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Trinity 1 Good Shepherd. RAFA Service. 2022

Firstly, I want to than William for his graciousness as a former RAF chaplain for inviting me, a former Army Chaplain, or Pongo as we are affectionately called, to preach this morning at this Royal Air Force Association service!

I did serve however in a couple of tri service posts and of course on operations, we are all lumped in together, - the old joke of the Army digging in while the RAF check in, fortunately is not always the case and so I do have one or two blue credentials.

Each of us here belong to different organisations – former serving personnel, reservists, cadets, church members – and the one thing that unites us is a sense of belonging; that we are part of something greater than ourselves.

Each of the services are slightly different, but they all have core values: values which inculcate the ethos of the service, values which dictate every action and command, values which instill the highest standards of behavior on and off the battlefield. The Army, has 6 such values – Courage, Discipline, Respect for Others, Integrity, Loyalty and Selfless Commitment. The Royal Air Force is very similar with Respect, Integrity, Service and Excellence.

And for those of us with faith, well we have many values, but the military ones I think can work rather well: Courage to witness to our faith, Discipline of prayer and sacrament, Respect for others through loving others as we would want to be loved, Integrity – living out our lives in truth and selfless commitment is the sacrificial life that we are called into when Jesus asks us to take up our cross to follow him.

Whether military or church, it is a big ask to develop such values to live by: and I think that if we try and do it on our own, it is nigh on impossible.

I had the privilege to serve for a couple of years at the Infantry Training centre where all infantry recruits undertake their 6 months basic training, and they learn very early on that key to success is supporting one another – its about getting the section into a safe harbour, or the whole platoon across the finishing line of an eight mile tab – to simply look after yourself is not good – no one wants to be labelled ‘Jack’. It is an acknowledgement that no one can be good at everything and the best way to live is to look out for each other, playing to strengths, and supporting those who are struggling.

The military get that and it stays with them beyond active service: it is truly wonderful that there are organisations such as RAFA that provide ongoing fellowship, along with practical and moral support, along with so many other excellent veterans organisations and charities; I wish other organisations and institutions would follow the same example as it would make society a much stronger and supportive network.

The late Desmond Tutu, former Archbishop of South Africa, often spoke about Ubuntu – an African concept translated as ‘I am because we are.’ we are all bound together in ways that can be invisible to the eye; that there is a oneness to humanity; that we achieve ourselves by sharing ourselves with others, and caring for those around us. playing to each other’s strengths, and supporting one another’s weaknesses. it is this sense of belonging to something greater than ourselves that enables us to reach our full potential as God intended – it is others who help define us as individuals.

Being with others who share the same values, and who encourage, inspire and support us enables us to live life in abundance: And this is particularly true when it comes to faith. We have all heard the mantra that  you don’t need to be a Christian to go to church – I guess in one sense that’s true -  if I lives somewhere remote and unable to access a Christian community, this would not make me any less a Christian.

But without a sense of belonging or community, we miss out on so much.

Jesus knew this – and so when he talks about faith, he never presents it as a personal lifestyle choice that we try and live out on our own; he nearly always uses corporate language – of a flock of sheep, of houses with many rooms, and then in the reading I have chosen this morning, he talks about the relationship of faith as being like a vine with many branches. of being the true vine and us his branches, connected, dependant on one another, joined together by the grace and love of God, the vine grower.

So Faith is not just about us as individuals – it is a calling in to a shared life, it’s a calling to a sacrificial life, it’s a calling to a life where we flourish through belonging. Jesus couldn’t make this clearer in the gospel reading this morning where he says, abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. A shared life brings much fruit.

Later on in our service, we will remember those who gave their lives for our country; for them, life was not about individualism: it was about the greater good and those dearly held values of freedom and peace… something they believed in passionately – so much so that they were prepared to lay down their own lives to preserve what they held dear.

But they are not just names on war memorials; and our calling to mind their sacrifice is far more than just remembering; if all we do is remember, then they remain just names in the past; but if we take on their values, their vision of a greater good, then they really do live on through us, and their sacrifice will not be in vain.  We continue that vision, working tirelessly for those shared values that sustain us and help us grow: putting aside individual ambition and working for the common good.

So it really is good to belong – it is in our DNA –  and through belonging, we find identity, meaning , and live life in its fullest as God intended.

