SOME THOUGHTS FOR PENTECOST I am looking at a painting from a new book by Richard Harries called ‘Seeing God in Art’. The painting ‘The Spirit descends to live with us’ is by Nicholas Mynheer in the Chapel of Worcester College. In the background, lit by early dawn light, is an Oxford quad; in its centre and taking up a quarter of the painting is a cramped room, crammed full of people looking heavenward, their eyes closed in rapture. Their mouths are open and into them pours God’s Holy Spirit like orange and yellow searchlights. Hang on - is the Spirit entering the disciples or bursting forth? It’s impossible to say. The title of the painting suggests one thing, but our reading of scripture alongside the picture would suggest both in fact. That is the point of Pentecost (50 days) or Whitsun (‘Wisdom Sunday’), as we used to call it. God’s Spirit pours on those disciples, crammed into the Upper Room, doors surely locked again. There is a sound like a rushing wind; it seems that each of them is touched with heavenly fire; and out of them burst the Word of God. These huddled people then burst onto the street, which up to that moment had seemed hostile, dangerous even. A crowd from many different countries gathers at the noisy exodus, curious, amazed, mocking. They hear the Good News of what God has done for all of them - and, of course, for all of us too. God loves us, and he has sent his Son Jesus Christ to show us how much he loves us. That is Good News indeed! Peter, who 50 days before had denied Jesus three times, now preaches the sermon all of us wish we could preach and makes 3,000 converts that day. The gift of God’s Spirit, poured into the disciples, leads them to words and action. The Church is born and immediately starts to grow. Now you understand my frustration at not being able to go out and preach the Good News, but God’s Spirit is there for all time, like the Love of God, and there will soon come a time when we are able to gather and open our hearts and our lives to the working of the Spirit and share our love for God and one another with all those around us. That time will come. Believe me, sisters and brothers. It will come. One last thought from this picture and the reading from Acts 2 - the disciples crammed in the Upper Room (and believe me, in the picture they are crammed!) are a community. Christianity, which we see born here, is a community faith. There is room for solitaries like Julian of Norwich, but even Julian had access to a living community the other side of the cell wall. We need each other, and now with the loosening of the lockdown somewhat we can meet with friends and families more than we have been able to for some time. We thank God for that, and wait for the moment when we are truly free, however long that takes.
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I have almost forgotten how many weeks it is since we started lock-down. We have had so much time on our hands that we have almost forgotten what to do with it all. One thing we all share in this challenging time is that we have to wait. We wait outside supermarkets, nicely spaced out. We order books or cases of wine online and have to wait for their delivery. Wait, wait, wait. For Christians who are used to going regularly to church where they sing hymns with others, break bread with others, say their prayers with others, listen to the scriptures with others, this has been a very hard time. We were only just into Lent (itself a hard time, no flowers in church, purple hangings, giving up things) when the lock-down started. The wait seemed eternal. When would Easter come? Finally Easter did come and the hymns on our website were suitably jolly but we were still waiting in lock-down. This time of waiting seemed to stretch way over the horizon, on and on and on. Now Ascension Day has come. Jesus, our risen Lord, has ascended to heaven, telling us to wait for the Comforter, the Holy Spirit. Forty days of Lent, forty days from Easter to Ascension Day, ten days from Ascension to the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost/Whitsun. ‘The Stature of Waiting’ is a book by Canon W H Vanstone, which had a great effect on me as I went through the selection process for the ministry. It was well over a year between the first of my interviews and the letter from the Bishop to say I had been recommended for a selection panel, which finally took place a third of a year later. Vanstone shows how Jesus seemingly passively accepts his arrest, torture, mocking, crucifixion, but it is, in fact, a time of waiting. On Easter morning he bursts from the tomb. The waiting is over. Vanstone shows us how to be more Jesus-like and accept that there are times when we have to wait. They are given to us that we may be more effective when they are over. This year the waiting has gone on much longer than usual, much longer than we feel we can bear. Let us draw strength from our Lord’s example. Let us, through prayer and study, those Zoom sessions with friends and families, those phone calls to neighbours, the thousand different ways we have found to use this time for growth, try to be more Christ-like. When the waiting gets to us, we must remember the Crucified One and draw encouragement from Him. There is a wonderful verse in the 40th chapter of the Prophesies of Isaiah (v31) - ‘Those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.’ Say this verse over and over to yourselves. Grow strong again in your love for Our Lord and for one another. Pray for one another - and pray for me too that I may stay strong and patient. John
The reading is Acts of the Apostles chapter 1 verses 4-11.
