Sermon at the Institution and Induction of the Revd Alasdair Paine as Vicar of St Andrew the Great, Cambridge

2 Timothy 3.14 – 4.5

3 ¹⁴ But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, ¹⁵ and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. ¹⁶ All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, ¹⁷ so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

4 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: ² Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. ³ For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. ⁴ They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. ⁵ But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.

But as for you. Paul is not going to let Timothy off the hook: his ministry matters. And Alasdair, your ministry matters too. As someone called to the leadership of a local church you hold a serious responsibility not only for yourself but for those committed to your care. So what has Paul got to say to Timothy and to us about how that care should be discharged?

I’m holding in my hand one of my most precious possessions, the Bible given to me at my baptism, and it is the Scriptures which Paul presents as the foundation of our ministry. My Bible is precious because it is the King James Version whose 400^th anniversary we mark this year and to which our forebears here in Cambridge and the Diocese of Ely made a notable contribution. It is precious because it was the gift of a saintly godmother who even now in her old age is an example and inspiration to me. But it is precious most of all because its greatest gift to me is God’s Word, the Word written witnessing to the Living Word who is our salvation.

That of course is just the argument that Paul is using to inspire Timothy. He began this letter with a reminder of the sincere faith which first lived in Timothy’s grandmother Lois and mother Eunice, and which Paul is now persuaded lives in Timothy too; and now he

urges him to “continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it”.

It is no bad thing, and often a positive encouragement, to remember and honour those who have gone before us in the faith, as we remember and honour Mark and the many others who have led and helped us and this church on its journey of faith over the years. But they would be the first to remind us that our focus like Paul’s must swiftly turn back to the Scriptures themselves which are able to make us wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

This is the first major theme of Paul’s advice here, of the vision which is held at St Andrew the Great, and which I commend to you Alasdair for your ministry as I seek it also for mine. Stay rootly securely in the Scriptures and through them prayerfully in Christ. This way lies the joy of salvation, and the transformation of our lives.

Our roots then must be soundly and securely in Christ; but that is not the end of the matter. Paul writing to the Colossians reminds them that once rooted in Christ they must also be ^built up in him and strengthened in the faith. So – sound roots, but also strong shoots; and that is the theme which Paul now takes up here as well, as he goes on to tell Timothy that, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.”

“Teaching, rebuking, correcting and training” – I think the best way of reading this powerful piling-up of verbs is to take the middle two together, and then – if we stay with the parallel picture of a growing plant – Paul is reminding Timothy that the Scriptures are relevant and powerful at every stage in our discipleship. They are the teaching that stimulates our growth, our feeding; they are the standard against which our growth is tested, our pruning; and they are the framework into which our growth is shaped, our training.

I am not very good at anecdotes, but I know a man who is, and I looked up William Barclay’s old commentary at this point, and his pages were full of stories of how the Bible had made an amazing and critical difference for people at all these points. A nursing sister on a night shift picking up a Gospel left for the patients, which in her words “shone and glowed with truth” and led her to salvation. A Brazilian nobleman pulling a Bible apart to try and burn it more easily, reading the words of the Sermon on the Mount, and reading on all night and into faith. You’ll have read such stories yourself and they may be your story too.

I know that when my faith came particularly alive for me at one point in my ministry I wore out a Bible in just a few years, and I hope I wear out a few more yet. This Lent I’m setting myself the challenge of reading through the whole book again: I’m calling it Round the Bible in 40 Days. There’s a special website you can go to; 40 people in the diocese have agreed to contribute reflections; and you might like join me.

And the point of it all? This is Paul’s second theme, and the second part of the vision here at StAG, and my second charge to you Alasdair: that we should all grow in our discipleship. Not to pass an exam in in Scripture Knowledge, but to grow in righteousness, to grow into the likeness and maturity of Christ. That’s what it’s all about. Not us, but Christ.

Finally, roots and shoots lead naturally to fruits, “so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” If we are in Christ, if more and more it is Christ in us not just we ourselves that matters and motivates our actions, then we are in a position where we can like Christ be about the Father’s business. We can pray to discern what the Father is doing, and make it what we do too.

This I think is the best way to approach the whole business of “good works”. They are a consequence of our holiness, rather than a cause of it, and they are God’s work before they are ours. Given those provisos, then we must give ourselves to such works without reserve, and Paul goes on to make sure that Timothy really has got the message too: in season and out of season, with patience and endurance, do the work, discharge the duties of your ministry.

