5th Sermon Before Lent

Thirty years ago I won an art competition in the Observer. The prize was a trip to Egypt and it began a lifelong love of that country. But between hearing that I had won and going on the trip, President Anwar Sadat was assassinated. The trip still went ahead but security was tight and some events had to be cancelled because Egypt was still in mourning. Following the assassination, Hosni Mubarak, the Vice President was made president, and he has been in power ever since.

Like most dictators, President Mubarak has found it hard to respond to the changing aspirations of his people, especially the young. Egypt has a huge number of young people. Many of them are educated but under employed. And as we have seen this week, many of them are tremendously frustrated. There is a big gap between their generation and Mubarak who is in his eighties. He seems to have been more interested in self-preservation than meeting the legitimate aspirations of his people.

Every country needs to renew its leadership from time to time otherwise it will lose its saltiness. And the same is true for the church. St Peter’s is blessed with a wonderful group of talented people who a huge amount to make it run smoothly and we there is so much to be thankful for from the past few months. But the leadership of any church has to grow and change from time to time. And that’s part of why I believe God has called me here. Not to be a dictator but to help renew the church. To carry on the process of change which Peter began.

As Bishop Andrew reminded us on Wednesday, each generation in the church is the church of today. And each generation has its part to play. And leadership and responsibility need to be widely shared if the church is to grow. I hope people will feel able to have a go at new things. And be prepared to make mistakes sometimes. I hope we can create an encouraging space for that.

Initially, I’m going to be asking the question “Why?” quite a lot. Why do we do this? Because sometimes it’s easier for someone from the outside to do that. Just because we’ve always done something that way, it doesn’t mean that we can or should necessarily carry on doing it like that. As Jesus says in our Gospel today, I have not come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have not come to challenge the fundamentals of the faith but to help see them fulfilled. Sometimes we can confuse our traditions, our ways of working, with the law and the prophets. With the fundamentals. It’s so easy to confuse churchiness with the Gospel. I know I do that. And it’s easy to feel that if we don’t carry on doing something  in the way that we always have then the whole edifice could come crashing down.

The church needs to be constantly renewed. So that it can proclaim the Gospel afresh in each generation. Reflecting the needs and concerns of every generation. I’m heartened that St Peter’s is addressing contemporary issues like the environment and fairtrade. And I’m looking forward to thinking about how, as a church, we can shrink our carbon footprint and promote Fairtrade.

In this generation we have an interesting relationship with salt. Salt used to be thought of as precious and scarce. In the past it was often expensive. Sometimes it was transported long distances and it was often taxed. Nowadays we know that salt is a pretty abundant. There is hardly anywhere on earth that does not have salt, although we sometimes run out of it when the weather gets cold. We know that salt is vital to life. To our very blood sweat and tears. We need it to make food taste good. But we also know that too much salt is not good for us. Too much salt can contribute to things hypertension. So it needs to be used sparingly.

I enjoy cooking. And I do put salt in the food I’m cooking. But some would say that I don’t put enough in. I’m certainly hesitant about putting too much salt in at once. Because once you’ve put salt in you can’t take it out. I like to add a bit, then taste what I’m cooking and then perhaps add a bit more. And I tend to work in the same way in church. So I’m not going to be making lots of decisions all at once. I’m going to take some time. St Peter’s is a rich and complex mix of flavours. Like any good recipe it’s a matter of balance. So I’ll be making changes gradually as I get to know people and find out how things work here.

This week a farmer from my previous parish died of cancer. He was a lovely man. He lived out his faith in very practical ways. It’s often said when someone dies that they would do anything for anyone. But that was particularly true of Bob. He had a mobile shop but he did lots of extra things for his customers, especially the elderly. Before he got cancer, Bob often rang the bells at Wishaw church. But he hardly every came into a service.

And just before he died I had a chance to ask him about this. And he said that he had come across a few people who called themselves Christians, who went to church, but who could bevery unloving the rest of the week. Their faith didn’t seem to make a difference to how they lived. They had lost their saltiness

(10.30 - The prophet Isaiah knew exactly what he meant. He was fed up with people who fulfilled their religious duties but treated others badly. Who exploited their workers and abused the poor. Isaiah wrote, is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free. Then your light shall break forth like the dawn. You shall cry for help and God will say, Here I am.)

Jesus tells us that if we want to enter the kingdom of heaven then our righteousness must exceed that of the scribes and the Pharisees. I suspect that many of us are not very used to talking about our faith. Many of us come from a generation which doesn’t tend to.

Which grew up at a time when this was clearly a Christian country. When the Christian faith was taken for granted. Sadly that is no longer true. To be a Christian is to make a positive choice. A choice that sometimes goes against the grain of much of our society. Today, we may need to give a reason to others for the faith we hold dear. And our lives will be under greater scrutiny. Our faith will be judged by others according to the way that we lead our lives during the week. On whether our life reflects what we profess.

Jesus says, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven. St Peter’s is a great light on a hill. But it doesn’t exist for itself of course. It is here to encourage and sustain us to do the real work of the church. Out there in the community. In our work. Our relationships. Our service of others. It is here that the real work of the church goes on.  I hope that St Peter’s will always be a place that encourages and inspires you to go out and let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven. Amen.