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A reflection for Sunday 2nd July 2023 Trinity IV by the Rev'd David Warnes

“And whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple – truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.”

A cup of cold water. It seems such a small thing, though whether it is a small thing depends on the context. The saying reminded me of the generosity of Sir Philip Sidney, the English poet, courtier and soldier who was fatally wounded when fighting against the Spanish in the Netherlands during the reign of Elizabeth I of England. His close friend and biographer Fulke Greville described what happened next. Sidney was bleeding badly and was very thirsty. He asked for a drink and a water bottle was brought to him. Just as he was about to drink from it, he noticed a badly wounded soldier lying close by.  He passed the water bottle to him and said:

“Thy necessity is yet greater than mine.”

Philip Sidney was a devout Christian with a deep knowledge of the Bible. His death some days after that act of generosity interrupted a poetic project to which I’ll return later.

Today’s Gospel is a small part of a lengthy passage in which Jesus commissions his disciples to go out on a mission. He has warned them that they will experience rejection and persecution, he has said that they may be alienated from their families, but he has also reminded them that their Heavenly Father will be with them, telling them in the verses on which Russell reflected last Sunday that God has counted the very hairs of their head, in other words God loves them and knows them better than they know themselves. In today’s passage he strikes another encouraging note. Some people will welcome the disciples, and they will be rewarded because in welcoming the disciples they will have welcomed Jesus and welcomed the one who sent Jesus – God the Father.

And then comes a very important teaching about the nature of discipleship. Jesus tells his followers that they are called to a threefold ministry. They are called to be prophets, to challenge injustice and to call people to follow the way of God. They are called to be righteous ones, to walk the walk as well as talking the talk, to show people that they are practising what they preach; that they are following the way of God.

At that point, the disciples were probably wondering what was coming next. In the Hebrew Bible, when things come in threes, the third item is always the most important. They were all too human. They may have expected a word or phrase which would confer an even higher status on them. Instead, they hear that as well as being prophets and being righteous, they are also called to be “little ones”.

“And whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones…”

You may be representing me and representing God, Jesus tells them, you may be called to be prophets and exemplars of the righteous life, but don’t let it go to your heads. You are also called to be “little ones”. Your vulnerability, your needs, your dependence on others is vital to the success of your mission. Your calling is to receive welcome and to offer welcome.

On Thursday the church celebrated the feast of Saints Peter and Paul. At this time of year, known as Petertide, many men and women are ordained as Deacons and as Priests. Today is the thirtieth anniversary of Dean’s ordination to the priesthood, of his taking up of that threefold calling to prophetic witness, righteousness of life and to the vulnerability and costly availability of being one of God’s “little ones”, receiving and offering welcome, accepting the weight of other people’s sorrows and the burdens of administration.

In those thirty years he has touched the lives of thousands of people for the good, in Maidenhead where he served as curate, in Lockerbie and Annan, in Dalmahoy, as Mission Adviser in this Diocese, as Provincial Mission and Stewardship Coordinator, as Team Priest at the Cathedral and as Rector of the Good Shepherd since 2009. I know that you will all want to join me in offering congratulations and thanks for his ministry, for his friendship and kindness and for his generous self-giving.

In bestowing a cup of water on a wounded soldier, Sir Philip Sidney showed a self-giving love which was Christ-like and therefore priestly. His death some days later, just short of his thirty-second birthday, cut short a poetic project on which he had been working with his sister Mary, Countess of Pembroke. This was a translation of the Psalms into rhyming verse. They had got as far as Psalm 43 when Sidney was sent to the Netherlands. Almost the last verse that he wrote was this:

To God's altars tho’ 
I will boldly go, 
Shaking off all sadness; 
To that God that is 
God of all my blisse, 
God of all my gladness. 

The priesthood is a great privilege, and at the heart of that privilege is the ministry of the altar, the place where heaven and earth come close and where Christ’s priestly self-giving draws us into his welcome. On this the anniversary of his priesting, we wish Dean continuing joy and gladness in his ministry.

