Dear Friends
In May 1940, on being asked by King George VI to form a government, Winston Churchill told the cabinet and parliament, “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.” He went on,
We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. We have before us many, many long months of struggle and of suffering. You ask, what is our policy? I can say: It is to wage war, by sea, land and air, with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us; to wage war against a monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark, lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy. You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word: It is victory, victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory, however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival.
His was not a comforting message but a message that work was needed, that effort was required, that endeavour would be necessary. “Poor people, poor people,” Churchill commented later in private to his secretary, “They trust me, and I can give them nothing but disaster for quite a long time.”
And living in this fallen world, where sin is contagious and death inevitable, where we struggle to survive but are destined to fail, Christ came. This was the world’s last opportunity to be what it was meant to be, yet the whole world—religious and political powers together, church and state, Jew and Gentile—put to death the King of Glory. But death could not hold Him, Hades was emptied of his strength.
Christ came, but not with a strategy on how to live in this world, how to survive and thrive here and now, He came with the offer of work and sacrifice. “If anyone desires to come after Me,” says He,
let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.
Luke 9:23–27
For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.
For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?
For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father’s, and of the holy angels.
But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Kingdom of God.
Since it is ours to wage war against this Age. But our war is waged through service, our attack through self-sacrifice. Christ tells us,
But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,
Luke 6:27–31
bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you.
To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also. And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either.
Give to everyone who asks of you. And from him who takes away your goods do not ask them back.
And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise.
And our symbol of Victory in this is the Cross; the Cross that stands at the very centre of our faithfulness, the Cross that demands that we work for the life of our neighbour, the Cross that is the means by which mankind was reconciled with God in Christ.
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, we too are offered nothing other than blood, toil, tears and sweat, but rather than to lead us merely to victory over fascism according to the techniques of this Age, ours is to lead us to Victory over the powers who animated fascism, “Finally, my brethren,” the Apostle says to us,
be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.
Ephesians 6:10–13
Put on the whole armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this Age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
Therefore take up the whole armour of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
But for us, if we hold fast in faithfulness then Victory is assured: Christ has already defeated these Powers, ours is to join in that Victory. And it will require all we have, it will require that we live even in this fallen Age according to the reality of the Kingdom, it will require that we take up our own crosses daily—the crosses of service, the crosses of love, the crosses of self-denial—that we may follow our God and Saviour to the brazen gates of Hades, follow Him to despoil Hell, follow Him to Resurrection and new Life, transfigured Life, Life without end.
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Sermon
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, one God, Amen.
Our divine services, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, are full of references—quotations and allusions—to the reality, the truth, the revelation of Jesus Christ. “In that we have beheld the Resurrection of Christ,” we proclaim during Sunday Matins,
“let us bow down before the Holy Lord Jesus, the only sinless One. Thy Cross do we adore, O Christ, and Thy Holy Resurrection we praise and glorify: for Thou art our God, and we know none other beside Thee; we call upon Thy Name. O come, all ye faithful, let us adore Christ’s Holy Resurrection. For lo, through the Cross is joy come into all the world. Ever blessing the Lord, let us sing His Resurrection: for in that He endured the Cross for us, He hath destroyed Death by death.”
— Prayer after the Gospel reading, Sunday Matins
We have beheld the Resurrection, we have encountered the risen Christ, we have been invited to again participate in His defeat of sin and death, yet I remain indifferent to it. It is a good thing that it has happened but I want what is needful for me as I define, to get on in the world, to make progress, to earn a living. And whereas when guests come and encounter what I have been offered by the Lord on a daily basis they marvel, I, in return, shrug my shoulders safe in the knowledge that I am a righteous person, a moral person, safe and able to look down on the chaos around me from my ivory tower.
And while I call upon the Lord to act for me in my lofted status, “come and do for me, Lord, as I demand,” say I, another from the edges of the community steps forward. Deprived of the knowledge of the Resurrection, deprived of hope, having suffered for twelve years with an infirmity which leads to death, she steps forward—recognising her unworthiness—and merely tries to have a fleeting contact with the Lord. And the Lord heals her. She is transformed, she is restored to dignity and life. Yes indeed, the Lord acts in my life too, offering me the blessings I have demanded, but what good have they done me? Even if he raises the dead before my eyes will I turn and follow Him? Or will I remain as I am, safe in the knowledge there is a back-up plan?
…
Read this Sermon, Not as that ruler.
Archive of Past Sermons.
Services this week
Friday 14th November
Discussion on the Prophecy of Isaiah, 8 pm
Online only
Saturday 15th November
Great Vespers, 6.30 pm
At 3rd URC Scout Hall, Chandlers Ford
Sunday 16th November
Matins & Divine Liturgy, 9 am
At 3rd URC Scout Hall, Chandlers Ford
Online session is via Google Meet: please get indd 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 Christ
Fr Alexander
webenquiry@orthodoxeastleigh.uk