God. We often understand this parable as a simple morality tale. The moral is we should be like the good soil. We should listen carefully and be receptive to God’s word at all times. But Jesus doesn’t actually tell us to be the good soil. He lays out the options and leaves it up to us to decide. Crucially there is a gap in between the telling of the parable and the interpretation of it, eight verses which do not appear in our reading today. In these verses the disciples ask Jesus why he speaks in parables. His answer is not straight forward; He says ‘The reason I speak to them in parables is that seeing they do not perceive, and hearing they do not listen, nor do they understand.’ There is a difference between listening and understanding as Jesus makes clear. He speaks in parables because he want people to listen, to understand and to think things through for themselves. By using parables Jesus challenges the hearer to respond to the message of the kingdom and this response is a free one. Those who listen are free to reject the message or to respond with genuine hearing, understanding and repentance. There is the possibility of a rich harvest.It’s hard to listen carefully all the time. Realistically we are all, at different times, all four different types of soil. We all have rocks and thorns and weeds that get in the way. But I think there is more to this parable than a simple moral. It has something to tell us about the nature of God and about the nature of God’s kingdom. What does it tell us about the nature of God?If we consider for a moment the sower. He’s not a great farmer is he? Surely you would be careful to scatter the seed only on the good soil and not waste it on the bad? I’m imagining a beautifully ploughed field where it is easy to only scatter seed on the good soil. But maybe this isn’t possible without a tractor. Maybe the field is a bit rocky and thorny in places. Or maybe the sower is careless, or foolish. But this is what God is like. God’s scatters his word, his love for us, foolishly, recklessly over all types of soil, over all of his creation. For God sees the good soil in all his imperfect, perfect creation. He removes our rocks and thorns and weeds and nurtures the seed within us. This parable speaks of God’s love for all creation, of his desire to see us flourish and of our potential to bear fruit.What does it tell us about the nature of God’s Kingdom?What then of the kingdom? The parable of the sower is followed in Matthew but other parables about the kingdom of God. It is important that the sower is sowing a whole field of crops not one tree or one plant. We are all growing together. If we are all, at times, different types of soil but all with the potential to flourish then this parable calls us to spread God’s word and to seek the coming of the kingdom together, as a community. How can we do this? I suggest we follow Jesus’ example and use stories, not parables but our own personal stories of lives lived with God. ApplicationWhen I left college they told us that the first thing we should do in our new parishes was to carry out a ‘contextual analysis’. This sounds a bit clinical, like it might involve petri dishes and microscopes but all they meant was to get to know the place. And the best way to do this is to listen to the stories. Stories are one of the most effective ways we have to convey ideas, thoughts and emotions. It’s why on the news they go behind the headline, behind the facts to find a person whose story tells the event in a more eloquent and memorable way. It’s why Jesus used parables to get his message across, to elicit a response from his hearers. The stories we tell about ourselves and others are key to our understanding. In sharing our own stories of faith we can bear witness to the word of God at work in our lives. In listening to the stories of others we can hear how God is at work in their lives. What’s your story? How would you speak of God working in your life?God speaks to all of us in individual and unique ways but it is when we share our stories, our experiences that as a community we can together begin to make sense of them. If you speak to people after a sermon or a film or a TV show different people will be struck by different parts and will remember different things. To deepen our understanding we need to be listening collectively to what God is saying. It’s not alway easy to listen, we are not always the good soil but if we open our hearts to God he will work in us to remove our thorns and rocks and weeds, such is his love for his creation. The seed that is the word of the Lord is not planted individually. It is scattered generously over everyone. In listening together and in listening to others we can hear what God is saying to us all. What is God saying to you? What is God saying to us in these unusual times? By listening and discerning together we can speak of where God is working in the world, we can respond to God’s word and we can seek the coming of the kingdom where all will bear fruit and flourish.Amen.