The work – of an evangelist. It means here the whole gamut of gospel teaching and proclamation, but Paul also reminds Timothy that in an age then as now when there are plenty of alternatives around to satisfy itchy ears, there is work to do not only in teaching the faithful but also in with the public debate around us and letting the gospel be heard there too. So here is Paul’s final theme and the third part of the vision here, and so the third charge I want to give you Alasdair to share with me: reach out ever more strongly to the university and city around you here and especially to its young people and students and offer them the Word of life. If you are here today but have not let this amazing Word speak into your life, then look out for one of the bright red Gospels I’ve put at the back of church and pop it in your pocket to read at home. And if you have already been touched by this amazing book, then be a walking word of life as you leave church today, ready to share that life with others in who you are and what you say.

St Andrew’s has a good deep rooting in this Word of life; it has been greatly used by God in growing that life in generations of young people especially and equipping them for the work of their lives; and it is set strategically at the very heart of this humming city. Alasdair: there is work to do. Your ministry matters; this church matters; and because you and they matter to God, we can pray today with confidence that Christ whose life is in you will strengthen you and sustain you as you do his work. So be it. Amen.

Filed under: Christianity, Sermons and Talks

Garima Gospels

You can read the Art Newspaper article about this fascinating manuscript that I blogged about recently on line now at http://ethiopianheritagefund.org/artsNewspaper.html.

Fellow medievalist Michelle Brown, until recently curator of illuminated manuscripts at the British Library and now a professor at London University, says that, “the Garima Gospels case vital light upon early Christian illuminated manuscript production and upon the role of sub-Saharan Africa…It is the sort of model the inspired such vibrant later Ethiopic art and is an important witness to the way in which the churches of the Christian Orient both absorbed the courtly Christian culture of Constantinople and developed their own voices and styles.”

Filed under: Bible, Christianity

St Bede’s School Chaplaincy

 

One of my many pleasant responsibilities is to act as a Trustee for St Bede’s Inter-Church (RC/CE) Comprehensive School in Cambridge. All the real work of course is done by the excellent heads and their staff, and all the serious governance is properly in the hands of the governors, but a few of us act as long-stops to hold the shared trust of this project and our other shared (primary) school at All Saints’, March on behalf of the two denominations. We had our annual meeting this week in the new chaplaincy centre at St Bede’s which looked very smart indeed. My thanks and congratulations to everyone who helped it and the rest of their new facilities get built, and my prayers for the staff, students and governors of both schools in this busy end-of-term time.

Filed under: Cambridgeshire, Christianity, Schools

Little Gidding Pilgrimage 2010

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Simon Kershaw has kindly supplied some photos of this year’s pilgrimage, which took place on Saturday. The weather was gloriously fine, and a good number of people gathered for the event. (There was overflow seating outside when we got to Little Gidding for Evensong.) You can read a synopsis of my address at the morning eucharist, and also a full text of my substantial sermon at evensong in which i reflected on the Ferrars’ project and Micah’s Challenge to do justly, love mercy and walk humbly with our God. Also in my mind were T S Eliot’s Four Quartets: there is an online text of Little Gidding, and I was happily surprised to hear the Poetry Please reading of the Four Quartets on Sunday (just click here if you have teh BBC I-Player already installed), which includes the voice of Eliot himself.

To find out more you can visit the church website, that of Ferrar House and also one that is being built for the Friends of Little Gidding.

Filed under: Cambridgeshire, Christianity, Events, Ferrar House, Little Gidding, Nicholas Ferrar, T S Eliot

Stretham Feast

 

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The village of Stretham, just south of Ely, revived its Feast today with a grand procession and events on the recreation ground. I had the privilege of blessing the event and then Jean Adamson, author of the Topsy and Tim books and a village resident cut the ribbon to open the parade. There was lots of Fun, a good deal of Funds were raised for CLIC Sargent and local good causes, and it was a powerful sign of a good Future for the village, which has seen some difficult times recently, especially Jean Adamson’s own mugging last year. She is back to form though and her latest book Topsy and Tim Play Football is just out now

 

The Team Vicar for St James’ Church is the Rev Margaret Harper who you can contact on 01353 645128 or on margaret@stjames-stretham.org.uk and the church is on line here.

 

 

Technorati Tags: Community,Stretham,Cambridgeshire,Diocese of Ely

Filed under: Cambridgeshire, Christianity, Church of England, Church, community, Stretham

Little Gidding Pilgrimage

For nearly 400 years pilgrims have been drawn to Little Gidding in the north of the diocese of Ely, ever since the saintly Nicholas Ferrar and his family lived there in the early seventeenth century.

The Friends of Little Gidding warmly invite you to join the annual Pilgrimage to Little Gidding commemorating the life and example of Nicholas Ferrar, which I will be leading on Saturday 22nd May (rather earlier than in previous years).