The Rogation Days (from the Latin rogare, ‘to ask’) are the three weekdays before Ascension Day. However, in practice, many churches have observed Rogation on the preceding Sunday (Easter V in the Prayer Book, the Sixth Sunday of Easter in Common Worship). The Prayer Book Gospel includes the words of Jesus, ‘Whatsoever ye shall ask for in my Name, he will give it you’ – words associated with the heavenly intercession of the ascended Christ. Originally, the Christian observance of Rogation was taken over from GraecoRoman religion, where an annual procession invoked divine favour to protect crops against mildew. The tradition grew of using processional litanies, often around the parish boundaries, for the blessing of the land. The Rogation procession was suppressed at the Reformation, but it was restored in 1559. The poet and priest George Herbert interpreted the procession as a means of asking for God’s blessing on the land, of preserving boundaries, of encouraging fellowship between neighbours with the reconciling of differences, and of charitable giving to the poor. The tradition of ‘beating the bounds’ has been preserved in some communities, while others maintain the traditional use of the Litany within worship. In more recent times, the scope of Rogation has been widened to include petition for the world of work and for accountable stewardship, and prayer for local communities, whether rural or urban. At this time of lockdown as we all deal with the threat of the Coronavirus, it is vital we turn to God in prayer as individuals and as His Church. Of course, this year, we cannot have processions or join together for worship but we can still pray for the land, our nation and the well-being of Creation. Perhaps you can walk around your garden briefly pausing as you read the Scriptures and pray for various aspects of creation. You could pray through the service before your daily walk and then recall parts of it as you pass various places. The texts are shown below the hymns. If you are self-isolating or not very mobile, you can pray from your chair, imagining different parts of the world in your mind’s eye. The most important thing is to be open to God’s Spirit and pray for our world.
Prayers and Readings for Rogation Sunday 17th May 2020
The Greeting Alleluia! Christ is risen. He is risen indeed. Alleluia! We come before you our God and Sustainer, remembering that you are our Creator and the source of all being. Out of your love the universe was born. From primordial darkness you put in place all that is needed for growth and saw that it was good. You have put this world into our hands: may we recognise your Spirit within it, disturbing and challenging us to care for creation, for the weak and the deprived. Lord we remember that we are called by you to nourish the earth and its diversity of life, to share the gifts you have given, with one another and with the poor of the world. Amen Prayers of Penitence Let us ask God to have mercy on our tired land, and to prosper the work of our soiled hands. Let us ask God to forgive our delusion of self-sufficiency so that we may praise him for his provision and goodness. Lord, you give us this good earth, yet we take your generous gifts for granted. Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Lord, you give us this good earth, but we squander its rich resources. Christ, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, you give us this good earth, but we fail to share your bounty with all of your children. Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. May the God of love and power forgive us and free us from your sins, heal and strengthen us by his Spirit, and raise us to new life in Christ our Lord. Amen. Collect Almighty God, whose will it is that the earth and the sea should bear fruit in due season: bless the labours of those who work on land and sea, grant us a good harvest and the grace always to rejoice in your fatherly care; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Mark 4:26-29 Jesus also said, ‘The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come.’ Prayer Almighty God, whose will it is that the earth and sea should bear fruit in due season, bless the labours of all those who work on land and sea. Grant us a good harvest and the grace always to rejoice in your care. Lord you have ordered our life that we are dependent on one another prosper those engaged in commerce direct our minds and hands in the service of you and all with whom we live and work. Grant O Lord that whatever gifts we have, they may be used to the full, for the enrichment of our lives together and for the coming of your kingdom. We pray in the name of Jesus, the good shepherd. Amen. Intercessions Let us pray to God, who alone makes us dwell in safety: Upon the rich earth send a blessing, O Lord. Let the earth be fruitful and its resources be hallowed. Lord, hear us, Lord, graciously hear us. Upon human labour send a blessing, O Lord. Prosper the work of our hands; may all find dignity and just reward in their work; free the exploited and oppressed. Lord, hear us, Lord, graciously hear us. Upon the produce of the earth send a blessing, O Lord. Guide into a sustainable future, and give us the will to share the fruits of the world. Lord, hear