Journeying with Christ - Revd Canon Bob White
Sermon 3rd after Epiphany Year C Evensong | Revd Canon Bob White
One of my recurring worries is I have the wrong time or date for a Funeral … so far I have never missed one or been late – however, I ned to begin by apologising that today I am nearly 2 years late for this sermon! It is difficult to remember what I was going to say in April 2020 – just as in some senses it is difficult to exactly remember how things were, although we seem to carry in our hearts a wistful memory of how it was and how good it will be to return to those normal days.
But are we fooling ourselves in that wish and that memory – perhaps we are in danger of looking back with rose tinted glasses the grass looks greener on the other side of history. What do we mean by ‘normal’? When I listen to some people in the Parish and wider community it sometimes sounds like they are all longing to throw the switch that will simply restore everything as it was. They are waiting for that moment when we can simply resume where we left off.
I was rather glad then that in inviting me to preach today the Cathedral team had recognised that might not be so easy to do – and have changed the theme of the sermons that they have invited myself and other honorary canons to deliver. ‘Journeying with Christ - a personal pilgrimage’.
As I reflected on that I became aware of a number of journeys that I have been part of in the intervening 2 years. There has been the journey we have all shared – facing the challenge ( and shock for many of us) of closing church doors, through worship from the
Vicarage; small numbers, but no signing in Church, limited numbers at Weddings and Funerals and then gradual variations of distancing, communion, face coverings – and still the uncertain twists and turns continue. Although the days of waiting of the National Church guidance normally issued late on a Friday seem to have passed. In the early days there was talk of the ‘day’ we would all return when we would have a big party – and lots of cake! – but the reality of evolution of practice and re-shaping means that one day has never appeared.
Alongside this at St Mary’s one of the positive outcomes of COVID has been our Organ Project – originally we thought the Organ would be removed in 2022 or 2023 – but instead it to has been on journey to Malvern, to Nicholson’s, and is now beginning to re-appear.
But as with our return to worship and Church life it is gradual and has many twists and turns, bursts of activity in the Church followed by stillness before the next lorry appears with more pipes. The end is in site. But we know that the Organ when it plays will not be as it was – its journey will have changed and enhanced it – its pitch will be different and we await to see how that will impact on our worship and life. The journey has changed it in some ways, and if we are honest so has the journey we have made as individuals and as a community.
In a discussion group over breakfast yesterday we were reflecting on how our experience and journey of the last 2 years has led to us looking afresh and valuing our life of worship.
We have grown to realise the things we had perhaps taken for granted and have in some ways a deeper appreciation and participation in our common lives.
Alongside the Organ’s journey I have shared in other journeys in the wider community as we have sought to respond together to the challenges of COVID. HIVE Portsmouth prior to COVID was trying to define its purpose and what it could do. Those of us who were involved – including Canon Nick and myself – knew what it could be and the ethos behind it- but it was hard to explain. Then COVID lockdown happened and suddenly it was very clear why the City needed such a body to draw together the Statutory and Voluntary sector – to help build links between city wide and very local community based responses, helping to co-ordinate the myriad of groups and the sharing of resources to serve those in need in our City. HIVE is now recognised for its contribution and its value in our community and its purpose is understood.
So for us perhaps the journey over the last 2 years has helped us to recognise our purpose more clearly.
That is one of the messages I think behind the 2 readings we have heard this evening. First of all in the Book of Numbers we hear of the people of Israel and their wandering in the desert. They are guided by the cloud that God sets over the Tent of Dwelling. When the cloud descends the people make camp and wait; when the cloud lifts they move on. They are focused on the cloud – the sign of God’s presence – and it is that that shapes and dictates their journey. They learn to place their trust solely in the Lord. Not deciding where they think they should go but learning to journey by putting their trust entirely in the Lord. This is the lesson that they learn through those years, and it shapes who they become as the people of God. They can never go back, they cannot throw a switch and simply return to who they were. They and their relationship with God has been changed by this journey and experience.
At first there seems to be little connection to the passage we then heard as the 2nd Reading from St Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. But if we move beyond the discussion of circumcised or uncircumcised we discern the same thing – living by trust that Christ is with you where you are and our calling is to discern that presence and live in it. It is not to seek a different place or status but to live by trust that Christ is with us and is at that moment calling us to that place or status at that time.
It is easy to be caught up in a ‘what if’ or ‘if only’ view of our lives – longing to be somewhere else, considering being someone else, wishing things were perhaps as they used to be, or as we would prefer them to be. But both St Paul and the Book of Numbers are calling us to instead be caught up in recognising the presence of God with us in the reality of where we are. The journey we have been on has led us to this place and this way of living now. We have not left God in the past – nor has he rushed ahead and deserted us. The challenge of the journey we face is to seek that presence and abide in it.
One of the things that struck us, as a Parish, over the journey we have been on since March 2020 is that we have focused on three key aspects of our shared life – our being with God, being with others, and being with the rest of creation. This has been our Parish vision for many years – but we have rediscovered what that means and it is our focusing on that that has guided us and helped us in that journey.
Like our organ we will never be the same as we were – the journey has changed us. Like HIVE we have a clearer understanding of what we are called to be, and we no longer talk of that ‘day’ when the switch will be thrown, but instead look forward with hope as to where God will lead us next on our journey.
As you look back on those two years, perhaps reflect on what God has shown you, what you have discerned of his presence and then look forward committed to continue to follow where he leads and rejoice in his presence with us always.