The Pilgrimage will take a form similar to that of last year: Holy Communion will be celebrated in Leighton Bromswold Church (restored by the Ferrars with money raised by George Herbert); after lunch, pilgrims are invited to walk the five miles to Little Gidding, with several pauses or stations for prayer and reading, rest and refreshment. At Little Gidding, prayers will be said at the tomb of Nicholas Ferrar, and Evening Prayer sung in Little Gidding Church. This will be followed by Tea at Ferrar House.

What is the Pilgrimage about?

Born in London in 1592, Nicholas Ferrar gave up a life in commerce and politics to move to Little Gidding, with his mother and his brother and sister and their families, establishing a life of prayer and charitable works. Ordained deacon, he was the leader of the household, foremost in the life of prayer, study, and work, setting an example of devotion and spiritual life to the English Church that has stood as a beacon to those who have followed. Nicholas died on 4 December 1637, and his devout life and example have consecrated Little Gidding as a holy place to this day. Our pilgrimage to his grave not only honours his memory and devotion, but also binds us into that same story.

Timetable

10.30am: Pilgrimage Communion at Leighton Bromswold Church
in the church whose restoration was funded by George Herbert and directed by the Ferrars.

12 noon: Lunch
Enjoy lunch with fellow pilgrims at the historic Green Man at Leighton Bromswold, or bring a picnic lunch if you prefer. The Green Man first received a licence in the seventeenth century when the Ferrars were living at Little Gidding.

1pm: First Station and start of Pilgrimage Walk
Gather at the ‘hundred stone’ outside Leighton Bromswold churchyard for the start of the Pilgrimage Walk to Little Gidding.

2pm: Second Station at Salome Wood
2.15pm: Pilgrimage Walk continues.

2.45pm: Third Station at Hamerton
3pm: Pilgrimage Walk continues.

3.30pm: Fourth Station at Steeple Gidding Church
3.45pm: Pilgrimage Walk continues to Little Gidding. The Litany is sung.

4pm: Fifth Station and Prayers at the Tomb of Nicholas Ferrar
All gather around the tomb of Nicholas Ferrar. Flowers are laid on the tomb and prayers are said. Followed by …

Pilgrimage Evensong at Little Gidding Church
Singing led by the Hurstingstone Singers.

5pm: Tea at Ferrar House

The walk from Leighton Bromswold to Little Gidding is about five miles along the country roads. Sturdy shoes are recommended. If sunny, don’t forget to bring hats and water. Drinks will be available at the stopping places. It will be possible to join in along the route, particularly at the Stations, where there will be a pause and a short act of worship and commemoration. Timing of intermediate Stations approximate. Toilet and refreshments will be available at Hamerton.

Donations to cover the costs of the Pilgrimage, including Tea, are very welcome. The Pilgrimage is organized by the Friends of Little Gidding who exist to help maintain Little Gidding Church and to promote the memory of Nicholas Ferrar and his family. Please support the work of the Friends by your donations, which can be Gift-Aided, and by becoming a member. Members receive a regular newsletter containing details of all events at Little Gidding, together with news and articles about the Ferrars, the Church, and related topics. Please speak to a committee member or complete and return a membership form to Ferrar House.

Filed under: Cambridgeshire, Christianity, Events

The Journal of Ecclesiastical History

Cambridge University Press have made the whole contents of the latest issue of The Journal of Ecclesiastical History available to be read on line, with their compliments. JEH has established itself as one of the most important journals in its field, attracting some of the world’s leading scholars writing on all aspects of the Christian Church.

Papers include:

• A Compromised Inheritance: Monastic Discourse and the Politics of Property Exchange in Early Twelfth-Century Flanders
  Steven Vanderputten
• The Seven Sorrows of the Virgin Mary: Devotional Communication and Politics in the Burgundian-Habsburg Low Countries, c. 1490–1520
  Susie Speakman Sutch and Anne-Laure Van Bruaene
• The Reformation of Hell? Protestant and Catholic Infernalisms in England, c. 1560–1640
  Peter Marshall
• John Dury’s Apocalyptic Thought: A Reassessment
  Kenneth Gibson
• Anti-Americanism and the Wesleyan-Holiness Churches in Australia
  Glen O’Brien

Filed under: Christianity, History

Consider a Pilgrimage to the Holy Land!

From Canon Stephen Earl, Vicar of Burwell:

 

You are warmly invited to join Canon Stephen Earl in visiting the beautiful places we read about in the Bible,and discovering for yourself the thrill of the Scriptures coming to life in a new and exciting way!

