An Ordination Sermon

It is very unlikely that I will ever get to preach at an ordination again - but last week I had the immense privilege of speaking at the ordination to the Priesthood of our Curate, the Revd Kate Woolven. It is worth following the link to the lessons for the day before reading the sermon here....

Isaiah 61.1-3
Ephesians 4.7-16
John 20:19-23

Ordination Sermon – Kate Woolven

What a privilege it is to be here. Celebrating the ordination of Kate as priest within the Church of God as part of the people of God! Today is a good day, and a wonderful ocassion. Already in the weeks Kate has been with us she has proved herself to be a competent, compassionate, warm, funny, thoughtful, faithful, spiritually mature and committed minister – and I still keep being told how good her sermon was at the last Mission Community service we held! Now we share in the next stage of Kate’s journey of being and becoming who she is called to be under God. We are here to support her as Bishop Bob ordains her to the office and work of a Priest within God’s Church. Alleluia!

Kate takes on this role of priest in a changing Church that sometimes seems to be struggling with a changing world, and a changing role within that world. Yet in the midst of that change she – and we – hold on to truths that are eternal, and we continue to listen for where God, through his Holy Spirit, leads us. And in the midst of a changing world we would do well to hold on to the truths which we believe to be unchanging – the life and teaching, the death, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God revealed in that story of Jesus, and the Holy Spirit of God still living and active in the Church and in the world, and in the lives of faithful people seeking the will of God.

And somewhere in all of that comes the Church. A Church which, though flawed and sometimes broken, is still loved by God. A Church which gives us a spiritual home, and from whose authority we who are called to be priests receive a calling to serve the people of God and minister to a world that cries out for the life and light of Christ.

So, what is this priestly role to which Kate is called? What is it particularly that we celebrate here this afternoon? For some idea of that we have to turn to our Scripture readings for today – taken from those suggested for any ordination service. I could speak at length to any of these passages, and got very excited reading them in preparing for this sermon, but I want to take one thing from each of them partly because I promised that this wouldn’t be a long sermon – and more importantly because all that we do here, in Kate’s ordination and in sharing bread and wine in this Holy Communion is so filled with meaning that I don’t need to layer too much on top of that!

In ordaining to the priesthood we carry on in a perhaps undefinable way the calling that Jesus gave to his disciples in the Gospels, and particularly in our reading from John’s Gospel chapter 20 that Priests proclaim peace, and forgiveness from sins. One of the great privileges of being in this ministry is the sharing of peace in the Eucharist, and being able to offer both absolution and a blessing on behalf of the Church – carrying on with sharing the breath of God in the Spirit that Jesus breathed upon his disciples. Though that breath sweeps not just through those of us called upon to be priests, but through all Christian people – but more of that in a moment.

What else particularly are we ordaining Kate to in this service? Well in my days as a university Chaplain a colleague of mine used to talk of the role of a Chaplain as ‘keeping the rumour of God alive in Academia’. But that equally applies to the everyday life of a priest. We are called to keep the rumour of God alive, sometimes to say those things which are uncomfortable and sometimes declaring the light, life and light of God against the darkness of the age. “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me” says our passage from Isaiah “because the Lord has anointed me...” and the reading from Chapter 61 of the book of Isaiah goes on to talk of proclaiming good news to the oppressed, binding up the broken hearted, proclaiming liberty to to the captives and release to prisoners, comforting those who mourn and givng gladness and praise instead of mourning and ashes. But we also read that the day of vengeance of our God is proclaimed alongside the year of the Lord’s favour. The priest doesn’t always get to share good news, some of the things she or he is called to share might be difficult to say and even harder to hear. As you may have heard me say before, the Holy Spirit is the comforter of the afflicted, and afflicter of the comfortable. In prayer, study of scripture, pastoral care, sharing of the sacraments we speak out the word of God as we are bidden, and we cannot flinch from sharing the hard truths about our Church, about the true cost of taking up the cross of Christ, about the discipline that is inherent in being a disciple as we follow the way of Christ.

And there’s an uncomfortable, or potentially uncomfortable thing I think I need to say in response to the other reading of our three – that wonderful reading from St Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, chapter four. And I hope this comes under the heading of ‘speaking the truth in love’ that Paul mentions....

The priest isn’t here to do your faith for you.

Though we celebrate Kate’s gifts and talents, and we rejoice that God has called her to this place to excercise the ministry of being a Priest and a Curate in our Mission Community. Though we hold to the ordering of Bishops, Priests and Deacons to serve and minister to, within and beyond the Church of God. Though we rejoice today that Kate’s journey has brought her to this place and that we in the Five Alive Mission Community get to share that and to support Kate in her ministry, even as she blesses us with all that she offers. We remember that in the Church of God no order is higher than another, that no calling is greater than another, that we are all a part of this wonderful body of Christ who have Christ alone as our head. Through our shared life in baptism we all have a vocation and ministry to serve and to share and to live and BE the Gospel.