us, Lord, graciously hear us. Upon the seas and waters send a blessing, O Lord. Teach us to cherish the water of the earth, and to conserve the seas, lakes and rivers. Lord, hear us, Lord, graciously hear us. Upon aid agencies send a blessing, O Lord. Where the earth is parched and the well has run dry; where war brings want, and children go hungry; where the poor cry out for bread and for justice, give hands to care and heal, and compel us to be generous. Lord, hear us, Lord, graciously hear us. For all who are affected by coronavirus, through illness or isolation or anxiety, that they may find relief and recovery: Lord, hear us, Lord, graciously hear us. For those who are guiding our nation at this time, and shaping national policies, that they may make wise decisions: Lord, hear us, Lord, graciously hear us. For doctors, nurses, care workers and medical researchers, that through their skill and insights many will be restored to health: Lord, hear us, Lord, graciously hear us. For the vulnerable and the fearful, for the gravely ill and the dying, that they may know your comfort and peace: Lord, hear us, Lord, graciously hear us. We commend ourselves, and all for whom we pray, to the mercy and protection of God. Merciful Father, accept these prayers for the sake of your Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen. A General Thanksgiving Almighty God, Father of all mercies, we thine unworthy servants do give thee most humble and hearty thanks for all thy goodness and loving kindness to us and to all men. We bless thee for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life; but above all for thine inestimable love in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ, for the means of grace, and for the hope of glory. And, we beseech thee, give us that due sense of all thy mercies that our hearts may be unfeignedly thankful, and that we show forth thy praise, not only with our lips, but in our lives, by giving up ourselves to thy service, and by walking before thee in holiness and righteousness all our days; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom with thee and the Holy Ghost be all honour and glory, world without end. Amen. Blessing and Dismissal God the Father, who created the world, give you grace to be wise stewards of his creation. Amen. God the Son, who redeemed the world, inspire you to go out as labourers into his harvest. Amen. God the Holy Spirit, whose breath fills the whole of creation, help you to bear his fruits of love, joy and peace. Amen. John 14 verses 1-10 I AM THE WAY, AND THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE. Today’s Gospel contains another of Jesus’ great I AM claims - I am the Bread of Life; I am the True Vine; I am the Good Shepherd; I am the Light of the World; I am the Resurrection and the Life; and last week’s I am the Gate to the Sheepfold. They all give us insights into how the first Christians saw Jesus and his ministry on earth. They tell us something about how our relationship with him may grow and flourish, even in our time of lock-down. John 14 took place in the Upper Room, on the night when Jesus was arrested and his trials started. He washed his disciples’ feet and gave then a new commandment - ‘Love one another as I have loved you. In the other Gospels this Last Supper saw Jesus giving his disciples the Holy Communion as a way to remember him and to remain part of his redemptive project. John 14 has a lot of teaching about Jesus’ relationship with his Heavenly Father. In our section of it Philip, whom we met last week, asks to be shown the Father. This draws the gentle rebuke from Jesus that surely the disciples have learnt the close relationship between Jesus and his Father means they have already seen the Father. Thomas asks Jesus to show them where he is going. This brings the response - ‘I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life.’ We remember that in the early days Christianity was not known as a separate religion; it was known merely as The Way. The image of journey, of pilgrimage, of way is familiar to us today, even if we are prevented from making long journeys at the moment. We remember the walk to Emmaus and how the disciples learnt about the resurrection as they walked with Jesus. Our life is a journey of discovery like that. We are learning all the time. The journey leads us to truth, the truth that God loves us and stands by us in all we experience. This is true for all of us at the moment. As we struggle to come to terms with our changed world and all the restrictions that brings we need to be reminded that Jesus is walking with us. That is a truth worth holding on to. It is a journey that leads to an enriching of our lives. It may not feel like it at the moment, but it is the truth. Our friendship with Jesus enriches all our experiences, even in lock-down. How many of us have been shopped for or phoned up? How many have been treated to impromptu cocktail parties over the garden hedge (at a safe distance, of course!)? So many. Let us thank God for it and promise to continue this when this awful time is over and we are free again.
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AuthorCanon John Green Archives
May 2021
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