{"id":3325,"date":"2019-09-08T14:10:05","date_gmt":"2019-09-08T14:10:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pattinghamchurch.org.uk\/web\/?page_id=3325"},"modified":"2019-09-08T14:10:05","modified_gmt":"2019-09-08T14:10:05","slug":"sermon-8th-september-2019","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.pattinghamchurch.org.uk\/web\/information\/sermons\/sermon-8th-september-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"Sermon – 8th September 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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

Festival of the Blessed Virgin Mary \u2013 morning<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Sunday 8th September 2019 <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Festival of the Blessed Virgin Mary \u2013 morning
\nIsa. 61. 10,11
\nLuke 1. 46-55<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

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

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

\nHow do you show you are\nexcited about something I wonder?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nNot just looking forward to an\nevent, but really, really excited? Jumping up and down sort of\nexcited! \u2013 Well maybe that is how you would register your\nexcitement \u2013 jumping up and down. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nWhen I get Jandi\u2019s food\nready for her that is how she tells me how excited she is! Even at 12\nyears old…. which is quite venerable in doggy years, even if in\nhuman terms we are still quite young at that age, she jumps up and\ndown with her front paws \u2013 usually moving backwards infront of me\nas I carry her bowl to the place where she is fed!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nMaybe some of you like not\njust to jump, but to run as well? Perhaps when you go on holiday and\narrive at the beach? Who goes running down to the water\u2019s edge as\nsoon as they can? I know I used to do that! Then hopped around taking\noff my shoes and socks so I could get my feet in the sea and paddle!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nAnd what is the most exciting\nthing that has ever happened to you \u2013 so far!?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nWe have four young ladies here\nthis morning who (I hope) are really excited about receiving their\nfirst communion today. They have been waiting for this moment for\nquite some time. They have prepared for it and learned a bit about\nwhat communion means for Christians. They have even tasted the wine\nand wafers – unconsecrated, so that it does not come as too much of a\nshock \u2013 but they won\u2019t know what it is really like, until it\nfinally happens in a few moments. And that first experience will be\nunique to them and can never be repeated. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nAnd I am sure that as they\ncontinue to mature \u2013 as human beings and as Christians, their\nunderstanding of the true nature of Holy Communion will change and\ndevelop as it does for all of us, although there is always something\nof Divine Mystery that remains, no matter how old we become and how\noften we receive those potent symbols of God\u2019s love for each of us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nThis morning we heard again\nthe familiar words of Mary\u2019s Song. The song that she bursts out\nwith spontaneously when she is greeted by her cousin Elizabeth who\nrecognizes the hidden secret that Mary holds within her at this\npoint. Mary is bearing the Christ Child \u2013 and Elizabeth suddenly\nrealises the significance of their meeting as her own unborn baby\nmoves within her in response to Mary\u2019s greeting. Elizabeth hails\nMary as the Mother of the Saviour of the world. It is a fantastic,\nexciting moment. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nI imagine that all pregnant\nwomen feel a mixture of excitement and terror \u2013 especially when\nexpecting their first child. And you can prepare yourself for what is\nto come \u2013 but until the moment when the labour pains begin, you can\nnever really know what giving birth will be like! Probably just as\nwell \u2013 or fewer of us would be prepared to go through it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nBut whatever the pain and hard\nwork that is involved in bringing a new human being into the world, I\nhave never heard a Mum \u2013 or a Dad, say it was not worth it when\nthat precious baby is placed into their arms for the first time!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nMary nourishes the infant\nJesus through the waiting time of pregnancy and then after he is born\nshe continues to nourish him as he grows up. And in more ways than\njust providing his food. As a Jewish mother, Mary would have taught\nthe child Jesus about the faith of his ancestors. The faith of the\nJewish people. The faith that would make him what and who he was.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nThat is one reason why we\nsometimes refer to the Church as our mother. The church is also\nresponsible for nurturing us as we grow in our faith. Beginning often\nwith our baptism into God\u2019s church, we are fed and nurtured with\nstories and the word of God. But then comes a time when we need\nperhaps a bit more to convince us that we belong, that we are part of\nthis amazing family that extends now right around the world. If we\nfollow Jesus Christ, then we should obey his instruction to remember\nhim whenever we share food and drink, and especially when we come\ntogether to worship God. Then we share in bread and wine to remind\nourselves by engaging more than just one of our senses \u2013 that of\nhearing \u2013 quite how much God loves us. Loves us so much that he is\nprepared to give up his life for us, such that through the sharing of\nbread \u2013 in the form of a wafer; and the sharing of a cup of wine,\nwe can put ourselves there with him and we take a little bit of him\nout with us into the world and our daily lives. We become the\nGod-bearers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nMary was the God-bearer in a\nspecial and unique way, and her excitement spilled over into a song\nof thanksgiving to God, but also a song of revolution. Mary is\nconvinced that God is doing a wonderful new thing in the world \u2013\nsomething with the potential to make wrong things right, something\nthat takes the traditions of her people and makes them new and\nrelevant for people living today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nOur four new communicants this\nmorning will have their own song to discover as they continue to grow\nand mature. With them, let us pray that their excitement and joy will\ncontinue into their future and that they too will play their part in\nGod\u2019s extraordinary and thrilling revolution. Amen.<\/p>\n\n\n


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\n<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Festival of the Blessed Virgin Mary \u2013 morning Sunday 8th September 2019 Festival of the Blessed Virgin Mary \u2013 morning Isa. 61. 10,11 Luke 1. 46-55 Revd Preb Maureen Hobbs How do you show you are excited about something I wonder? Not just looking forward to an event, but really, really excited? Jumping up and … <\/p>\n

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