Category: Sermons

All Souls: Let Me Go

Sunday November 2nd, 2025

Lamentations 3 & John 5:19-24

Let Me Go 
Christina Rosetti 

When I come to the end of the road
And the sun has set for me
I want no rites in a gloom filled room
Why cry for a soul set free?

Miss me a little, but not for long
And not with your head bowed low
Remember the love that once we shared
Miss me, but let me go.

For this is a journey we all must take
And each must go alone.
It's all part of the master plan
A step on the road to home.

When you are lonely and sick at heart
Go the friends we know.
Laugh at all the things we used to do
Miss me, but let me go.

When I am dead my dearest
Sing no sad songs for me
Plant thou no roses at my head
Nor shady cypress tree

Be the green grass above me
With showers and dewdrops wet
And if thou wilt remember
And if thou wilt, forget.

I shall not see the shadows,
I shall not fear the rain;
I shall not hear the nightingale
Sing on as if in pain;

And dreaming through the twilight
That doth not rise nor set,
Haply I may remember,
And haply may forget.

In Church of England tradition, we come together over these few days at the beginning of November for a short season of remembrance. The Church has marked All Saints and All Souls for hundreds of years. It stems from the belief that there is a powerful spiritual bond between those in heaven and those living on earth. It is often said in my family that the dead sit at the dinner table long after they are gone.

This service offers us space and time to give thanks to God for the life and love that was shared, for the memories we carry and to ask for God’s help if we have unfinished business with those who have died. Not all our remembering will be of the good, sweet times as none of us are perfect and neither were they!

The only alternative to avoiding grief is to avoid love. To avoid the grief I feel over my person who has died means I would have had to forfeit the love and the relationship that we shared. We cannot have it both ways.

I was given Christina Rosetti’s poem Let Me Go earlier this year to read an ashes interment. Rosetti was an English writer of romantic, devotional and children’s poems in the 1800’s. Let Me Go was written in 1862 when she was in her early 30’s. The Rosetti’s by all accounts were cultured, educated and at the centre of London’s Victorian society. Christina and her three siblings all had notable careers in arts and literature. Her work has never gone out of fashion; Christina wrote In the Bleak Midwinter which we will soon sing again.

Like all families, the Rosetti’s had their struggles with finances and health; both physical and mental. Christina was known to suffer from depression, she had a heart condition and ultimately died of breast cancer. She stayed at home to care for her father while her siblings went out to work to support the family. She had her share of heartbreak too with three failed attempts at marriage. Christina’s expression of pain, loss and resignation are main themes in many of her poems.

In Let Me Go, we see all three (pain, loss and resignation) in the transition to the afterlife. There is a desire for a peaceful and undramatic departure, without excessive mourning or rituals. The poem emphasises the inevitability of death and the importance of embracing the journey as part of a larger plan. Christina, along with her parents and siblings, were greatly influenced by the Christian faith. For Christina, faith and art were at the centre of her life.

The message in Let Me Go – is that. Miss me a little and then let me go. Carry on living. Remember what was good, forget the rest. Remember but do not be sad for too long. The writer will no longer see the sad and the bad – so why should we? Haply I may remember, haply I may forget.

It is so hard to do. The writer of Lamentations has ‘forgotten what happiness and lost hope’. They likely witnessed the fall of Jerusalem around 587 BC and the horrors experienced by the Jewish people. It made me think of the people of Jamaica at this time.

Jerusalem was once the chosen city of God but has now fallen from grace because of bad behaviour. The enemies have taken over and the people who lived in Jerusalem have been exiled. The loss for the people is immense. The reading we have here is about the author’s own suffering; he believes that God has deliberately marked him out and is now not listening to his prayer. His peace is gone. Yet at his lowest point he remembers God’s steadfast love, hesed. Hesed is the love and mercy God has towards his people; it is a long-term and loyal love. It is love that never ends. It is new every morning.

The writer has experienced this love, not just with his head and his heart but in his very soul, in the marrow of his bones. ‘The Lord is my portion,’ he says. The Lord is enough for him.

