London, Paris, Rome and Wilcrick...

London, Paris, Rome and Wilcrick...

As I was giving a sort of ‘Thought for the day’ on Thursday in Undy, Pope Benedict XVI was landing in the UK. He was going to have a nice cup of tea with the Queen in Holyrood.

Amidst the controversy and scandals (and one of his senior

advisors Cardinal Walter Kasper saying that the UK is like a Third World country) the POPE came to tell us that FAITH IS IMPORTANT, not just to CATHOLICS or ANGLICANS, but to everyone.

First he delivered a sermon that rounded on what he called aggressive secularism and atheism. As he travels to different venues, his speeches and sermons have become a little more complex, building on what he said in the Westminster Hall was “The importance of building on solid moral and ethical foundations”. Religion, he said, is not a “problem for the legislators to solve” but a “vital contributor to the national conversation”

Of course, he then spoke about the “increasing marginalization of religion, particularly of Christianity” and how in human terms “time is always short”, and we should concentrate our effort, the holy and the secular together in working to solve the problems of today

, war, poverty, environmental catastrophe and a hundred other different problems that face us today.

“The Church and Christianity is not a problem, it’s a benefit to society”, that was his message.

The POPE was saying that FAITH is the structure of our everyday lives whatever we might think about it. It is the antecedent of our legal and education systems, it provides a structure for how we

treat each other and how we live our lives.

He was saying that the importance of the ‘checks and balances’ of religion cannot be underestimated; a wholly secular society would be a much worse place.

This week, two things made me think about the importance of what we are doing here in church, and in the communities around us.

I had a call on my mobile phone on Thursday night, the police told me that Langstone church had been broken into and a lot of damage had been done.

When I arrived there I met a policeman who had caught two people in the church. He told me that lots of police had taken the ‘call’ and rushed to see what was happening in the church. One policeman had commented “how could people do this?” all the police in attendance agreed, similarly in the morning the Crime Scene people also felt it was not just disappointing, but despicable that a church would be desecrated in such a way. They linked damage to the church with a downward spiral of morality and the loss of ‘community’.
This is just what the Pope was saying, you might not love the church, you might never go to church, you might not have any religion at all, but somewhere deep down most people agree that it stands for something we are in danger of losing, and at the very least a social good.

Another incident made me smile; I recently met someone who told me that he didn’t believe in any religion or faith and he had his own code, which he lived by. When I enquired what it might be, he told me;

“Don’t do to others what you wouldn’t want them to do to you”
I didn’t have the heart to tell him that since around 1670 this saying (in its’ many forms) has been referred to as the "Golden Rule", and usually refers to a saying of Christ. In the King James Version it says

"Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them." (Matthew 7:12, see also Luke 6:31)

The common English phrasing is "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you"

My unsuccessful atheist friend had been living by a saying of Christ, and determining his judgments and his philosophy on it.

The Pope’s journey to the UK could have got a lot more smiles if I wrote his sermon, it also wouldn’t have been so hard to read.

Some of the media picked up on his direct comments, and not really knowing how to deal with them, they decided instead to report on women priests and homosexuality; The pace of the church in dealing with what for many is normal and everyday.

They also brought to the spotlight the awful and damaging scandals of abuse involving Catholic Priests and citing the disinterest of the church as a failure in bringing these monsters to justice.

All these things are held up by some as good reasons to control and censure the church from every aspect of society and civic life, but they are not.

They are in the main, the cries of disappointment from ordinary people who had hoped for so much more, those who had invested heavily in the church in a spiritual and physical sense only to be let down badly.

Whether Richard Dawkins, and perhaps now Stephen Hawking like it or not, the church still holds a responsibility to the world, even if it lets people down so often. As an imperfect vessel; it is still the vessel to carry the love of Christ to the world.

Clergy sometimes joke that if you have six people attending a church decide it needs to close you will have one hundred and fifty letters of complaint. Like all humour, it has the ring of truth to it.

Surrounding all our churches are communities that might not be supporting in any physical or spiritual sense, but somehow we represent something that is good, and whose loss is their loss.

We need to translate this into a real need, so that people can once again engage with the church, and come to hear the message of hope and peace, which is needed by so many in today’s Britain.

I wish the POPE well in his visit to us in the UK, I hope that he finds that we are not a ‘third world country’ in terms of spirituality.

If the last stop in his tour turns out to be this Benefice, I would like to tell him that we might not have the fantastic splendour of St. Peter’s Square to look out on each morning, we might not be surrounded by priceless art and beautiful architecture, but even in the smallest of churches with the smallest congregations, we can still ‘fighting the good fight’, trying to live by the Golden Rule and in hopeful anticipation, trying to build the Kingdom of God for those around us.

Let’s try something different!

Let’s try something different!

As the nights are drawing in and the weather seems to be turning, we can look back at a positive summer in the Benefice.

The great success of the Benefice Weekend and other events has been cause for great celebration as we have learned a little bit more about our churches, our communities, and each other. Just over a year after the creation of the Benefice, we have much to be proud of and much to look forward to as we live and learn, change and grow together in Christ.

There have been many challenges along the way too. The attendance at the Archdeacon’s visitation made it clear that people find it difficult to relate to such a large group of churches. In addition, we have heard people say that they wish they had their ‘own vicar’ once again, this isn’t an unreasonable request. We all want to feel that our voice is heard, and that someone understands what our churches are going through.

