Sand filled Sandwiches We owe a lot, in British culture, to John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich (1718-1792), who was the inventor of the great British classic, the humble sandwich. In recent weeks, we have seen Marks and Spencers launch there summer special, a Strawberries and Cream Sandwich, which rather amusingly led to an argument over VAT, most sandwiches are zero rated for VAT, but sweetened or confectionary items are liable for the standard 20% VAT. Whether it was a savoury or a sweet treat, is arguable, but one fact remains, more than 200 years after his death, sandwiches remain a very popular choice at lunch time. As I child, I thought I knew exactly why sandwiches were called sandwiches, and it had nothing to do with the 4th Earl of Sandwich, it was simply because having eaten sandwiches on a day trip to the seaside, the sandwich ended up fully seasoned with gritty sand. I assumed they had been named after one such similar outing. It was years later that I would discover that Sandwich is actually a place in Kent, and who ‘invented’ the sandwich. Over the coming month, many of us, will hopefully have the opportunity to go to the beach and maybe even eat our sand filled sandwiches. Not only does the sand go in our food when we are at the beach, but it has the amazing ability of getting just about everywhere, falling out of shoes and socks for days after, a lasting memory of a trip to the seaside. It would of course be impossible for us to count the grains of sand in a single handful when we go to the beach, let alone consider how many grains of sand there might be on the beach or on all the beaches in the world. But God promised Abraham in the book of Genesis that his descendants would be more numerous than the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore. Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as he had been told. (Gen 22:17) So when you are next at the beach, why not take a closer look at the sand, and as it runs through your fingers, think about that promise God made to Abraham, and remember that we are those descendants, each one of us, even though numerous, precious and beloved by God. May God bless you, Heather
24 August 2025. 10th Sunday after Trinity (Luke 13:10-17)Healing on the Sabbath.How do we use time to bring about change? This is the dilemma that lies at the heart of today’s Gospel reading.Luke sets the scene in the synagogue on the Sabbath day where Jesus is teaching. A woman hobbles in. She is bent double, eyes to the ground, and has been like it for 18 long years. Luke does not offer us a medical diagnosis of her condition but tells us that she has a spirit of weakness or infirmity. What experiences have taken hold of her and weakened her? Have her self-esteem and self-confidence been knocked by the judgemental attitudes of others such that now she looks down and dares not meet their gaze? Is she the victim of abuse? Or perhaps she has been ground down by years of poverty and hard physical toil infected by the injustices of the Roman military occupation. Luke does not specify, but his silence gives us space to reflect on the forces that can possess, disfigure and diminish human lives, not least the lives of women.Whatever her story may be, the woman’s condition will have pushed her to the margins, both of society and perhaps also of the synagogue. But after so many years she has grown tired of waiting for change and she has taken the initiative to come to the synagogue today. She arrives at the moment when Jesus is in full flow.Luke does not tell us that she was noticed by the crowds or the synagogue official. But Jesus notices her. It would seem that he does not even wait to finish the sermon, his paragraph, or even his sentence. He breaks off and calls her forward straight away, bringing her from the margins to the centre. At the beginning of his ministry, also in a synagogue, Jesus had announced that the Spirit of the Lord was upon hm to bring good news to the poor and liberation to the captives and here he is in a synagogue once more, living out his divine calling and announcing that this women is set free from her infirmity.When called forward, what does the woman do? After 18 years of suffering, she is hardly likely to ask him to wait until next week or next year. She moves readily from the shadows into the light and welcomes the gift of Jesus’ hands being laid upon her. All eyes are now upon her. Luke tells us that she immediately stands up straight. We can almost feel her relief! Jesus’ action has restored her stature and dignity. No longer needed to be patted on the head or talked over. Her perspective has changed, and now, instead of worshipping God with her eyes to the floor, she praises God with her head held high.But this is not the end of the story. There follows a debate. The official in the synagogue, a righteous man anxious to keep good order, is very ill at ease. People shouldn’t expect to be healed on the Sabbath! This woman, he implies, could surely have waited until tomorrow or later in the week to be healed. It didn’t need to be today. But Jesus reminds the crowd that an act of healing on the Sabbath is wholly in keeping with the spirit of the law. Now is always the time to put things right. Todays’ Gospel, full of passionate urgency, reminds us that the reign of God, made known in Jesus, is for today, It warns us against siding with those like the official in the story who want to keep everything the same, care little about others’ suffering and offer excuses for inaction. Instead we are urged to stand alongside the woman and all like her, seeing the world through her eyes and interrupting what we imagine to be important business to follow Jesus’ example.Many of us know how easy it can be to put off essential actions like saying sorry or mending a broken relationship. We can be expert at ignoring cries for racial justice or at making excuses for inaction for climate change. Yet, in the glorious purposes of God, the time is always right to do the right thing. Discipleship is not for postponing: we are called to be faithful followers of Jesus here and now.As you leave the church this Sunday think of what one thing could you do today to act for change? Amen.
