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One of the things I love about Eastertide; is not only the joy of basking in the resurrection light and joy of the risen Jesus but also the fact that for the next eight weeks we get to follow closely the Book of Acts. After the Gospels, Acts is amongst my favourite reading of Scripture. Not only because it was one of the first bits of the Bible I ever read properly but the fact that it is so very exciting.

Acts reads like an adventure story. It is fast moving and catalogues the events following Jesus’ Resurrection and Ascension; and shows us how his early followers interpreted what had happened to them after the resurrection and how it changed their lives. How it enabled them to be so inspired that they took the Gospel to so many different parts of the then known world and how the ripples of their excitement can still influence us today in all we do for Jesus’ sake.  

Acts is the continuation of Luke’s Gospel account. It does not speak directly of what Jesus said and did but it does show us how those who followed him put in to practice what they had learned, seen and experienced first hand. It also talks about how others who did not personally experience Jesus’ ministry were converted to his ways. Not least among them St.Paul. It also speaks of the bravery of the Early Christians in building the church, often against all the odds and persecution. Which even led to martyrdom, think of the deacon St.Stephen. It also enables us to see how ‘ordained’ ministry developed from the events of Pentecost and how a wide variety of different women and men were called to be ministers of the Gospel. 

When I first read the Book of Acts, I found it fanned the flames of my niggling call to ministry. I never felt that I could live up to the example of those brave and fearless Early Christians but I was inspired enough to try and do so. I still have a long way to go but Acts is still one the my greatest encouragements. This has been reinforced over Lent as I have journeyed with others through Acts in the Lent Study group.

In this morning's reading from Acts these words speak most strongly to me:

“I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand so that I will not be shaken; ²⁶ therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; moreover, my flesh will live in hope. ^{…  28} You have made known to me the ways of life; you will make me full of gladness with your presence.”                        Acts 2:26 & 28

To me they speak of Jesus’ commitment to us. Jesus, they say, is always with us and will never leave us even if we think he might. Jesus also shows us the path we need to follow through life and how by following that path we will be made glad and given the confidence to act as his body on Earth. 

Paul picks up on this, this morning by reminding us that by Jesus’ resurrection we are re-born into new life. A new life that ensures our salvation and encourages us to share that hope and joy with others. John’s writing shows us that even if we doubt it does not affect our salvation nor does it bar us from walking the path set ny Jesus Christ because we will be encouraged and inspired by the Holy Spirit if we are prepared to let the Spirit into our souls. 

Today’s readings are no less affirming or exciting than those of last week which showed us the resurrection of Christ in all his glory. Today the readings, however, move us on and remind us that we cannot stay still in the  building of the Kingdom of God, but that we have to get out ‘there’ into the world and build it little by little every day.

Alleluia! Christ is Risen!

He is risen, in deed. Alleluia! 

Matthew 28:1-10

After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. ²And suddenly there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. ³His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. ⁴For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men. ⁵But the angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. ⁶He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. ⁷Then go quickly and tell his disciples, “He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.” This is my message for you.’ ⁸So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. ⁹Suddenly Jesus met them and said, ‘Greetings!’ And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshipped him. ¹⁰Then Jesus said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.’

Like Mary Magdalene and the other women we have to learn not to cling to what we first see. We have to go deeper, to ponder and think; to grow with what one discerns and learn from it. It is through discernment and interpretation of scripture that Jesus is made real to us today this he  meets his people in every age and every time. Do not cling to one moment in time, as the woman might have been tempted to do but let that moment go and allow its truths to develop in you - it is that which makes Christ real today. This is the power of the resurrection. Don’t cling to the known step out into the unknown and let Jesus’ words grow in you. Let the resurrection live afresh in you. Share him with all you meet. Keep those ripples of resurrection expanding and help the power of the resurrection change the world we live in today. Don’t cling to what appears to be safe and known. Let it go, let it grow and let it change the world.

There is no sermon on Palm Sunday as the Passion Gospel Matthew 26:14-27:66 speaks for itself. Please take time to read through the words from St.Matthew's Gospel account and ponder on the events of that first Holy Week some 2000+ years ago.

I can never hear the first reading from Ezekiel with out the words of the Spiritual going through my head:

"Dem bones, dem bones dem dry bones, hear the word of the Lord."

Don’t you just love that first reading with those Oh! so vibrant images of the valley of dried bones coming back to life. It reads like a cinematic script despite being rather fanciful and I can see why it has been beloved by many film makers over the years. I don’t, however,  think that we are expected to take the story literally but to read it as a metaphor and when placed alongside the Gospel reading the metaphor seems to explain itself.

