The Innkeeper's Story

At Children's services I sometimes like to present my sermon in story form, from one of the characters at the birth of Jesus. This  year it is the turn of the inkeeper.  Although the story itself is made up, it is based on research about what it was really like to live in bible times in that place (now in the West Bank) that we call Bethlehem. It’s a real place that you might like to visit yourself one day. So here is the innkeepers tale...

Some of you may call me one of the bad characters of the Christmas story, not as bad as our awful king Herod though.

I am the person some people call the innkeeper. Miriam by name, and Joseph the carpenter’s second cousin. But actually calling me an innkeeper is a bit of an exaggeration. I didn’t own a hotel, or even a Travelodge, it was a bit more like your Air B and B. I have a simple house with one guestroom, and in my basement I have a little cave where I bring the animals to be safe after dark. Jeremiah the donkey, Jezebel the goat, and my little brown ox with a white spot on his back who I called Noah because he doesn’t like the rain.  Everyone around here has a little guestroom in their house and somewhere downstairs to keep the animals. Bethlehem is a village on a hillside riddled with caves. The caves are safe and warm and really quite a nice, private place to be. 

And so you can probably guess what happened next. Joseph and Mary turned up on my doorstep because they had to take part in this horrible people-count which sent them back to Bethlehem because that is where King David, our great great great great great (X24) grandfather once lived. My brother Jacob and his wife Ruth had already turned up with their brothers and sisters and they had all piled into the guestroom filling it up to bursting. 

Poor Mary looked so cold and shivery after her long journey - as it can get very cold up here in Bethlehem. It’s cold because it is built on top of a really really tall hill, so tall that the weather is different from toasty hot Jericho which is only down the road.  It really looked like Mary needed somewhere private because she was about to have her baby. But where could I put her? 

Our grandfather old Levi was sleeping in the corner of our family room,  Zeb and John were playing bat and ball and making a right racket, my own little girl was crying VERY LOUDLY because she had lost her dolly  - and everything was getting very cramped. Maybe your Christmases get to be a bit of a squash too if you have lots of people staying. Mary needed some privacy, and, as I mentioned,  the “Kataluma” which is what we call our guest room, was full. 

So then I thought for a bit, and then I prayed for a bit, and then I had a really good idea.  I took Mary downstairs to the stable area where the animals lived and made her and Joseph a little bed down there. It was warm, it was quiet apart from the snuffling of the animals, but if she needed some help, or some food, or some water we were really close by and she only had to call. 

That night Mary had her baby, and I got to help her, washing his little tiny body to make it all clean and shiny and wrapping him up in little bandages to keep him warm.  She called him Jesus, because it meant “Someone from God who rescues you when you are in trouble” and she said that was what Jesus was going to do for us, because most people were sad and a-bit-mean-to-each -other, and he was going to help us to be happy and good. 

But then something really strange happened. Some shepherds knocked on the door. They were the most excited shepherds I’d ever seen in my whole life. They said they’d seen an angel and they were looking for a baby. They said that they’d know which baby it was because it would be lying in a manger, an animal feeding trough. I was amazed because the manger was where I put baby Jesus after I’d wrapped him all up. How did they know that? They also said the little baby was going to be a saviour: someone who could rescue us when we were in trouble, and I was amazed because “Someone from God who rescues you when you are in trouble” was the name Mary had called him. 

So you see, I wasn’t really a baddie after all. But if you ever get stuck for an idea; if you want to help someone but you aren’t sure what to do, pray a prayer, tell God about the problem in your own words; then wait and see what happens and maybe God will put a good idea into your head too. 

A short "celtic" style Benedictus

I've just written a short Benedictus suitable for use with modern Celtic style liturgies. Feel free to use/remix/recycle if you suddenly have a need for a little canticle. 

Blessed be God who grants us liberation 

who has sent us a Saviour born of David’s line. 

Through the prophets he promised  

salvation from our enemies, 

from hearts filled with hatred.

A merciful sign

This was the promise the Lord made to Abraham;

to free us from our enemies and life full of fear, 

and child, you will clear his way and promise God’s forgiveness.

Heaven’s dawn will clear the night of death 

and guide our feet to ways of peace.

A Hymn by Jane Austen

This is the text of the hymn which had it's premiere yesterday afternoon at Evensong. The text is adapted from one of Jane Austen's evening prayers. The recommended tune is Westminster Abbey (Christ is Made the Sure Foundation). Please feel free to use this in a worship context and adapt as necessary. A credit would be nice.

