Tag: Matthew

Ash Wednesday: Conditions of the Heart

Ash Wednesday
3/5/25

Psalm 51
Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

Ash Wednesday can and should be a point of reflection; a time to step aside and ask ourselves deeper questions about life and faith. Where might we want to start? The entire season of Lent could be a time set aside for examination (if we never have) or the re-examination (if we already do regularly) of our hearts. Our hearts need to be guarded for they are the well-spring of life, everything you do flows from it (Proverbs 4:23).

You might already be asking yourself: how does the heart have anything to do with Ash Wednesday? If you noticed in the special liturgy this morning – there is a lot of mention of the heart. We are to take heart, we have already asked for new and contrite hearts, we will soon confess for not loving God with our whole heart and we are to avoid hardness of heart.

The Heart, biblically speaking, is a metaphor for the inner life; it is the seat of our physical, spiritual and mental life. It is the place where we store wisdom.

Jesus tells us in Matthew 15 that what comes out of the heart makes us unclean – evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. He is very concerned with the condition of our hearts. They need to be clean and free of the rubbish that builds up because everything we do flows out of it.

This is why I brought my stethoscope this morning/evening. This was the first big purchase I made when I started my nurses’ training. We all had to have one. I worked on a ward that required us to use them daily; they weren’t just accessories. A stethoscope is used to check the heart sounds and blood pressure along with other bodily noises.

One of the difficulties with the heart is that it is (or should be) always moving. I am going to relate the physical heart to the spiritual heart. Your heart beats constantly; has been beating since before you were born. For some of you that is a very long time! The heart needs to be beat within certain parameters to ensure that it is working correctly: a certain number of beats/minute and in a particular rhythm.

Sometimes the heart moves too quickly: this is tachycardia. The heart muscles work too fast and blood is not circulated in an efficient way. People with tachycardia feel terrible; they get anxious as they don’t get enough oxygen. They can also have a feeling of impending doom – again from not getting enough oxygen to their lungs and brain. The heart can’t maintain a fast pace indefinitely.

Sometimes the heart beats too slowly: this is bradycardia. The heart becomes sluggish, blood backs up into the rest of the body. People become puffy, they feel sleepy and exhausted. They don’t get enough oxygen and it makes them lethargic as the heart is not working efficiently.

The ideal state of the heart is to function normally; this is called sinus rhythm. This is regular, even beats of 60-100 per minute. The heart muscles work at their most efficient in this range neither too fast nor too slow.

Ash Wednesday and Lent can be used as a time to find our sinus rhythm again if our hearts have been too fast or too slow. Our lives, like our hearts, don’t stop. We need them to force ourselves to step aside, have a look and listen to what is going on. In the slings and arrows of everyday living and in the dust and ashes of Lent; there are our hearts.

This is what Matthew means about practising your piety before others in order to be seen by them. To rend our hearts is to tear up the interior, identify those things that need to be removed.

Return to God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relents from punishing – we are told again to return to God, take the pieces of our hearts to him. He is the only one that can put our hearts back together. God is the ultimate jigsaw expert! He can put it back together however many pieces there are. He will do it graciously, mercifully and with abounding love.
Why do we need to do all this?

Because there is the final heart condition – this is called asystole. The absence of a heartbeat. On all the medical TV shows it is known as a ‘flat line’.

With no beating heart there is no way for blood to deliver glucose and oxygen to your brain and organs. Life stops at this point. This will happen to all of us one day physically – our final physical state will be asystole. This stethoscope has been used many times to confirm asystole.

We can also have spiritual asystole. That is when we don’t return to God, we choose to walk our own ways, do things that cause ourselves and others weeping and mourning. This is the result of keeping our hearts to ourselves.

We are to quite rightly guard our hearts. This does not mean that we stop anything and everything for entering your heart. A heart that doesn’t move – has no life in it! Asystole!

We are to watch and monitor what goes into our hearts – stop the things that will damage the condition of our hearts or interrupt its beats. This can be all manner of things – what we eat or drink, watch or listen to (this can be people around us, tv, internet). At times we need to take a break to see what the effect on us is. That is what the fasting of Lent is for. In their absence we are to turn to God in prayer. Especially when the absence is noticeable! We are not to wrestle in misery or denial. Instead turn or return to God.