4th Sunday after Trinity, 5th July 2020“…..and learn from me…”Illustration“…..and learn from me…” words that have stuck in my mind over these past few days and caused me to think of teachers and teaching.Teaching has taken a lot of criticism over the years, differing teaching methods seem to be blamed for all sorts of things, from:• failing / falling literacy rates, • respect levels in society, • the increase of verbal and physical violence, • and, any other ill will that is prevalent.Which is when you think about it quite depressing, a while ago a group of researchers set about trying to alleviate this idea and asking a number of famous people for the names of any teacher that had inspired them.The result was astonishing, each and every famous person had at least one or two names of teachers who had influenced their lives and changed their futures. Sometimes it was their academic gifts, but more likely it was the teachers ability to inspire their pupils, to give them a special something which spurred them on to achieve their very best, even to reach heights previously unimagined. Think for a moment, who were your inspirational teachers?Gospel teachingNo one can overestimate the influences of a good teacher. Even if we cannot remember a thing they actually taught us, good teachers will be remembered with fondness long after their words have been forgotten. That is because people are more important than words. Qualities like kindness and generosity are always more enduring than principles or rules, and integrity is more infectious than dogma.In todays Gospel, Jesus offers himself as a teacher: “Learn from me”, he says. At this point in his ministry Jesus has had to face up to being rejected by the religious hierarchy and the ‘wise’ people of his time. His message found no place in their hearts, becoming experts in the law had prevented them from recognising the coming of God’s Messiah, the coming of God’s Kingdom. Instead, Jesus found a ready audience among the people considered social outcasts. The tax collectors and sinners, those unable to keep the law in all its rigour. They all welcomed Jesus’ message and the hope it brought.Unfortunately, or perhaps not? the so called experts were so preoccupied with keeping the externals of the law they had lost sight of its purpose, to lead people to God. Indeed as I have said on many occasions these experts of the law had created a further 613 laws so that people could keep the 10 commandments more easily. Does this sound familiar?No wonder Jesus says “Come to me, all you that are weary and heavy burdened and I will give you rest.”“Come to me.” - Come to me and follow me, rather than rules and regulations devised by religious, political leaders.Jesus offered a different “yoke,” a simpler one. We don’t have to worry about hundreds of laws, or keeping the minutiae of rules and regulations. Jesus offers himself as a model to follow. He alone is the way to God. Follow him and we will find God. Like a good teacher, the lasting impression he /she makes reside in who they are, more than what they say.Jesus asks us to be like him, to be gentle and to acknowledge our need for God. Can you do that? - in these moments; offer yourselves to God - place your life into his hands, give him the freedom to come into it and shape it and allow his Holy Spirit to breathe within you.You know, we read time and time again in the gospel stories and even in more contemporary stories, that when someone asks God into their space, into their lives, then that is the defining moment; like the tax collectors and sinners of old when we admit our dependence on God, then we are able to receive his mercy and grace.And like them we experience God’s love and mercy, not just mindless obedience, but by meeting a person: Jesus, God’s own Son, face to face.Application Jesus says his burden is light. We can be burdened with all sorts of things; laws, rules, guidance, even from the best of friends who often say let me have “a kind word in your shell like!” Today and every day I am confident that Jesus wants you to experience his yoke, that is easy and is full of gentleness and humility. Jesus yoke is ‘well fitting’, tailor made to suit you. Because the task is simple - be yourself!Be the person God wants you to be, let Jesus be your teacher, be gentle, with yourself and others. Be humble, acknowledge your need for God, let him into your story, your life, allow him time and space to change you from within, follow the prompting of His Spirit within you, allow him to give you rest.Amen.
Thoughts for Today From the real world, sublime and challenging Turning a corner to a time of riots, hot choco and a glacier…Punta Arenas meant we were turning the corner at the southern tip of South America to find long slim Chile. It heralded nine days of further adventures in the country. Jane and I were aware that there had been some political unrest there the previous November, mainly in the capital Santiago. Student led, they continue to protest for a revised and less oppressive and more representative Constitution and a reduction in gas prices under the Pinera Government.Punta Arenas means ‘Sandy Point’ and is the capital of Southern Chile. The Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan (1480? – 1521) discovered the straits off the coast in 1519 and a penal colony was founded in the port in 1848 by the Chilean government. The discovery of gold and the development of sheep farming made the place prosper and the Chilean people kept their independence from Argentina. It still remains an access port to the Antarctica Peninsula. These days the city has adopted a permanent summer time-zone all year round. We walked from the ship into the centre of the city into a fine square with a large statue