{"id":3242,"date":"2019-08-19T11:06:40","date_gmt":"2019-08-19T11:06:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pattinghamchurch.org.uk\/web\/?page_id=3242"},"modified":"2019-08-19T11:11:04","modified_gmt":"2019-08-19T11:11:04","slug":"sermon-18th-august-2019-morning","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.pattinghamchurch.org.uk\/web\/information\/sermons\/sermon-18th-august-2019-morning\/","title":{"rendered":"Sermon – 18th August 2019 – morning"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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

Ninth Sunday after Trinity \u2013 morning<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Sunday 18th August 2019 <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Trinity 9 – Proper 15 \u2013 morning
\nHebrews 11.29 -12.2
\nLuke 12.49-56<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

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

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

\nWhat on earth is Jesus\nthinking of? Has he totally lost the plot, – we well may ask this\nmorning, listening to this very uncomfortable passage of the Good\nNews.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\u201cDid you think that I came\nto bring peace on the earth?\u201d asks Jesus<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nWell, yes Lord, actually \u2013\nnow you come to mention it! Wasn\u2019t that what the angels promised us\nwhen they sang you into the world? And what about the words of\nbenediction you are so fond of using? \u201cGo in peace\u201d you often\nsaid. And Peace is supposed to be your bequest to us \u2013 at least\naccording to the John of the Gospel (14.27) We were led to believe\nthat peace was a fruit of your kindly Spirit (Galatians 5. 22)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nSo, yes Lord, we did think\nthat you came to give us peace. And now you come to us brandishing a\nsword!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nThe contradictions run deep,\nmost starkly in Jesus\u2019 apparent claim that his intention is to undo\nall the work of his predecessor and cousin, John the Baptist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nFor Gabriel promised John\u2019s\nfather that it would be John\u2019s mission to heal family divisions….\nNow Jesus is saying that his purpose is the exact opposite, to foment\nfamily divisions, to set close relatives against each other. It is\nall very confusing!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nSo how are we to try and\nresolve such contradictions? Where are we to find the authentic voice\nof God speaking to us in all of this? How can we harmonize the \u201cpeace\non earth\u201d song of the Christmas angels and the \u201cfire on earth\u201d\nwarnings we hear in our Gospel?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nWell we don\u2019t have to look\nvery far for examples from our history and from our present daily\nlives to find issues that do indeed split families and friends…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nIn the seventeenth century\nthis country experienced a deeply divisive Civil War. Cavaliers and\nRoundheads… Which side do you identify with I wonder? You may think\nthat all that was sufficiently in the past not to worry us any more.\nYet when I asked one of my villages in Shropshire, why there seemed\nto be such a lack of communication with the parish next door I was\nsoon told. \u201cWell, after all, they were on the other side in the\nCivil War you know!\u201d …. old arguments, old rifts running very\ndeep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nAnd now \u2013 although I will\nnot deign to mention the B-word. We have another issue that is\ndividing families and friends and Church congregations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nConflict is not something that\nmany of us embrace \u2013 mostly we try to avoid it. But sometimes it is\nonly by allowing the different voices in a dispute to be heard that\nwe can attempt to reconcile passionately held opposing views. And\npassion is the secret.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nIn a few weeks\u2019 time I will\nbe helping on a clergy training course aimed at Transforming\nConflict. Because, – believe it or not (!) Conflict is often a\nreality in church life and can seriously affect the way a priest can\nminister or not in a community. One of the things I know will be said\nis that conflict need not only be a negative thing. Because where you\nhave conflict \u2013 you have passion. Which means that people care and\ncare deeply about something. And that is a good thing! So churches\nneed to be places where people can come and be heard \u2013 even if not\nalways agreed with. We need to be a safe space where different points\nof view can be expressed, and people respected for the God-given\nindividuals that they are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nRetreating back into the safe\nlittle algorithm-driven world where everyone thinks the way I do, may\nfeel comfortable and reassuring, but it is not real. It is not the\nway of the Cross. There is nothing wrong with trying to pursue peace;\npeace within and peace in the world at large, but peace \u2013 the\nHebrew word Shalom \u2013 is not simply the absence of conflict… it is\nsomething active that has to be built piece by piece (see what I did\nthere!);painful step by painful step. It means we need to listen to\nand really hear the views that are different to our own AND still be\nprepared to worship alongside them and love them \u2013 even if we find\nit difficult to like them (at least in the short-term!) How many of\nyou have said to your truculent teenagers at home \u201cI will always\nlove you \u2013 but I can\u2019t say that I like you very much at the\nmoment!\u201d We have all been there \u2013 either on the receiving end or\nsaying it out loud!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nWe may want to seek that\nspiritual peace that makes us feel calm and warm and comfortable\ninside \u2013 and God can indeed offer us that, but this must not be\nallowed to become a distraction from the demands of the present and\nwhat is happening outside the walled gardens of our own souls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nThe language of this week\u2019s\ngospel is that of the prophet, the role in which Luke casts Jesus as\nhe approaches the culmination of his ministry in Jerusalem. Prophets\npossess a still centre and they see beyond the immediate horizon. But\nequally they focus on the here and now. They do not agonize over the\nseeming contradictions between what we are promised and what we\nexperience. There is far too much to be done in the Kingdom of God.\nCan we help Jesus find the plot once more?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ninth Sunday after Trinity \u2013 morning Sunday 18th August 2019 Trinity 9 – Proper 15 \u2013 morning Hebrews 11.29 -12.2 Luke 12.49-56 Revd Preb Maureen Hobbs What on earth is Jesus thinking of? Has he totally lost the plot, – we well may ask this morning, listening to this very uncomfortable passage of the Good … <\/p>\n

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