Give us grace almighty Father,
so to pray as to be heard,
to address thee with our hearts as -
with our lips, as thou deserves.
 Thou art everywhere here present
 and no secret can be hid.

May we now and on each evening
 well consider our use of time,
our prevailing words and actions,
 thoughts irreverent in the mind 
have we disobeyed commandments,
 or neglected tasks of thine?

Turn our hearts to ask these questions, 
save from pride and vanity,
to acquit ourselves of evil
never thinking irreverently.
Give a sense of all thy blessings, 
that we might live thankfully.

Hear us Lord. Thou hast redeemed us,
 thus thou taught us how to pray,
thou hast given us many blessings 
and the comforts of this day,

that we might not risk to lose them 
by indifference to thy way.

Words: from an Evening Prayer of Jane Austen adapted by Canon Sue Wallace

Tune: Westminster Abbey 205 NEH Music: Henry Purcell 

A prayer for musicians

I wrote this prayer when the Friends of Cathedral Music were visiting Evensong
 but you can use it for any musical group. 

Please feel free to use if you find it useful in any way. 

O God who gave the universe its melody,

and placed rhythm into our heartbeat,

Bless N

and all who work to give a glimpse of the harmonies

of heaven to the people of our world. 

May our ears be ever open to the prompting of your Spirit;

may our eyes be ever open to the beauty of your world;

may our voices dress your church with the songs of light and life

that we might partner with the angels in their never-ending hymn of praise

through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

Midnight 2016 - Being Evergreen

Lord, take my lips and speak through them;
Take our minds and think through them;
Take our hearts and set them on fire with love for Yourself,  Amen.

What a year this has been! A year full of the unexpected. 

A Brexit vote from the British people; Trump as America’s president elect, and Bake Off moving to channel 4 -but without Mary Berry, Mel, and Sue. Who on earth would have seen that lot coming. 

And people....

we have lost so very many people. 

David Bowie, Prince, Alan Rickman, Caroline Aherne, Victoria Wood, and many many more, the litany of names dropping like autumn leaves falling in the water. And that’s not even to mention the litany of sorrow greeting us almost every time we switch on the news. I don’t know about you but sometimes I really long for the dying to end. For someone to come to earth, to stretch out their hands and say ENOUGH. 

But what if...

what if there was a way to put a stop to this litany of death and sorrow once and for all, and people falling to the earth like autumn leaves. And more than that. What if there was a way to undo the deaths that had already happened and bring back those we have loved and lost.   What if, what if, there was a way to be evergreen? 

And that, in a nutshell is what Christmas is about. Jesus Christ was that someone. The one who came to earth not just to preach a few sermons and disappear, but to conquer the biggest problem the human race has on their hands; the problem of death itself. How?  By putting death itself to death on the cross and by coming back to life to change death itself into something different, something temporary;  heaven giving our dying earth the kiss of life. 

This is the real magic of Christmas and why we take the trouble to bring such a massive Christmas tree into the middle of the cathedral. You should have seen the difficulty our works department had getting a tree that size through the door. Feel free to turn and look at it, standing proud and green in the middle of the surrounding winter; bathed in light. The evergreen tree which has no fallen leaves. The symbol of Jesus who is ever green, ever alive, ever faithful, ever loving and most of all 

ever-with-us. 

Emmanuel: As well as being a carol it is one of his names. It means the immanent El; the one who is God but also one of us. 

So much one of us that he did not appear on earth as an adult. He was born as a baby. He had to learn to walk, to smile, to play and to talk. And why on earth was that? Why did The Word stay so quiet for almost 30 years?

Well he wasn’t doing nothing. He ate with us human beings, drank with us, grazed his knee, sneezed in a dusty room and just spent time being with people and learning to understand what it is like to live on this wounded planet that people sometimes call the valley of tears . And then, and only then, after thirty years, did he speak! And his words rang out through the centuries because they made sense. And they made sense because he'd spent so much time listening to the people around him. He spoke with same accent they did and told stories and jokes about the things that they found funny. "Have you heard the one about the camel that tried to fit through the eye of a needle?"

God grew skin, and skin bruises. God looked through human eyes, and eyes weep. God grew muscles, and muscles shiver when its cold. God gained hands, and hands miss the touch of someone they love when they die. Yet he has promised that the time will come, that those same hands who wriggled in the cradle, and were wounded on the cross will reach out and pull you into a world where you too can be evergreen and ever alive. If you want to come. 

And so the tree is not just a symbol of Jesus. It is a symbol of us too, and what we can be. it is a symbol of the glorious future that is ours for the taking. So this Christ-mass I invite you to gather around God’s table, and meet the one who longs to give us the most amazing gift, the gift of being evergreen. Amen. 