A reflection for Trinity III Sunday 25th June 2023 by the Rev'd Russell Duncan

And even the hairs on your head are all counted. So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows (Matthew 10:31-32)

How often have we been asked if we would like to do something, yet something holds us back from responding positively? It may be that we are not interested. We may not have the time, energy or feel that we can adequately give of our best. We may be fearful of the consequences or uncertain of how it will be received. We may think that we are not worthy of doing it let alone wondering what other people will think. How very human this all sounds.

Our three readings each in their own way have a serious side and directness as well as offering us encouragement and hope.

The prophet Jeremiah lived through turbulent political times. He became increasingly isolated from the people he was born to serve and at times his life was threatened by them.

In his lament Jeremiah cries out that not to speak is as painful as the fear and loneliness that follows after he has spoken. It burns him up, and the pain of holding it in becomes too much. God only seems to give him words of “violence and destruction” however much he longs to speak of “love and reassurance”.   

The words that we hear from Jeremiah are words of deep depression and despair. Jeremiah almost hates God, though he is at least refreshingly honest about that. Perhaps God recognises something of the truth of the accusations Jeremiah is levelling against him?

Paul reminds us that God’s forgiveness is freely offered; it does not have to be earned, and it never can be.  But accepting it means stepping out of one life into another.  He also reminds us that “if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again”.

Christians disciples throughout the centuries have faced similar moments, as Jesus, warned them they would. Like Jeremiah, they have to tell the people what they are given to tell. Like Jeremiah, they cannot choose to soften the message if it is not to peoples’ likings. Like Jeremiah, knowing that God protects them, and that they are “of more value than many sparrows” to him, will not always be a great consolation.

Three times in our gospel reading, Jesus bids his disciples not to be afraid.  Did you notice them? The first is that they are not to be afraid because there is nothing covered that will not be unveiled, and nothing hidden which will not be known.  The second is that we are not to fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. The third is that they are not to fear and is based on the certainty and assurance of the loving care of God. If God cares for the sparrows, surely he will care for us?

So let us take courage and know that we cannot drift beyond the love of God. May we know that our times are forever in God’s hands; that God will not leave or forsake us and that we are surrounded forever and upheld by God’s care. If that is so – of whom shall we be afraid?

We thank you for counting us worthy to stand in your presence and to serve you. May all of us who share in the body and blood of Christ be brought together in unity by the Holy Spirit.

A reflection for Trinity II 'Father's Day' 18th June 2023 by Canon Dean Fostekew

Father’s Day is an invention of the American greetings card company ‘Hallmark’. Well at least that’s what many folk think. We do, however, have a Christian precedent for Father’s Day in the feast of St.Joseph the spouse of Mary which the Church keeps on the 19th March. Today, is not the 19th March and our readings on this second Sunday after Trinity do not specifically offer us a great deal of information on what it takes to be a father or for that matter a parent or care-giver.

The first reading at a stretch might have a ‘fatherly’ understanding where God says to the Israelites; ‘if you do all, I tell you, you will be my people and I will be your God.’ But I’m not too sure how the other readings might be stretched to give us an understanding of Father’s Day.

However, I say let’s claim this secular feast, this invention of a card company for the Church. We keep Mothering Sunday so why not Fathering Sunday? And like that fourth Sunday in Lent not as Father’s day but Fathering Sunday - there is a big difference in the meaning just like Mothering Sunday and Mother’s Day.

Father’s Day is a narrow, gender specific and person specific celebration and although there is little wrong with it, it does exclude those who are not fathers in the traditional sense of the word. People like me. But, if we can see today as a celebration of all that is good about the fathering process or rôle then, we can be more inclusive of our understanding of this day.

A good father, is someone who nurtures, cares for, hopes for and loves those committed to his care. When I became your Rector fourteen years ago on the 14th May, the then Bishop charged me with the ‘Cure of souls’ - not some mystical doctor role but one of caring for and loving all the people in this bit of the Diocese and God’s Kingdom called Murrayfield. He charged me to ‘Father’ and ‘Mother’ the flock here, with him and on his behalf. I am not a biological father but I am a father figure to my two step-sons and I also find myself acting as a father-figure or trusted older adult to some of my younger friends, for a whole variety of reasons.