If you decide to come forward for ashes this morning, you are in good company. We all fall short of the glory of God – but this isn’t a fatal condition unless we choose to ignore what has been picked up here, in our hearts and decide not to return them to God.

The sign of the ashes is admitting that we have work to do, we have a heart that needs some repair. By admitting this corporately we know that: 1) We are not alone 2) As brothers and sisters in Christ we can support each other in prayer through Lent knowing that we are all working through our heart conditions and 3) We are in good company – none of us are perfect!

This isn’t false piety if we come to rail ready to receive and then go ‘to our rooms’ to meet with God. It is in these places where we can begin to store up our treasure in heaven – the place where it will be safe. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Amen.

Epiphany: The Arrival


Isaiah 60:1-6
Ephesians 3:1-12
Matthew 2:1-12

O God, we give you thanks because,
in the carnation of the Word,
a new light has dawned upon the world,
that all the nations and peoples may be brought out of darkness
to see the radiance of your glory. Amen.

Despite our Gospel reading this morning, the Christmas season is about to come to an end as Epiphany begins. This new season begins with the arrival of the Wise Men which may be decidedly Christmas in our heads. Over the next couple of weeks we will see epiphany moments and stories in the baptism of Jesus, the wedding in Cana and as Jesus begins his public ministry.

This morning I thought we should have a slow-read through the first Epiphany story. It is only Matthew who includes the visitation of the Wise Men or Magi from the East.

What does Epiphany mean? It is ‘a moment of great or sudden revelation or realisation.’ I am not sure if you have had an epiphany moment but they are quite extraordinary! Those moments when some new idea, knowledge or thought blows through your mind and you suddenly and sometimes drastically see the world, people, and a situation in a totally new way. Epiphany moments can cause a fundamental change in one’s life.

Epiphany moments are not always dramatic affairs. They can happen in a quiet moment when you know that something has changed in your mind or in your heart.

I grew up in the church: Sunday School every week, my parents were very involved in the church, I sang (badly) in the choir, and was in various youth groups. I knew about Jesus but I did not know Jesus.

A major epiphany moment occurred as I was eating lunch in a dry field on a very hot July day at Ephesus, in Turkey. A few hours before this I was struck by the understanding that St Paul had been at Ephesus and had written the letter to the Ephesians. I was where the Bible was. I had always seen it as a book, a story; but to be where the Bible took place blew me away! I began to think that if the Bible happened in a real place then maybe God and Jesus were more real than I thought they were.

By lunchtime, with all these thoughts rolling around my head, I had this sudden wave of peace and a sense of relief from all the grief and anger that I had been carrying around from the previous year and a half. I walked out of Ephesus that day totally different from how I walked in. I have never been the same since.

Matthew begins the Epiphany story ‘in the time of King Herod.’ If you are a fan of the soaps like Corrie or East Enders, you will love The Herod’s. This family played an important part in the political setting of Jesus’ ministry. Several of them are mentioned in the Gospels along with a group known as the Herodians.

The Herodians were from a region that was forcibly converted to Judaism about 127 BCE. The male Herod’s were a talented bunch; they were political power-players who won favour with the Romans. They were also gifted at military strategy; Herod’s father held the post equivalent to Chancellor of the Exchequer.

This Herod became the military governor of Galilee when he was 25, his skills and talents made him friends with the likes of Julius Caesar, Mark Antony, Cleopatra and Caesar Augustus.

These relationships brought him more land and his kingdom grew. Herod’s reign (for part of it) was a time of stability, prosperity and splendour. He founded cities, buildings and most notably rebuilt the temple in Jerusalem.

When we meet Herod in Matthew chapter two, he is about 70 years old and roughly two years away from his death. Herod is in a state of emotional and psychological deterioration as he became increasingly paranoid and mistrusting; so much so that he had 3 of his 15 children executed. These 15 children came from the 10 wives he had. Herod is said to have died a painful death from kidney disease and gangrene.