The Unusual Story of the 3 Kings

The old monk opened a big dusty storybook as the schoolboys sat around him on the cathedral floor. He was going to tell them a story of Christmas. 

“Once, a very long time ago, there were three travelers from the East who went to see the Christ-Child. Balthazar, Mechior...and Doris!”

“Doris?” the biggest novice said. “Wasn’t the third king called Caspar?”

“Ah well, thereby hangs a tale,” the old monk said, and then he began to tell it....

Mrs Caspar opened the flap of the tent and had a good look at her husband who was complaining he had a headache. She peered at his face and sure enough there were big red spots all over it. “You’ve got measles” she said “you can’t possibly go on a journey looking like that”. 

“But I’ve got to go” he said “Three of us have been gazing at the sky for ages and ages. We knew that something really important was going to happen and then we saw a sign in the night sky. An enormous star. It was a sign that a new king is going to be born. A really special king.  We have to bring him gifts. It is really important that we pay him homage, that is kneel before him, and bring him gifts. 

“Well, I’ll just have to go instead of you” she said. “I can borrow your head-dress, your crown and your camel and no-one else will notice the difference. Now what you need is some hot soup and a nice long rest and I’ll get your present wrapped.”

“What have you bought him anyway? You have to be very careful with presents for babies. 

Did you get him a nice soft cuddly toy? Or a rattle (they’re good) or some nappies. You can never have too many nappies.”

“I got him frankincence,” Caspar said. 

“What? Frankincense. You bought him air freshener?! Air freshener! Are you trying to tell his mum he is smelly or something. Do you want to get yourself executed? Why don’t you get him something sensible like a nice little blanket to put in his crib.”

“But,” said Casper, “This is a special baby. He needs a special present.”

And then, in between mouthfuls of hot chicken soup, Casper explained why he had to bring the baby frankincense. 

“Frankincense isn’t just air freshener. The priests use it in the temple. They light it and the smoke goes up into the sky, symbolizing our prayers going up to God. I need to bring him frankincense because he is going to be a bit like a priest too. He is going to teach us how to pray and get close to God. We have gone very far from God’s way of love and we’re not good at praying and he will help us become holy again.” 

“I see” said Doris. “Well I suppose it will also come in handy next to the nappy bucket”

I’d better go and see what the other kings have brought. I hope they haven’t brought silly presents.

She went off to see Balthazar. “I’m coming with you to see the baby” She said. “Caspar is ill and I have his present. What have you brought as a gift for him?”

“I’ve brought him myrrh” Balthazar said. “Myrrh?” She sighed “You kings are useless at buying presents. You got him antiseptic. I suppose you brought him a syringe as well. Why didn’t you get him a nice toy?”

Balthazar tried to explain. “But this is a special baby king. He needs special symbolic presents. Caspar brought him frankinsence because he is going to be like a priest, helping us to pray. An I brought him myrrh because he is going to be like a prophet, a healer, who will make us better when we are ill, just like the antiseptic myrrh does when we fall over and graze our knees. Also it reminds us of the spices they put in tombs because he will  heal us from death too. 

“He will heal us from death. That’s amazing. Ok you can bring him myrrh.” Said Doris. Then she went to see Melchior.

Melchior had brought the baby gold. “Ah. That’s better” said Doris. “Now mum and dad can get him anything they like.” But, said Melchior. “Gold is a symbolic present too. Casper got the baby frankincense because he will teach us to pray. Balthazar got him myrrh because he will be a healer, and I got him gold because he will be a king and kings always need lots of gold for building roads and that sort of thing. 

“ I see” said Doris. “Frankincense for a priest, myrrh for a healer-prophet, and gold for a king.” So he is going to be a super-baby who does all these things. 

“Yes he will be a super-baby. You just wait and see when he grows up.”

And so they travelled a very long way, and met the new-born king. And Mary and Joseph loved the presents even more because they were unusual ones, because Jesus was a very special baby indeed.

Walking on the water

I feel the inspiration to repost this sermon I wrote on the subject of the miracle of the walking on the water in August 2014.

A vicar, an evangelist, and a Methodist minister were in a rowing boat in the middle of a pond fishing. None of them had caught anything all morning. 

