Remembrance Sunday1 Thessalonians 4.13–end Matthew 25.1–13Let me paint you a picture. It is a dark evening with a slight wind blowing. Together with dozens of others, you are standing waiting for an arrival. It is seven-o-clock in the evening, and you are at Bristol Temple Meads Station on platform 13. In the distance you see the lights of the train approaching. As it comes to a halt passengers leave the train and then those waiting on the platform climb aboard. A whistle blows and the train departs.As the carriages pass you, picking up speed, you notice that along side of each carriage is a white stripe with many names printed along its length. Carriage after carriage passes each with a similar stripe. On the platform you remain, a single figure, as these carriages race past into the distance.Carriage number 800306 is one of a unique set of carriages of Class 800, in terms of its livery. It has a special livery to commemorate the soldiers who fought in World War I and features a rose at either end of the carriages, with petals, showing pictures of some of the soldiers. In addition, there is a banner along each carriage which has the name of every soldier who lost their lives!Here is another picture. It is one that can be seen in churches up and down the land today. Congregations have gathered together to remember those who gave their lives in war fighting for the values that we treasure so much today. As the service of remembrance progresses the point is reached when the actual names from the local community, who gave their lives, are read out together with, in some places, a short mention of their service career.After the names of those who died are read out the words of remembrance are spoken ending with “At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them.” In some churches members of the congregation are invited to light a candle in memory of a treasured one. Finally, a lone single voice affirms, “We will remember them.”At eleven-o-clock up and down the land, names are read out before God. Hundreds and hundreds of names, thousands and thousands, all offered to God in remembrance. I am mindful of standing there at Bristol Temple Meads station as a lone figure on the platform watching a train leave with the names of the fallen during WWI emblazoned on the side of the carriages. As the names are read out in churches many come together to bear their witness, as each carriage passes together with its names, I, as a single person witness their departure.Each time, in our worship, we pray for peace. That prayer is directed towards God but, also importantly it is directed towards the world’s leaders. In many cases the solution for peace lies within their own hands. They have the power and direction to move away from fighting and to work towards a peaceful solution.Our Lord was born into an earthly family. He grew up knowing the joys and pleasures of family life. To see family units broken apart through strife must tear at his very heart. We pray for that peace for which our Lord also prayed. A peace that may be found in our hearts. A peace within ourselves for ourselves. A peace within us towards our neighbour, towards the stranger, towards those who raise up an arm against us.We live to hope that no more names need to be added to railways carriages as they speed off into the distance. We live to hope that no more names need to be added to War Memorials in our cities, towns, and villages.We will remember them.Collect for Remembrance SundayAlmighty Father,whose will is to restore all thingsin your beloved Son, the King of all:govern the hearts and minds of those in authority,and bring the families of the nations,divided and torn apart by the ravages of sin,to be subject to his just and gentle rule;who is alive and reigns with you,in the unity of the Holy Spirit,one God, now and for ever.Amen.