This is the Herod that the wise men from the East met when they arrived in Jerusalem. Where did they come from? Persia, Babylon or maybe Arabia. Not sure. They are presumed to be Gentiles (so not Jewish) and come to represent the best wisdom of the Gentile world; they are the spiritual elites.

Herod is frightened by the arrival of the Wise Men. The news of a new ‘King of the Jews’ has rocked his world. Herod had had this inscribed on his coins and to claim this title was treason. The title ‘King of the Jews’ was also on the cross of Jesus at the crucifixion. Herod had the title on his money; Jesus on the cross.

Who do you think the real king is here? This is Herod’s epiphany moment; he is not the real King of the Jews! Herod sends the Wise Men to Bethlehem with his made-up story that he wants to pay homage too. Herod is making an attempt to destroy Israel’s true king by employing foreign magi (oh foreign workers forever causing problems!) but they only bring honour to the king’s rival – Jesus.

The Wise Men were obedient. This was a new thought to me. They followed the star even though they did not know where it would take them or what it meant but they followed it anyway. It made me think about what and who I follow.

Am I fully obedient to what God is calling me to do? Even if I am not sure where it will lead? How far out of my way do I go to meet Jesus? Would I follow a star?

We know that the star that went before the Wise Men and came to rest over the place where Jesus was born was not an ordinary star. Sometimes you need some imagination to help picture these things. This star does not stay still but moves as a guide.

Finally, the epiphany moment comes, notice it starts to happen before they even lay eyes on Jesus. Simply the promise of him seems to be enough. It is when the star stops moving, Matthew tells us the Wise Men ‘were overwhelmed with joy.’ When was the last time you were overwhelmed with joy?

Does the thought of Jesus bring you joy? If not – why not? What is missing? Maybe at the start of this new year it is time to ask for your own epiphany?

The Wise Men entered the house, overwhelmed by joy and knelt down before Jesus. They opened their treasure-chests and offered him gifts.

Gold – to show He was a king.
Frankincense – to show He deserved to be worshipped.
Myrrh – this is a strange gift to give a baby. Myrrh was used at the time when someone died. Jesus was the baby who would grow up and rescue us by dying in our place.

These were gifts of substantial financial value and the Wise Men expected to find what they were looking for at a royal court. Perhaps win favour there, but they were not disappointed with what they received.

What do we bring to God this morning? The Wise Men brought the best of what they had. Do we present our best? The best of our time, the first of our money, the greatest of our love, the first of our thanks? This is not to point out any deficiencies as I often get the order wrong myself.

The whole of the Christmas story from Mary & Joseph, the birth of Jesus, the message of the angels to the shepherds and their arrival at the stable to King Herod and the Wise Men – is a story of Epiphany. Great moments of realisation that do not leave us the same.

When we present ourselves to God, remember this is the most valuable thing we have and this is the only thing that He wants. You are more precious to Him to gold, frankincense and myrrh. When we encounter God we are never the same again. Thank God for that!

Amen.

Christmas 1: Holy Innocents

29/12/24
Christmas 1 – Year C
Jeremiah 31:15-17
Matthew 2:13-18

It is still Christmas! Don’t put away the tree just yet. As a religious professional, I am grateful that there is a season to Christmas past the one day. I get a chance to enjoy and celebrate too – once the work is done. Many of my clergy friends, when asked, claim that for them Christmas starts on Boxing Day. Some people will keep Christmas going until Epiphany, celebrating the Twelve Days of Christmas. Some may even go all the way to Candlemas on February 2nd.

As the Christmas season continues Matthew gives us a bigger vision of the reality into which Jesus was born. A world that was dangerous, violent, people were oppressed by a tyrannical government and an unstable leader. Little wonder we stop telling the Christmas story at the nativity!

Fleecy lambs, singing angels and the tiny baby Jesus in the manger are far more preferable Christmas card scenes than dead babies. The account that we read this morning is shocking, it is gross, and it still happens today in some corners of the world where war still ravages. The baby Jesus, like many babies today, was born into fear and prejudice; deprivation and injustice.