of Magellan. There was an opportunity to kiss the foot of a native Indian at its base ‘to ensure your return to the city’. Groups of dancers and musicians performed for the visitors. We walked to the heights via brightly coloured houses and wild gardens to a gallery overlooking the Magellan straits and the port. There were native Indians selling their wares and sign -posts showed us we were 13,387 kms from London.The main shopping area revealed many signs of the recent riots that had spread south. Political slogans were everywhere, even across the Cathedral walls. Shops large and small were boarded up, and on one corner was a burnt out building. One of the untouched cafes was the ‘Choco Shop’ where we rehydrated with the best and smoothest hot chocolate we have ever tasted! We shared a table with a young couple from Holland on their travels.The nearby Cathedral of the Sacred Heart was off the main square. It was rebuilt (originally built in 1584) in basilica style in 1892 and has a renaissance style tower in honour of St Francis de Sales and the Order of the Salesians as they are called. The most moving windows were of the history of missionaries ministering to the native Indians. What we hadn’t known before was that Magellan himself lost his life in the Philipines fighting to convert the population to Christianity.Down the road we passed plaques remembering adventurers like Captain Scott 1868 - 1912 and Ernest Shackleton (1874-1922) who used the port as a base. Scott announced from there his successful expedition in discovery in 1904 and Shackleton rescuing his men from Endurance in 1916. On the front we saw hundreds of Ganay Cormorants gathered on a broken down jetty. We moved on from this historic and challenging place. We were soon sailing through the Fjords on our way to the Skua Glacier which is part of a huge protected National Park called the Bernardo O’Higgins National Park.Are you asking yourself who was Bernardo O’Higgins? I asked myself the same question. Known as ‘The Liberator of Chile’ [1788-1842] he was from Spanish and County Sligo Irish ancestry, and during his lifetime visited Britain and Spain. As General he defeated the Spanish in 1817 and was the Supreme Director of Chile until 1823.At this stage of the voyage it remained light until 10pm and that night of 6th February we sailed past the Southern Cross of the Fjords. This cross marks the most southerly point of mainland South America and was lit by the late sunset. A very moving site in these remote regions.The next afternoon the Skua glacier came into view as a blue haze being one mile across at its widest point. Ice was falling away in small shards. One of them was retrieved by the ships tender and later sculpted by one of the Indian chefs into a Phoenix bird. The remainder was added to passenger drinks. The sheer scale of this glacier cannot be caught on camera but was on the footage from the ship’s drone cameras.Having Morning Prayer in the 10th deck Observatory on the move in this extraordinary and dramatic setting of the fjords was overwhelming in its intensity. Again, we wondered at the creation and our Creator.Blessings,Edward and JaneNext stop Puerto Chacabuco in the middle of nowhere…
Sunday 28th June 2020Trinity 3 – St Peter’s and St Paul’s DayMatthew 16: 13-19VOCATION – The Journey – “Who do you say that I am?”Jesus words “Who do people say that I am?” could not have been more direct. In my school days I can remember a friend saying to me ‘Would you ever become a Priest?’ that was a direct question as well. My reply to that was, words to the effect ‘I do not have enough faith.’The answer to Jesu’s question is one that we can all answer from our own experience. My answer is now that, through grace I can now say and mean, he is the Messiah and the Son of the Living God. My vocation grew by grace over time, dragged into a new relationship with my creator and sustainer in Jesus through the Holy Spirit. The last time I had Lock down hair – not since the days of 1979 when this photo was taken….Over time I have met so many people who have a genuine vocation for what they do, and that is through so many different walks of life. In my latter life - from Nurses to Doctors and Consultants, Lay Visitors, Volunteers and Morticians, Funeral Directors, Spiritual Directors, Bereavement Counsellors, Psychiatrists , Social Workers, Carers, Psychologists, and the impressive list of people goes on.The three strand definition of vocation is = * A strong feeling of suitability for a particular career or occupation.* A calling, life’s work, mission, purpose, function, position, niche.* A divine call to God’s service in the Christian life –function or station in life to which one is called by God. Not since the days of 1979 have I had ‘Lock Down hair’. My ordination to the priesthood was publicly witnessed 40 years ago today by the day and tomorrow by the date. That was at St Mary’s Parish Church in the North Wiltshire town of Calne. I was ordained a priest in the Church of God, at 10.45am by John Neale, Bishop of Ramsbury. I was ordained Deacon a year before in Salisbury Cathedral by George Reindorp the Bishop of Salisbury and prepared at a retreat with Geofrrey Tristram by Frances Dominica, the founder of Helen House at Oxford. Geoffrey Tristram is now Superior of the Order of St. John in Cambridge, Masachusetts, USA. This morning, in this time of reflection I want us to think about our journey of vocation whatever our calling is. It goes on and on and it evolves over time. The journey entails people who we meet and mine included a revelation because people saw in me something that I could not see myself. I turned up at the Bishop’s House in Southwell (Notts) as a result of an appointment made to discuss my vocation. The Bishop’s