Because of the roles I find myself taking on I am drawn to the example of St.Joseph, who was a dad to Jesus, head of a household, a spouse and someone who taught his child a trade. Fathering is much more than genetics. It is something that many of us engage in, often without realising that we are doing so. The whole basis of fathering is, however, rooted in the love and example of God’s love shown to us most especially in his Son Jesus. As Jesus showed us, God’s love:

  • is unconditional

  • it wants the best for each and everyone of us

  • it encourages us to desire the best for others

  • it ensures that we do unto others only that

    which we would want done unto our selves

  • it teaches and guides us in all we do

These are good fathering and mothering qualities and characteristics that all Christians are called to adopt and develop in themselves and most especially to put into practice. These were some of the tings I learned from my own Father and those who have also been ‘father’ figures to me and I hope they are trains I have been able to pass on to those God has set me to care for.

I remember vividly, when youngest son knew he was to become a father, somewhat unexpectedly. In his tears he asked me how to be a father to a child when he felt he wasn’t ready to be so responsible. My reply to him was to do nothing but love his child. I told him that was what I had to learn quickly when I came into his and his brother’s lives. I had no idea how to be a ‘father’ but I guessed that if I could love the boys then that might be the best way forward. And love them I do, through the thick and think of their growing up and becoming fathers themselves. I see in them what I learned from my Dad, and they have hopefully learned from their father and from me.

Being a parent or finding oneself in that rôle is not an easy task but it can be one much blessed in many different ways.

So today let’s celebrate these ways of loving that God sets before us and calls us to practice. Let us celebrate fathering and give thanks for those who have been ‘father figures’ to us.

A reflection for Trinity I Sunday 11th June 2023

My name used to be Levi. Ironic, isn’t it. Levi, in Hebrew, means “joined”. I wasn’t joined to anyone – I was the most despised and hated person in Capernaum.

I lived and worked on a border – the border between the territory ruled by Philip the Tetrarch and the territory ruled by Herod Antipas. So I wasn’t just a tax collector, I was in Customs and Excise as well. And because of that I lived and worked on a different kind of border – the border between respectability and crime, and I crossed that border many times.

People had good reason to hate me. I was collecting taxes, some of which went to the Romans, the occupying power. I was a collaborator. I was the man to whom the local farmers had to take a tenth of all the grain they harvested, and a fifth of all the grapes and olives they picked. Then there was income tax – 1% when I was collecting it, which may strike you as minimal, but it was still a source of resentment. There was a poll tax which you paid just because you existed. If you moved, they taxed you – You had to pay if you want to drive your animals along a Roman road. And, of course, I was on the take – taking a cut for myself to increase my earnings. Well, after all, I was a skilled worker – I can read and write, and what’s more, I can read and write Greek, the language of commerce.

I was excluded from the synagogue. As a customs officer, I was seen as permanently unclean. A customs officer has to search people and their possessions, Jews and Gentiles alike. If I’d gone through all that purification ritual every time I frisked a Syrian or searched a Samaritan’s saddlebags I’d never have had time to do my job. So the leader of the local synagogue treated me as if I were a leper.

And then I began to hear stories about the teacher from Nazareth, and about the astonishing miracles that he was performing. About how he reached out to people who were outcasts – touching and healing lepers.

And then one day, there was a hubbub in the street, and the sound of a crowd approaching. I grabbed my money bag and got ready to run. It might be an angry mob. And then Jesus came in. When he came in, there was a gasp from the crowd. They couldn’t believe that he would make himself unclean by entering my office and talking to me.

Even some of his followers looked shocked – it took a while for those of them who had been fisherman to accept me – I’d taken a lot of money off them in the past. Then the crowd fell silent and into that silence Jesus dropped two words – “Follow me.”

The ripples from those words are still spreading out through my life, years later, and I shall never forget how they made me feel. A door had opened – not the door of my office, but a door in the wall of hatred and prejudice that cut me off from other people, and I was being invited to step through it.

