Sermons And Gubbins

This sermon was preached at our Good Friday service, held on 14th April 2017. Why are we here today? If you were here yesterday evening, you’ll recall that I said that this season of Lent and Easter was one that particularly made us Christians stand out as weird . Today is no exception. When the rest of the country is out, enjoying their bank holiday, playing football, or making the most of the long weekend, here we are; over lunch-time, sat in a bare church, preparing ourselves for a dose of despair and, perhaps, grief. Why are we here, going through this act of death, year after year? Why are we putting ourselves through this again? Why aren’t we out there, enjoying our day off? Why are we here and not out there? Because it is real . We’re not going through a charade here, or acting out the parts. We’re not, even, attending an act of remembrance. We’re here because Christ’s death was real. It was not an act, or a misunderstanding. It was not a ploy. It was not a...

It is, admittedly, with some trepidation that I have come to lead us all in Evensong this evening. After the horrific events earlier this week at the 16th century St Etienne’s church in Normandy, there is, unfortunately, a small amount of fear in coming to church, to worship God together, at all. I suspect mine was not the only mind whose thought this crossed tonight. For, as I’m sure we’re are aware, on Tuesday morning, whilst saying mass with a small, faithful congregation in an ancient church, Father Jacques Hamel was murdered, martyred at the altar, by two young men, eager to perpetuate and escalate a religious war. I am very glad to see that you are here with me this evening. I am glad to see that you have, consciously or not, made a decision to not let the main weapon of terrorism – that of fear – win over your desire to congregate and to worship God together. I’d like, this evening, for us to think about Father Jacques, and the reaction of the world to the events...