<p>Sunday 3rd April, 2016 Second Sunday of Easter</p><p>Sentence Jesus said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here and see my hands, Reach out your hands and put it in My side. Do not doubt but believe.’ John 20: 27</p><p>Collect Living God, for Whom no door is closed nor heart is locked; draw us beyond our doubts till we see Your Christ and touch His wounds where they bleed in others. This we ask through Jesus Christ our Saviour, Who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen</p><p>First Lesson Acts 5:27 - 32 Having brought the apostles, they made them appear before the Sanhedrin to be questioned by the high priest. “We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name,” he said. “Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood.” Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than men! The God of our fathers raised Jesus from the dead—whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Saviour that he might give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel. We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.” </p><p>Psalm 116:14 - 29 The LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. Shouts of joy and victory resound in the tents of the righteous: “The LORD’s right hand has done mighty things! The LORD’s right hand is lifted high; the LORD’s right hand has done mighty things!” I will not die but live, and will proclaim what the LORD has done. The LORD has chastened me severely, but he has not given me over to death. Open for me the gates of righteousness; I will enter and give thanks to the LORD. This is the gate of the LORD through which the righteous may enter. </p><p>For the Epistle Revelation 1: 4 - 8 John, To the seven churches in the province of Asia: Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen. Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him. So shall it be! Amen. “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.” </p><p>GOSPEL John 20: 19 - 31 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it.” A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!” Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. © New Revised Standard Version of the Bible Copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, and used by permission. All rights reserved SOME NOTES ON THE READINGS You may well feel that the following comment is unnecessary, but it will be made all the same. One of the fascinating things about Christian history in general, and English history in particular, is that retort of Peter’s in answer to the charge that the disciples had not done what they were told. We must obey God rather than man has rung through English history, raising the value of conscience way above any other value or principle. Certainly, it may well have been that conscience has not always been right, but it tends to have been so more often than the demands of kings or even clerics. Doubtless it will remain to be the case, and will certainly need to be in what threatens to be the century of the dictator --- even in so-called democratic countries. </p><p>FIRST LESSON Here we take up again the brave and necessary action of the Apostles in refusing to surrender to the demands of the country’s leaders spiritual. As with Jesus, that was a risky path to take, for there was little gentleness ever extended to the little group. From our own distance in time, the situation may well feel different, so try and be immediately there, I have more than a suspicion that the time will come for Christians all over the place to stand up and be counted. (Mind you, it will be most important to do this in important matters, and not simply be ‘protestant’ for the sake of being a nuisance.)</p><p>PSALM In considering the Psalm for today it would be easy to go overboard in the matters referred to above. But I draw your attention to a word often repeated in the Scripture, and just as often misunderstood by rather too many. “Righteousness” tends to be seen by believers as describing what may be called the pureness of one’s soul and life. I have spent much of a lifetime asking people to see beyond that, for the word translated righteousness is, in the NT Greek always dikaiosune - which means justice. Sadly, justice is a word somewhat misunderstood, but it means far more that simply my purity. It demands fairness, truth from me. (For too many who are not Christian, justice tends to mean comeuppance, just deserts, revenge, the lopping of the tall poppy. People scream for justice when they mean revenge. That is not a Christian direction to look.) God is a God of justice, who takes all the factors into consideration, and knows far better than we do that the penal and retributive approach to people is very much counter-productive. We humans are rather less generous in our dealings with people, and Christians are sometimes way behind others in this respect. SO please ponder the words of this gentle but instructive Psalm, and determine to reflect the character of your Father rather more clearly.</p><p>Epistle Again, where does one start .... and then stop? Revelation is so grossly misunderstood and so dreadfully commented upon in so many quarters, and written off as scary or totally obscure by others. John’s Apocalypse was not designed to scare the living daylights out of people but to encourage the people of God in a period not dissimilar to our own. And the encouragement was offered, not by threatening all sorts of dire outcomes for the unbeliever, but rather to help all to see that, regardless of the circumstances in which one finds oneself, God is still on the throne. That is no religious statement but rather a statement of fact. If that is not obvious to all, then translate this all to mean that just as Jesus defeated death and evil, so there is no way in the world that love, truth. justice and compassion can be suppressed for long. Like Jesus, they will return to life. Now it is in that