St Catherine’s Church, BurbageSunday 7 June 2020Trinity SundayMatthew 28:16-20Enable us, our Father, to respond to the grace of your word with humility of heart and in the spirit of love; that our lives may be conformed more and more to the image of your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. And so may I speak in the name of the Living God, who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.Today is Trinity Sunday, a feast in the church’s calendar which almost instantly throws up problems for the poor individual who finds himself on the preaching rota! In fact, the whole idea of celebrating the Holy Trinity on a Sunday is one that emerged slowly. In the days of the early church, a collection of prayers, or an ‘office’ to mark the Holy Trinity, was compiled and said on different days in the year, sometimes even during Advent. Thomas Becket was consecrated in 1162 as archbishop of Canterbury on the Sunday after Pentecost, and it was Thomas who declared that it should remain a day to celebrate the Trinity. This caught on in other parts of Europe.But why does the preacher’s heart sink at those three words: ‘The Holy Trinity’. Shouldn’t the preacher be elated, joyful, and raring to go? Here is a paradox. At one level the Trinity is an easy thing to talk about, the Trinity being composed of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Then again, how can you easily speak of three individual persons, if I can put it like that, and as one? Even my language then falls short and the whole matter of ‘three as one’ blows the mind apart. To speak of the Trinity is a really difficult business.And it is an issue that sits quite heavily on my mind. In May 2017 I travelled to Woking to participate in a meeting of the Bishops’ Advisory Panel, or BAP, which consisted of three days of interviews, presentations, discussions and prayer. It is a process which those called to ordained ministry have to experience; the church then decides whether you should go forward to that type of ministry. Fortunately, I was recommended for training and that is why you have had me here for the last three years. Yes, you can blame it all on Woking! I still remember my final interview, which I think happened on my final day. My interviewer was to probe my ‘liveliness of mind’, as the Church of England puts it, and it turned out, in the end, to be a rather pleasant discussion and I quite enjoyed it. (We finished ten minutes early because he had run out of questions!) However, when I sat down, the interviewer’s opening shot was: “so Nick, how would you define the Holy Trinity?” Thank you very much, said I! My heart sunk.Theologians throughout the ages have wrestled with the subject of the Holy Trinity, and, let’s face it, Holy Scripture is not actually all that helpful on the matter. You get hints of a ‘trinity’ in the Old Testament: God dominates the scene, and there are also ‘spirit like’ references to the breath or wind of God passing over the waters in Genesis; even in the Book of Ezekiel you have wind or breath that revives dry bones in a valley. (There are one or two other suspect instances which some theologians have interpreted as allusions to Christ.) When we reach the New Testament, however, we meet the incarnate God as Jesus, who is proclaimed as the ‘beloved son’ at his baptism, and the Spirit of God like a dove descending upon him. Later in Acts, you get the great description of the arrival, and immense power of the Spirit at Pentecost.Father, Son and Spirit, then, are three very different persons in Scripture and are yet all part of the same. It is a huge thought. A film came out many years ago called Nuns on the Run starring Robbie Coltrane and Eric Idle, who are criminals. They disguise themselves as nuns and hide in a convent. Eric Idle finds out that he has to teach the novices about the Trinity. Robbie Coltrane, as the Roman Catholic, tries to explain the Trinity to Eric: three in one, the Son is God, and God is the Father and so forth. Eric Idle is so confused. Robbie Coltrane then says, “it makes no sense to anyone and that is why you have to have faith!”However, there are some who have tried to articulate the reality of the Trinity over the centuries, often using visual aids to assist them, even before the age of the white board and power-point. Most famously, I guess, is St Patrick, a saint we know quite a bit about, who tried to explain the Trinity to the pagans of Ireland by means of a the shamrock: three separate leaves and yet part of a single whole. This explanation itself has problems because it suggests that all the components are exactly the same, which they are, but also are not: Son, Father and Holy Spirit. You could be getting close to heresy, here! I remember John Sentamu who, strangely enough is preaching his last sermon today before retiring tomorrow, speaking on the Trinity. He used one of those barbeque fork things. You know the sort of thing I mean, it has a couple of prongs at the top to act as a fork, the side to do the actions of a knife, and the rest shaped as a spoon. Three in one. Simples! The Trinity is like a piece of cutlery.We can do the mental gymnastics for hours and days to come, and I don’t want to make things more complicated than they already are. I would like to suggest another way of looking at the Holy Trinity; I cannot claim originality here but it is a view I particularly like. And that is that we are aware, we know, about the Trinity because of the relationship between each and every part of it. It is the Trinity because each person of it is ‘related’ and that is the way we can understand it. In other words, we understand God as Father because of His relationship with Jesus, the Son, who comes from the Father; and we understand the Spirit because it flows from the Son. Though united, we understand the special nature of each person of the Trinity because of the relationship between each other. And it is a relationship that is not static, it is not preserved in aspic, rather it is moving, energising and powerful. It is dynamic! Early Greek