All Saints’ DayRevelation 7:9-17 Matthew 5:1-12Today is All Saints’ Day. This is when we hold before God all of the people who have been venerated or honoured by the Church as having an exceptional degree of holiness, or likeness, or closeness to God. However, much depends upon the denomination involved. Some denominations happily apply the title to any holy Christian. In truth, the number of saints and martyrs cannot be counted. People from every country, every race, every language spoken here on earth, all will have their own martyrs and saints and them without number.In the normal cycle of worship that we have within the Church there are a few saints which we remember on their special day. However, if we look through the English Missal, a prayer book used in High Church worship, there are a considerable number of saints spread throughout the year. Leaving behind the ones listed, day by day, there are probably countless others, known to God alone.We do not need to have a calendar to bring a particular saint to our attention. If we look about us, and using the one definition, we can see plenty of people who show a degree of holiness. Such people have a love of God which is so strong that it a very present driving force in their life. We are surrounded by them.When we refer to all saints on this special day, I like to think that we are not only holding before God all those who have been venerated and canonised, whichever calendar we are using, but all those unnamed people who we see about us, and those who have lived before us.The Book of Revelation describes to us a vision of the heavenly kingdom. The heavenly host is gathered in great circles singing their praises of God. They give to him blessing, they give to him glory, they praise him for his wisdom and source of all truth. Thus is a continuation of their life of sainthood here on earth.About them they will have seen the glory of God in creation. They would have shared God’s teaching as given to us through his Son Jesus Christ, they would have gone to the aid of their neighbour when in trouble. All of this would have been done in the name of the Lord. His love would have been the driving force. There would have been an acceptance that God is the Creator of the world and that he is the sustainer of all that we have. It is up to us not to forget all of his gifts.This is what has been the way of the world for countless ages. Men and women have come forward and worked in the name of the Lord. Today this work continues all around us in people living their lives following the Commandments given to us, living in the love of the Lord. In the years to come there will be many more stepping forward in that love, ready to mix with the people and to go on spreading the Good News. Yes, today we remember all of the saints who laid down their life in the beginning days of the Church. We remember too those who gave their life in the years that followed, a host without number for we cannot even attempt to record them individually. We remember too those of today who strive to do God’s work in every land, often facing danger, sometimes without any recognition, but who do what they do in God’s love. Finally, we pray that in the years to come that work will continue, that more saints will spread throughout the world.Collect for All Saints’ DayGod of holiness,your glory is proclaimed in every age:as we rejoice in the faith of your saints,inspire us to follow their examplewith boldness and joy;through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Last Sunday after TrinityLeviticus 19.1–2, 15–18 1 Thessalonians 2: 1-8 Matthew 22: 34-46I am not the greatest fan of police programmes on the television. Yes, they may be on but I generally find I'm doing something else but watch them. That is until my attention is forcibly directed towards the television. If a police car is shown in full pursuit of another car, or dashing off to investigate an emergency call, the probability is high that it will have its blue and twos on. That is where the trouble lies, where my concentration is broken. For some reason our dog, when it hears Blues and twos, sits up and howls. Nothing will stop her but to switch off to another programme. Actually, the prologue to Gilbert and Sullivan's Mikado has the same effect on her.What can be the relationship between the police car involved in a chase and making its presence known and the music of the Mikado prologue introducing the twists and turns taking place in a region of Japan? The answer must lie in law and order. In the one instance the police car is racing to a scene where law and order has broken down in all probability, and in the other instance we are treated to the twists and trials of a love relationship in Japan involving the Emperor, his son, the Chief of Staff who holds so many positions and is easily corruptible, and the Emperor’s intended.The Collect, special payer, for today contains the line, “Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning:”. I am not too sure how large a pile of books and documents, of scrolls and tablets that would be but we can gain a little understanding when we look at the books of the law that are on the tables in the Houses of Parliament. And they are but a small part of our legal history. Laws form the base for any country. It is upon them that we know what we can and cannot do.Most people are under one law regime or another. For instance, in our country, almost every law can find its base in the second of the Two Commandments. But we are jumping the gun here. Looking at the first of the Two Great Commandments we are instructed to love God. It is a love which emanates from our heart, soul and body. It is a complete love. It means that to God we must give a total love, a love which dominates our emotions, a love which directs our thoughts, and a love which is the basis of our actions.As we look at the Second Great Commandment, we note that the love of God comes first. It must come first before we can consider any other love. It is only by loving God can we entertain loving anyone else. So, who is it that we are loving? They are not a bundle of bones, a collection of chemical elements, the result of Darwin’s principle of Creation.Whoever we are, whoever they are that is the object of our affection, God comes into it right at the very beginning. We are all made in the image of God. The love of God comes first then the love of everyone else. It is only by loving God are we able to love others. By loving God humanity is lovable. Here is the basis of life. It lies in the love of God. If we take away that love then our view of humanity becomes tainted. We look at our fellow humans in an uncaring and heartless fashion.Should we cast to one side that love of God then we can only fall back on the desires and wishes that are frequently driven by a desire for riches and wealth. In going down that path we can tend to leave God to one side. Many of our actions may still prove to be highly commendable and socially acceptable. We may still be seen as pillars of our community, involved in good works and care for our fellows, but without God there is not quite that same level of love. Our heart may well be fully involved in what we are doing but it will not be with that spark of love that we have taken on board that comes from God.What is that love which we are encouraged to accept and follow? It is to love God, but not only God but to love all of humanity which God has created in his own image. To love both God and humanity with a truly enfolding cloak of totality. That is a cloak which contains a total commitment to God which is seen as a true devotion to him, and a realistic preparedness to serve our fellow humanity in any and all practical ways.Collect for the Last Sunday after TrinityBlessed Lord,who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning:help us so to hear them,to read, mark, learn and inwardly digest themthat, through patience, and the comfort of your holy word,we may embrace and for ever hold fast the hope of everlasting life,which you have given us in our Saviour Jesus Christ,who is alive and reigns with you,in the unity of the Holy Spirit,one God, now and for ever.