What it is telling us is that we human beings do not exist as mere flesh and blood alone. We are more than the sum of our parts because we contain the Spirit of God. Genesis tells us that we are made in the image of God:

“26 Then God said, ‘Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness;  … 27 So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.”   Genesis 1:26a & 27

and today’s readings can help us comprehend what that means. Our vital essence, our very being is of God. We are not God but we contain within us something of God that sets us apart from the rest of creation. We are God’s beloved because we contain something of God himself and God cannot reject us for to do so would be to reject something of himself as well. We, however, have to recognise that we contain that something of God’s very self deep within our being. We have to acknowledge that it is God who gives us life and puts before us ways of living that are creative and positive. 

New life is always possible as Lazarus discovered but we can discover it too if we can recognise that God is at work within our very selves. God is always giving us the opportunity to make things anew, to grow and change and develop by growing into God’s self by letting his Spirit shape and mould us. All we have to do is say; ‘Yes!’ to God and to allow that Spirit to permeate our souls. Which in turn brings us to new life time and time again.

Mothering Sunday is a time to reflect on the reasons why there is a long-standing tradition of regarding the Church as a mother. Saint Cyprian, a north African bishop of the third century famously wrote that 

 "One cannot have God for one’s Father who does not have the Church for one’s Mother".

How we understand those words is, of course, shaped by our personal experiences of being fathered and mothered. Such language can be very difficult if those experiences were negative. Today’s readings help us towards a positive understanding of the nature of motherhood and of the ways in which the church can be a thought of as our mother.

Our reading from the first book of Samuel tells of Hannah, who had longed to be a mother, giving up her son once he was weaned and dedicating him to God. The Gospel includes Simeon’s words to Mary:

“and a sword will pierce your own soul too”

A reminder that the nourishing intimacy of motherly love will leave Mary open to the grief of watching her son tortured to death on a cross. A reminder of the broader point that to be in the relationships which give our lives meaning, value and purpose is to accept vulnerability, to accept that those whom we love are not our possessions and that loving may involve letting go. Indeed, good mothering and good fathering involves both providing a place where we will always be welcome yet also enabling and empowering us to leave it.

Today’s readings, especially the story of Hannah handing over the infant Samuel, remind me of the most unusual baptism at which I have ever assisted. The service was requested by a young mother who for reasons that were not shared with us was having to give up her recently born daughter into the care of social services. She had no way of knowing or shaping what would happen to her baby in the future or who would provide mothering for her. Her strongest wish was to ensure that her baby was baptised. That was the last thing she could do for her. I was then a curate and the parish priest who was my training incumbent, a wise and experienced man, agreed to baptise the baby even though it involved setting aside many of the rules about baptism. We had no way of knowing whether she would be raised in a Christian home, whether the promises made in the liturgy would be kept or whether the adoption process might take her to a different town and a different parish. The service took place in the watchful presence of a social worker, and we were told that once it was over, the baby would immediately be taken into care. A sword undoubtedly pierced that mother’s soul that day.

I hope that young mum took away some sense of the church as a family. She clearly had some understanding of the importance of baptism. Perhaps that included some understanding that the church is a place where we can enter into and be held in a family relationship with God. I hope that what she experienced that day was the church as a place of welcome and a love that was non-judgmental – the sort of love which Jesus showed to the Samaritan woman at the well, a love which, as Dean reflected in his sermon last Sunday, set aside the rules and reached across barriers of difference.

Today’s reading from St Paul’s letter to the Colossians offers instructions for the family life of the church. 

“Clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.”

There’s a strong emphasis on forgiveness.

“Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.”

These are qualities that are important in family life as the world understands it, as well as in the family life of the church. They are important to good fathering as well as to good mothering and both men and women are called to sustain the family life of the church, a family life centred on God. 

Critics of Christianity often accuse us of having a patriarchal mindset. Yet you can find motherly imagery in the Bible. Remember Jesus’ lament over Jerusalem:

“How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!”

You can also find motherly imagery in Christian writings from the Mediaeval period. Saint Anselm likened the suffering of Christ on the cross to the experience of a woman in labour.

“Jesus, by your dying we are born to new life,

By your anguish and labour we come forth in joy.”

And Julian of Norwich, the fourteenth century visionary whose Revelations of Divine Love is the earliest surviving book in English written by a woman, wrote these words:

“It is a characteristic of God to overcome evil with good. Jesus Christ, therefore, who himself overcame evil with good, is our true Mother. We received our ‘Being’ from Him ­ and this is where His Maternity starts ­ and with it comes the gentle Protection and Guard of Love which will never cease to surround us.”

“…the gentle Protection and Guard of Love which will never cease to surround us.”

That is the mothering we celebrate today.