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.
Nineteenth Sunday after TrinityIsaiah 25.1–9 Psalm 23 Philippians 4.1–9 Matthew 22.1–14Most people attend a wedding with happiness in their hearts and smiles on their face. Occasionally there will be the one who has tears in their eyes and sadness in their heart, sadness at loosing a son or daughter. Regardless, a wedding is a special event and has its place in the life of a community. Many will know the occasion is taking place and will sometimes gather to watch the happy couple as they begin their new life in the local society. What vehicle will the bride by? Will it be a posh Rolls Royce, or on a trailer pulled by a tractor? Will it be the local taxi service or some old vintage car, full of style and mystique? The options are numerous and I have seen many of them.Now let Jesus come onto the scene. We are in a different time frame and with different social ways. A king is hosting his son’s wedding. Invitations will have been sent out some time before, an early warning that the wedding was to take place soon..ish. The date and time are made public knowledge much nearer the event. Jesus is accusing the Jews who had been invited by God to be his chosen people. Likened to a wedding with the Jews being the invited guests, when the time came for the guests to attend the ceremonial wedding feast, they refused to come. God had called them just as he calls us. In the parable the Jews refused any involvement. In today’s life God still calls to us and we have the opportunity to hear him and respond.We may hear and try to follow the ways of his Son. But it is not always an easy path. So, we stray and take what may seem the easier option of being aware but not a lot more. We are in danger of being like the Jews of old. Hear that we have been called but still go our own way.There are others who may hear the call but do not even give it a second thought. Here we are comparing them to the sinners and the Gentiles of the parable. They, we are told, would never have expected an invitation. Today we have about us those who also would never expect to receive an invitation from God.God is giving an invitation. It is to a feast, a happy occasion. To be called by God to be a Christian is a moment of joy. Christianity is not a gloomy leaving behind all that you find enjoyable, a life of laughter. It is to be a part of a happy fellowship.Those who were invited made their excuses for not attending. They may well have been quite valid and important reasons. Yet it is so easy to get carried away with the work of daily life. One can get so involved that everything gets put to one side, including God.Then the call is made and God requires our presence rather like the second call to the wedding guests giving the date and time in the very near future. The wise, after the first indication that they would be invited to a wedding had made preparation, were ready to attend at a moments notice, to respond to God’s call. The others, who took the attitude of ‘getting ready in due course for a banquet takes time to arrange’ would have received the second call, made themselves ready, and attended the feast only to find the doors closed.There are many lessons that may be learnt here but one involves our very being. How do we present ourselves before God. The workers in the field who wore their finest garments waiting for the call to attend the wedding would have soiled their clothes with dust and mud possibly. But they would be in a state of readiness. Once upon a time it was the rule that one’s Sunday Best was worn to go to church, or we put on decent and fine clothes when we go to a friend for an evening celebration.This parable is not aimed at how we dress ourselves to go to church. We can wear our Sunday Best, yes, or we can wear a smart pair of jeans. The choice is ours. The point is not that we are showing off our finery but a measure of preparation. Do we approach God with a silent prayer, in real reverence and with true self-examination? Then we are ready to receive the invitation.Collect for the Nineteenth Sunday after TrinityO God, forasmuch as without youwe are not able to please you;mercifully grant that your Holy Spiritmay in all things direct and rule our hearts;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.Amen.