St Paul writes ‘EACH of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ’s gift’ – not just the priests, or the bishops or deacons of the Church but each one of us. Even as we celebrate Kate’s calling and benefit from her leadership and service we remember that every one of us has a place within the Mission and Ministry of God’s Church. We all have our God-given gifts, we all have a part to play.

As Priest, part of Kate’s role and responsibility will be to foster and nurture the spiritual life of the people of God. This is in order that, as Paul writes, we may no longer be children. Small children, as we know, need everything done for them – but it isn’t long (and I speak from sometimes painful experience) before they are striking out, making a bid for independence and wanting to do things for themselves. So it should be in the body of Christ. Kate has her part within the body, just as all of us called to ministry and leadership have a part, but it is not her (or my, or any Priest’s) role to do Church on everyone’s behalf. As a representative of the Church she will preach, lead, preside at the Eucharist, Bless, Absolve and offer pastoral care and prayer – but it is the responsibility of all God’s people to find their gifts and offer them in the service of Christ and his people.

You may or may not be amazed to hear that I have heard the words ‘It’s good that you’ve got a Curate, another Priest, that’ll be a help to you’. In response to which I often want to say ‘actually it’s a help to you’. Kate in her priestly role is here to support the work that WE, the Church are doing, to reach out to those beyond our congregations, to live and proclaim the love of God in Christ. But she is here in partnership with each one of us as together we make up this wonderful, strange, challenging body we call the Church.

So we rejoice that God has called Kate to this work. We rejoice in the celebration of the life of this Five Alive Mission Community. And we rejoice that together we have such a great salvation to proclaim. May God join and knit us together as we are equipped for service, evangelism, worship and let us pray that we will be built up in love for the sake of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, our living head.

Bless you Kate in this ministry – in a wonderful place, with wonderful people. And God bless us all in his body, the Church.

Thanks be to God. Amen.

And There's More....

This month's 'thought from the Vicar' as printed in the parishes paper...

Didn’t We Do Well?

After last month’s thoughts, which might have seemed negative but which were not meant to, I thought I would – or indeed should – offer some of the reasons why I find myself constantly encouraged by the Mission and Ministry lived out by our Parishes within the Five Alive Mission Community.

Did you know, for instance, that the national average for population attending Church in the UK is roughly 5%, of which about 3% attend Anglican Churches? In our villages that number is between 6 and 11% of the population attending our churches with some regularity, and when you add in our brothers and sisters of Baptist and Methodist Churches in the Mission community that number rises even more. Not that it is the numbers themselves that are important, but the fact that our church fellowships remain at the heart of our village communities. We are genuine community churches, existing for the benefit not just of those within our walls, but for the whole of our villages.

A wonderful example of this has been very evident for me in some of the funerals I have been privileged to lead recently. The welcome and concern shown for families and friends of those who have died has been moving and inspiring to see, not only that but when there are specific requests made – whether it is playing a clip of someone recorded for a cassette of ‘village voices’ or accommodating 200 bikers – the church communities will go the extra mile in trying to make these things happen.

Also within these church fellowships there is a real desire to be more than ‘Sunday Christians’ – our midweek services, study groups, special events, community lunches, coffee mornings and more all point to a desire to make our faith known day by day and to live out the truth of what we believe. The fact that so many of our church members are involved in crucial roles in our village communities, and that many of them are involved because of their Christian commitment, is a great testimony to the everyday faith we share.

And though I realise I am risking a little too much ego massaging I want to finish with one more thing. Our churches are thinking and doing churches. People ask questions about faith, they challenge and encourage their Clergy, they take part in debates and discussions. This is a sign of what the prayer book of 1662 calls a ‘true and lively faith’ and is very encouraging for those of us who minister here. But it doesn’t stop with words, the Christians in our churches are keen to act out their faith, often in very quiet ways, without fanfare or even thanks in some cases. I am moved to see just how faith is put into action in so many ways in our fellowships.

That is why I feel encouraged by all of the churches in the Five Alive Mission Community, and why I feel privileged to be the Vicar here. Thank you for all you do.

A Sermon for Passion Sunday

Lent 5 Passion Sunday (2009) Year B RCL Principal

Jeremiah 31.31-34

Psalm 51.1-13

Hebrews 5.5-10

John 12.20-33

Living with PASSION

I don’t know what sort of things you are passionate about. When I say passionate I mean that you feel grasped by them, unable to let them go – you want to spend lots of time doing something that excites and inspires you. Perhaps your passion is Music? Movies? TV Soaps is a very popular choice! I am passionate about a number of things, one of them being my wife and children, you may have got the idea that I am passionate about guitar playing (whether or not I am terribly good at it) – but something that has become a passion of mine is motorcycling.