There is very little information in the Gospels about Jesus’ baby/childhood. There is only this passage in Matthew and Luke’s account of Jesus in the temple in Jerusalem around 12 years of age. We might not know much about Jesus as a child but we can learn something from the adults that are around him.
The first adult is Joseph. The whole of the Christmas story hangs on Joseph’s attitude to Mary and her baby. Without him the whole story could have faltered and failed.

I came across an amusing story while I was writing an Advent sermon a couple of years ago.

A little boy had once been cast as the innkeeper in the school nativity play, but he’d desperately wanted to be Joseph. He brooded about it for weeks. The day of the performance came. Joseph and Mary came in and knocked at the door of the inn. The innkeeper opened the door a fraction. ‘Can we come in?’ said Joseph, ‘My wife’s pregnant.’ The innkeeper hadn’t brooded for weeks for nothing.

He flung open the door, beamed at Joseph and Mary and said, ‘Of course you can come in; we’ve plenty of space; you can have the best room in the hotel.’

There was a pause.

Joseph showed his true quality. He said to Mary, ‘Hold on Mary, I’ll have a look around first.’ He peered past the innkeeper, shook his head and said firmly, ‘I couldn’t take my wife into a place like that. Come on, Mary, we’ll sleep in the stable round the back.’ The story was back on course! (John Pritchard, Living the Gospel Stories Today)

What we learn from Joseph is the risk of acceptance. He could have so easily rejected Mary and the child for the shame they brought on him. But he didn’t.

Part of the risk of acceptance includes having to flee with Mary and Jesus to Egypt to protect them from Herod and his murderous rampage on small children. Joseph acted immediately; we could assume this dream came to him at night. This little family was evidently poor so not a lot of packing time was needed.

Joseph, Mary and Jesus became refugees. If you know the Old Testament, Egypt was a place of asylum (for good and bad) for the Jewish people for thousands of years. Joseph fled from his home, his safety, his convenience (he was a carpenter) for the sake of his family.

I know that many of you as parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts & uncles, godparents would go to great lengths to protect the children that you love. We are fortunate to live in parts of the world where having to flee for the safety of your children is far removed.

We must protect our children from the dangers of the First World: excessive screen time, allergies, bullies, creeps on the internet and becoming over-entitled, indulged little monsters. We need to protect their innocence for as long as we can. We may not have to flee the country but we have our own challenges to face.

The second adult this morning is the baddie in this story, King Herod the Great. However he was not great. Herod had three of his own sons killed, the sons and grandsons that succeeded him were just as evil as he was. Herod the Tetrarch ordered the beheading of John the Baptist and was present at Jesus’ trial. Herod King Agrippa murdered James (Jesus’ brother) and tried to murder Peter. The other King Agrippa bantered with Paul while he was in prison.

Herod the Great had been declared ‘King of the Jews’ decades before Jesus was born. He believed that he was the one true king. It was the magi, the wisemen who alerted Herod to the birth of the new king of the Jews when they came to him to find the baby. He was suspicious and insecure enough as it was before the news that the new king had been born.

In an attempt to shore up his own power, he ordered the killing of the babies and toddlers of Bethlehem. It is estimated, as Bethlehem was a small town, that around 20 children were killed. Herod sensed a threat to his power and took brutal action against it.

The story of the Holy Innocents is not an easy piece of the Bible to read and reflect on. Nor should it be. Christmas might not be over but the sentimentality is! We need to protect the innocence of children who do not belong to us. There are still families all over the world who are fleeing war and persecution. Parents taking their children and seeking a better life. As Christians, God is pretty clear on how we are to treat actual refugees.

On this day of Holy Innocents, there are two positions to take. That of Joseph – risking life, limb and convenience for the sake and protection of his child. Or that of Herod; maintaining power and control at any cost with the sacrificing of children.