Twentieth Sunday after TrinityPsalm 96:1-9 Isaiah 45:1-7 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10 Matthew 22:15-22I have been a keen collector of coins for many years. I specialise in English coins my ambition being to obtain one coin from every monarch who has sat on the English throne, or otherwise, from Henry III in 1216 AD. I have nearly done it with just a couple of gaps. Looking further afield I have quite a collection of Roman coins spanning some 400 years of Roman Emperors. One coin especially is a Tiberius tribute penny dating from 14 – 37AD. This is the coinage that Jesus and his disciples would have been familiar with.The gospel reading for today takes us into the world of taxation. Whoever we are we are all subject to one form of taxation or another. We either pay tax directly to the exchequer or treasury through income tax, or indirectly through things that we purchase with VAT. Going back to the day of the tribute penny, or denarius. A coin in common circulation depicting various emperor’s heads it was this coin that Jesus was being questioned about. The situation in Palestine was not simple for it was an occupied country, occupied by the Romans. Several taxes had to be paid. One was a Tax that had to be paid to the Romans otherwise they would get a little bit cross, but no-one wanted to pay that tax. To not pay it would lead to arrest. You may resent paying taxes, but it had to be paid. Not much different from today one could say. But there was a religious reason for not wanting to pay. To the Jew God was the only king. To pay any taxes to an earthly king was to validate his authority and thereby insult God. Jesus was caught in a cleft stick. Whatever answer he gave he faced the possibility of laying himself wide open to further trouble.Back to the tribute penny or denarius. It had the head of the ruling emperor stamped on it and this was a mark of ownership. So, as Jesus said, give back to Caeser, who owned the coin, what belongs to him. Jesus, in his wisdom, laid down his teaching, a teaching which never goes out of date.We all have a double citizenship. Some people even have more. Most of us have a citizenship of the country in which we live. As part of that citizenship, we embrace the laws of that land, we contribute to the public services, we share in the welfare state, we form part of the infrastructure. As a citizen we have a debt of obligation. We need to be responsible else we fail in our Christian duty.However, the Christian is a citizen of heaven. We have responsibilities and duties which we direct to God. That which is given to us by God we return to him. When we are convinced that something must be done because it is God’s will it must be done. Conversely, if we are convinced that something is against the will of God then we should take no part in it.The problem really lies where the two boundaries meet and Jesus does not give us any guidance here. Where the two duties lie side by side we need to recognise. Jesus does not rise up and give a pronouncement as to which way we should turn. He leaves that for our own conscience to test. But Jesus does give us some assistance.Give to Ceaser what belongs to Ceaser and give to God what belongs to God. That way we can be both a good citizen of our country and also at the same time a good citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven. Carrying out our duty we will not fail either to God nor to our fellow humans.Collect for the Twentieth Sunday after TrinityGod, the giver of life,whose Holy Spirit wells up within your Church:by the Spirit's gifts equip us to live the gospel of Christ and make us eager to do your will,that we may share with the whole creationthe joys of eternal life;through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,who is alive and reigns with you,in the unity of the Holy Spirit,one God, now and for ever.
