The taste of summer! Popping into the supermarkets at this time of the year, we are often met by signs which say something along the lines of ‘The taste of summer’, which have all been hung strategically in aisles full of foods suitable for picnics on the beach and BBQ’s in our gardens, outdoor, social gatherings with friends and family. So what is the taste of summer? I guess it’s fresh salads, ice cream, BBQ with the hint of charcoal as an added extra, all washed down with our favourite ice-cold drinks. These are the foods that the supermarkets hope will evoke the image of long hot summer days. In the last couple of days, I have started picking the first vegetables from my garden, you can’t get any fresher than that. The cucumbers, courgettes and raspberries, will soon be joined by peas, runner beans, tomatoes, sweetcorn, chillies and eventually in the autumn pumpkins. That is the taste of summer to me, fresh produce straight from the garden and onto our plates. In psalm 34.8 the psalmist invites us to ‘Taste and see that the Lord is good’, the psalmist is inviting us to experience Gods goodness personally. To taste involves testing or sampling; to see involves understanding or perceiving. The phrase ‘Taste and see’, then means ‘try and experience’. The writer is urging God’s people to discover the goodness of the Lord by personal trial and experience it for themselves. He doesn’t want readers to merely take his word for it that the Lord is good; he wants them to actively experience and know for themselves that the Lord is good. So as we experience the ‘Taste of summer’ may we also ‘Taste and see that the Lord is good’. May we make time to try and experience that goodness that God, that Jesus offers us, this summertime and always. May God bless you and all your senses! Reverend Heather
The wedding season is most definitely in full swing. What a privilege it is as a member of the clergy to walk alongside a couple as they make their preparations to marry and then be front line and centre to witness their big day. There is so much that makes the service bespoke but for me it all starts literally with the first piece of music. We have had allsorts whether it is super traditional: The Bridal Chorus Wagner the Rossignol Consort or Stevie wonders ‘Signed Sealed Delivered (I am yours) playing on the way out, music sets the mood for the special day. “The best, most beautiful, and most perfect way that we have of expressing a sweet concord of mind to each other is by music.” ~Jonathan Edwards I am not a technical person but I have recently discovered I can play music from my phone through a speaker in my office. This has now opened up a whole new world of musical possibilities. It has been great fun looking back and rediscovering the music that literally makes me happy. “Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything.” ~Plato If you were choosing a song that speaks to you that celebrates you for you and above all makes you happy what would it be? Mine is …… Katrina and the waves: “Walking on sunshine” aside from the fact this song makes me homesick for those 80’s Saturday night discos and my teenage years her music makes me smile, not just a surface smile but a deep smile. “I am walking on sunshine and starting to feel good,” those words just belt out a smile! (By the time you read this I am praying we are seeing more sunshine!!) Music is an invitation to enjoy life and it can take some of the heavy lifting out of the difficulties we inevitably encounter, as it has the incredible power to draw our hearts and minds into this intimate experience where we can find happiness and peace. “Music is one of the fairest and most glorious gifts of God, …… for it removes from the heart the weight of sorrow, and the fascination of evil thoughts.” ~ Martin Luther So in this summer month of July, re connect to God’s gift of music, find your special summer vibe and let yourself deeply smile and enjoy how it makes you feel. Reverend Emma x
Sunday 29th June 202510.30amKing’s Ridge Parishes United Service at Boxted, St Peter’sMatthew 16.13-19May I speak in the name of God, the faithful Creator, the wounded Healer, and the life-giving Spirit. Amen.What a moment in Peter’s life and journey – “Who do you say that I am?”, “You are the Messiah the Son of the Living God”. “Blessed are you Simon the Rock. I name you Peter and on you and all others who are rocks of faith in this world I will build my church. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven to bind and to loose”. What a moment! What a high point of faith! But not long after this moment Peter gets it spectacularly wrong. Jesus starts to tell the disciples that he must suffer and die and Peter rebukes him “God forbid it Lord! This must never happen to you”. Then Peter is Satan. Peter the rock, the foundation stone becomes a rock that causes people to stumble - a stone in danger of making people trip and fall!And I don’t know about you, but I find such encouragement in Peter’s journey with Jesus. He goes on growing and learning, being shaped by love as he walks with Jesus, and eventually after betraying Jesus and being restored by his Lord, Peter becomes a foundational leader of the early church. Today on St. Peter’s day, when we remember this much-loved disciple who for all his