sense, and a very powerful and valid sense, that Jesus is, and always has been ruler of the kings of the earth. Evil may have its little day, and sometimes a long one, but like Hitler, Stalin, Idi Amin and Suddam Hussein, they will go the way of all flesh. There is no way that evil and hatred will have the final say. This is the message of Revelation, which also goes on to point to just where much of all evil is sourced, and that answer has nothing to do with what some people love to call Satanic, but everything to do with human evil. In fact, John points to issues remarkably relevant to the present, for as with most things, there is nothing new under the sun. (Dare I suggest that you look for a good and worthwhile commentary, and I would offer you one well worth attempting. G.B. Caird in the Black and Black series is the most careful and correct one I have found in 50 or more years of looking.)</p><p>GOSPEL There are a couple of hugely important issues to work through in this fascinating passage from John’s Gospel. This was the last of the Gospels written, and makes some very interesting departures from the other tradition as shown in the Synoptics and Acts. For John, the Holy Spirit was given not with wind and fire, but in the quietness of this post-resurrection appearance on the very first day. Jesus breathed the Holy Spirit on the Ten (Judas was dead and Thomas absent) and that included that apparently strange business about forgiveness and unforgiveness. Make no mistake about it: this is John’s version of Pentecost. It is important that you take hold of this, and add it to Luke’s picture in Acts 2. All I ask at this stage is that you take this into account. The second matter may be just as explosive for you. It concerns Thomas and his long-emphasized lack of faith. I ask you to see past the traditional understanding, for it has long been my strong conviction that Thomas represents something far more important. Thomas was not present the week before, and perhaps for the very good reason that he was not prepared to take someone else’s word for something as world-shaking as resurrection. Thomas needed clear and positive evidence; in fact he required nothing more or less than the other Ten received in the previous paragraph.. He showed them His hands and His side. Thomas was the sort of person I can relate to. In matters of faith, he was not prepared to act on something second-hand, on something that may well prove to be questionable. And his request of Jesus was no different from that offered to the Ten. Notice, too, that Jesus’ response was positive. That comment of John about blessed are those who believe and yet have not seen was designed for all who read his Gospel, itself written something like 60 years post eventum. The real significance of this comment is not so much to restore Thomas to his rightful place. (He is, after all, accredditted with planting the Mar Thoma Church in western India - and it survives still, today.) It is in fact to underline the necessity for the Christian, in their individual pilgrimage, to ask the questions and to test the views of the Faith. To test the Faith itself, in fact. In any world, then or now, what has always been needed is people who, like Abraham and Thomas, have been the inquisitive, questioning searching ones. If something is true, there is no questioning on earth that is likely to shake it. Sunday 10th April, 2016 Fourth Sunday of Easter</p><p>Sentence To the One seated upon the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honour and glory and might for ever and ever Revelation 5:13</p><p>Collect Christ our Friend, You ask for our love in spite of our betrayal; give us courage to embrace forgiveness, to know You again, and to trust ourselves to You. Amen</p><p>First Lesson Acts 9: 1 – 6 Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” The men travelling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything. In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, “Ananias!” “Yes, Lord,” he answered. The Lord told him, “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.” “Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem. And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.” But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.” Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord— Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, and after taking some food, he regained his strength Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus. At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. </p><p>Psalm 30 I will exalt You O Lord, for You have drawn me up from the depths: and have not suffered my foes to triumph over me O Lord my God I cried to You: and You have made me whole You have brought me back, O Lord, from the land of silence: You saved my life from among those that go down to the Pit Sing praises to the Lord, all you His faithful ones: and give thanks to His holy name For if in His anger is havoc, in His good favour is life: heaviness may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning In my prosperity I said, ‘I shall never be moved: Your goodness O Lord, has set me on so firm a hill.’ Then You hid Your face from me: and I was greatly dismayed I cried to You O God: and made my petition humbly to my Lord ‘What profit is there in my blood if I go down to the Pit: can the dust give You thanks, or declare Your faithfulness? Hear, O Lord, and be merciful: O Lord be my helper You have turned my lamentation into dancing: You have put off my sackcloth and girded me with joy That my heart may sing Your praise and never be silent: O Lord my God, I will give You thanks for ever.