Rev elations

In the readings for Sunday 13th Sept 2015 (see below) we are encouraged to seek wisdom. In the New Testament, the suffering of the cross is presented as a new kind of wisdom, which centuries of Christians and theologians have tried to understand. Some time ago, St Francis for example, said that he felt called to be ‘ a new kind of fool in the world’ and that ‘ God does not want to lead us by any other knowledge than that’ . St Paul similarly talks of Christ crucified: ‘ a stumbling-block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles,   but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.   For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength’ (1 Corinthians 1 23-25). How do we interpret the suffering of the cross as wisdom for today? If we are to take Jesus’ teaching and his action seriously, then we have to understand that the wisdom of the cross is all about letting go – and that i...

One of the most obvious things about our society and about any society is that the poor are generally treated badly. To be poor means to experience objectification and rejection; it is to experience blame and judgment. ‘The poor’ experience other people’s fear of them as hatred and attack; poverty on the outside is to be feared and judged, because it represents human failure and suffering. None of us really wants to be poor and so the poor are on one level always to be feared. The flip side of this is that most of us are drawn towards success and wealth, as success and wealth project the image of human happiness and well-being. Wealth and status are attractive. The wealthy are seen to be good because they represent our dreams about what human happiness looks like; wealth and all that it can bring: learning, friendship, autonomy, choice, status, power, influence and control are the things that we as humans seek and desire. So, why are ‘the poor’ God’s chosen ones? (Has not Go...

‘A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead’. One of the elements of life that the majority of us who live in England are protected from on a day to day basis is violence; yet Jesus makes it a matter of fact element of this story which he tells. A man is stripped, beaten, robbed and left half dead. It’s the kind of story we are used to reading in our newspapers and seeing on our televisions, stories of violence happening to somebody else. But, Jesus asks the lawyer to consider that violence coming closer to him. What would happen and what would his response be if he found someone left like that half dead on the road? Jesus is fully aware that violence lies just neatly under the surface of civilised communities and nations, a violence that can erupt equally in our homes, on our streets and through war. Jesus will confront that violence in a more profound way on the cross. ...

One of the things that Christianity has struggled with is how to hold with integrity- unity in diversity . With Roman Catholicism unity is powerfully enacted through the figure of the Pope and through the catholic creeds and sacraments. With Protestantism diversity is practiced, through personal interpretation and access to God and a plethora of denominations and creeds. Yet, it seems that both full short of ‘unity in diversity’. It is harder to enable unity in diversity than it is to practice one or the other. It is harder because it requires a creative interplay which involves risk, freedom and discipline. Such a creative interplay of unity in diversity is revealed in the Trinity: the unity yet diversity of the Three allows creativity and difference, whilst never allowing controlling subjection of one over the other. In absolute trust and unity of will each plays its part. At the heart of the Trinity is loving relationship, trust and fidelity. No church can opera...

Sermon/ Address 2015 APCM Reform and Renewal in the Church of England We have three very clear objectives at St Andrew’s Church, set through the PCC-led consultation last year, to focus on Prayer, Teaching, Children and Young people. These objectives sit alongside the Coventry diocesan mission of worshipping God, making new disciples and transforming communities . The Church of England is finding a new sense of direction and purpose, under the leadership of the Archbishop of Canterbury. The Archbishop has focused in his reforms on growth: spiritual and numerical and the directing of resources to the most deprived communities. National funds will be directed to dioceses for these mission priorities. The reports are clear that decline will not be subsidised, only targeted mission work and innovation; in the same way, wealthier communities will be expected to resource themselves. At the same time more resources will be targeted at the most deprived parts of our country. This see...

Holy Week is a mysterious week of both dreadful and glorious imaginings; as we walk the way to Jerusalem with Jesus and his disciples, we find ourselves drawn into an extraordinary narrative where anything could happen. Rev’d David Houghton spoke on Maundy Thursday of the unexpected quality of Christian discipleship; the parts we end up playing are likely to be a surprise to us. Was Judas surprised that he was the one to betray Jesus? Was Mary Magdalene surprised to find herself the first to see the Risen Lord? Undoubtedly all who encountered Jesus were deeply surprised to experience themselves in a new way. In encountering God we are given our real selves, and that is both dreadful and awesome: God gives us insight into our own sinfulness; at the same time God kneels down and washes our feet. Together as we learn from one another in the journey of faith we are encouraged to take steps of trust, where what we had previously known dissolves into a broader and altogether more myste...