Today we think of all of those branches that connect us with others, and though which we are nourished. Especially today,we give thanks for the work of the Royal Air Force Association and all veteran organisations. We pray for all those serving in our armed forces home and abroad and those who this day will be putting their lives in danger for the common good.

We give thanks for all our youth organisations and for the life skills they develop in our young people. And we give thanks to God for the community of the church - our shared life of faith, for the joy of belonging, for the strength and encouragement we receive from each other, and for the love and grace of God in whom we find fullness of life.

Almighty and eternal God, Lord and creator of all, who has brought us through adversity, hear us as we pray for all serving in the Royal Air Force today and all who have served in the past. We praise and thank You for all whose sacrifice and  service has attended the cause of peace and freedom in this nation and across this world. We also pray today for all members of the Royal Air Force Association and their work throughout the world. Amen.
 

With the 30th anniversary of my ordination to the diaconate and thus 29 years since my presiding fast approaching I have been pondering and reflecting upon what it means to be a minister of Word and Sacrament and if I’m truthful what it means to be a Christian. I haven’t come to any conclusions or received any divine revelations or found any definitive answers to my questions apart from the fact that I increasing believe that to be a Christian and a minister is something to do with love and hope. This morning’s readings also seem to imply this as well.

God loves us we are told, just as we are, and because of that we can draw hope from the fact that we are in no way a ‘lost cause’ in the eyes of our heavenly Father and nor will we ever find ourselves in a situation where we are unredeemable, unless we choose to be. God has a big forgiving heart. On this Father’s Day (and a tough day for me) I think I would wish to say that the concept of our Father God, with a big forgiving heart is a good rôle model for all Father’s and parents to try to live up to. No father or parent will ever get it right but if they try then those of us who had such fathers who did try will have been much blessed. I know that I have been so blessed in the father I had. My Dad, might not have always understood me but he had a genuinely big loving heart that he showed me the older he and I both got and it is from our father-son relationship that I can understand more fully what believing in a 'big hearted God’ is all about.

I will again be honest with you because I do at times doubt what I have just told you about the unconditional ‘big hearted’ love of God, in relation to myself. There is and has always been a part of me (and you may feel the same) that really finds it hard to fully believe that I am actually loveable and acceptable in the sight of God (as at times it was with my dad) - just as I am!

‘Just as I am’ is quite a difficult concept to get my head around when I acknowledge my own faults and failings. Yet, in my ministry I hope that I try and convince you that you are perfectly and wonderfully acceptable to God as you are. I truly believe that you are but I have always struggled to believe that I am! You might have similar feelings?

Many of us make assumptions about ourselves and other people that are usually far from the truth as we often don’t know the whole story. Many of us, I suspect, feel deep down that we are not acceptable to God or others. From what Christ tells us and shows us this is nonsense; but it can be hard to shake those feelings off. It is easier to believe that I am the exception to the rule, that I am the one that God does not love or have a purpose for! Does this sound familiar to you? Do you like me recognise your insecurities and self-doubt? Do you really believe this of God and yourself?

Well, and what I am about to say I am saying to myself as much as to you; ‘God is NOT selective. God does not make mistakes in the way he created us and neither does God favour any one of us over another!’

By calling God our Creator, our Father, we have to accept that in some way we are made in God’s image and we have been made the way we are for a good reason. We are how God wants us to be and our lives are a journey and growth into becoming the full being God wants us to be. And this journey will be one of surprises and revelations as we move through each day of life.

Just because we might get ‘crabbit’ at times or angry with those we love, or impatient with inanimate objects, does not ever mean that we are outside God’s love - far from it. It is in fact by recognising our imperfections and faults that we can begin to see how much and how deeply we are truly loved by God, despite ourselves.

In the Old Testament reading this morning; Isaiah makes it clear that even if we reject God or ignore him, he will not do the same to us. He will not give up on us, even if we give up on him. Likewise St.Paul tells the Galatians that we are all God’s children; and that God does not define us by nationality, gender, sexuality, colour or social status. God simply sees us as we are. It is in the Gospel account this morning that this is, perhaps, most clearly seen.