The bereavement that we are facing is not the whole story. It might be a very big part of the story right now, might feel like it has taken over the whole story for a long time. I hope that our loved ones forget the sad and bad; they do not see the shadows or fear the rain or hear the nightingale or witness the destruction of their beloved city.

In John’s Gospel reading, Jesus is telling the disciples that everyone (even him) and everything (even death) is under God’s control. He can raise the dead. This is not just the physically dead; but John is suggesting that those people who are spiritually dead. There is something of a spiritual revolution going on; the Quiet Revival started in 2024 and young people are turning to the Bible and the church in huge numbers. It looks like there is a shift in spiritual attitudes in England and Wales.

God’s love is so great for his Son and for us. The idea is that God the loving father is showing Jesus the beloved Son all that he does and even greater things. Those who believed in Jesus would be treated by God in the same way that Jesus was. Jesus died and rose again and so will we.

Where does that leave us on a November afternoon in Charlwood at an All Souls service?

We are part of a long tradition of remembrance.
The spiritual bonds between those in heaven and those on earth are real – but maybe not quite the way we think
Love and mourning have no ending because they are tied up together
God’s hesed underpins everything
Letting go is part of the process – it is about living forward, not being held back. They have moved on and so should we.

Finally, we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses in the heavenlies and around us right now. All of us here have loved and lost. We can share God’s unending goodness and mercy. They are new every morning.

Bible Sunday: The Surprising Power!

26/10/25
Romans 15:1-6
Luke 4:16-24

A couple of years ago I had an interesting encounter at the Slough Police Station over a Bible. An officer was cleaning out a locker when she found a Bible. She did not know what to do with it. She came into the workroom where I was sitting and asked rather loudly what she should do with it.

Some of the answers are not repeatable in polite company, let alone church! The less offensive answers were ‘bin it – it’s a fairy tale anyway’; ‘take it to a charity shop?’; recycle it?’ One officer said something I shan’t repeat, as he said it, he turned around and saw me sitting there. He was completely shocked; I was looking rather bemused! He quickly tried to backtrack and apologise but then decided not to apologise because he believed what he said. Fair enough. I told him he did not have to apologise to me. I also did not rescue the Bible either as I was not asked for an opinion or to intervene. It sat on a filing cabinet for many months.

What I came out of that situation with was a fresh appreciation that even in a very hard, secular environment such as the Slough police station, the Bible has power. The book itself, just its presence is enough to elicit responses from people.

What do we make of the Bible? Do we just know a few quiz-like facts about it? It is a dust-collector on a bookshelf? Do the contents make us nervous? Are we unsure of how to handle it?

It is in God’s word that we encounter Him, the creator and saviour of the world. So how do we respond to God when we read the Bible? How do we treasure God and his word?

Emmanuel: I looked around the church yesterday when we were setting up for the quiz last night. I noticed something. There are no Bibles around. I am really embarrassed about this.

St Nicholas: We have a few ratty copies of the Good News Bible at the back.

Is this good enough?
I am going to suggest it is not.

I am going to suggest that the PCC’s talk about this at the next meetings.

The Bible was inspired by God for our instruction and encouragement that we might have hope. This was Paul’s explanation to the Romans. How can we know what God wants if we do not read the instructions? How can we be encouraged and have hope if we have no idea what God might be saying to us?

Luke has Jesus returning to Nazareth after being away for an unknown amount of time; maybe months or even years. Jesus returns differently to when He left. Jesus comes back after being baptised and tempted in the wilderness for 40 days and stands at the cusp of his ministry which boldly begins in the synagogue in front of the home side. A bold start that gets even bolder. Jesus is handed the scroll that not coincidentally was Isaiah, the Old Testament book containing more prophecy about him than any other. He is about to begin fulfilling some prophecy.

The congregation in the synagogue was not looking for anything out of the ordinary that day. The Jewish people had long been waiting for the Messiah to come. The good people in the relative backwater of Nazareth were waiting for Messiah too; but not expecting him that day in their midst. Not only that, how could Messiah be from the family of a local poor carpenter?!
But He was and is.

