{"id":3171,"date":"2019-06-30T20:04:01","date_gmt":"2019-06-30T20:04:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pattinghamchurch.org.uk\/web\/?page_id=3171"},"modified":"2019-07-14T14:59:21","modified_gmt":"2019-07-14T14:59:21","slug":"sermon-30th-june-2019","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.pattinghamchurch.org.uk\/web\/information\/sermons\/sermon-30th-june-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"Sermon – 30th June 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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

Second Sunday after Trinity \u2013 evening<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Sunday 30th June 2019 <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Trinity 2 – Proper 8 \u2013 evening Communion
\nGalatians 5. 1, 13-25
\nLuke 9.51 \u2013 end<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Revd Preb Maureen Hobbs<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n
\"Maureen<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

It is that time of year again… Facebook and Twitter and Instagram is full of priests remembering their own ordinations (me included!) And this weekend will see great numbers of Deacons and Priests celebrating outside of Cathedrals and Parish Churches all over the country. Last week I went to an ordination service where three of our Deanery Curates were priested \u2013 which means that they have been busy this week getting used to presiding at the Eucharist for the first time \u2013 always exciting and humbling and deeply, deeply fulfilling. Men and women who are metaphorically \u201cputting their hand to the plough\u201d and I hope not looking back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nThere is no doubt that\nOrdination is a great privilege \u2013 the service is likened to a sort\nof wedding \u2013 one where you are tying your future irrevocably to the\nservice of Christ and his church. And it is joyous as these things\nshould be… But there may be mixed feelings for some and\nparticularly for the spouses and families of those involved. Pride I\nam sure that after all the soul-searching and hard work they can see\ntheir loved one fulfilling a long-held dream. But also some\napprehension and sadness as they realise that they now will have to\nshare their husband, wife, mother or father with future congregations\nand parishes. It isn\u2019t always easy, and some relationships sadly do\nnot survive the pressures of one partner having the sort of\noccupation that does not conform to \u2018office hours\u2019 \u2013 realising\nthat one may be called upon at any hour of the day or night,\nregardless of rest days and holidays and family needs. It is only\nwhen you ditch the collar and head out of the parish or away from the\nchaplaincy that you can truly be \u2018off-duty\u2019. And I do get a bit\nworried about certain colleagues who insist on wearing their clerical\nuniform \u2013 their \u2018badge of office\u2019 as it were, even when they\nare supposedly on holiday! \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nSo what do you do when you get\nthat nagging sense that God wants you to do something? That in order\nto fulfil your own potential \u2013 to be the person God truly intends\nyou to be, – you have to be prepared to give up whatever it is you\nhave been doing up to that point and find out the nature of this\ncalling. It may be a path that will lead to Ordination. But there are\nmany, many other ways of finding your calling \u2013 both inside and\noutside the Church. Vocation is something that all of us may aspire\nto.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nBut, … human beings are very\ngood at discovering excuses as to why they cannot do something or\ncommit to something. Take the Samaritans in our Gospel reading. They\ncould not forget the past. They could not welcome Jesus and respond\nto him because \u201chis face was set towards Jerusalem\u201d. They refused\nto acknowledge Jerusalem as the legitimate place for worship \u2013\nhaving their own sacred mountain instead. Yet Jerusalem would be the\nplace of the cross and resurrection, the heart of Christ\u2019s\nministry. They could not let go of past hurts and arguments so they\ncould not receive the future God had for them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nNext comes the first would-be\ndisciple. It seems he had not counted the cost. Jesus brings home to\nhim that a life of ministry involves being prepared to move around.\nTo not be too tied to possessions or place… I remember the\nPrincipal of my theological college telling us \u2013 remember you\narrive in a place in order to leave it! Putting down roots is not\nreally possible. So the Son of Man has nowhere permanent to lay his\nhead? (Well most of us are luckier than that \u2013 we do have a roof\nover our heads and moderate security \u2013 but still there is always\nthe prospect of moving on…) And for Jesus even the city that ought\nto embrace him will actually murder him on a cross. The call to\nfollow Jesus is cross-shaped and costly, both then and now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nThe second man had a different\nproblem. He was trapped by other duties. It is doubtful that his\nwords mean his father had just died… he would have been at home in\nthat case. More likely it means that his father is getting on in\nyears, so this means \u2013 \u201cLet me wait till he\u2019s gone, and then I\nwill follow you.\u201d It is the \u2018and then\u2019 which is the problem!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nThe cross will not wait. If\nthe man wants to follow, he must do it now. The call to follow Jesus\nis urgent if not positively inconvenient! Today there are too many of\nus who want to follow Jesus \u2013 when it suits us! I sometimes get\nthe distinct feeling that church is now an activity that people do if\nthey have nothing better in the diary! Harsh perhaps, but maybe more\ntrue than we care to admit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nSuch simple things, yet they\ncan stop people responding to the call of Christ. \u2013 Not being able\nto let go of the past, not counting the cost, wanting to wait for a\nmore convenient time, not putting Christ and God first. Have times\nchanged? Probably not! \u201cFor whoever wants to save their life will\nlose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.\u201d And\nthat is what most of us would like to avoid. ..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nPlease pray for our new\npriests and deacons this coming week. But also please pray that you\ntoo will be open and receptive to hear Christ\u2019s call, whenever and\nwherever it comes. Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Second Sunday after Trinity \u2013 evening Sunday 30th June 2019 Trinity 2 – Proper 8 \u2013 evening Communion Galatians 5. 1, 13-25 Luke 9.51 \u2013 end Revd Preb Maureen Hobbs It is that time of year again… Facebook and Twitter and Instagram is full of priests remembering their own ordinations (me included!) And this weekend … <\/p>\n

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