The man possessed by demons, was totally and utterly rejected by society and himself. He could not function as a human being, he was isolated, and self-destructive, feared and hated. He was beyond the pale and above all he was scared. So scared, that Jesus, like everyone else would reject him. Jesus, however, did nothing of the sort. He did not reject him but loved him, met him as he was and in doing so set him free. Jesus was not afraid of the ‘mad’ man, he wanted him to know and believe that he was lovable and acceptable to God. Jesus could see beyond the man’s outward appearance and behaviour to the real man inside. Jesus’ love and acceptance restored the man’s dignity and freed him from his demons. Jesus made him whole and he does that same for each and everyone one of us too.

We all need to truly believe that we are loved by God, loved by Jesus and to acknowledge that his death and passion was the greatest act of love ever. No one of us in unlovable; No one of us is beyond redemption and from this we should take hope. We can all change, if we are prepared to allow love in, to allow Christ and others to come close to us.

Love really does change everything and it can give us courage to become who we are truly meant to be, in the knowledge that we will never be rejected by God, or those who care for us, those who have glimpsed the real person we are and not our outward veneer.

Whenever you doubt that you are loveable (and are you listening Dean?) try to remember that nothing is ever too difficult for God. Not one of us is too difficult for God to love. Tell others this even if you struggle like, I do at times, to think it applies to you, BECAUSE it can change someone’s life.

In future when I remind you of this truth about God and his love for us, remind me of it too. Just as my Dad always reminded me that he loved me as well.

How many times have we felt awkward, embarrassed or ignorant just because we have not understood what someone has said to us?  It may be that they have used a “big” word which we are not familiar with. Or  that they have asked a question that we really didn’t understand. Or that it didn’t actually make sense.

At work if I didn’t understand I would sometimes  say “I havn’t come across that question or situation.  Leave it with me. I will double check the law and come back to you”.  That was far more professional than just making a guess.

Although we are celebrating the Holy Trinity  today, it is also “Music” Sunday.  So much of our understanding of God is expressed in the familiar hymns we sing.

One of my great loves is not only playing but listening to the pipe organ.  On my last Sunday at school, I well remember the thrill of rattling  off the famous Toccata by Charles-Marie Widor.  But it was J S Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in  E-flat major  - “the St Anne”  - being in a  key with three flats -  which  I chose to be played here last October before the service began for my priesting. The three-part Prelude follows the triple symbolism of the Holy Trinity, with the Father as a dotted rhythm; the Son as a lighter, simpler idea and the Holy Spirit as the all-encompassing sixteen note melody. As the prelude unfolds, the themes overlap suggesting a cosmic sense of unity. The triple fugue which then follows is a symbol of the Trinity too.  One of the reasons I chose it was because it is one of Bach’s greatest compositions. The other is that it reflects in music something of the mystery and majesty of God – which cannot be put into words -  but which nevertheless touches our hearts and to which we can respond.

In today’s readings we are reminded of the importance of seeking wisdom and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Asking that God may help us in our understanding of the Holy Trinity. There may be deep questions to which there are no immediate or obvious answers. We are encouraged to reflect upon what our faith means and to pursue ways of deepening it.  We are reminded that endurance produces character and character produces hope and  hope does not disappoint because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

Jean Vanier, the founder of the L’Arche Community, comments  that “the message of Jesus in today’s gospel is certainly beyond us, more than we can imagine. Jesus is challenging us to be faithful; to trust even when we do not fully understand.  He comes through something tiny, a little piece of bread, consecrated by the priest, which becomes his Body. He will leave us physically but through the bread he will be really present with us.  The sacrament will become a real presence for each of us; it is not just a moment of grace but a sign of a covenant of love, a friendship offered to us. He is truly present to us and in us”.

As we celebrate not only the Holy Trinity but  Music Sunday too,  may our minds be  opened to understand something more of the mystery of God and for us to sing:-

Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty,

Early in the morning our song shall rise to thee.

Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty,

God in three Persons, blessed Trinity.

Pentecost Sunday 2022 HM the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee

Come Holy Ghost, our souls inspire

and lighten with celestial fire.

Thou thee the anointing Spirit art,

who dost thy sevenfold fits impart.

Words from the ancient hymn we have just sung calling upon God to send the Holy Spirit, with all its gifts upon us. Ten years ago when I preached on the Diamond Jubilee, it fell on Trinity Sunday. Never an easy Sunday to preach on at any time but how to incorporate the Queen’s jubilee? My sermon on that day began:

“How on earth, I hear you say, can Dean manage to link the doctrine of the Holy Trinity and the fact that we are also celebrating the Diamond Jubilee of her Majesty the Queen? What insights can both give to the other? These have been questions I have been pondering for weeks and I have come to the conclusion that the ‘diamond’ might be the key to the conundrum.”