If you replace me in verses 18 and 19 with Jesus, it is difficult to see how anyone else in all of history fills this position.

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me (Jesus),
Because he has anointed me (Jesus)
To bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me (Jesus) to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.

This is Jesus’ chosen description of his mission; this is what He came to do. When Jesus said, ‘today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing’, the meaning of ‘fulfilled’ here is ‘to fill a vessel or hollow place’. How many of us know what it is to have that hollow place? He wants to fill it now; not tomorrow or next year or when we feel better or life is back to normal. Jesus means now.

Preach the good news to the poor. This is not referring to the financially poor. These poor are those in ‘utter helplessness, complete destitution, the afflicted and distressed.’ This has wider implications than finances alone. Jesus does not want us only to subsist but thrive. Until we let Him fill our cups daily, we will only subsist.

To heal the broken-hearted. Broken-hearted means ‘to break, strike against something, to break the strength or power of someone’. This is more than a little romance gone wrong or love unrequited. This is a big break; when everything appears to be taken and hope is dwindling.

The Hebrew translation of heal ‘to mend by stitching, repair thoroughly, make whole’. Total breakage needs total healing. One stitch follows another, it takes time and can be painful.

To proclaim freedom for the captives. Notice that Jesus proclaims freedom, he did not impose it. The door of the cell may be opened but we have to walk through it. This is not just people in a physical prison; this is anything: addiction, behaviour, situation that prevents healing and captive to it.

Recovery of sight for the blind. There are many incidents of Jesus physically restoring the sight of many blind people. This is a different kind of blindness, a more serious kind of blindness. Blind here means ‘to envelop with smoke, be unable to see clearly.’ This is about clouded vision; not being able to see the light of gospel or the glory of God. Jesus came to clear our vision so we can see him clearly.

To release the oppressed. To be oppressed is to be treated harshly or unfairly by someone in authority. This release is about breaking the chains of unhealthy attachment.

To proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour. That day in that year and at that time, those gathered in the Nazareth synagogue witnessed the embodiment of the Lord’s favour. His blessed gift of grace and love, Jesus. Year here means ‘any definite time’ and not a calendar year.

These are some of the instructions that we have been left with. They are in the book! We also find encouragement and hope, strength and wisdom to follow them. The question is: Are you curious enough to give reading the Bible a try that you would do something about it?

If we get more bibles in the churches would you take one home and start reading? There is a huge selection of books, apps, daily emails you can subscribe to and other resources to help guide you through. You do not have to do this on your own.

Like the surprised police officers in Slough and the synagogue-goers in Nazareth – there is power in the Word of God. We should want to discover it for ourselves.

Trinity 18: Attitude is Everything


19/10/25
Trinity 18

Psalm 119:97-104
2 Timothy 3:14-4:5
Luke 18:1-8

On Friday evening many of us attended the Farnham Maltings production of All For Your Delight at the Charlwood Village Hall. It is a charming and challenging story of three entertainers (Danny, Jojo and Yaz) on the resort-y, Butlins-y circuit who want to make it to television with their variety show of singing, dancing, games, skits, jokes, etc. Each character shares something of their story on how they got where they are. In the second act, a fourth character (Jude) appeared; a TV executive who held the power to make their dreams come true. Danny pleaded, persisted with Jude, tried to convince him to take this little show and make them stars.

In some ways it reminded me of the Gospel reading this morning, this odd little parable about faithful endurance. We have the judge with all the power and the woman, with no male relative to do her pleading at the bottom of the pecking order. By sheer persistence she gets what she wants. The judge, whose position is to administer justice, does not really care, he only wants her to go away.

Timothy needed a reminder to remain persistent. ‘Continue in what you have learned and firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it,’ says Paul.
Timothy has a sincere faith that has been handed down from his grandmother and mother. Yet it seems that Timothy needs a reminder to rekindle that faith that is inside him.

Timothy was to proclaim the message and ‘be persistent whether the time is favourable or unfavourable; convince, rebuke and encourage, with the utmost patience in teaching.’ Paul warns Timothy that a time is coming when people will not listen to sound doctrine but will have itching ears. Itchy ears are ears that only want to hear what they want to hear and always lead to trouble and separation. Timothy is to be faithful to the ministry he has been called to.