daughter answered the front door and asked me whether I had come to collect the Jukebox. That was not a good start. I didn’t see what others saw in me for a long time and it was a car crash…and a time of rehabilitation that gave me time to reflect upon what others saw in me and hence my visit to the Bishop’s House.In my sermon on St Peter’s Day, before my first celebration of the Eucharist 40 years ago in Calne I related this story. The midwife who delivered me in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire at home was the daughter of a previous curate of St Mary’s, Calne, H.Thompson Adam. She was baptized at St Mary’s Calne as was our first born Thomas. The only reason I knew this was that Sr Adam had seen an announcement of my ordination in the Southwell Diocesan News in June 1979 and told my mother - thinking she would like to know the connection. The irony is that the midwife who should have delivered me at home was Nurse Jane Thorneywell who was unwell at that time of my birth. She had delivered my brother and sister before me. I used to visit ‘Thorney’ in her retirement as a friend of the family. She comes to mind again today for she epitomizes the help and support that Jane and I have had from our families and friends over time.* Thorney didn’t enjoy good health for the last twenty years of her life. She was my first unofficial ‘spiritual director’. From her chair or her bed she would listen well to me in my teenage years. She had a childlike quality, always wanted to know the truth, gently asking questions with her chesty chuckle. She never dwelt on the past. She always looked to the future, always kept in touch with world events through the radio and TV and her optimism in life was founded on a faith that kept opening the doors of new experiences – growing experiences despite her bed of sickness. One day in my teenage angst her immortal words to me were ‘Edward, you have got your knickers in a twist.’ She knew pain and she knew the reality of new life with many Mums and Dads in home confinements – home births. She expected nothing from anybody but was eternally grateful for anything she did receive. A good spiritual director can spot when we have ‘our knickers in a twist…’One of the ordination cards I received at that time was the picture of Holman Hunts’s picture of Christ ‘The Light of the World’, standing by a creeper covered door without a door handle. It requires clearing all that negatively clings to us. Then a gentle effort to push at the door of vocation and the Kingdom of God asking God our Creator to reveal what he has in store for us?For me the question that Jesus himself asked of his disciples and asks of us now at this moment when we look for meaning and purpose for the future is, ‘Who do you say I am?’ – not just the Son of Man but the Son of the living God and the Messiah.From that declaration is formed the foundations of the Church and all our vocations. Who we believe Christ to be?When we have pushed at that open door then we are equipped through the Holy Spirit to reveal the Kingdom of God.30 of my forty years of priesthood has been in health care as a Chaplain. Vocation – ordained to the Priesthood, or another manifestation, is about discovering our purpose under God in Christ. I can see now that Jane and I were prepared for pastoral ministry through the Police service through to a lively curacy in Calne and being a Team vicar for 7 years on a new housing estate in Poole building a new church from our vicarage and developing that into an ecumenical project – a church built in people and bricks and service to the community.So, the first purpose was pastoral working with families and schools and organizations and the homeless, an ex prisoners hostel and local businesses.The second purpose that was revealed to us was the vital relationship between religion and medicine. How does the whole care of people make a difference whole care in individuals, communities, nations and the wider world? Health Care Chaplaincy including Hospice Care. Sharing peoples’ pain and joy and everything between in difficult times of extreme circumstances.It is still an open road and along it our working with people of all faiths and none and our relationships. The one thing that has united us in the Chaplaincy and Community world has been helping people to be open to God’s possibilities through the expertise of the medical profession and general pastoral care and spiritual support. Together this makes an enormous difference to so many. Caring for people as unique individuals whatever their background with respect, with big ears that hear, and seeing the Christ in every person is key. (Richard Rohr – The Universal Christ).Vocation – we all have something revealed to us that can contribute to the extension of the Kingdom of God in care. This last week I was in touch with Geoffrey Tristram my fellow ordinand all those years ago and he has a podcast that I had found on their Community of St John website about Vocation and Listening. Prayer and action always…Prayer – listening to God, to others and the grace of God touching us in body mind and spirit.Thorney was just one person who listened and at this traditional time of ordination …we remember those who have given us the quality and the everyday spiritual gift of listening. Thomas on his baptism day in St Mary’s Church, Calne and much more…great memories…photos show us so much. Answering the question – who is Christ? The Son of the Living God! He is a creator not just of the past but always of the future. Today we offer that future to him.Vocation is about grace, not having enough faith. Thanks be to God in Christ through the Holy Spirit who gives us that reality to reveal the Kingdom of God daily.Amen…Canon Edward Pogmore
