Vicaring - A sermon resource for all those involved in Christian ministry

First Preached 5th October 2003 Trinity 17
Mark 10.2—16 : Hebrews 1.1-4 & 2.5-11 Proper 22 B

These people who ever they were, were tempted to become merely a little religious; to back off from the church.

Maybe they would go back to conventional Judaism with Jesus as a little extra on the side.

So time and time again the writer points out the greatness of Jesus, and calls them back. It is as though he were climbing a religious ladder and on every rung he pauses to say, Jesus is better than this. Until finally all comparisons will drop away and he will explain how Jesus has ‘Opened for us a new and living way to the Father’

What we have here is edited highlights of the first steps. God has always made himself known. There have always been prophets to point us to God. The OT is full of them. Some are more profound than others, but Jesus brings a new level of revelation. He is not merely a man inspired by God he is the Son of God. If you want to know what a man is like ask his Son (Not his wife, she knows him too well!) The same goes for God, Jesus can talk of God like no other man can, because he is His son.
He can talk of God as no man can, he is closer to God than any angel
Jews & Victorians were very keen on angels. Recently seem to have made a come back. I saw a notice the other day that advertised a class on: ‘Working with your guardian angel.’
OK Gabriel pass me that spanner.
But angels and humans both have the same boss – Jesus, to whom every creature in heaven is subject.
In fact the whole of creation is under his authority. God made the universe through His Son.

But – here is the truly astounding bit, – this is not simply chat about heaven. We are talking about a real man, who walked the earth as we do, and who suffered as we do.
His heavenly status has been refined by the fact that he became one of us. (‘A stranger on the bus’ to quote a pop song)
And when he came he would not duck the hard bits about being human. He went through the pits – crucifixion.
Why, did he do this? So that he could call us brothers and sisters. So that God should not be for us a remote concept, but a living reality. So that God should have a human face.
Because of Jesus we have a God who is not far off, but is close at hand.

Jesus accepts our fate – to die. So that we can receive what was his, the glory and joy of heaven.
This is the wonderful exchange that he achieves.

The Son of God, vaults over the chasm that separates us from God. The gulf created by human sin, wickedness and indifference. He experiences the full horror of the consequences of the evil which stalks the world – crucifixion. And then overcomes that; to make it the means of our entry into heaven.

You cannot beat that! There is no offer like it, it is sheer transcendent love. Not earned or deserved by us but freely poured out by God in his son.
To whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen

• Proper 22 B

First Preached 28th September 2003 Trinity 15
Mark 9.38-50 James 5.13 -end Proper 21B

There is no messing about with James, no ifs and buts. Which, in a way, is quite refreshing. In an age when everything is shades of grey, it is important sometimes to be brought up short with a swift no nonsense message.

We live in an age that loves to make things complicated. We are quick enough to cite all the difficulties, all the ‘ifs and buts’. But for once lets set aside the problems and be positive.

James claims great things for prayer. So does Jesus, ‘Ask and you will receive’ Jn 16.14 But let us note the under-girding picture which James paints. Prayer is set in the context of a life and a fellowship totally permeated by prayer. And by trust.
It is one in which you confess your sins to each other (No wonder James has such a downer on gossip) One in which, if you are in distress you call for the elders on the church to come and pray for you.

And it is personally soaked in prayer. If you are happy you sing praises to God. If you are not you pray. He does not actually say that the trouble will be lifted but he clearly implies that it will make some difference. And indeed it does. There is an old saying, a trouble sheared is a trouble halved. That goes doubly for a trouble shared with God. It is far better to pray than to worry. Prayer may be answered worry simply feeds on itself. At the very least the answer to prayer may be that it gives you the resolve to do something. The outcome of worry is just more worry.

We are too fussy about what we pray for. God is infinite, he is never too busy to hear your prayers. It is the wonder of God that among all the vastness of the universe, all the problems of the world, he still sees you as his beloved child. He does not require our prayer to be well phrased, he sees into our heart. There is nothing to small to bring to God.

But there is nothing too small to praise him for. How different life would be if for every little blessing we were to sing praises to God. God loves it when we praise him. Its not an ego trip for Him, but he rejoices to see his people rejoice!

It is also his will that we do not suffer alone. The church has a ministry to heal. James describes such a ministry, and it continued in that way for several hundred years. Then in the Catholic Church it got lost except as a sign of sainthood and in the Protestant churches it was thrown out altogether. In fact the order for the visitation of the sick in the BCP lays a clear obligation on the person visited to do die.
I am glad to say that the Church has begun to recover the ministry of healing. We are nowhere near as efficient as James implies, but we do try. Laying on of hands, and anointing with oil. But we do have a curious attitude to prayer and prayer for healing in particular. We treat it as a last resort. We wait for terminal illness. If I was asked to anoint with oil for the common cold I would have a much higher success rate.

What does this all amount to? We live our lives in the hands of God. It is the Christian joy to know that that God is revealed to us in Jesus as loving, compassionate, as Father. It is our task to make his presence a conscious factor in our lives. Rejoicing in his goodness. Sharing with him our distress, and confessing our failings. If we do so we shall find that our lives are transformed. Even our failures will take on a more positive note. We can and should praise him above all that our sins are forgiven in Jesus Christ. AMEN

• Proper 21 B

First Preached Trinity 16 1st October 2006
[Numbers 11.4-16 & 24-29] : James 5.13 -20 : Mark 9.38- end (Proper 21 B)

Whenever I have to preach on this text before I have zoomed straight in on the healing ministry.

But James message goes a lot deeper and further than that. It speaks to the very nature of the church as an interdependent and holistic community.

Firstly our relationship to God is to embrace the whole of our life, in sorrow and in joy.
Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. James 5.13a.
That is a commonplace. Not only among Christians. That is what Prayer is for. God is for emergencies!
But James adds a rider to this which is much less well observed.
Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise James 5.13b.
It is only in fact against the background of the thanksgiving that the intercession really makes sense. For prayer comes out of a relationship with God as our Father. It is only against the background of his loving kindness and his grace that we can seriously bring our sorrows.

And it is only because of our relationship with him that that ‘big little word’ that James makes so much of comes into play. Sin is that which separates us from our heavenly father.
It does only really make sense within a religious context, and particularly a Christian one, because it happens in relation to the Father and in faith in the Son who died for our sins.
Outside of that, it is getting increasingly hard to define right and wrong. It used to be ‘Its illegal its immoral or it makes you fat.’ Increasingly we are getting to the point where if it is legal it is all right. Which is why the legal becomes ever more pervasive and intrusive; and they seem to be considering making it illegal to be fat.

We are to live in an all-embracing relationship with God, and within this we are to live in fellowship with each other. (Hence the terrifying injunction to confess your sins to one another.)
Firstly it means that any breach of fellowship is to be restored. But secondly that we are there as soul friends for one another.

We expect a top down approach to church. We would render 5.14 as ‘I expect the Vicar to visit’. James is more general ‘Elders’ the leadership is collective.

But so is the responsibility. ‘If one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back.’

So is the prayer. “The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective’ James 5.16

We all have a prayer ministry.

Within this context there is such confidence in prayer (Common to the NT) because it does not stand alone.

Church is not somewhere you go to it is something you do. Or rather it is something you are. We are The Church.
It is something that we do together.

• Proper 21 B