A priest friend Alison ended her Holy Innocents sermon with this:

Christmas time is when Christians celebrate the birth of the Christ child, as Emmanuel, that translates as God with Us; there would have been no point in Christ arriving in comfort when the whole world is in misery; no point in having an easy life when the world suffers violence and injustice, where right from the very beginning of his earthly life, Jesus shares in our sorrows as well as our joys.
The birth of Christ signals the very moment of heaven coming to earth; that moment when God becomes a human being, sharing flesh and blood and suffering with his people.

And it presents us with a pivotal moment to reflect on where pain and suffering may be in our own and other people’s lives. This same scarred and wounded world is the world into which Jesus was born, the world he came to save.


Harvest Sunday Meditation

St Nicholas & Emmanuel
6/10/24

Matthew 6:25-33

When you came into church today you were given a leaf. I would like you to take that leaf in your hand now. Harvest is a time of year for us to stop and notice. We live in a different time from our ancestors whose lives would have been dominated by harvest. Today we hardly notice it except for seeing some combine harvesters in the fields around Charlwood and Sidlow Bridge. We carry on with our lives as if nothing is changing although the creation all around us is. Harvest is there in the calendar to make us stop and notice.

We move into autumn and the leaves are falling from the trees. Look at the leaf in your hand. What colour is it? Can you trace the veins on it? Does it have any unsightly marks or is it nearly perfect?

Now I want you to think back over the last year. How has it been for you this year? What have been the highlights, the best bits? What have been the difficult things?

Just like these leaves, all of us have had different experiences, different challenges this past year. Just like these leaves, each one of us is unique and each one is beautiful. God has written His beauty into creation. In our reading today we heard Jesus tell us that we should look at the flowers of the field. Stop and notice. See how God has made these leaves so beautiful, even though they will end up on the bonfire soon.

Matthew 6 is part of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. It is clear that worry was of great concern to people 2000 years ago and it still is today. It is likely that we worry about similar things too. Jesus is speaking to the practical needs of food, drink, clothing and housing. Jesus is trying to give his listeners some perspective on their worries, and give them a bigger picture of life. Life is more than food and the body more than clothing. We are of value to God, we are special to Him. More than the birds and he looks after them.

Can you add any hours to your life by worrying? Jesus says, if God cares that much to make something as insignificant as a leaf on a tree so beautiful, how much more does God care for you? So Jesus says we shouldn’t be rushing around worrying about everything. We need to stop, notice, stay calm and remember that as sure as the seasons are coming and changing, we can trust that new life will come out of death. We know that all our trees will soon look dead but in the new year, new life will come. This is God’s promise to us.

Today is an opportunity to reflect and give thanks for all the good things in our lives. Especially the way in which the earth produces food for us to eat. We can give thanks to all those who work to produce food and drink for us to enjoy. We can say sorry for the times we are not grateful, when we do not notice God’s work in the world, and do not look after the things God has given us.

Look at your leaf again. I want you to think of one thing that you are grateful for. Hold that thought and thank God in your heart. In this season we see the trees letting go of their leaves, letting them fall to the ground. What we are going to do now is pass around a basket in which you can place your leaf. When you do this I want you to think of one thing that you need to let go of.
It might be a resentment against a person or situation, or something that you have been worrying about too much. Let us take a moment of quiet again.

By giving it to God as we remember that he knows the number of hairs on our head, he knows all the things we’re worried about.

Sunday Before Advent: Christ the King

26/11/23
Christ the King

Ezekiel 34:11-16,20-24
Matthew 25:31-46

God the Father,
help us to hear the call of Christ the King
and to follow in his service,
whose kingdom has no end;
for he reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, one glory.
Amen.

Today is the final Sunday of the church year; this is New Year’s Eve! Happy New Year!

This Sunday is a hinge that helps us to look in both directions: firstly pointing to the end of time when the kingdom of Jesus will be established in all its fullness to the ends of the earth. Secondly, it points us to the immediate season of Advent, the beautiful time of expectation and preparation as we look ahead to celebrating the birth of Jesus. In both directions we are reminded that Jesus is King.

Christ the King is a recent addition (1925 so very new) to the church calendar and a Roman Catholic one at that! Pope Pius XI instituted this Sunday in response to issues he was facing in the Catholic church and in the civic life of Rome as secularism was growing in wider society after World War 1.

