4th July 2010 - "That still small voice"

Usha Hull - Ayot St Peter's and St Peter's, Tewin
Mark 6 7-29

The poet John Milton once wrote about conscience:

‘He that has light within his own clear breast,
May sit in the centre and enjoy bright day,
But he that hides a dark soul and foul thoughts
Benighted walks under the mid day sun –
Himself is his own dungeon.’

Conscience has been described as God’s very presence in man, that still small voice that whispers through the fire and the storm and is responsible for much happiness or unhappiness within our souls. It is true that ideas about good and bad vary from place to place in every age and indeed at every stage of a human life. Yet there remains for each human being an inner conviction that there is a difference between right and wrong, an urging towards the right, and a shame when we submit to compulsion or temptation and do the wrong instead.

27th June 2010 - "A calling that’s never Far, Far Away"

Usha Hull - St Mary's and St Michael's
Luke 9 51-62

I’d like to take you on a journey of imagination to the Kingdom of Far Far Away. Those of you who are fans of the Shrek movies, myself among them, will know that the Kingdom of Far Far Away is peopled with characters from fairy tales and nursery rhymes. Today in our Kingdom of Far Far Away, the good citizens have formed a team to play in a major World Football Tournament. But there are problems right from the start.

The three little pigs, for example, are putting all their energies into a constant power struggle, vying with each other for pride of place. Pinnochio declares his absolute commitment in a flowery speech, but as he does so his nose grows longer and longer, because although he professes undying fidelity, he is telling porkies, and he’s secretly planning to sneak off halfway through. The fairy godmother is determined to be part of it all, not because she sees it as a worthwhile project but because she wants the power and the glory, so she’s busy brewing up some spells. Donkey spends all his time criticising what others are doing and dictating to them, rather than concentrating on what he should be doing. Puss in Boots looks adorable but does very little actual work.

Similarly, Prince Charming is spending most of his time on his fancy hairdo rather than on his fancy footwork. Cinderella would like to be part of the action, but only on her own terms. And Shrek, the team manager, is behaving like a true ogre by bullying everyone in sight, rather than seeking to get the best out of the players. Not unsurprisingly, the Far Far Away football team loses and is sent home in disgrace, not at all like our own England football team who thankfully are still in there with a chance, at least till this afternoon.

20th June 2010 - "Reclothe us in our rightful minds"

Usha Hull - All Saints', Datchworth and St Michael's
Luke 8 26-39

It’s a beautiful day in early summer, with clouds that scud across a blue sky and spells of sunlight that come and go. A young farmer is helping his uncle to trim hedges. A devoted father to two boys, a loving husband to his adoring wife, possibly the last thing on his mind is death in that morning filled with sun and shade. Yet minutes later he lies dead, shot in a massacre that shocks the world.

Weeks later, the questions remain. Why did a Cumbria taxi driver by the name of Derrick Bird take up a gun and massacre twelve innocent people? What causes a seemingly ordinary man to become a mass murderer? What happened to cause the streets of one of the world’s most beautiful regions to run with blood on that lovely summer’s day? Possibly the questions will never be answered in this life.

13th June 2010 - "The unwelcome guest"

ColinHull - Ayot St Peter's
2 Sam 11:26-12:10, 13-15
Gal 2:15-end
Luke 7:36-8:3

Theme: The unwelcome guest

Seeing it from the inside

There is a particular way of reading the gospel and bible stories by trying to immerse your self in the story as one of the characters. To see the story from the inside and how it affects what you think and feel. So today I want to take you on a mental journey to witness a woman who comes weeping at Jesus’ feet. With a bit of imagination I want you to become part of the scene. Place yourself in the scene.

A prior meeting

But first I want you to imagine another scene. Something that may have happened a short time before. You have heard Jesus preaching about the kingdom of God and about how God is like a shepherd who goes out of his way to seek a lamb that has become lost from the flock. Perhaps it touched a feeling in your own life when you felt you had done something wrong. You decide you want to hear more of this teacher and start following him.

But then you notice Jesus sitting down in the market square with a group of prostitutes. They are well known locally. He is sitting sharing some bread and a drink. He is speaking gently to them and asking about their lives. One of them says she does not like what she is doing but she has no other means of earning a living. She has no man to look after her and now nobody wants her. Jesus continues to talk for a while before getting up to leave. He turns to you and says “Come, we have a dinner invitation”

13th June 2010 - "Rules are not enough"

Stephen Fielding - All Saints', Datchworth

I was last here in August.  Much too long ago.  Then, we looked at Psalm 119 - the longest psalm – all about the Law of God.  Keeping it, learning it, loving it. Every single verse of that great psalm about loving and keeping God’s law, the Law given to Moses. And this morning, after this great long gap, we meet the same subject again. Only this time the message is rather Different.  The Law – the Jewish Law - is not enough. Rules are not enough.

I wonder if you remember a few years ago that the Lord Chancellor, Lord Mackay of Clashfern, attended the Roman Catholic funeral of his judicial colleague the law lord Lord Russell of Killowen. This was a mark of respect to a former colleague and friend. Lord Mackay of Clashfern was a ‘wee free’, and the wee frees were outraged that a member of that church should even visit a Roman Catholic church let alone attend a funeral service there. And so they excluded him from being a member of the wee frees. I don't know whether that strikes you in the same way that it strikes me, but it certainly struck Lord Mackay that a church which despised his honouring of a friend at a Roman Catholic funeral was not the sort of church which he wanted to belong to and he promptly left. For surely the honouring of a friend and the claims of respect and duty must be higher than the rules of the wee free Church which said that they should keep themselves to themselves, ‘unsullied and unspotted’ by the world.

6th June 2010 - "Give us this day our daily bread"

Stephen Fieldin - St Mary's

I expect you've noticed that some Christians, particularly younger Christians, wear wristbands with four capital letters on them. WWJD. What Would Jesus Do? I don't wear one myself, but I can well see how asking What Would Jesus Do? can be a powerful reminder that he is our companion, our friend, our guide, and our model to follow. To ask, ‘What Would Jesus Do?’ is to recall, to remember and to follow what Jesus the teacher taught and Jesus the man actually did.

And what did he do? He taught us to pray and he prayed himself. ‘Our Father who art in heaven.’ And for the last few weeks, many of us have been exploring what Jesus meant when he prayed to his Father and urged us to pray in the same way. Today, this morning I want to explore with you that little phrase ‘Give us this day our daily bread’, that part of the Lord's Prayer which a number of us considered last Wednesday here, as part of the prayer which Jesus taught us to say, every day, at least once a day, and three times a day if you follow the teaching of the early apostles, who told the followers of Jesus to pray the prayer that Jesus taught them three times a day. Our Father who art in heaven. So then -  ‘Give us this day our daily bread.’ What's it all about? How did Jesus actually put it?