many mistakes, knew how to recover and hold on, who, for all his waverings was named by Jesus ‘the rock’, who learned that every betrayal can ultimately be restored by love, I find such hope and encouragement for my own stumbling journey through this world with Jesus, and Macolm Guite puts all this beautifully in his sonnet for St Peter -Impulsive master of misunderstandingYou comfort me with all your big mistakes;Jumping the ship before you make the landing,Placing the bet before you know the stakes.I love the way you step out without knowing,The way you sometimes speak before you think,The way your broken faith is always growing,The way he holds you even when you sink.Born to a world that always tried to shame you,Your shaky ego vulnerable to shame,I love the way that Jesus chose to name you,Before you knew how to deserve that name.And in the end your Saviour let you proveThat each denial is undone by love.And it is into the hands of the impulsive, broken Peter who is faithfully, lovingly held by Jesus through his triumphs and his failures, his high points and his sinking to the depths, it is into the hands of this man that Jesus places the keys to the kingdom of heaven. And given what we know of Peter’s journey of faith it puzzles me that we often seem to see these keys as keys to lock people out. All those images of St. Peter standing guard at the firmly locked gates of heaven! When surely someone who has known such spectacular failure and who has betrayed the Lord they loved, and then known such gracious, generous forgiveness and restoration, would be quick to unlock the gates so that others could know the incredible love and welcome and faithfulness of our infinitely merciful God.Like Peter, we too have been given the keys to the kingdom – keys for unlocking - keys to bring liberation and freedom to the oppressed in the church, in society and in our world – keys to open up and welcome in the excluded and the ones who need to know that those who walk the way of faith are simply humble disciples, learners, people who spend their lives growing and becoming who they are called to be under the loving gaze of our faithful generous God. And all this reminded me of a prayer written by Bishop Thomas Ken, a prayer I pray for myself, and a prayer I offer to each of you and to you as churches as we reimagine the keys to the kingdom of heaven this morning -O God, make the door of this housewide enough to receive all who need human love and fellowship,and a heavenly Father’s care;and narrow enough to shut out all envy, pride and hate.Make its threshold smooth enoughto be no stumbling block to children,nor to straying feet,but rugged enough to turn back the tempter’s power:make it a gateway to thine eternal kingdom.And coming back to where we began today Jesus asks each of us as he asked the disciples, “Who do you say that I am?” And in our busy world there isn’t often much time to pause and reflect so I am going to invite you now to pause and reflect for just one minute on that question. Picture, if you can, Jesus asking you “Who do say that I am?” Don’t worry, I’m not going to ask you to share your answer. This is just between you and the God who asks, “Who do you say that I am?” So, one minute to reflect…… and responding to that question is not an academic exercise! It’s not about doctrine and intellectual assent. Throughout our lives our answer to that question will form us, shape us, be seen in our lives, and make something of God known to the world.When God asks me that question my answer is “You are God incarnate. You are the one who came in human flesh to share the joys and struggles of living in this world, to live and die in solidarity with all humanity. You are Emmanuel, God with us now and for all eternity, the one who never leaves us or forsakes us in this life or the next”.And my life and my ministry as a hospital chaplain I hope fleshes that out so that people can know that God is with them through thick and thin, in life and in death, and for all eternity. But I can only show to the world such a tiny glimpse of what God is like. The world needs you with your unique answer to that question, fleshing out what you know God to be like. And the world needs every person who answers that question showing the world what they know of God. It's a bit like one of those disco balls made up of 100’s of tiny mirrors. Each one of us alone is a tiny mirror reflecting the tiniest part of God’s likeness and love to the world. But put us together, combine our mirrors like the mirrors on a disco ball, and the world can begin to see something of the glory and love of God in increasing fulness.Like Peter we will know high points of faith, depths of failure and despair, and forgiven and restored by God’s mercy and love, we will rise again and again and learn to use the keys to the kingdom to set people free, just as we have been forgiven and set free. Like Peter as we live out our answer to the question “Who do you say that I am?” we will each show the world something of God; and as a church built of living stones, as a community of rocks of faith, we can together reflect more fully something of the beauty and glory of the God who calls us, and names us, and holds us and all the world in love now and for all eternity. Thanks be to God. Amen.
