Sermons And Gubbins

This poem was written for our Sunday morning service on Sunday 28th April, the second Sunday of Easter. The gospel reading was John 20:19-31 . In the news that week had been the horiffic bombings in Sri Lanka and the murder of Irish journalist, Lyra McKee . The poem was inspired by the idea of resurrection being a process as espoused in this sermon by Michael K. Marsh, especially this quote:   " The facts are just the starting point for the story. The fact of the empty tomb is the starting point for the resurrection story. Whatever facts you woke up to on Easter Monday are simply the starting point for your story of resurrection. Too often, however, we take the facts as the entire story. Isn’t that what we’ve done with St. Thomas?"  I think we certainly do think of Thomas like that - he is the perennial doubter, rather than the saint who brought Christ's message to India, and had grown so much in faith that he was prepared to die for his God. It made me wonder wh...

This sermon was given at our All Saints service on the morning of Sunday 4th November. The gospel reading was the story of Lazarus, from John 11:32-44 . If you think about it, All Saints Day is a bit of a weird celebration for us in the Church of England, isn’t it? We’re not really that big on the whole width and breadth of saints outside of the usual suspects – you know, the ones who churches get named after. And, as for praying to the saints? Well, that all sounds a bit too much like Popery to us, doesn’t it? It doesn’t really fit with our (Church of) English sensibilities. But, if it wasn’t for All Saints Day, or All Hallows’, as it’s also known, there’d be no Halloween. And I looove Halloween. I know I probably shouldn’t – Christians more religious than I will tell you that we should avoid Halloween, due to its pagan origins and its preoccupation with monsters and the dead. But, it might surprise you to know that the Anglican Church in America does provide a...

This poem was written as a response to National Poetry Day and the Feast of St Michael (Michaelmas). It's also a delayed follow-up to my Michaelmas sermon from two years ago . I wished to explore some of the things I brought up in that sermon a bit deeper; specifically the elusive nature of Michael's name - it translates as 'Who is like God', and could be interpreted as a question, or a statement. It was read as a sermon at our Evensong service on Sunday 1st October 2017. (Interestingly, I could have simply repeated that sermon word for word - this year, like two years ago, we've recently returned from Menorca, and have also visited the zoo there with Isaac! It's obviously one of our preparations for St Michael's feast...) Anyway... I hope you enjoy, and get something out of reading this (be kind, please...it's my first attempt at religious poetry. I hope it's neither glurge , nor doggerel !) You placed a hand upon my shoulder. “Who i...