monks spoke of the Trinity in terms of a ‘dance’ between each person of Trinity, almost like three people holding hands in a circle and gliding across a floor.These concepts of relationship and dynamism are, I believe, stressed in today’s gospel reading from Matthew, that of the so-called ‘Great Commission’, which Mary Tynan explored in much more depth a week or so ago. In this final resurrection scene noted by Matthew, Christ explicitly mentions the ‘Father, Son and Holy Spirit’, something we have not really encountered previously in Scripture. Jesus makes clear his relationship with the Father, and their unity, by stating that the authority is placed in him. It is true that the position of the Spirit is not wholly clear here, but Jesus states it is integral to the work of Father and Son. (“Go baptise in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.”) More importantly, he links this very special relationship with a special relationship with the disciples, and that is to go and bring more to faith and to teach just as Jesus did. There is a dynamism here.This ‘commission’ was not simply declared to those people there and then, but it is a commission to all of us too. Each and every one of us is also in relationship with the Holy Trinity, a relationship with the Father, through the Son and inspired and led by the Spirit. Just as the Father sent the Son to bring more to him, in the Spirit, so are we sent out as well to participate in that mission. And yet, just as the three persons of the Trinity are united, we as a church in Burbage and Aston Flamville, are also united; we are all individuals, with our own gifts and talent, but are related to each other in faith; united and in relationship with one another, and to Christians world-wide. It is another way of thinking about the Trinity. We can see the Trinity in our midst, in our every day lives and in our everyday faith. As you are sent out to work in the name of the Father, Son and Spirit, I too am being sent but in another direction, to do whatever it is that I am called to do in Wigston. And so I thank Father Andrew and everyone in Burbage and Aston Flamville for your friendship and support over these past three years, a time I shall look back with great fondness.And to finish . . .I have learned a great deal from my time at St Catherine’s. Fr Terry taught me that you can always end a sermon with a joke. Well, here it is, courtesy of Grove Books:“A lorry load of tortoises crashed into a trainload of terrapins. It was a turtle disaster.”Thank you again for three wonderful years.Amen.Nick Baker
Thought for the Day 4th June Thank you Ma’amJune 2nd, was the 67th anniversary of the Coronation. Queen Elizabeth II deep, abiding faith in Christianity isn’t a secret.She grew up Anglican, being part of the most famous Church of England family in the world. Upon inheriting the throne from her father, she also inherited his title as Defender of the Faith, a role every monarch has held since Henry VIII broke with the Catholic Church. When she was crowned in Westminster Abbey on a rather wet and soggy day in June 1953, she took an oath to God to become his servant. After making numerous promises during the Coronation ceremony, she said:“The things which I have here before promised, I will perform and keep. So help me God.”And my goodness, has she done it?This great lady, to whom this country owes so much, has been an inspiration to me, particularly when the going has been a bit tough. For instance, she once said about what sustains her in difficult times:“To many of us our beliefs are of fundamental importance. For me the teachings of Christ and my own personal accountability before God provide a framework in which I try to lead my life. I, like so many of you, have drawn great comfort in difficult times from Christ's words and example.”The Queen’s Christmas broadcasts are mainly written by her personally, and in many of them there is an underlying Christian message – here are just a few:“I know just how much I rely on my faith to guide me through the good times and the bad. Each day is a new beginning. I know that the only way to live my life is to try to do what is right, to take the long view, to give of my best in all that the day brings, and to put my trust in God…I draw strength from the message of hope in the Christian Gospel.”“For me, the life of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, whose birth we celebrate today, is an inspiration and an anchor in my life. A role-model of reconciliation and forgiveness, he stretched out his hands in love, acceptance and healing. Christ’s example has taught me to seek to respect and value all people of whatever faith or none.”“Although we are capable of great acts of kindness, history teaches us that we sometimes need saving from ourselves – from our recklessness or our greed. God sent into the world a unique person – neither a philosopher nor a general (important though they are) – but a Saviour, with the power to forgive.”“Billions of people now follow Christ’s teaching and find in him the guiding light for their lives. I am one of them because Christ’s example helps me see the value of doing small things with great love, whoever does them and whatever they themselves believe.”How can one fail to be inspired by such words, especially during periods in our lives such as we are experiencing at the moment. So I conclude this little tribute to our Sovereign Lady with a prayer said during her Coronation service 67 years ago:O God,who providest for thy people by thy power,and rulest over them in love:Grant unto this thy servant ELIZABETH, our Queen,the Spirit of wisdom and government,that being devoted unto thee with her whole heart,she may so wisely govern,that in her time thy Church may be in safety,and Christian devotion may continue in peace;that so persevering in good works unto the end,she may by thy mercy come to thine everlasting kingdom;through Jesus Christ, thy Son, our Lord,who liveth and reigneth with theein the unity of the Holy Ghost,one God for ever and ever. Amen.Carol Hope.
