Sermon for the Fourth Sunday after Trinity – morning
Sunday 9th July 2017
Zechariah 9. 9-12
Matthew 11. 16-19, 25-30
Revd Preb Maureen Hobbs
“All things have been handed over to me … “ and now I have to hand all things over to our worthy Churchwardens, Gena and Iain as next Saturday – all being well, I shall be admitted to hospital for my knee replacement operation. Not that I shall abandon you entirely, because I promise that I will hold you (and them) very much in my prayers for the next few weeks. And I know I will be in yours…
Please be kind to the Churchwardens and to Ken. Inevitably they will be left – if not holding the baby (we will have visiting clergy coming to take any baptisms and weddings!) – they will certainly be holding the parish for the next couple of months or so while I recuperate and hopefully regain my mobility.
But we are much blessed in this parish. We have many, many people who are capable and knowledgeable about many aspects of church life and the Bible. You may be sitting there thinking, “well, not me!” but I bet that all of you – if you had to – could find something to say about our weekly readings.
So if – as may happen during the summer – we are unable to find any ordained person to come and take your service (there are fewer of them around than there used to be, and many will be on holiday too!) – it will not be the end of the world. I have already encouraged Iain and Gena and Ken to ask you all to help out and chip in with your ideas of what the Gospel is saying to you. And I bet you would find it a really interesting thing to do.
For example, in today’s Gospel, Jesus says, “I thank you Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.” So you see, even the youngest amongst us may well have some understanding or insight that could astound us all.
I was reminded yesterday that the word ‘ministry’ comes from a root meaning to serve. So when we say that ministry is shared among us, we are saying that we exist to serve, to care for, to nourish each other – and isn’t that a wonderful picture of a Christian congregation, of a Christian family?
Have any of you been watching the drama series ‘Broken’ on BBC, written by Jimmy McGovern? I can warmly recommend it to you. At the risk of spoiling it for those who have still to watch it, I will tell you that each episode features a Catholic Priest, ministering (serving) to his community in a northern city centre and trying to reconcile the misery and poverty and suffering that he sees around him with the Christ he tries to follow. And of course, like all clergy, he is himself a complex, damaged, ‘broken’ individual. He tries to do his best, but is always conscious of the many ways he fails. As a man, as a friend, as a son, as a priest. Not that it is all doom and gloom – there are some good bits of Scouse humour included too, but always with a darker edge to it.
By the last episode he is very nearly ready to jack it all in, leave the priesthood, feeling a complete fraud and hypocrite; and yet, and yet. “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”
Father Michael Kerrigan does find at the end that the yoke is easier than he thought, and the burden is much lighter…. but only when he begins to receive trust and affirmation from his congregation. When they begin ministering to him at the very moment when he is distributing the communion to them. It is a wonderful bit of writing and acting; a story of forgiveness and ultimate redemption, and I can well imagine that we might use the drama series as a Lent course at some time – it would certainly lend itself to that…. anyone agree with me?
We meet together as Christians in this place, this community, to serve and nourish each other; to worship God and to receive his care and his nourishment in word and sacrament; through our study of the Bible; through our prayers; through singing together and especially through the bread and wine of communion. Not one of us has all the answers – certainly not me, or Paul, or Ken… but together; working together, talking together, praying together, eating and drinking together, caring for each other, we become stronger and together we get a little bit closer to being the people God would have us be. And that process is intended – not to be a burden or difficult – but to bring us joy and laughter and fun.
So I wish you a summer of fun – you will have plenty of variety that is for certain and I hope that in the Autumn I will be able to rejoin you and maybe find that more of you have begun to find your voice and grow in confidence to share your thoughts and inspiration. So that we may truly be a priesthood of all believers.
Thanks be to God.
Amen.