A Holy Week Reflection

A Holy Week Reflection by Mary Duncan

Yesterday, speaking on “Thought for the day”, Canon Giles Fraser told us that, in the Orthodox Church, the predominant icon for holy Week is not an image of the crucified Jesus but “Christ harrowing hell”. (Christ extracting the souls from hell). This thought had suggested itself to the speaker after the bombings on the Moscow underground on Monday, reflecting aspects of a hell that was all too real: the flames, the smoke, the darkness and the screaming. “Hell” is a metaphorical image for a place where God I not; and the icons themselves, sacramental objects, are highly stylised and symbolic, expressing profound religious experience in a simple, focussed painting. If you think about it, the icon of Christ harrowing hell is a very powerful one for the Passion Story. Traditionally we believe that after death “he descended into hell.” The first act after his death is to go to the very locus of evil and overcome it. In the Middle Ages the idea of hell was taken in a very literal sense; and “the harrowing of Hell” was a popular subject for one of the plays in the Mystery Cycles that took place in the larger towns on Corpus Christi. It gave the medieval actors a wonderful excuse for a noisy bru-ha-ha as Satan and his fiends confront Jesus and try to prevent the souls escaping from their clutches. Jesus specifically links this work to his death – the rescue of Adam and Eve and many Old Testament figures being its first consequence.

…Therefore till (to) Helle now wille I go,

To resue that is Myne,

Adam and Eve and othere mo,

They shall no longer dwelle in pyne;

The fiend theym won with trayn (betrayal)

Thrughe fraude of earthly fode (food)

I have them boght agan

With shedyng of my blode… Read more

Investing in Christ (John 12:1-11)

I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.
Philippians 3:10-11

To invest or not to invest – that is the question this morning.

I had an interesting conversation with a colleague the other day about attitudes towards money. He’s in the happy situation where, at the end of the financial year, his church was £10,000 in surplus. He was discussing with his church Treasurer what to do with the money and his Treasurer was clear that it should be put away for the rainy day when the roof falls in or some other major building repair is needed. What was interesting about the conversation was that it was hard on the heels of another conversation between the same Treasurer and my friend at a dinner party. That conversation was about the internet company Google’s decision to massively invest money in order that they may try and overtake Microsoft as the world’s leading computer company. According to the church treasurer this was a sensible business decision in order to enable the company to grow. My friend was amused at the disparity between the two attitudes: businesses must invest in order to grow. Churches need to hide their money under the pillow in case something bad happens. Read more

St Mary’s Seven whole days…project sermon presentation, 7th March 2010

St Mary’s Seven whole days…project sermon presentation, 7th March 2010

The parable of the fig tree – Luke 13:6-9

– how to survive and thrive?

(Numbers refer to slides in powerpoint presentation)

1.

We’ve just heard Jesus’s parable of the fig tree. And here is the fig tree. It’s an unusual fig tree, because figs aren’t usually orange. But it represents St Mary’s, our church. And you can see there’s some fruit on it. But the soil is changing, and the wind is changing. We might take this parable as a warning to be more fruitful, or face being cut down soon.

But let’s also notice that we can see Jesus as the gardener in this story, protecting and nurturing the tree. Protecting and nurturing his church here which is entrusted to us at this time. We are the body of Christ here.

How is he calling us to feed it and nurture it to make it more fruitful?

How is Jesus calling us to help St Mary’s to survive and thrive in the coming generation?

The answer that we have been guided to through two years of work on it, with some surprises along the way that give us a clue to the presence of the Holy Spirit, is in this project that I offer to you today.

Read more

Canon Simon Butler’s Annual Report to All Saints’ AGM

It is my custom at the Annual General Meeting to give some sort of report to the church on where we’ve got to. When we have the AGM on a Sunday, I use the sermon slot as an chance to reflect on our direction and spiritual needs. I also use it as an opportunity to thank certain people for their hard work. Today’s Gospel reading, with two curious stories about the need for human repentance and God’s persistence in the face of fruitlessness offer a sober context for the former. And I’ll come to that in a few minutes.

But first let me begin with the thanks.

Thank you all for your continued membership of All Saints’ and for your commitment to our life together. Over the past year we’ve seen some comings and goings and happily this year, I think, more comings than goings! We’ve welcomed couples, individuals and families to church, whether at Sanderstead Light or in our worship in church. Thank you for the welcome you offer and for the part you play in helping people to settle down in church. Read more