{"id":1603,"date":"2018-04-15T21:22:25","date_gmt":"2018-04-15T21:22:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pattinghamchurch.org.uk\/web\/?page_id=1603"},"modified":"2018-04-15T21:23:34","modified_gmt":"2018-04-15T21:23:34","slug":"sermon-15th-april-2018-evening","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.pattinghamchurch.org.uk\/web\/information\/sermons\/sermon-15th-april-2018-evening\/","title":{"rendered":"Sermon – 15th April 2018 – evening"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sermons index<\/a><\/p>\n

Third Sunday of Easter – evening<\/h1>\n
\n

Sunday 15th April 2018<\/h3>\n

Easter 3 – evening
\n
\nDeut. 7. 7-13
\nRev. 2. 1-11<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Revd Preb Maureen Hobbs<\/p>\n

\n

\"MaureenWhen St Paul visited Ephesus, in about AD52, it was a huge city by their standards \u2013 population estimated at a quarter of a million \u2013 the capital of the Province of Asia in what we know as Turkey.<\/p>\n

Paul left behind there a small Christian Community, one of the seven churches to which letters are addressed by the Risen Christ in the book of Revelation. Persecution and imprisonment was foretold for them, and they were encouraged to be \u201cfaithful until death\u201d.<\/p>\n

Ephesus is also the location for a wonderful legend, the tale of the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus. Anyone heard this before? It is not in the Bible, so we do not need to treat it as anything other than a legend, but it is one of the great stories of world literature, and we can enjoy it as such. It was first found in the writings of a Syrian bishop who lived from 450 to 521, based on an earlier Greek original, and has since been quoted by many different writers.<\/p>\n

The story goes that seven youths who lived in Ephesus during the reign of the pagan Emperor Decius, in about 250, were tortured until they admitted to being Christians.<\/p>\n

They were offered their freedom if they would renounce their faith and become pagans. Here the story resonates with the suffering of many Christians in the Middle East and Africa even today. When they refused to do so, they fled the prison and hid in a cave outside the city, where they fell asleep.<\/p>\n

The Emperor gave the order for the cave opening to be walled up as a punishment for being Christians. There they slept on for 180 years. Then the farmer who owned the land broke open the cave, intending to make it a cattle pen. But the Seven Sleepers woke up, thinking they had been asleep for only a day or so.<\/p>\n

It was now the reign of the Christian Emperor Theodosius II, and Christianity had become the established religion of the empire. The seven sent one of their number with some money they had with them to buy food. He was amazed to see many buildings with crosses boldly placed on them \u2013 since he imagined that Christianity was still a forbidden faith. The shopkeepers were astonished to be paid in ancient coins from the reign of the Emperor Decius. The local bishop interviewed all seven, and then, the story says, they died praising God.<\/p>\n

They were buried in the cave (so the farmer never got his cattle pen!) and a chapel was built over it. Roman Catholics and Orthodox honour them as hundreds of saints and pilgrims go to visit the chapel and the Christian catacombs beside it, which were used for hundreds of burials in the following centuries. The site was discovered and restored in 1927 \u2013 what a story!<\/p>\n

And of even more interest, this tale also appears in the Qur\u2019an, Surah 18. There, the young men are known as the Companions of the Cave, and their number is unspecified. Nor is the location and date. Several places in the Muslim world claim to be the cave in the story. All we can say is that the story of people waking after a long sleep is a widespread legend. It has been told of Joseph of Arimathea in the cave at Glastonbury, of King Arthur \u2013 and of course in the tale of Rip van Winkel.<\/p>\n

But all good stories have a moral, so what can we learn from this one? The first is that any Christian may suffer persecution, if not life-threatening, at least by mockery. We must learn to hold fast, and refuse to deny our faith. Second, the story is a parable of the resurrection, appropriate for this time of year when we are firmly in the Easter Season. Remember that when we \u2018fall asleep\u2019 in death, that is not the end. We shall wake again in heaven.<\/p>\n

And lastly perhaps as we prepare to move into our APCM for this year, that there is always a danger of Christians appearing to \u2018fall asleep\u2019 and cling to the past. For that feels safe and familiar. When maybe what we are being called to do is \u2018Wake up!\u2019, smell the metaphorical coffee and look to all that God has in store for us as he calls us into his resurrection future. Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sermons index Third Sunday of Easter – evening Sunday 15th April 2018 Easter 3 – evening Deut. 7. 7-13 Rev. 2. 1-11 Revd Preb Maureen Hobbs When St Paul visited Ephesus, in about AD52, it was a huge city by their standards \u2013 population estimated at a quarter of a million \u2013 the capital of … <\/p>\n

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