Thursday 17^{t h} - Saturday 26^th February, 2011

(Overlapping Spring ½ term week)

 

 

► Follow in the steps of the Patriarchs, the Prophets, of Jesus and his disciples, and of countless Christian pilgrims over the ages!

 

► Visit the land of the “living stones” today, and meet those who, despite hardships, fan the flame of the Christian faith in the land of Christ’s birth.

 

► Meet those of the other Abrahamic faiths in a land sacred to Christians, Jews and Moslems.

Stephen writes:

 

Join me on a truly memorable “pilgrimage of a lifetime”visiting Biblical and other ancient sites of antiquity, meeting those who inhabit a remarkable land of stunning and varied beauty:

“the land of milk and honey”

 

Bask in, and marvel at…

• the lush green slopes of Galilee

• the rugged hills around “Jerusalem – the golden”

• the barren, sun-baked desert of Judea

• the fertile “bread-basket” of the Jezreel Valley

• the awesome rift valley, Masada & the Dead Sea,

1,300ft below sea level!

 

 

This is significantly different from any “standard pilgrimage”.

Given the need to support the remnant of Christians in the Holy Land – just 1% of the total population, and only about 2% in the Palestinian Territories including Bethlehem – the programme has been carefully designed to give support to Christians across the denominations wherever possible…

We are working with a Christian tour company and a Christian agent in the Holy Land, both of whom have many years’ experience in running pilgrimages in the Holy Land. We will be staying in high standard Christian-run accommodation (all bar one night in the plush new Jericho Inter-continental), and where possible lunching at Christian hostelries. We will be visiting some Christian (and non-Christian) organisations committed to humanitarian causes for those of all faiths.

The premise… that if we as Christians do not support our fellow Christians there, who else will? A Holy Land without any Christians in the land of Jesus’ birth and ministry, because they felt forced to give up on their struggle to survive there, is not a happy thought at all.

We must passionately “pray for the peace of Jerusalem” and for the whole of this sacred land.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am interested… What should I do now?

► Request full details and application form from:

Revd Canon Stephen Earl 01638 741262 searl@toucansurf.com

Complete & return the application form with your deposit of £200

as soon as possible in order to secure you place and the flights (which

are now available). Bookings accepted on “first-come” basis.

The special price of £1370 includes almost everything!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

† A Pilgrimage Supporting Christians in the Holy Land †

Since it has been announced Revd Canon Stephen Earl is leaving Burwell with Reach in the summer and moving on to parishes in the St Edmundsbury & Ipswich Diocese, he confirms that this pilgrimage will definitely go ahead, and that his new parishes are very happy for him to lead it.

Filed under: Christianity, Travel

Cambourne Church in Action

Jean and I were over at the new church in Cambourne this morning. It was great to see it full of people and buzzing with life. People of all ages and from many backgrounds and parts of the world too. Terrific. And a new coffee shop has just opened in their foyer (mornings I think) – called “19”, because of the speed limit signs saying that which used to pepper the roads!

They are thinking about Life Balance this Lent, and this week’s theme was Rest. So we read the “Jesus’ Day Off” story together, and then thought about Elijah on the run, and how he needed to face up to his desire just to roll over and die and find instead a new sort of life from God; how he needed to let God (through an angel) touch him and renew him; and how he needed to let that happen not just once but over again, to build up a new rhythm of life that was sustainable. Resurrection, Renewal and Restoration. Then God could really get to work. Here’s the bible bit we used:

1 Kings 19.3-9

³ Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, ⁴ while he himself went a day’s journey into the desert. He came to a broom tree, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. "I have had enough, Lord," he said. "Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors." ⁵ Then he lay down under the tree and fell asleep.

All at once an angel touched him and said, "Get up and eat." ⁶ He looked around, and there by his head was a cake of bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again.

⁷ The angel of the Lord came back a second time and touched him and said, "Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you." ⁸ So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he travelled for forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. ⁹ There he went into a cave and spent the night

Filed under: Bible Study, Christianity, Churches, Sermons and Talks

Cockermouth Sings God’s Praise

Songs of Praise has just been broadcast from my old church of All Saints, Cockermouth. Of course it’s because of the floods, and it was intensely moving, even painful, to see old friends and familiar places, to see and hear such raw sorrow and raw faith – just to be here not there. You can watch for yourself on the BBC I-player for the next week or so at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00r35vh#synopsis.

Here, with apologies for catching them with open mouths and open hearts, are my friends of yore (and I could have snapped so many more): Elizabeth, Dave, Jenny, Jilly, James (he sings very nicely but it was ladies-only at that point), Bridget, Jean, Etta, Pauline, Ron, Wendy, Chris – and many more.

 

Filed under: Christianity