The thread in these readings is a call to persistence in the situations that we find ourselves. If you Google ‘persistence’ you can find a lot of catchy quotes such as:
‘Energy and persistence conquer all things’ – Benjamin Franklin
‘Persistence can grind an iron beam down into a needle’ – Chinese proverb
‘A river cuts through a rock not because of its power, but its persistence’
‘Thankfully, persistence is a great substitute for talent’ – Steve Martin

Persistence sounds like hard work! And it is. It is not always comfortable; it does not feel good or nice much of the time either. Looking around this morning I know that we could all tell our own stories of persistence in various situations. Sometimes when persistence has paid off and sometimes when it has not. What do we do then?

Jesus asks the disciples listening to his parable a question at the very end. What faith will the Son of Man find on earth when he comes? Which sort of attitude will He find among his followers upon his return?

The judge is faithless and only wants a comfortable and convenient life. He does the right thing this time – but what about next time? Jesus told his listeners about their need to pray always and not lose heart. Maybe this judge has lost heart. For those who have experienced this maybe you lost focus, direction, care and attention. Do the least amount required to get to the finish.

Or will we have the attitude of the widow? She is determined that the right thing be done and will not give up until she gets it. She has purpose and clarity, she is alive and aware of her needs and they are urgent. She is not concerned with her low status, she ignores the rules on how to approach the judge, she just goes on and on and on.

What is it going to be? Convenient and lazy or faithfulness and persistence? The choice is ours! Will we remain faithful?

At the end of All For Your Delight, Jude the TV executive does not make Danny, Jojo and Yaz stars. He does not give them what they so dearly desire. Instead, Jude is the one who makes the change. He sees where he has gone wrong. The great executive returns to the stage at the invitation of the others. Attitudes have changed.

Like Timothy, we all need a reminder to be faithful and persist in the work we have been called to do and to remember who is faithful to us. Look back to the early examples of faithfulness. Beware of losing heart and gaining cynicism and disregard. Hang in and hang on your purpose and keep coming to God.

Holy Cross Day


Numbers 21:4-9
John 3:13-17

Today we are remembering Holy Cross Day. This is a new one for me.

Helena, the mother of Emperor Constantine, discovered what many believed to be the empty tomb and true cross of Christ during a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. According to tradition, the discovery was made on September 14th, 330, and then, after the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was built on the site, it was dedicated on September 13th or 14th, 335. From as early as the seventh century, the Church commemorated September 14th each year with a Feast of the Holy Cross.

In the high Middle Ages, after the Norman conquest, the cross became a central feature of English church architecture. Both Cathedrals and parish churches were frequently laid out with a floor plan in the shape of a cross. Many churches also featured an elevated cross or crucifix at the entrance to the chancel called the Rood Screen.

At the English Reformation, Thomas Cranmer pruned the commemoration of the cross. On the one hand, he removed the Feast of the Holy Cross from the church’s official calendar, probably because it had become associated with doubtful relics and the sale of indulgences. On the other hand, Cranmer’s communion service emphasised the significance of the cross as the site of our Lord’s once-for-all sacrifice:

Almighty God our heavenly father, which of thy tender mercy didst give thine only son Jesus Christ, to suffer death upon the cross for our redemption, who made there (by his one oblation of himself once offered) a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction, for the sins of the whole world…

The Feast of the Holy Cross returned to Anglicanism in the 19th and 20th centuries through the Oxford and Liturgical Movements. And here we are today.

What does the cross mean to you?

Some of you will have one around your neck. You can see them in the tattoos of younger people; they tend to make an interesting conversation starter! Is the cross a sign and symbol of love, grace, faith or comfort? Originally it was a instrument of torture and brutality used by the Romans to kill. Jesus overturned that by dying on the cross and rising again.

John 3:16 which may be familiar to many of you, is Jesus speaking to Nicodemus. He was a Pharisee and leader of the Jews who came to see Jesus at night.