This is why the stipendiary clergy will be taking responsibility for a smaller group of churches. The Benefice remains a Rectorial Benefice, and all decisions affecting the wider church and the future will need to be made at the Benefice Council, however each church has been assigned their own ‘team vicar’ to be a first point of contact for pastoral and church issues. They will be your advocate at the clergy and wider ministry team meetings and will attempt to understand all the issues that affect your church and community.

Having made the decision to try this, we then looked at the ways in which the Benefice could be divided naturally. I will be looking after the communities of Magor, Wilcrick and Llanmartin, all physically close together comprising the churches of St. Martin’s, Llanmartin with ‘Underwood’, the beautiful church on the edge of the woods St. Mary’s, Wilcrick and the Benefice Church in Magor. The Revd. Jeremy will be looking after the churches of Undy, Redwick and Goldcliff, splitting the population centre of Magor and Undy and travelling across the levels to the historic villages on the levels. The Revd Celia will be looking after the churches of Nash and Llanwern on the edge of the City of Newport, with the equally historic churches of Bishton and Langstone serving the people who live in those communities, all within a few minutes’ drive of the Vicarage.

As part of a larger benefice we are all entitled to feel that our voice is heard however small our church may be. These changes will hopefully help us to feel involved with something good, something new, and something that, God willing reflects the love of Christ to the communities around us and the wider world.

Our non-stipendiary clergy, the Revds. Natalie and Alison will be assisting with all the usual tasks around Magor, Undy and other churches when the need arises. Our Lay Eucharistic Ministers will continue to provide a full ministry throughout the Benefice, supporting the mission and worship.

It goes without saying that your prayers and support are needed as always.

With blessings and peace,

Mark

The Revd Mark Lawson-Jones (Team Rector)

Extracts from the Sermon in Wilcrick and Undy - 5th September 2010 - Trinity 14 (Pentecost 15)

Sermon

Trinity 14 (Pentecost 15)

Year C

Luke. (14.25-33)

In a sense, there are times I believe that this reading is just for ‘me’, even though I know that my struggles are neither unique nor for Anglican Priests in general. The struggles of faith and discipleship are, in fact, for us all. There can be one guarantee, and it is that we will all have our crosses to bear.

The cost of discipleship can be great.

The last time this reading appeared, I looked more closely at the translation, it appears that the word we read as ‘hate’ is more closely akin to the word ‘value’, so we are being asked not to value those people and things higher than our calling as disciples.

You might think it’s not as bad then as it first seems, but if we are to even attempt this ‘prioritization’ of values, we will need to constantly question ourselves about the way in which we do things. How we live our lives, spend our time, support the poor and needy, even spend our money.

In all cases, can we say that being a Christian has made a difference in our lives?

That, of course, is the real cost, the understanding that signing up to being a Christian has a cost that can’t be paid up front or in full, but is slowly repaid on a day-to-day basis.

The term, ‘The Cost of Discipleship’ was the title of a book written by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and in the first two chapters he deals with the questions the Gospel reading throws up for us today.

The first chapter is entitled “Costly Grace” and considers the difference between “Cheap Grace” and “Costly Grace”, it considers this if the ‘grace’ of God is worth anything, it is something that we need, we seek out and value every day; Bonhoeffer wrote;

"cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline. Communion without confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ."

"costly grace confronts us as a gracious call to follow Jesus, it comes as a word of forgiveness to the broken spirit and the contrite heart. It is costly because it compels a man to submit to the yoke of Christ and follow him; it is grace because Jesus says: "My yoke is easy and my burden is light."

The second chapter “The Cost of Discipleship” reminds us that this journey will inevitably bring us into conflict with those around us, sometimes even our family and friends.

When Bonhoeffer dared to criticize the ‘cultural Christianity’ in Hitler’s Germany that ignored the plight of those suffering by legalism and formality, he called it ‘religionless Christianity’, together with Martin Niemoller and the other founders of the ‘Confessing Church’ he was arrested for helping Jews escape to Switzerland. When he was released friends got him out of Germany and he travelled to America – he eventually travelled to England, but here he felt that he could not be actively involved in rebuilding the church after the war if he hadn’t been involved with sharing the sufferings of the people during the war, so against the advice of his friends he returned to Germany.

On April the 5^th 1943 he was arrested by the Gestapo and imprisoned in a series of prisons and concentration camps. In prison he ministered to the sick and the dying, the lost and the anxious. In 1944 there was an attempt to liberate him, but he chose to stay in prison so as not to endanger the lives of others.

Bonhoeffer was concerned that a church led by the demands of the secular state, and without its’ own voice is no church at all. He was convinced that, if necessary, a Christian would even have to offer his life for this.

On 9^th April 1945, Dietrich Bonhoeffer was executed in Flossenberg Concentration Camp, shortly before its’ liberation.

Paul says in his letter to the Romans “Do not be conformed to the ways of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind”.

As we reflect today on the stark statement from the Gospel about only serving one vision and one God, we can be reassured in some way by the words of the very first Psalm (which is one NOT ascribed to King David) starts the ball rolling on this mammoth religious song. It give us the comfort to believe that if we, like Bonhoeffer, stand up for what is right, then we will be upheld in that by God himself;

I’ll read it to finish the sermon, but before I do, may God bless you all as you continue to discover the cost of your own discipleship, and may you take great strides forward in finding yourself in relation to God.

Psalm 1 KJV

1Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.

2But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.

3And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

Mark Lawson-Jones

Youtube Video about Bonhoeffer