Then the evangelist stands up and says he needs to go to the bathroom so he climbs out of the boat and walks on the water to shore. He comes back ten minutes later the same way.
  Then the minister decides he needs to go to too, so he climbs out of the boat and walks on the water to shore. He, too, comes back the same way ten minutes later.
      The vicar looks at both of them and decides that his faith is just as strong as his fishing friends and that he can walk on water, too. He stands up and excuses himself. As he steps out, he makes a big splash down into the water.
      The evangelist looks at the minister and says,"I suppose we should have told him where the rocks were."

The walking on water miracle is one which has caught the imagination of our society so much that it still makes its way into jokes, cartoons and stories. Yet like many of the miracles of Christ it is there for a purpose, to show us something deeper about the nature of Christ and even God’s call upon us as human beings. 

You may wonder about the miracles of Christ: Why certain miracles are written about in detail within the gospels and other miracles are consigned to the smallprint of “He healed all their diseases”. The reason is that the miracles, as well as being acts of Christ’s power in themselves,  are all signs which point to something deeper. So what might Christ be signaling through this miracle of the walking on the water. 

The first and most obvious thing is that He has power over the elements, in this case, the waves, and in this sense the miracle is linked to the calming of the storm in chapter 8 of Matthew’s gospel. Yet there is more to this sign. Jeffrey John reminds us that these signs are most easily understood in reference to the Old Testament stories and prophesies. They are to be read within a certain worldview. 

The sea within the Hebrew culture, was strongly associated with chaos and evil powers, Hebrew rabbis believed in a fiery and a watery hell. Yet this miracle is also referring to ancient texts which describe the power of the Almighty to walk on or through the waves. For example in Job 9 “Yahweh alone stretched out the heavens, and trampled the waves of the sea” or in Psalm 77 “your way was through the sea, your path through the mighty waters; yet your footsteps were unseen.” In many Old Testament passages, time and time again, the point is made that God alone can rule the waves and walk through the waters. Thus, the conclusion that we are inevitably drawn to make is that the sign here, is actually a sign of Christ’s divinity,  that Jesus is God, because only God can do these things. 

You may have wondered in this passage why Jesus seems to be about to pass the disciples by rather than go into the boat when his intention had been to talk towards them. Once again, Jeffrey John says the meaning behind this is symbolic. It references the old testament passages and miracles where God reveals himself in passing by his people or prophets. For example in Exodus 33 where Yahweh passes by Moses and discloses to him his glory and his name. 

And this is where things get deeper still - because the name that is disclosed to Moses, is Yahweh, I AM, and when Jesus speaks to his disciples in this passage what he actually says to them isn’t really the mundane words we have just heard. “Take heart, it is I” - rather the Greek (as our resident scholar Father John will confirm) has “Iesous legon tharseite ego eimi me phobeisthe”

which literally means - “Jesus saying ‘Be courageous I AM. Don't be frightened.”

Ego eimi: I AM. The eternal name of God is claimed here by Christ, just as it was in John’s gospel when they tried to stone Christ for blasphemy when he said “before Moses was I AM” 

But if it is the case that Jesus is claiming his divinity and the power of walking on water is given to God alone, what are we to make of Christ allowing Peter to step out of the boat and join him on the waves? 

For me, it seems to be a classic example of what Orthodox Christians call theosis. In Eastern Christian theology Christ became human not just to save humanity from death, but, even more amazingly, so that human beings can actually participate in the divine life. The concept is beautifully summed up in a prayer that is often silently prayed at the offertory as water is mixed with the wine. Once mixed it can never be unmixed just as Christ’s divine and human natures are eternally intertwined; and so the priest prays: “By the mystery of this water and wine, may we share in the divinity of Christ who humbled himself to share in our humanity.”

This is the part of the miracle for me, that is utterly staggering. Perhaps so staggering that no wonder Peter sinks before the waves when he realizes the enormity of what he is doing. He is doing something that only the eternal Godhead can do and God himself has invited him to do so. 

Yet that is the invitation that is given, not just to Peter, but to all of us, every single one of us who are looking for God. We are invited to participate in the Divine Life. We have been given a Royal Invitation to feast around the table of the One who was present when time began and we, even you and me, are being called into a closeness, an intimacy with God which was utterly unimaginable before the coming of Christ.  

Yet the only way this seemingly blasphemous thing is possible is because of what Christ has done in coming to us. For we need to take courage and step out of the safe, secure boat when God calls us in order to experience this fully, and  we need not be afraid, because if we begin to sink we will find strong arms pulling us up out of the waves, the same strong arms that hold the universe,  and they will continue to grasp us tightly until we reach the eternal place of safety. And so, let us praise the Eternal God who has given us so great a gift , for even the wind and the waves obey him. Amen.