</p><p>Epistle You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned—for before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come. </p><p>GOSPEL Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Tiberias. It happened this way: Simon Peter, Thomas (called Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. “I’m going out to fish,” Simon Peter told them, and they said, “We’ll go with you.” So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. He called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?” “No,” they answered. He said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish. Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, “It is the Lord,” he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water. The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred yards. When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread. Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you have just caught.” Simon Peter climbed aboard and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead. When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.” Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me?” He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.” The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my sheep. I tell you the truth, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, “Follow me!” © New Revised Standard Version of the Bible Copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, and used by permission. All rights reserved</p><p>NOTES ON THE READINGS For most people, the story of Paul’s experience on the Damascus Road has been somewhat done to death, but it remains a remarkable event, critical to the story of the developing Church. Without the skills and mind of St. Paul, the tale of the Church may well have been very different. In a way, here is another resurrection, if you will, not from the dead as much as from the dark. I would be bold enough to draw people’s attention to the fact that this conversion, long seen as the prototype of instant conversions, was nothing of the sort. From Acts alone, it would appear that Saul began to do a rethink from the point of Stephen’s assassination. It is worth the mention, in this violent day and age, for a person to realize that if a particular point of view or ism has to be supported by the death of its opponents, there really has to be something terribly wrong with the point of view or ism. On top of that, the way in which Stephen faced his violent death, and repeated the same prayer as his Lord, may well have triggered some very serious rethinking in the mind of the potential Apostle. No one of integrity can continue with such violent dishonesty without having some unsettling thoughts. Mind you, it takes a very brave person to ‘change horses in midstream.’ The rest of the story printed in italics is an alternative extension of the Sunday reading. The tale of Ananaias’ difficulty with Saul is a delightful insight into the early Church. Few people these days realize the extent to which the new congregations had problems with false prophets and even false mendicants. Nothing much has changed over the millennia!</p><p>PSALM It has been referred to before, but it would be easy to read and Psalm and consider it the outpouring of a self-concerned person. But I would ask you to think more deeply. One of the problems then as now, is how does a person who remains true to God, true to the old verities, cope when the rest of the population write him off as weird. If God is God, should there not be some guarantee that the faithful one will be supported and shown to be right? Moderns know that such a hope ‘ain’t necessarily so.’ So such an issue presents a problem, and this psalm is a working through of that issue. In this case, the person was supported by God in his struggle. Realism shows that this is not always the case.</p><p>EPISTLE As usual, there is a lot to look at in the Epistle, more than can be encompassed in one sermon! The first issue is the reference to ‘the right time.’ If anyone wonders why Jesus came when He did and not before, or even in our own time, the answer is really quite interesting. Put simply, the political situation was such that the Roman Empire had reached the stage where people needed no huge range of visas and other paperwork to move around, and the network of roads made land travel easier than it had ever been. In Greek philosophy, not only had thought reached some very sophisticated levels, but its language had a precision and clarity that was second to none. 1 And then it could well be said that Hebrew religion had reached quite something of a peak. (Do not imagine that Jesus’ disparagement of the Pharisees was the write-off of everything Jewish. The prophets’ contribution to the Hebrew faith was - and remains - enormous.) The real impact of today’s reading is the reminder that God’s grace came long before our sense of need for it. This is one of the delightful aspects of the faith in general and the atonement in particular. God’s love long precedes our repentance. This is not just something to delight in: it is something to echo in our own relationships with sometimes unlovely people. We really do need to reflect the characteristics of our Father; there is no other way people will begin to realize the extent of His love. I well remember a lady who lived next door when I was young. Her disdain of worship included her critique of the repeated confession of sin in the service. Sin certainly constitutes a huge problem for some folk. However, the reality of life is that humans managed to stuff up, and that is a fact of life. It is a fact of me! Why people get their knickers in a knot over the evidence of evil, even in Christians, surprises me. It is, I repeat, a fact of life, and the Church is there not for saints but for sinners. God faces that reality; so should we.