I’m sure that many of you will have heard of John Henry Newman. Newman was a 19^th Century Anglican priest, and although originally an evangelical, he became one of the leaders of the so-called Oxford Movement, the group who brought about the Anglo-Catholic revival in the Church of England in the early-mid 1800’s. Later, Newman was received into the Roman Catholic Church and became a cardinal. And if you didn’t know any of that but are familiar with Newman’s name, it’s probably because he was canonised, that is, officially recognised as a saint of the Church just last year, in 2019. But whether you know anything about Newman or not, you may be familiar with this quote from him:

“God has created me to do Him some definite service. He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another. I have my mission. I may never know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next. I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons. He has not created me for naught. I shall do good; I shall do His work. I shall be an angel of peace, a preacher of truth in my own place, while not intending it if I do but keep His commandments. Therefore, I will trust Him, whatever I am, I can never be thrown away. If I am in sickness, my sickness may serve Him, in perplexity, my perplexity may serve Him. If I am in sorrow, my sorrow may serve Him. He does nothing in vain. He knows what He is about. He may take away my friends. He may throw me among strangers. He may make me feel desolate, make my spirits sink, hide my future from me. Still, He knows what He is about.”

Those words of Newman’s will probably resonate with meaning for us at this time, as we go through the coronavirus pandemic and the many unpleasant changes it’s brought to our lives, and the great suffering it’s caused in so many parts of the world. None of us will have experienced times quite like this before but, whenever bad things happen in the world, or in life, perhaps especially in our own lives, it’s very difficult for us to see any purpose in what’s happening isn’t it? And for that reason, it’s at times like these that many people question God, the existence of God, and their own faith. But what we always have to remember is that, no matter how much we can and do see, we can never see the whole picture; we can only ever see a very small part of that whole picture, and only God sees all.

We can liken this to an orchestra playing a piece of music. Each musician has a part to play in the whole piece, but they only see their own part of the piece and, very often, their part, on its own, doesn’t make much sense, it’s sometimes not even very tuneful or nice to listen to. It’s only when it’s played well, and in harmony with the parts the other musicians are playing, that it makes sense and becomes the music it’s intended to be. And there are only two people who know fully, how all the different parts of the score should work together, and how that music should sound; the composer who wrote it, and the conductor who makes sure the individual musicians play their parts properly. And as it is in an orchestra, so it is in life. God is the composer, Jesus is the conductor, and we are the musicians.

God, wrote the music of life and Jesus, through his teaching and example, shows us how to play our part in the music of life, and, as Newman said in that quote, we each have our own part to play in that music. And, as long as we take notice of what the composer and conductor are asking of us, we’ll play our parts properly and contribute to the harmony of the music of life. But, if we ignore the wishes of the composer and the instructions of the conductor, and simply look at our own small part of the music, then we’re not going to be able to play our part properly, and both the noise we make, and the noise going on around us, isn’t really going to sound very nice or harmonious, or make much sense to us, or anyone else either for that matter. Unfortunately, though it is all too easy for us to ignore, or forget, the wishes of God the composer, and the instructions of Jesus the conductor.

The part we’re asked to play in the music of life can be a very difficult one at time, and we all know just how difficult it can be. And it’s at those times that we can ignore God’s wishes and Jesus’ instructions simply because we’ve become so engrossed in what’s going on in our own lives, that we forget all about what’s going on around us. It’s like trying to play a part in an orchestra when we’ve become so engrossed in getting through a short, difficult section of our own part, that we forget to look up at the conductor to see what we should be doing, or listen to what’s going on around us, to the parts that others are playing. We all know times like these, but these are the times when we’re asked to remain faithful to God’s wishes and Jesus’ instruction, to simply do what they want us do in faith that, what they want us to do, is the best and right thing to do.