STATIONS OF THE RESURRECTIONJesus Appears To SaulActs of the Apostles Ch. 9 vs 1-18Today we travel our final journey of our Stations of the Resurrection, a journey where we have seen how the resurrection affected and changed the disciples, and consequentially the world. Finally we come to see the conversion of St. Paul, a man who had not met Jesus in the flesh, but who met him so powerfully in the Spirit, that the early Church was empowered by his missionary zeal, and we continue to be inspired by his writings to this day.Have you ever completely changed your mind about someone? Sometimes we hear stories about people falling in love with a person who they initially disliked, sometimes they are true stories and sometimes they are the mainstay of Mills and Boon fiction writers. We all like a happy outcome from a fractious relationship, but it usually seems much easier for others than ourselves. When Saul literally saw the light (of Christ) on his journey to Damascus, he changed completely and he was certainly “born again”. It is a story that is stranger than fiction.When thinking about Saul we have to remember where he was coming from. He was a strict Jew and Pharisee who knew all about the messianic prophesies of the scriptures and he had made his mind up that these followers of Jesus, who were now proclaiming his resurrection and divinity were frauds and usurpers.When we become Christians we put our trust in the Lord, but how do you think those early followers of the risen Lord felt about this man Saul? Saul was a man who was happy to hold the coats of those who stoned to death St. Stephen, and then took on a commission to go to Damascus to arrest other Christians. Our reading today tells us not only of the conversion of St. Paul but also of the conversion of Ananias, from someone terrified of a dangerous man, to an instrument of the Lord in releasing Saul from the bondage of his past self. If we move to a more recent time, how would a community of Jewish people during the Second World War react if a Gestapo officer arrived and said that he had decided to become a Jew. The anger and suspicion would have been immense from both the Jews and the Nazi officer before there could be total trust. Could you have been a person reach out in such circumstances for God's sake?The fact that Saul, or St. Paul as we know him, saw the risen Christ is so important for us all, not because of his missionary zeal and his writings, but because of his example to all of us. He saw and believed and acted out his faith, to the point of martyrdom. Most of us will not experience a vision of the risen Lord, but as he said to Thomas,”Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe”. St. Paul's witness was different but complimentary compared with the disciples who had walked with Jesus in this world.Bishop John Robinson in his book “But That I Can't Believe!”, points out that St. Paul's writings (he calls them his gospel), were all centred on Jesus and the resurrection, but he points out that Paul never mentions the empty tomb, because it was not central to him. Robinson points out that “The empty tomb is not the resurrection any more than the shell of the cocoon is the butterfly”. For all of us today, we cannot see the empty tomb, or any physical evidence of the resurrection, but we can know the risen Christ through the Holy Spirit, here with us in our lives and in our Church.Fr. Terry
Thoughts for Today 2nd June 2020From the real world, sublime and challengingSouth American music, rhythm and the Falls….We were looking forward to the Iquazu Falls as we headed to Argentina via Ilhabela’s remote rain forest, and Uraguay’s Montivideo.Walking was with a different rhythm as we had an extraordinary dance troupe from Rio performing for us on the ship with their distinctive throbbing music. We boat transferred enroute to Ilhabela and the Mata Atlantica rainforest with a guide and biologist . Ilhabela has a population of 4,000 people and 360 waterfalls. It was a delicate place to visit in the humidity and precarious walking conditions underfoot. Citronella and Deet were worn to protect us. We came across funghi of many sorts and the most fascinating was the one in the photo. I asked the question: ‘What is this one called?’ and the reply from our biologist Marcello was ‘Composer’s Ear’!Three days later, the 28th January, we visited Montevideo with its large busy port and made friends with the men and women of the heavily armed city police. Two ladies in white coats were scientifically ridding the tourist route of graffiti near to the Romanesque Cathedral with its huge cupola. An amazing sunset and crescent moon that night heralded another special day ahead. We had an early start with a two hour flight from Beunos Aires to Iguazu for the Aguazu Falls, the largest waterfall in the world. On arrival at the National Park we walked to the Narrow gauge, propane driven railway (made in Ross on Wye in 1995) for the 7 kilometre, 20 minute ride. The racoons escorted us towards the extraordinary wetlands covering 1,300 kilometres. We walked the long way across the bridges of the board-walk to the wetlands spotting a plush-crested jay on the way. We finally heard the musical thunder of the Devil’s Throat’ the first falls of the one and a half miles wide of falls. In no time we were soaked from head to foot making it hard to take camera proof photographs. With the gallery of visitors from all over the world we wondered sight and the sound of such a force of water from a height of 269 feet (Niagara 165 feet).Walking again, and with a second train ride, we came to another part of the Falls in an area of wetland called St Martin’s. This photo was taken across the great expanse of the glorious protected Unesco Heritage site. We never knew whether this trip would be possible, but we still reflect upon the music of the water and the gift it is. It was hard to leave that place.Meanwhile, back at the airport I was escorting our party of eight for the last flight back to Buenos Aires. The guide stayed with us until our flight was called. Duty Free Kit Kats were shared with the Balmoral 8 and with a gentleman who sat by us, Fr.Tim, a Roman Catholic Priest from Toronto. He was Chaplain for another cruise ship going to Antarctica from Buenos Aries. We compared notes and shared a farewell liturgical gift of chocolates, a precious chord of unity was struck.The diamond jewels of the lights of Buenos Aries heralded our late return back to the city…looking forward to our second day there.With blessings.Edward and Jane