As a decade ago, I have been pondering on what to say this time but in some ways my task has been easier as today is not Trinity Sunday but Pentecost Sunday or Whitsun. The Sunday at the end of Eastertide, following Christ’s ascension into heaven when we remember the coming of the Holy Spirit upon Mary and Jesus’ disciples in that upper room.

The Spirit did amazing and surprising things to those followers of Jesus; inspiring them and filling them with a spirit of mission and evangelism, giving them the ability to speak new languages in which to share the Good News of Christ and reassuring them that although Jesus had departed from them they would never be separated from the love of God because of the Holy Spirit.

At her coronation on the 2nd June 1953, well over a year following her ascension to the throne after the death of her father George VI, Elizabeth was consecrated monarch and prayed over by assorted clerics all of whom invoked the Holy Spirit to come upon her and to bless her with the gifts she would need to govern and reign as Queen. One of the many prayers used was this:

‘O Lord and heavenly Father,
 the exalter of the humble and the strength of thy chosen, who by anointing with Oil didst of old make and consecrate kings, priests, and prophets, to teach and govern thy people Israel: Bless and sanctify thy chosen servant ELIZABETH, who by our office and ministry
 is now to be anointed with this Oil, and consecrated Queen: Strengthen her, O Lord, with the Holy Ghost the Comforter; Confirm and stablish her with thy free and princely Spirit, the Spirit of wisdom and government,
 the Spirit of counsel and ghostly strength,
 the Spirit of knowledge and true godliness,
 and fill her, O Lord, with the Spirit of thy holy fear, now and for ever; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.’

It is a prayer that calls upon God through the Holy Spirit to bless the Queen with wisdom and strength to govern her people in accordance with God’s holy ways. It is a commandment that the Queen has always taken seriously. This prayer was followed by a more specific prayer that blessed the oil of anointing and (as in Baptism) sealed the Queen with the Holy Spirit:

‘Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who by his Father was anointed with the Oil of gladness above his fellows, by his holy Anointing pour down upon your Head and Heart the blessing of the Holy Ghost,
and prosper the works of your Hands: that by the assistance of his heavenly grace you may govern and preserve the Peoples committed to your charge in wealth, peace, and godliness;
 and after a long and glorious course of ruling a temporal kingdom wisely, justly, and religiously, you may at last be made partaker of an eternal kingdom, through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.’

It is perhaps a poignant prayer for it not only speaks of the Queens life and rule but of her death too. It is a prayer for life long service to the people she has been called to reign over and a reminder that to do so is a life-long commitment only relieve by entry into God’s eternal Kingdom. I wonder how much her Majesty ponders on these words after 70 years of rule?

When we pray to the Holy Spirit we do so with trepidation or we should do. Because the Holy Spirit will do as it wishes and seems correct not as we think we want it to do. We may wish to be blessed with certain gifts and abilities the Holy Spirit may have other ideas. Praying to the Holy Spirit is a dangerous thing to do but a life-giving experience none-the-less. The Holy Spirit is God’s creative and restorative force. It really changes things and can open our eyes to new vistas and dreams we had not expected. At Baptism we are blessed with oil and the Holy Spirit in the hope that the Spirit will guide us throughout our three score and ten (or more).

We do not know the path we will tread through life at that point but we can be assured that we will never be abandoned by the Holy Spirit while we journey on. We may choose to ignore or reject the Spirit’s support but it will still be alongside us patiently waiting for our return or openness. It might even ‘niggle’ us long the way to change course and to pilgrimage into new places. If we are open to the Spirit then we will grow and develop a little more each day into the person God calls us to be. The person made in God’s image and sharing bits of God’s character. We all come from God and we spend our lives returning to God with the Holy Spirit as our guide and support if we let it.

On this Jubilee Sunday ponder a while on your journey through life and where you can see the influence of the Holy Spirit has been give thanks for gifts received and pray for more revelation to come. In our worship this morning we give thanks for the reign of Queen Elizabeth, we pray for her in the latter years of her life and we pray for our country that the Holy Spirit will bless it with abundance and a willingness to share all the good things God has given us.

Come Holy Ghost, our souls inspire and lead us ever closer to your coming Kingdom.