</p><p>GOSPEL This tale which tends to focus on Peter’s denial of Jesus before the Cross comes with a passion as well as a very sharp edge. The miraculous haul of fish was, almost certainly, designed to remind Peter of his first contact with Jesus, and to ponder all that had happened in the interim. This was not only Peter’s own pilgrimage in faith, but his ever-widening understanding of the Person with Whom he had to do. It does no one harm to look back and see how far they have come, and be disturbed if the track winding back does not wind very far! But it is the second part of the story that comes with explosive power. There was the triple question by Jesus to Peter, ‘do you love me more than these?’ As John records, Peter was rather hurt by the repetition. It is a pity, though, that we are not reading the story in Greek! Yet another whammy shows up there. You will be aware that the Greek language has three words commonly used for ‘love.’ The first is ‘eros’ that does not figure in this passage. The third is agape, the sort of love that God expresses. This is the word used by Paul in 1 Corinthians 13. And it is that powerful ‘agape’ word that Jesus used in two of the three questions to Peter. It is poignant to note that in the final question, Jesus stepped back to the second word for love, philadelphia. It was an expression of the fact that Jesus recognized that, while Peter may profess agape, he may well reach only to philadelphia. This whole incident is a very telling example of Jesus meeting people, even Peter, right where he was and not where Jesus would have liked him to be. It is a process we would do well to imitate, being sufficiently gentle with people because that leaves them room to move further than we may even imagine.</p><p>NOTES FOR A SERMON Was it only last week that we explored that business of faith? Today it seems to me that the emphasis is on faithfulness. It encompasses that quite odd business between the suicide of Judas and the survival of Peter. Make no mistake about it, for both men’s failures were equally culpable. Part of the difference lies in the different natures of the men: so much of Judas’ life was based on lies and cover-ups. Peter was perhaps sufficiently naïve as not to be too concerned about how others thought of him. </p><p>1 Greek, of course, was the lingua franca or commercial language of the time. Jesus would have been tri-lingual, with Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek at His disposal. The NT of course, was written in Greek Sunday 17th April, 2016 Fourth Sunday of Easter</p><p>Sentence The Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd and will guide them to springs of the water of life; and God will wipe every tear from their eyes. Revelation 7:17</p><p>Collect God of peace, Who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make us complete in every good work to do Your will, and work in us that which is pleasing in Your sight, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen</p><p>FIRST LESSON Acts 9:36-43 In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (which, when translated, is Dorcas ), who was always doing good and helping the poor. About that time she became sick and died, and her body was washed and placed in an upstairs room. Lydda was near Joppa; so when the disciples heard that Peter was in Lydda, they sent two men to him and urged him, “Please come at once!” Peter went with them, and when he arrived he was taken upstairs to the room. All the widows stood around him, crying and showing him the robes and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was still with them. Peter sent them all out of the room; then he got down on his knees and prayed. Turning toward the dead woman, he said, “Tabitha, get up.” She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter she sat up. He took her by the hand and helped her to her feet. Then he called the believers and the widows and presented her to them alive. This became known all over Joppa, and many people believed in the Lord. Peter stayed in Joppa for some time with a tanner named Simon. </p><p>PSALM 23 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, He restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Tough I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever. </p><p>FOR THE EPISTLE Revelation 7:8-17 After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshipped God, saying: “Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!” Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?” I answered, “Sir, you know.” And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore, “they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them. Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat upon them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb at the centre of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” </p><p>GOSPEL JOHN 10: 22 - 30 Then came the Feast of Dedication2 at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was in the temple area walking in Solomon’s Colonnade. The Jews gathered around him, saying, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The signs I do in my Father’s name speak for me, but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My</p><p>2 This Hanukah, a Jewish celebration that occurs about the same time as Christian Christmas. Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all and no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” © New Revised Standard Version of the Bible Copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, and used by permission. All rights reserved</p><p>NOTES ON THE READINGS</p><p>First Lesson Here is a lovely little cameo of life in the Infant Church. Numbers were small enough so that people knew each other well, and even the movements of the Apostles were well know apparently. However the emphasis is on the raising of the dead Dorcas - a much loved member of the group. It is a low-key story, and yet very reminiscent of the ministry of Jesus. As regards the miracle of raising Dorcas, I have to confess to being of that school of thought that sees miracles, not as commonplace but as events that occur in critical times in Biblical history. Around the Exodus, and around the Incarnation we see such things happening. And while in this instance, people believed because of the miracle, I would have to add that, in my experience, those who believe because of miracle tend to look for more of the same rather than for growth in other areas. Call me cynic if you like, but much of that cynicism comes from what is proffered as miracle by parts of the Church today which tends, in fact, to be something far less real and lasting.