Then there are times when we perhaps feel that we’ve got our part off pat, that we know it to perfection. These are the times when we can start to think that we don’t need to pay attention to what God and Jesus are asking us to do, because we already know that. And so we start paying more attention to what others are doing than to what we’re doing ourselves. That’s like trying to play a part in an orchestra when we’re so busy looking at the music the other musicians are playing, that we’re not even looking at the part we’re supposed to be playing ourselves. These are also the times when we’re likely to start telling other people how to play their part and taking their minds off the part God and Jesus are asking them to play, so that they can concentrate on what we’re telling them to do. That’s like a musician in an orchestra telling their fellow musicians to ignore the composer and conductor, because they know better than the composer and conductor how the music should sound and how it ought to be played. And these are the times when we can become so full of our own importance that we start to think that we, and what we want, are more important than anyone or anything else. And so we simply do what we want to do, regardless of the wishes of God and Jesus, or of the impact that what we’re doing has on anyone else. That’s like a musician in an orchestra thinking that they’re a soloist rather than a member of the orchestra and playing more loudly than they should or embellishing their part so that they can be heard above the rest of the orchestra.  In an orchestra, these things could only result in everyone’s playing being impaired and in the music being harsh to listen to and not at all as the composer and conductor intend it to sound.  And how often do we come across situations like that in life and in the Church? These are the times when Jesus is disowned. Such behaviour in an orchestra would no doubt result in the offending musician being thrown out of the orchestra. Our Gospel reading this morning tells us that such behaviour in life and the Church, will result in the offenders being disowned by Jesus, and that will result in them being thrown out of heaven.

God has given us all a part to play in the music of life. As we look at the part we’ve been asked to play, as we turn the turn the pages of life, so to speak, we’re like musicians turning the pages of a musical score. What we see may seem strange and puzzling to us. It might not make much sense to us and be very difficult to understand and play. But, as Newman said, God, the author and composer of our part, knows what he’s doing, and if we simply do what he asks of us and play the part he’s given us, as he wants us to play it, then we will play it well and contribute to God’s grand vision of how the music of life should sound. And we don’t have to work out for ourselves how to play our part, we have Jesus to conduct us, to show us what to do and how to play through his teaching and example, written in the Gospel, the score, if you like, of the music of life.

It can be very difficult for us to understand what God is doing when we see some of the terrible things that go on in the world, and when we experience them in our own lives, but if we can remain faithful by trying to imagine how things should be, and God wishes them to be, and if we can do our best to follow the teaching and example of Jesus, however difficult or meaningless the world and life can seem to be, then, whether we can hear it now or not, we will be playing our part in making the beautiful and harmonious music of life as God intends it to be, and bringing it a little closer to being played as he intends to be, for all people.

Amen.

You will find the Propers for the 12th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Trinity 2) here.

One of the more questionable pleasures of being human, is the trouble and pain our bodies can cause us at times. We all know what it’s like to be ill, and probably to suffer an injury of some kind too, so we know how very unpleasant those things can be. And, as we get older, the simple wear and tear of life, the toll the years take on our bodies, can cause them to give us trouble and pain. Today, of course, we’re much more fortunate than people in bygone ages, in that, the wonders of modern medicine can help to alleviate the pain and suffering caused by illness, injury, and age. Modern medicine can also cure many diseases that, in those bygone days, might have been fatal. But, having said that, everything comes at a cost, and modern medicine is not without its risks. We know that any drugs we take can have very harmful side effects. Many cures and treatments for illnesses can, in themselves, make us ill and cause us pain. In fact, as a doctor once said to me, with any medicine there’s a risk; it’s a balance between the potential benefit it gives us, and the risk of harm it might do us. What we have to do is weigh the benefit against the risk, and decide whether the benefits of the treatment, outweigh the risks of the treatment.  

