Welcome to the Lord’s Table, Week 10

Sermon for St Mary’s 10am Sung Eucharist 

by Revd James Percival, Team Vicar

29th March 2009, 5th Sunday of Lent (Passion)

Holy Communion – let’s share a meal

Encountering Christ in Holy Communion

In the name of God who feeds us with the body and blood of Christ. Amen.

As I expect you know by now, I always value getting feedback on my sermons. So I was glad last week to be approached by one of our members on that subject. Your sermon today, she said – yes, I said, expectantly – “it wasn’t even long enough for me to finish my polo”.

Thanks. I’ll take that as a compliment. And don’t worry, this will be full polo length. For it is the last day of our Epiphany to Easter series, Welcome to the Lord’s Table.

Alongside these sermons and the small but fruitful discussion group; 11 children, inc 9 from St Mary’s, are getting ready to receive Holy Communion for the first time on Easter Day. This is a significant moment for each of them.

But beyond those individuals, this is a significant moment for us together as the church here.

Because it calls us back to what we most truly are…

The Eucharist is fundamental to the Church’s life. That is not simply to say that it is ‘very useful’, nor that it is simply spiritual food for the soul. It is that when the Church performs the Eucharistic action it is what it is called to be: the Easter community, guilty and restored, the gathering of those of us whose identity is defined by our new relation to Jesus crucified and raised, who identify ourselves as forgiven. (more…)

Welcome to the Lord’s Table , Week 9

Sermon for St Mary’s 10am Sung Eucharist 

by Revd James Percival, Team Vicar

15th March 2009, 3rd Sunday of Lent

Readings:

Exodus 20:1-17 Psalm 19

1 Corinthians 1:18-25

John 2:13-22

Holy Communion – let’s have a party

For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling-block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. (1 Cor 1:23?)

This sermon is about holy communion, in which, as St Paul writes, we proclaim Christ crucified.

And the first thing to notice about holy communion is something that we might miss if we have been doing it for years and got into a comfortable spiritual rut. And that is, holy communion is strange and scandalous.

We heard today the 10 commandments given to Moses on Mount Sinai for God’s people – and as guidance for living and boundary walls not to go over, with a bit of cultural updating they offer timeless truth about using God’s gift of human life aright.

But look closely at the second commandment – ‘You shall not make for yourself an idol.’

Our active claim that God is made manifest to us each week in bread and wine seems precariously close to idolatry.

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Welcome to the Lord’s Table , Week 8

Sermon for St Mary’s 10am Sung Eucharist by Revd James Percival, Team Vicar

8th  March 2009, 2nd Sunday of Lent

Readings:

Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16

Romans 4:13-25

Mark 8:31-38

Jesus is risen

I had an e-mail from Fr Peter recently. It went like this:

A man and his ever-nagging wife went on vacation to Jerusalem. While they were there, the wife passed away. The undertaker told the husband, “You can have her shipped home for $5,000, or you can bury her here, in the Holy Land, for $150.” The man thought about it and told him he would just have her shipped home. The undertaker asked, “Why should you spend $5,000 to ship your wife home when it would be wonderful to be buried here and you would spend only $150?”

The man replied, “Long ago a man died here, was buried here, and three days later he rose from the dead. I just can’t take that chance.

[Well I thought it was funny!...]

Long ago a man died here, was buried here, and three days later he rose from the dead.

Notice that only the first part of that statement is fact; the second part is faith. It is faith in the founding fact of Christianity.

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Welcome to the Lord’s Table , Week 7

Sermon for St Mary’s 10am Sung Eucharist by Revd James Percival, Team Vicar

1st March 2009, 1st Sunday of Lent

Readings:

Genesis 9:8-17 God’s rainbow covenant

1 Peter 3:18-22 Christ’s suffering for all

Mark 1:9-15 The Baptism and Temptation of Jesus; & beginning his Galilean ministry

‘Sorry’ – guilt, sin and confession 

— turning back to the grace of God

SAYING ‘SORRY’ and LOVING OTHERS, HARD

God of grace, through my words and all our thoughts,  open us again to your healing love. Amen.

“It’s sad, so sad, it’s a sad sad situation, 

and it’s getting more and more absurd.

It’s sad, so sad, why can’t we talk it over? 

Oh it seems to me that 

sorry seems to be the hardest word.”

So sang Elton John about the hardest word.

Or in this young child’s prayer of confession about the hardest action:

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