I love riding my motorcycle, I like all the gear that comes with motorcycles – helmets, heavy gloves, leathers, waterproofs, gizmos and gadgets – they all add to the fun of being a ‘biker’. I like looking at motorcycles too, and meeting with other bikers, and enjoying part of something that is fun, and exciting, and passionate.

If we allow them to, our passions can sometimes distract us. We can find that we become so caught up in them, that we lose sight of other important things in our lives – our families and friends, our work, all sorts of things. It can be easy to allow our passions to become obsessions.

This Sunday is Passion Sunday – when we begin to think about another kind of Passion – the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ. As we move towards Holy Week, we remember Jesus’ suffering and death, the struggle and pain that he underwent in the last days of his life. This is commonly known in the Church as his Passion because of the strength of the feelings Jesus underwent and the difficulties he faced.

On this Sunday I want to think about our vision as a Mission Community, as we will over these coming months take the time to consider again our hopes and our aims in the Churches, beginning with us being centred on Christ, but also being filled by God’s Holy Spirit with faith and love and exercising generously the gifts that God has given. Today I want be talk about living our Christian lives with Passion.

This is a very appropriate theme for this Sunday, but we must be careful not to get the idea of Jesus’ passion mixed up with being Passionate Christians. The two ideas aren’t separate from each other, but they have different meanings in many ways.

And today I want to take this opportunity to ask what you are passionate about? Or rather, are you passionate about your faith? To be honest, if many of us took our Faith as seriously as some of our other passions, our Churches would be full, and the Gospel would be spreading like wildfire in our country and beyond.

But Passion is not something we hear preached about very often in our Churches. The idea that our faith can be all consuming can be seen as a little bit distasteful, somewhat uncomfortable, not very ‘British’.

But as Christians we are called to live our Christian lives with Passion, devotion and commitment. There are no half measures in God’s love for us nor should there be in our love for God. We are all filled with God’s Spirit of faith, hope and love, the Spirit that gives life in all its fullness.

Our Bible readings for today give us some idea of God’s opinion about our lives. In the wonderful reading from the book of Jeremiah we are told that God’s law, the will of God as described in the Old Testament, will pass from the written word, from tablets and scrolls and papyrus and paper and books – into our hearts. The promise is, says God, that he will write his law in our hearts.

As Christians we believe that God has done this, he has given us life through his Spirit who lives in our hearts and convinces us of God’s love and draws us towards God’s will. It is this new law, the law of love, that should inspire our passion. We are called to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, strength and mind. If that’s not a good definition of passion, I’m not sure what is. And alongside this we are called to love our neighbour as our self.

This isn’t something that is open to negotiation. It’s not an optional extra to Christian Faith, it IS Christian faith. This all consuming love is the foundation, and the purpose, of faith.

And it was this love, this all consuming passion that was the basis of Jesus life, and which led him to his own Passion and death on that Good Friday. It was this all consuming love that guided all that he said and did. It drove his faith, and it led him in the will of God.

It wasn’t easy, and it lead to death, but it led also to the resurrection that brought each one of us to share the life of God.

In our Gospel lesson we have the memorable saying of Jesus that unless a seed falls into the ground and dies it cannot bear fruit. This is a powerful image, and though we know a seed doesn’t actually die under the ground, the waiting, the seeking can sometimes make it seem as if it is gone and then comes back to life again.

Death is the lack of passion, a place of emptiness. Life on the other hand is filled with vitality and vigour.

In our own lives are there things that we need to let go of, things that we need to allow to fall into the ground and die in order that our Christian Faith may truly live? Perhaps there are distractions, things we take us away from truly giving all to God. Perhaps we are afraid to what might happen if we truly gave up everything to God. Perhaps we are not sure what it means to hand over the whole of our lives to God. Perhaps we simply don’t see this as relevant to us.

But the Bible is quite clear that, as Christians, our faith must be alive, and active, and filled with passion. When we are alive in our faith, when we have allowed our distractions, fears, misunderstandings and apathy to fall into the ground and die, it is then that we can bear the fruit of the Gospel.

And this fruit is to do God’s will, to serve Jesus as we follow him. In our Gospel reading our Lord said

Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor.

Christian life is not a passive thing, but must be a passionate thing. Serving and following are active, not passive – they are things we must actively pursue as Christians.

And we do all of this that God’s name may be glorified, that his Kingdom may come and his will be done. That the seed of this old world may pass away and God may bring resurrection life to all of creation. That, as Jesus tells us in today’s Gospel – the judgment may come and the ruler of this world be overthrown. That the fullness of life in Christ can come. That Christ may be lifted up from this earth and may draw all people to himself.

We can play our part in this great plan, in our great hope of faith, by living our Christian lives with Passion in all that we do. Willing to face the consequences and the costs, just as Jesus was, in order that God may work in us and through us and in partnership with us might usher in the new life of his Kingdom to all people.

May this aim become something that informs and inspires the whole of our lives, may Passion for Christ and for the coming Kingdom consume us and draw us ever closer to God. Amen.