As we all know, in recent months, we’ve seen this medical balancing act writ large across our society with the lockdown imposed because of the coronavirus pandemic. In the absence of any vaccine, cure, or even reliable treatment for coronavirus, the lockdown has, in a sense,  been the medicine, the preventative measure that’s been taken to prevent the spread of the virus, and so, to save lives. And whilst this medicine has been effective, as with any medicine, it’s had side-effects, and it’s come with a risk. The side-effect of taking our dose of lockdown has been the very great disruption to our normal lives, and the risk has been to the health, especially the mental health, of individuals, and to the economic well-being of individuals, businesses, the nation, and the world at large. And, as we all know, the Church has not been exempted from any this. The Church has had to take her dose of lockdown medicine too and that’s meant we’ve had to close our churches. It’s meant that we’ve not been able to gather together for worship or fellowship and, although we’ve been able to continue to be a worshipping community through that other somewhat double-edged modern wonder of social media, it has not been the same as being able to gather together in church for worship and fellowship. It’s also meant that weddings and baptisms have had to be postponed and funerals have had to place at crematoria chapels, rather than in church. So, for all these reasons, the Church’s dose of lockdown medicine has been a bitter pill to swallow.

We are now though, beginning to perhaps see at least some light at the end of the tunnel. I’m sure that you’ll all know by now that as from tomorrow (Monday 15^th June), the churches are allowed to open again, if only in a limited way. From tomorrow, churches can be opened, but only for private prayer, not for services of public worship. What this means is simply that, from tomorrow, instead of praying at home, alone or with other members of their household, people are allowed to pray in church, but again, only alone or with other members of their household. But the important thing to note in this is that the advice we’ve been given is that the churches CAN open for private prayer, not that they MUST open. The decision has been left to individual PCCs. And that has meant that PCCs up and down the country have had to perform this balancing act between benefit and risk. We all want to go back to church but, is now the right time to do that, especially if we can only go back in a limited way?

PCCs have had to weigh whether the benefit of continuing with lockdown, the benefit of continuing the course of treatment if you like, outweighs the risk to people’s health if we open our churches again. They’ve had to weigh whether a little more pain and discomfort caused by the medicine we’re taking now, will mean that a fuller cure, the full, and safe, reopening of our churches, will come more quickly.

Since the announcement was made that our churches could reopen, I’ve been in contact with all the members of the PCCs at St Mark’s and St Gabriel’s to ask their views on this. It’s not been an easy decision for them, some of them have been, and still are, uncertain about what to do for the best. Some have changed their minds during the course of the last week, and both PCCs have been divided on the issue. In the end they have decided what to do, and you’ll find their decision here.

But, whatever your own wishes about this are, there should be no criticism of either PCC if their decision is not what your own would have been. This is a difficult decision to make because, whilst not wishing to be too melodramatic about it, it really could be a matter of life and death for some people.

But then, this is the kind of decision that lies at the heart of our faith. The cure for our sinfulness, was the Passion and Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. That was the bitter cup of medicine that had to be taken to effect our cure, and it was Jesus’ decision whether to drink it or not: and he agonised about that decision in Gethsemane. It was a bitter cup that, in turn, all the Apostles would have to take and drink for the sake of the Gospel too, as have many other Christians in the centuries since. It was a cup of bitter medicine that many, perhaps most, could all have decided to pass up, but they weighed things in the balance and decided that for themselves, for others, and no doubt for the world, that it was better to take the bitter cup of medicine now for the sake of the good and the glory that would come from drinking it. And in lesser ways, this is a cup that we’re all offered at some time in our lives. We’re offered this cup each and every time we have to make a choice between doing what is right and in keeping with our faith, and doing what is contrary to our faith, but is easier and less painful for us to endure.

These decisions are never easy but when we’re faced with them, as long as we remain faithful, pray about them, and allow the Holy Spirit to guide us, we should be able to make the right one. Our readings today speak to us about how much God loves us and, if we can have that joyful trust in him that St Paul speaks about in our reading from his Letter to the Romans, we will turn to him for our answers when we’re faced with difficult choices. And if we do turn to God in trust, is it likely that Jesus, who drank that cup of bitter medicine to heal us, who, as St Paul puts it, “died to make us righteous” will fail to help us make the right decisions now?

Amen.

You will find the Propers for the 11th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Trinity 1) here.