There was an enormous crisis of faith and many people left the Church (both Catholic & Protestant) in Europe in the wake of the First World War. The men had left for war and they did not come back; and the women left the church and God. This context led the Pope to establish Christ the King Sunday as a reminder of Jesus’ power and authority above all else.

The Bible is full of reference to kingship. In the Old Testament, God warned the Israelites about the dangers of a human king but they insisted. God yielded and Saul was anointed as the first king of Israel. In the New Testament, the earliest followers of Jesus were looking for him to be a king who would smite their enemies and bring Israel back to prosperity. Again a need for a very human king.

However, both the Old & New Testaments offer a vision of a king like a shepherd. The sheep are a metaphor to represent the people of Israel. They are God’s flock and they are a mix of strong and weak sheep.

Sheep are not the brightest animals in creation, they are not able to take care of themselves the way other animals can, you cannot teach them tricks, they need a lot of care and attention and they need to be guided. Hence the need for shepherds.

God acts as the shepherd for his people; he will search and seek out the lost, the lonely and the oppressed. He brings back the strays, strengthens the weak, binds up the injured. He feeds them, he will make them lie down – 23rd Psalm anyone? This is a picture of a King who gets deeply involved with his mixed flock of strong and weak out of deep love and concern.

Both readings present a King who judges as there is inequality in the flock. There are both strong and weak sheep living together. The strong are not looking after the weak the way that they should. The fat sheep are the ones who butted the weaker animals, took their food, and tread down the pastures for their own gain. The fat took advantage of the lean by mistreating them and will be punished for this.

Regarding judgement, we need to hold on to some important truths: God does not judge the same way we do. I am very glad of that. God judges out of love; not hate or pride or envy. For this King love and judgement go together. We need to remember that we will be judged by the same standards that we judge others.
We all make judgements every day. I also know that the standards that I hold myself to are far less than the standards I hold other people to.

We do need a God of judgement; otherwise He quickly becomes ineffectual and untrustworthy. If God did not judge between the two what is He saying?

To the fat sheep: you can do whatever you like to serve yourself without consequence. I do not love you so I will ignore what you do.

To the lean sheep: you are not worthy of help. I do not love you enough to want to help you. You are on your own.

This is similar to the picture of judgement in Matthew’s Gospel. The separation of sheep and goats seems to emphasise that ultimately every person on earth will be called to account for the use of the opportunities to serve others. It also suggests that there will be some surprises. People who did kind things for ‘insignificant people’ will find that what they did was done to God himself. Other people will be punished for failing to make use of opportunities to serve the lowly and thereby failing to serve God.

The world does not operate as it should. It does not take much imagination to work this out. We do not treat people as we should; whether that is the people next door or the people on the other side of the world. The injustice in the world is rampant: socially, politically, and economically. We have active global examples at present.

It is not all bad news though.

It might be helpful to hold that this is not the full picture of judgement. This passage only deals with works not grace, faith or the atoning work of Christ.
Works are the evidence on which people will be judged here, not the cause of salvation or damnation. It is common to all of scripture that we are saved by grace and judged by works. The works we do are the evidence of either the grace of God at work in us or of our rejection of that grace.

Out of love God wants the fat sheep to care for the lean sheep; to share food, protect them as he does. Love your neighbour as yourself! We will be judged on this. We have a King of love and of judgement. Whatever season of life we are in, we have a King who loves us and will defend us. This will come to pass at the end of time.

As we look ahead to the imminent Advent season, we celebrate the first coming of Jesus, the Son of God. Who was born into the world as both God and man, died so that our sins may be forgiven and rose again so that we may live with him forever. We also look forward to his glorious return at the end of time. Advent helps us to remember that God is present in the world today.

The Advent season falls at the darkest time of the year, and the natural symbols of darkness and light are powerfully at work throughout Advent and Christmas. We may live in dark times but the light of Christ will show us the way.

But we do have to wait. Wait with expectation and anticipation. We wait in the light of new hope. The King is Coming.