Like most religious people, Nicodemus believes, to some extent, that God is love. But he believes that God’s love is measured and sensible, and follows a set of rules. I think that many Christians today still follow this thinking.

They have reasoned that God’s love is reserved for really ‘good’ people, those who are nice or do good things or turn up to church on Sundays. This is true and untrue as God’s love is for everyone despite our perceived and actual goodness and badness.

Nicodemus is confused about Jesus and where he fits; Jesus is not playing by the conventional Jewish rules that Nicodemus and his fellow Pharisees are expecting. This could be why Nicodemus pays him a visit – to get Jesus to fill in the proper forms, tick the right boxes.

Jesus then makes the crucial link between his own forthcoming death and the full benefits of the gospel. This comes through the deliverance of believers from death through the gift of eternal life which will become possible through his death.

This eternal life is a new quality of life, made only possible through the love of God, which is shown in the astonishing fact that he loves the world so much that his only Son should die for it.

John 3:16 – This very familiar verse. It is the first one I remember learning as a child. When I think of verses – it often comes to mind first as it is so ingrained. But do I really know what it means – the massive significance that gets lost or overlooked with over-familiarisation.

John 3:16 sets out what it means to be a Christian; it sums up the essence of what Christianity is.

What is that?

An invitation to join God the Father, Jesus the Son and the Holy Spirit in the unfathomable richness of God’s love. To join in their being and doing. This is the invitation that Jesus extended to Nicodemus that night and continues to extend to us today.

This all came through the cross. Salvation comes from the cross. This is where we need to look.

The story of Moses in the wilderness happened around approximately 1400 BC. Moses and the Israelites are in the desert and life is hard. The food is bad, they are bored with the manna and quail. Water appears to have run out. As punishment, God sent them serpents to bite them. The Israelites ask for forgiveness for speaking out against God and Moses. God then instructs Moses to make a serpent out of bronze. To look at the bronze snake and live.

As an aside, the symbol of the serpent/snake on a pole on the side of ambulances comes from this story. It is tied to Asclepius, the ancient Greek god of medicine and the benevolent, healing properties of snakes, with the shedding of a snake’s skin also representing renewal. You’ll see it on ambulances, equipment, and other emergency services materials to signify medical care. Look for the serpent and live.

Jesus reminds Nicodemus of this story; except this time Jesus is going to be the one lifted up. We are to look to him to be saved, to live. And not just live for a few more years but to live into eternity.

The final appearance of Nicodemus is after the crucifixion. Joseph of Arimathea has asked Pilate for Jesus’ body. Nicodemus is the one who brings them myrrh and aloes for the preparation of the body. Joseph and Nicodemus take Jesus’ body from the cross, wrap it with the spices in linen cloth according to burial custom and they lay him in the tomb. Nicodemus saw the cross close up; he would have touched it, felt the roughness of it, maybe got blood on his hands or robes. Maybe even pulled the spikes out of it through Jesus’ wrists and ankles. The cross would not have been a comfort at that moment.

Nicodemus would have had to reconcile the saving power of the cross with his experience of removing Jesus’ body from it. He would need to find a way to believe that Jesus being lifted up meant eternal life. That the invitation into a relationship with God the Father, Jesus the Son and the Holy Spirit was real and needed accepting.

As we look at the cross again today – we look for love, grace, help, healing and salvation. This is the greatest gift we have ever received. Look to the cross and live.

Trinity 11: Watch Where You Sit!

Pieter Bruegel the Elder, The Peasant Wedding (1567)

31/8/25

Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16
Luke 14:1,7-14

Today is the second anniversary of my move to Charlwood. I cannot quite believe it either! What an honour to be sat in this distinguished place. Thank you for your love, service and prayers over this time. You certainly have mine.

We are continuing with Hebrews and Luke this morning.

Hebrews is something of an oddity in the New Testament. The author has never been confirmed and the audience is unknown. Who were the Hebrews? A new church, a group of people in a city somewhere? Is this a letter or a series of sermons? The letter was likely written between 50-90 AD by someone who knew their audience and circumstances. This was likely a new-ish Christian community who had broken away from Judaism and were trying to establish themselves as a new community.

