Sharing some thoughts

A vicar had just arrived in his new Parish and the people were looking forward to hearing him preach his first sermon. He got up in the pulpit and said, “I’d like to speak to you today about one of my favourite passages in the Scriptures – the episode in the Garden of Gethsemane where Peter cuts of the ear of the High Priest’s servant,” and he went to preach what they all agreed afterwards was a good sermon. The following week they looked up expectantly as he climbed into the pulpit, so they were a bit taken aback when he began with precisely the same introduction: “I’d like to speak to you today about one of my favourite passages in the Scriptures – the episode in the Garden of Gethsemane where Peter cuts of the ear of the High Priest’s servant,” and he went on to preach exactly the same sermon as the week before – word for word. After the service, there was a bit of muttering, but people agreed that he’d only just moved in and he must have been busy unpacking and sorting himself out,...

I think I may have told before the story of two battleships out on manoeuvres in heavy weather for several days. The visibility was poor with patchy fog, so the captain remained on the bridge of one of the ships keeping an eye on everything that was going on. Shortly after dark, the lookout reported, "Light, bearing on the starboard bow." "Is it steady or moving ?" the captain called out. The lookout replied, "Steady, Captain," which meant we were on a dangerous collision course with that ship. The captain then called to the signalman, "Signal that ship: 'We are on a collision course, advise them to change course twenty degrees.'" Back came the signal, "Advisable for you to change course twenty degrees." The captain said, "Send this message: "I'm a captain, you change course twenty degrees.'" "I'm a seaman second-class," came the reply. "You had better change course twenty degrees."...

‘The Liberal Democrats are now the only party that can deliver social justice, and the only choice for anyone who wants a fairer Britain’… Those who know me well will probably understand that those were not my words, but were the words of Nick Clegg the leader of the Liberal Democrats during his conference speech earlier this week… In politics, talk of fairness and justice is very popular – it seems that everyone wants to be seen as the trustworthy friend seeking to help everyone… In a somewhat dramatic week for the economy attention was drawn to the actions of the American Government saving a huge insurance company but allowing a huge, but not quite as huge, investment bank to declare bankruptcy. In Britain it seems the government were happy this week to overlook any competition worries as 2 of the largest banks in the country, Lloyds TSB and Halifax Bank of Scotland, planned to merge – this came on the same day as Gatwick Airport went up for sale as a result of a report about unfair ...

There’s a very good story about a young man who approached the foreman of a logging crew and asked for a job. "That depends," replied the foreman. "Let's see you fell this tree." The young man stepped forward and skilfully felled a huge tree. Impressed, the foreman exclaimed, "Start Monday!" Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday rolled by, and then on Thursday afternoon the foreman approached the young man and said, "You can pick up your pay on the way out today." Startled, he replied, "I thought you paid on Friday." "Normally we do," answered the foreman, "but we're letting you go today because you've fallen behind. Our daily felling charts show that you've dropped from first place on Monday to last on Wednesday." "But I'm a hard worker," the young man objected. "I arrive first, leave last, and even have worked through my coffee breaks!" The foreman, sensing the boy's in...

Many of you will know of the cartoon, Peanuts, with the adventures of Charlie Brown and Snoopy being told – there’s one cartoon where Lucy is talking to, or lecturing, Charlie Brown while Snoopy watches and listens. Lucy tells Charlie Brown, "You sow what you reap and you reap what you sow. That is the way it is!" They walk away and Snoopy thinks, "I'd like to see a little more room for error." I think we can understand what Snoopy means. I think we all appreciate the gift of grace – which gives us a little more room for error so that our errors and sins and shortcomings do not absolutely determine our destiny. On the other hand, I think we all like justice as well. Mark Twain, a great satirist of religion, especially American Christianity, wrote that what bothered him about the Bible was not what he did not understand but what he did understand. He liked to point out that the Bible, especially the Hebrew Scriptures or Old Testament, has many persons whom he did...

Today we have dedicated this service to giving thanks for the gift of marriage… All of us I’m sure will join with me in offering prayers to ask God to continue to bless married couples everywhere, but marriage itself can never be taken in a vacuum. The Bible tells us and human nature dictates that actually we are all part of a much bigger family, married, unmarried, old or young, and as such each of us have commitments to each other. And that commitment must surely be to love… If you have a sense of humour, and I’m sure you all do (!) you may like to hear some of the things the Bible says about love in marriage. In the book of Genesis (29:20) we read that Jacob worked for seven years for Laban to earn the right to marry Laban’s daughter, Rachel. We’re told that the 7 years of work seemed to him just like a few days because he loved her so much! He worked seven years for her father so that he could marry her. I am tempted to say he had it bad! Moving on a little, The Song of Songs in ...

A heartbroken lady once wrote the following letter :- “Dearest Jimmy, No words could ever express the great unhappiness I've felt since breaking our engagement. Please say you'll take me back. No one could ever, ever, take your place in my heart, so please, please, forgive me. I love you, I love you, I love you! Yours forever, Marie. P.S., Congratulations on winning the lottery.” The love of God for each one of us is unbreakable, it is not dependant on what we do or fail to do, and that is the love that Jesus asks, in fact demands, his followers to show to others. Paul begins the section of the letter to the Romans that we heard (13:8-14) with the words, ‘Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law…’ In today’s society it is very unlikely that we will owe no one anything – the banks, the credit card, the mortgage, the car loan, and so on, most people today owe something to somebody. In the time Paul wrote to the Romans, ...

I wonder how many of you realise that there are now just 116 days until Christmas. Yes, as we stand here on this hot and sunny summer’s day we can start planning for Christmas. We are more than 2/3 of the way through the year, and we are more than 2/3 of the way through the Trinity Season, the longest season in our Church calendar. The Trinity season is one in which we traditionally seek growth – in our relationships with God and with one another, and we seek to develop a greater understanding of the gospel message for ourselves and for the world. And today’s New Testament Readings (Romans 12:9-21 & Matthew 16:21-28) show what an incredible message this is. In a world so often driven by power, money and success, we find the message of Jesus to be one that turns those things completely upside down. In Paul’s letter to the Romans he writes, ‘Let love be genuine, hate what is evil…’ A little later, ‘Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in Spirit, serve the Lord… rejoice in hope, be patie...