Sermons And Gubbins

This poem was written for our Evensong service on Sunday 22nd April. It is a response to the Old Testament reading for that evening; Exodus 16:4-15 , specifically picking up the theme of bread/manna and the idea of the Israelites complaining to God. If you'd prefer to read a sermon on that passage instead, you might want to look at one I wrote a couple of years ago; The Immigrants and the Bread . Hope you enjoy! You rescued me from the den of my enemies, Brought me out of slavery and into the wilderness, Led me to safety away from my oppressors, And I complained. I have seen miracles: seen seas parted, and fiery cloudy pillars, I have been led on a journey,       travelling to start a new life in a new land filled with milk and honey I have been set free . And I complained. I was wandering in unfamiliar lands, led away from everything I once knew, I was hungry and thirsty, longing to return to my captors,     ...

This sermon was preached on Sunday 2nd August. The Old Testament reading was  Exodus 16:2-15 Our prime minister, David Cameron, caused something of a stir this week, when he referred to the number of migrants attempting to make the journey from Calais to the UK as a ‘swarm’. This use of language, comparing this group of people to insects – whether meant that way or not – was de-humanising and antagonistic. It was also sad. Perhaps, in his role as prime minister of the UK, he can little afford to show empathy here – his focus in his job, after all, is the country he governs. The same is not true for the rest of us, however. We are called to be empathetic, to put ourselves in the place of the outsider. As Christians especially, we are called to remember that we ourselves are migrants. The New Testament reminds us several times that we are in the world, but not of the world (John 15:18-19, John 17:16) – that we are strangers and exiles upon earth (Hebrews 11:...