And then I got a crash course in what following Jesus involves, for the very next person who asked his help was the leader of the synagogue, the man who for years had treated me like dirt. His little girl had died. He was hoping for a miracle. And on the way to his house, a different miracle happened. Jesus healed a local woman who had suffered from years and years of bleeding. All it took was for her to reach out and touch the fringe of his cloak. Which, by the way, rendered him unclean. Not that the leader of the synagogue made any fuss about that. He was just desperate for his daughter to be healed, and so she was.

Responding when Jesus said “Follow me” was easy. I was being offered love and acceptance for the first time in many years. What came later was difficult and challenging, but it was possible because the love and the acceptance were there, and they still are.  I now know that it was the love and acceptance of God that entered my office that day.

My name used to be Levi. When I chose to follow Jesus, I was given a new name. Now I’m Mattityahu, but you can call me Matthew. Mattityahu is Hebrew and it means “Gift of God”. And the amazing thing is that since Jesus began to call me by that name, no-one has seen any irony in that.

Thoughts on the Holy Trinity by Canon Dean Fostekew

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!

Trinity Sunday, a day in which we celebrate the three persons manifested by God, three ways of being the one and only God. When one says it or writes it, it seems quite simple but to many when we talk of the three persons in the God head they may assume we are talking about three gods and not One God.

I can remember when I was at Theological College having to write an essay on the doctrine of the Trinity; the more I thought about it the more I became convinced that a blank sheet of paper would say as much about the Trinity as I could possibly attempt to say in 2000 words. I’m still not convinced that that course of action would not have been better this morning.

On the face of it the Trinity seems to be perfectly straightforward; God is one God manifested as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Each being in God is a separate whole and each being is God at the same time.

One God but three beings - simple! Or Not!
I remember trying to explain the Trinity to a Hindu friend at school. I did my best but I think we both ended up utterly befuddled. He had a wonderful understanding of a multitude of different gods exhibiting different aspects of godly behaviour but struggled with the idea of one God having different beings of himself. I got the idea of many different gods but did wonder how my God was able to exhibit three beings at the same time? I think we both decided that God and gods were mysteries and not ever meant to be fully understood or comprehended.

My thinking has moved on from my school days and I believe become more simple rather than complex. The more I have thought about the Trinity over the years of study, prayer and

experience I have come to understand it by thinking about it in very simple terms.

Here’s one:
I am a son, a brother, a partner, a granddad and an uncle, a priest but I am still only Dean; one human being but functioning in a myriad of different ways.

And here is another example:

Each of us is unique. There has never been another human being exactly like you or me and there will never be another you or me in quite the same way as we are. Yet each of us fit perfectly into the human race and into God’s creation. We form part of that creation and help complete the unity which God has designed. That unity would not exist without us and that unity will keep expanding to contain all of God’s creation until the end of time. Creation contains more beings than the Trinity but like the Trinity we are all needed in it to make it whole.

If we can think of the Trinity as a whole with different aspects to it; perhaps it becomes more easy to understand. God is the Creator, the Spirit and the Christ. These three beings hold together because they show us different faces of the one God and they hold together because of love.

Love is the glue that binds the Trinity, love is the thing that is expressed by the three beings of the Trinity in their different ways and love is what makes the Trinity immortal and everlasting, for love never dies. Love may change and grow, diminish or expand but it never dies. It is quite frankly the life energy of the universe and all creation and I think best describes what God actually is.

So to describe the Trinity as love means that if love is the whole, the unity; then the ways in which it is expressed show us different aspects of that unity, of that whole. God is the loving creator or parent - the Father. Jesus is the human face of God sent to love us, and the Spirit is the power and wisdom of love sent to change us and to draw us close. All different

aspects of the one love which is ultimately God.

We will never be able to fully explain the Trinity but if we try to keep it simple and look at it in terms of love, we might get a glimpse of what God is all about.

Holy, holy, holy! Lord God almighty!

All thy works shall praise thy name,

in earth and sky and sea; Holy, holy, holy! Merciful and mighty!

God in three persons, blessed Trinity!