</p><p>PSALM Notes on the 23rd Psalm are available from previous appearances in the Lectionary of this most popular Psalm.</p><p>FOR THE EPISTLE If you stop and think a moment and look at today’s Readings, they constitute words or reassurance to those who follow Christ. It is a rather helpful reminder as the Easter Season draws to a close. Mind you, the careful reader will know that the message of Revelation is no soft-soap message to every little but inactive follower of Jesus. This passage has to do with those who, in spite of enormous and contrary pressure, remained true to Christ at the risk or even cost of their own lives. The message of Revelation is basically (a) the challenge to the Church at the end of the First Century to regain its hold on the truth and its loyalty to Christ, and then (b) live as witnesses to all truth in a world which was rapidly discarding it. This is not just religious truth! This is truth of the sort that is necessary for any culture, country or civilisation to cling to if it is to survive. The faithful ones in this passage of Revelation have come through with flying colours in spite of threat of death or of other restraints laid on them. And the message is that God is a Lord Who loves and supports His People through great pressure and tensions. It is terribly easy for the so-called believer to give up if the pressure gets too great.</p><p>GOSPEL People with eyes open will notice that I have replaced the word ‘miracle’ in this passage from John with the word that John used constantly which is sign. The NIV makes, to my mind, a mistake in translating as ‘miraculous sign’ when the first word is not translation but interpretation. (Vide my note above in the First Lesson) Sunday 13th March 2016 Fifth Sunday of Easter</p><p>Sentence God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them. 1 John 4:16</p><p>Collect We behold Your glory O God, in the love shown by Your Son, lifted up on the cross and exalted on high: be glorified anew in the love we have for one another, as disciples of the Risen Lord Jesus; Who lives and reigns with You in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen</p><p>First Lesson Acts 11: 1 - 18</p><p>The apostles and the brothers throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him and said, “You went into the house of uncircumcised men and ate with them.” Peter began and explained everything to them precisely as it had happened: “I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision. I saw something like a large sheet being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came down to where I was. I looked into it and saw four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, reptiles, and birds of the air. Then I heard a voice telling me, ‘Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.’ I replied, ‘Surely not, Lord! Nothing impure or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ The voice spoke from heaven a second time, ‘Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.’ This happened three times, and then it was all pulled up to heaven again. Right then three men who had been sent to me from Caesarea stopped at the house where I was staying. The Spirit told me to have no hesitation about going with them. These six brothers also went with me, and we entered the man’s house. He told us how he had seen an angel appear in his house and say, ‘Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter. He will bring you a message through which you and all your household will be saved.’ As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came on them as he had come on us at the beginning. Then I remembered what the Lord had said: ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ So if God gave them the same gift as he gave us, who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could oppose God?” When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, “So then, God has granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life.” </p><p>PSALM 148 Praise the LORD. Praise the LORD from the heavens, praise him in the heights above. Praise him, all his angels, praise him, all his heavenly hosts. Praise him, sun and moon, praise him, all you shining stars. Praise him, you highest heavens and you waters above the skies. Let them praise the name of the LORD, for he commanded and they were created. He set them in place for ever and ever; he gave a decree that will never pass away. Praise the LORD from the earth, you great sea creatures and all ocean depths, Lightning and hail, snow and clouds, stormy winds that do his bidding, You mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars, Wild animals and all cattle, small creatures and flying birds, Kings of the earth and all nations, you princes and all rulers on earth, Young men and maidens, old men and children. Let them praise the name of the LORD, for his name alone is exalted; his splendour is above the earth and the heavens. He has raised up for his people a horn, the praise of all his saints, of Israel, the people close to his heart. Praise the LORD. </p><p>FOR THE EPISTLE Revelation 21: 1 - 6</p><p>Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with people, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. </p><p>GOSPEL John 13: 31 - 35</p><p>When he was gone, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will glorify the Son in himself, and will glorify him at once. My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come. A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” </p><p>NOTES