Category: Sermon

Doesn’t that sound wonderful? Rest. An easy yoke. A light burden. Sounds almost too good to be true, in today’s rapid-fire, high-pressure, no-excuses world.

Jesus had told his disciples: “go, make disciples of all nations, baptising them and teaching them”. Jesus was saying: “Tell everyone. It’s good to talk!”

It was 8pm and it was a Thursday. Jesus was stood outside the front door at the time, applauding the key workers…

Jesus says: “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves”. When the going gets tough, you are going to have to dig-in. You must prepare to be different.

A long time ago when I was a Reader, I was gifted the privilege of speaking on Trinity Sunday to our Parade Service, which meant lots of children of all ages, including the adult children of our Church. It was chaos!

That’s what we need this Pentecost – power for the people of God. The power to glow and burst into flame! The power to mobilise us again. To break through the cosiness and comfort within the walls of our buildings and take the gospel out into the community around us!

“So, we got Jesus in there. How do we get him back out again?” It must have been a dilemma for God and his angelic extraction team as they figured out how to reunite Father and Son.

As I read and re-read today’s verses from John’s gospel, I found a song growing in my mind. A song which grew louder and stronger: Stuart Townend’s ‘How deep the Father’s love for us, how vast beyond all measure’.                   

My attention was drawn to a beautiful poem by Elizabeth, Countess of Craven, who lived in the late 18th and early 19th century. It’s entitled ‘I thank Thee God, that I have lived.’ She writes about all the beauties of life but also considers the sad times and difficulties and how we should also give thanks for those.

Psalm 23 is many people’s favourite passage of scripture. It gives great comfort at times of crisis, just like we’re in now. But it also speaks of God’s care in our ‘normal’ everyday living. There’s an even amount of light and shade here. Thankfulness during the good times – but recognition of God’s protection in the bad.

I love this story of the road to Emmaus. Scholars don’t seem to know where Emmaus actually was – but that’s not really important. It was far enough to make a good story – and close enough to get back and share it with others…

Do we find it harder to accept that God can do great things? We can get dragged down and become negative; things will never change; how do we get out of this rut? Perhaps that’s why getting our heads round Easter and Jesus rising from death is difficult and we doubt, if only within ourselves…

We would like Thomas! Today he’d probably be a Church Warden and we’d call him Tom. Only his mother ever called him Thomas. You know where you stand with our Tom. And we shouldn’t be at all surprised at what we see in today’s passage from John. Afterall, Tom is just being a bit more straightforward than all the others.

John told stories. Stories about people just like you and me. In the closing chapters of his Gospel, we learn about the risen Christ through three people. Mary Magdalene, Thomas and Peter. They had the same worries, doubts and failings as we do. It’s through these three that we understand the implications for us today on Jesus coming back to life. And how we’re each called into action.

It would have been very busy that day. Jerusalem packed with pilgrims coming into the city from all over to celebrate the Passover. Inspired by the memory of Moses the atmosphere would be one of excitement and expectation as the pilgrims came together – many, may be, meeting up with friends they had made in previous years…