There are some struggles in the community: they have been persecuted and some members have been imprisoned. They were generous to fellow Christians in need (10:32-34). However, there is something wrong in this community. The writer is telling the Hebrews to imitate its former leaders and get along with the current ones (13:7,17). This suggests they were inclined to go their own way. They were following ‘strange’ teachings (13:9) and had stopped meeting together (10:25).

Worst of all was that they had stopped growing as Christians (5:11-12). The writer accused them of lazy discipleship (6:12). He begs them to persevere (10:36), to hold on to hope (10:23) and to not drift away (2:1) or shrink back (10:37-39) in their faith. The writer provides a list of the ‘heroes of the faith’ for inspiration. The people of the Old Testament who did amazing things for God despite their shortcomings and imperfections. Good news for us then!

In the final chapters, after the writer has warned the Hebrews about the dangers of deafness towards God, he points them to Jesus as the ultimate example of faith in the face of hostility.

Finally, the Hebrews are given a list of ethical instructions on a variety of issues. Let mutual love continue, do not neglect hospitality to strangers, kindness for prisoners, honour marriage, do not love money, be content with what you have.

Most importantly, say with confidence that the Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.

What a world it would and could be if this was taken seriously. What would our lives look like if we took this seriously for ourselves? The Lord is our helper. Sometimes the lessons are hard and the learning takes a long time. We need frequent reminders sometimes.

Jesus’ parable of the guests at a wedding banquet is just such a reminder about where we should place ourselves.

Think for a moment about your favourite place to sit? Are you sitting in ‘your pew’ this morning? Or maybe a time when you were in a seat of honour? Bumped up to first class? What did you do to get yourself there? Adults can sometimes confuse place in society, church with an identity of self-importance and entitlement.

A couple of weeks ago I was invited to jump into Fire One for an emergency call at Gatwick during a fire service visit. This is the command vehicle driven by Incident Commander who makes the decisions about what will happen – if anything does happen.

I was delighted, a little bit excited and terrified all at the same time. We listened to various radio calls between the flight deck and control tower. We made our own speculations and as we watched the plane land safely. Thankfully!

Then drove very fast down the taxiway on blue lights. I reflected after that not everyone gets invited into that seat. If the chaplain was in any way an operational risk or distraction or flappable, she would have been invited to make another cup of tea in the station and await their return.

While the temptation was to think well of myself and abilities; I found myself rather humbled by that experience and the relationships that I am establishing.

From Debie Thomas, ‘So, Jesus warned the dinner guests — be careful where you sit, and what you wish for; it might reveal more about yourself than you think.
He then turned from the guests to the hosts. He commented on what we might call the law of reciprocity. When most of us host a dinner party, we invite people whom we most enjoy, who are pretty much like us, those whose presence in our house might flatter us. In fact, Jesus observed, there’s a decent chance these people will reciprocate and invite you to their party, which is exactly what you hope.
But as he did with the guests, so with the hosts, Jesus turned the tables. Instead of those whom we would most likely invite — “your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbors, ” Jesus challenges us to host those whom we are least likely to invite — “the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind.”
Just as he warned the guests, Jesus warned the hosts: be careful about your invitation list. Like your seating preferences, it says something about your deepest identity.
Jesus warned both guests and hosts, “Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

I think this is a good place to end our summer series as we begin to turn towards the autumn season. This is often a season of fresh starts. Jesus offers us fresh starts everyday. Amen! There are some great takeaways from Hebrews: Run with perseverance the race that is set before us.

Remember those who lived by faith and did not receive what was promised. Jesus is the author and perfecter of our faith. We do not have to have a photo finish, Jesus will run alongside us, cheering us on to the finish line. As Christians need to be clear and honest about the faith we profess. Yes, there is joy in the Christian life. Yes, there is beauty. Yes, there is the promise of love, wholeness, healing, and grace.

Yet the life of faith is also hard and risky. The life of faith does not ever guarantee us health, wealth, prosperity, or safety. To suggest otherwise is to lie, and to make a mockery of the Gospel. Above all, the Lord is our helper, we need not be afraid.