ON THE READINGS</p><p>First Lesson It was just a week or so ago that we looked at the story which is the original of this - of the acceptance of Cornelius, Gentile and Roman, as part of the Infant Church. As mentioned back then, the issue was hugely important and created the sort of stir then that compares to the fairly recent stir about the Ordination of Women and more recently about homosexual leaders in the Church. In other words, it was potentially divisive. Sadly that is the point of this cameo. Certainly, Peter had gone out on a limb because of the vision given him, but it has to be said that Philip was ahead of him with his encounter with the Ethiopian eunuch 3 But this sad tale of Peter being checked on seems to be not so much a matter of everyone keeping in touch, but a matter of criticism of a fellow when the rest were out of step. Sadly, this is often in evidence within tightly knit Christian circles. While the outcome in this instance was reasonable, it is not always the case. Also, it has to be said that the question of acceptance of the Gentiles into the Church was not settled until Acts 15 - or if the truth is known, until quite some time after that. Please note that it is never easy to be in the van of Christian thinking and exploration. There is always someone ready to knock you off in all sorts of bitter criticism. It is interesting to note that, as someone said in a very recent argument about the faith, the Church is like a swimming pool, where most of the noise comes from the shallow end.</p><p>PSALM This is a psalm with quite clear intentions of rejoicing in the creation and the Creator. In typical Jewish form, it sees light and delight in all aspects of life, because it is all seen to emanate from the hand of God. My experience of Jewish people is their capacity of seeing no dividing line between sacred and secular, and that provide a different and lovely view of life and world. </p><p>FOR THE EPISTLE Although it sometimes provides a bit of a shock, I will often suggest this passage to people for the reading at the funeral of their loved one. This suggestion is offered not only to people of faith, but also people of none, for the precise reason that this passage points to the goal of life, its point and purpose and direction. There is also the assertion that there is more to life than this experience of it. There have been no complaints, to my knowledge, because this passage offers all sorts of direction, hope and encouragement. It is saying that, in the final analysis, all will see that only in Jesus does life reach its purpose.</p><p>GOSPEL Every now and again, John presents us with some words and concepts that leave us guessing. What in the world does it means that Jesus is glorified, or that He glorifies the Father? The answer is not as difficult as it may sound. If I glorify you, I am not telling whoopsies or lies about you, nor is it a matter of giving you a false wrap. The process is only possible when the truth is made clear, and that you have something special that is of great help to others. Jesus, then, is glorified when and only when He is seen for what and Who He really is. Likewise, God is glorified, when and only when He is seen in His true light. Hence, you see, God is glorified on the Cross, for His nature, His eternal nature is made quite clear. Mind you, the observer who has the responsibility of thinking through all that is potentially clear It is possible for someone to observe the Cross and miss the point, of course.</p><p>3 Eunuchs were as welcome then as homsexuals presently. In case this may sound all a little too theoretical, there is no surprise to see Jesus bring this all down to earth with a very practical thump. His command to love one another is yet another and simple way in which God is glorified. As one loves one another, the character of the Father (and the Son) is rendered really quite tangible to people. Just as tangible is the result when the other characteristics of the Father, such as justice, compassion and truth, are evidenced in the lives of people. (This, if you dare, is evident in the lives of unbelievers as it is in faithful ones. In the light of all this, I find it difficult to remain silent when people talk about refusing to believe in God because He is invisible. Little could be further from the truth if you stop and think about all this. The Cross was tangible enough, and illustrates the nature of God very powerfully and succinctly indeed.</p><p>NOTES FOR A SERMON Anyone who knows me well may think that what follows shows up some of my hang-ups rather clearly. Be that as it may, I suspect that some of my hang-ups are important ones, meaning that a lot of people need to think about what follows. For donkey’s years now, I have not (from one point of view) been able to understand people’s rejection of either or both of Faith and Church. My reason for that view is that I have yet to find anything anywhere, in whatever ism or philosophy or religion that makes sense of life as does the Christian Faith. Dare I say, the Biblical faith, for much of Christianity sits on the capable shoulders of Judaism. On the other hand, I find that so much of the rejection handed out to Church and Faith lies at the feet of those who have religion, but I suspect have not the Faith. And I suspect I will be hounded to pieces for such a statement. Dare I expand ? So much of what passes for Christian faith tends to be something of a distortion of it. Both my wife and I cringe - and I mean cringe!!! – when someone on talk-back radio confesses to being a ‘born-again’ Christian. In such a case, one can be quite sure that something quite weird is likely to emerge. I have huge difficulty allowing anyone to think that I go along with such views. Much of the reason for this sort of outcome stems, I suspect, from the populist view that Christianity is the one and only assurance one can have that life after this is waiting for them. In fact, heaven is the prime focus – or dare I say that oneself is the prime focus. Jesus loves me is quite true, but that is not the be-all and end-all of the Faith. It is one tiny part of it all BOOM! I can almost feel the radiation from here. But what about those readings, Ron? And that is precisely the point. In that First Lesson, Peter was on a vast learning curve that took him, Apostle and First Bishop of Rome and all, right beyond the edge of acceptance by most of his peers. And the problem? One that hardly touches us on the edges because it has never been an issue with us: the acceptance of the Gentiles. Ancient Israel lived and thrived on the basis that it was the Chosen Race, and that JHWH had no interest in anyone or anything else but the ‘sons of Abraham.’ So Judaism became a comfortable, religious club, whose adherents were as self-focussed as many Christians after them. And that is the trouble with ‘religion.’ It is always self-focussed. The issue of the acceptance of the Gentiles was something that threatened to tear the Infant Church apart. (Isn’t it interesting to see how often an issue that looks like tearing a Church apart becomes part of the credo after some time!) Please think this through: it was not simply a matter that people other than Jews could become followers of Christ. It was a matter that the Gospel was designed for all people, for the whole world, and not just for a sanctified elite. Conservative Christians (and Jews of course!) were outraged at the thought. They produced all sorts of proof texts from the Old Testament to establish the veracity of their case, and like all who do that sort of thing, managed to do. We can be so easily distracted by a handful of verses that we miss the wider picture. Let me explain a moment. Go back to the call of Abraham: read again in Genesis 12 and see what most people manage to overlook. “You will be a blessing … and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” In other words, the ministry of Abraham and his heirs was and remains to the whole world. And it has to do with blessing here and now. Read about the challenge to Moses and his heirs and successors in Exodus 19 – phraseology that is repeated again and again in the New Testament and is reiterated in the Anglican liturgy. ‘You shall be a kingdom of priests’ not for themselves but for the world. To put it simply and concisely, the Faith, Jewish and Christian, has always been about reconciliation, about dealing with those issues that bedevil and damage humans. Back to the First Lesson. Peter had been told by God in that dream, and in facing the reality confronting him in the person of the Roman centurion, Cornelius. That reality was that people such as Cornelius could so clearly and obviously understand the Faith, follow it, have the guarantee of the Holy Spirit to justify it, that the necessity of removing that most ancient of barriers was incumbent on him. Utterly incumbent. (Dear old Philip had his huge learning curve with the Ethiopian eunuch, which was a double whammy if you think it through.) The point that I wish to elicit from this reading is that the Faith is not about ‘believing’ and remaining static. 4 If Peter were to follow Christ, then it meant entering into a huge change of view and expansion of ideas. In fact, had the Infant Church refused this move at the Council of Jerusalem, (Acts 15), then you would not be reading this, nor I writing about it. No one would have heard of Jesus, because the faith would have succumbed to pressure to conform from Judaism ….. and cease to exist there and then. Perhaps you may need rather more evidence, so to speak, for the wider vision. Then look at the second reading. John’s Revelation tends to be more than many folk can handle. Some fear it as a scary, hard to understand book. For them it reeks of judgement and end-of-the-world stuff. In reality, it is nothing of the sort. For some people, mystery surrounds the apocalyptic language. That mystery is compounded by the sorts of expectations people put on it. So the point becomes missed. John is not talking about the END of history! Never. He is talking about the GOAL, or in Greek the telos.  And the telos of history is not judgement in conventional terms, but redemption. This is why the goal of life and the goal of the Gospel is the end to “death and mourning and crying and pain.” One of the most significant means towards that end, that telos, is reconciliation. And the way of reconciliation is only and ever the way of the Cross. And should ever the world recognize that and follow it, the change to life and lives will be enormous beyond imaginings. So now do you see how this ‘glorification’ of Jesus fits in? If and when Jesus is ‘seen for Who He really is’ and is responded to with what we call repentance and truth, then the outcome will be seen as we have been looking at in the passage For the Epistle. If you wonder what we have been doing to the Biblical text, you might imagine that I have been asking you to emasculate it. In fact I have been trying to help you to see the profundity and the breadth of what the Scriptures for today are presenting to you, and to help you to see the God is rather more concerned about people – any people! – seeing the truth and responding to it. For their sake, not so much His. And this is rather more immediate than your concern or interest about your eternal destiny. </p><p>May I add a sort of epilogue? If you find all this somewhat hard to accept, and you still regard me as some sort of heretic, then I recapitulate: with Peter, I feel I am in rather good company!</p><p>4 From my youth up, I could not come to terms with that view of the Faith that had me secure in my hope of heaven, and with nothing else to do but sit on my spiritual bum and make sure that others entered in to that very static (and self-centred) ‘religion.’ I was outcast myself back then!</p>