Dear Friends
Christ is risen!
We have come to the middle of the Feast. Pentecost is the fiftieth day of Pascha and here, on the twenty-fifth day, we both look backwards to the Resurrection and forwards to the coming of the Holy Spirit and what unites the two is shown symbolically by water.
Water has a dual image in Scripture and in our lives. On the one hand it is chaotic and dangerous — the waters cannot be tamed and are to be feared: we see this preserved in ancient stories where cruel monsters are said to exist out in the depths.
Water, water, every where,
‘Rime of the Ancient Mariner’, Samuel Taylor Coleridge
And all the boards did shrink;
Water, water, every where,
Nor any drop to drink.
The very deep did rot: O Christ!
That ever this should be!
Yea, slimy things did crawl with legs
Upon the slimy sea.
Yet also water is needed for life, it is refreshing and vivifying: we need to drink, to wash and to make use of water.
And alluding to this—the fear of water and the necessity of water—the Sunday Gospel readings make use of the image of water: last Sunday, of the Paralytic, the man had lain beside the pool at the Sheep Gate thirty-eight years (John 5:1–15), and next Sunday, of the Samaritan Woman, Christ sits beside Jacob’s Well and says to the Woman, “Give me a drink.” (John 4:5–42)
This dual aspect of water—death and life—is what we see in our own baptisms. In the waters we have died with Christ that we may rise with Christ, in expectation of receiving the Holy Spirit through chrismation. This is not “only symbolism” but symbolism in the true sense, to bring two separate things together and make them one. By the act of descending into the water, we participate symbolically in the death of Christ, by being lifted up again by the Church through the priest we ourselves participate symbolically in the Resurrection.
And we look to Pentecost. But while we look, while we ponder, we live in the present and we continue to rejoice in the Resurrection.
Christ is risen! I do not proclaim this as a saying, a mantra, a incantation, but as the declaration that I have risen with Christ, I am brought to new Life, I am changed by the Resurrection and I will turn to the living God in love and in repentance, in gratitude and in awe, in hope and in fear. And to be near the Lord I draw near to his Church, serving her and serving through her, that I may deepen my union with the Lord.
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, let us grow in faithfulness and love towards the Lord, remembering how we have been offered new Life and Resurrection through baptism, that we may come to the Lord through his Church by the waters of baptism and receive eternal Life.
Come and see!
Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!
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Sermon
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, one God, Amen.
Christ is risen!
I have been washed, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, and I have been cleansed in the waters of baptism: and while I may have to wait for full freedom from physical affliction, I have been freed from the spiritual paralysis holding me back. And I rejoice that the Saviour has incorporated me into his Body, the Church, that I may partake of the Bread of Life. (John 6:35, 48)
Yet my offering to the Lord is not whole, is not complete. I want to step away from his Church when it suits me, knowing she will be there on my return. I want to return and examine, partake in and enjoy, the offerings of this life and then I will come back to the Lord: he “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth,” (First Timothy 2:4) and will open his arms to me as to the Thief, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” (Luke 23:43)
Yes, indeed, my offering is not whole, is not complete. And the Lord finds me in his Temple and says to me, “See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse befall you.” Yes, I will continue to sin, but I must not justify sinning, I must not make excuses, since I know not the day when the Lord will say to me, “Fool! This night your soul will be required of you.” (Luke 12:20) Because to be a Christian is to make a stand against sin, “I do not accept your power over me and I will fight,” for I am to join the Victory of Christ not as a spectator but as a soldier.
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Read this Sermon, See, you are well!
Archive of Past Sermons.
Services this week
Friday 31st May
Discussion on the Gospel of Matthew, 8 pm.
Online only
Saturday 1st June
Great Vespers, 6.30 pm.
At 3rd URC Scout Hall, Chandlers Ford
Sunday 2nd June
Matins and Divine Liturgy, 9 am.
At 3rd URC Scout Hall, Chandlers Ford
Online session is via Google Meet: please get in contact for the details.
Please join us: all are welcome, come and see.
Attending Church
We meet at 3rd URC Scout HQ, Kings Rd, Chandlers Ford SO53 2EY. The Scout hall is behind and to the left of the URC Church. Come and See.
Can I help you?
I am here for you, you need only ask. Is there a way I can support your life of faith? Get in touch.
Can you help the parish?
Yes, absolutely. Offer yourselves to the Lord: pray! Make available to him all your talents and ask him how he would like you to use them — listen for his reply.
Your prayers!
With love in the risen Christ
Fr Alexander
[email protected]