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We gather before dawn to light the Easter Fire from which the Paschal Candle is lit. This is carried into the dark church, a sign of Christ, our light guiding us into the new life of the resurrection. We hear Peter proclaiming the resurrection in Acts 10: 34-43 and how, through his death and resurrection, Christ has ushered in a new way of life in which there is “no partiality” but embraces all who come to him. In the gospel, Luke 24:1-12, we see how this new life is hard to comprehend: the first witnesses of the resurrection experience bewilderment, terror, disbelief and amazement. The power of the resurrection is felt when the community begins to live a resurrected life together, focused not on that which is life-denying but that which is life-affirming. Christ’s resurrection is the beginning of our resurrection. In our Festival Mass at 10.30 we all renew our baptismal vows, remembering that we too are made one with Christ in his death and resurrection and that we too are sent to bring that risen life to others.
This evening we commemorate the last night that Jesus broke bread with his disciples. In the first three gospels this is the Passover supper but in John’s gospel 13:1-17, 31b-35, this takes place just before the Passover; John interprets Jesus’ death as the Passover. He is the one who will lead his people from bondage to worldly power to freedom as children of God. In our first reading we recall the people of God preparing for the first Passover, Exodus 12:1-4, 11-14. They do so by eating together, sharing in equal portions, making sure that small households are included as well as large. Jesus prepares his disciples by taking the role of the servant, showing us how to treat each of God’s children as of equal value. This new Passover will lead us to a way of life in which all God’s children are restored to equal dignity and worth. As a symbol of our commitment to this way of life, we have our feet washed as the disciples did. The service concludes with silent prayer at the side altar as we remember Jesus’ last night of prayer in the garden of Gethsemane.
Palm Sunday marks the start of Holy Week, the annual memorial of the death and resurrection of Christ. Through our services this week we share in Christ’s journey, from his triumphal entry into Jerusalem to the empty tomb on Easter morning. Today begins outside the church as we echo the excitement and anticipation of Jesus’ followers joyfully waving palms as he enters Jerusalem. Our procession, like that in the gospel, is led not by chariots and horses but by a donkey, signifying that God’s idea of leadership is not at all the same as that of the kings of the world. Once in church we turn towards the cross as the Passion gospel, Luke 22:14-23:47, is read and the events of Holy Week are anticipated. This solemn passage offers us a different vision of leadership: in which the servant king pours out all that he has for the sake of the world God loves.
When Mary anoints Jesus’ feet in John 12:1-11, she is criticised for her lavish generosity. Why waste this expense honouring one man when it might have been used to feed the masses? Jesus explains that she has kept this gift for his burial and yet she anoints him whilst he is still living. Perhaps, as she has witnessed her brother being raised from the dead, her action expresses her faith in the resurrection; that the cross will be a second Exodus, like that referred to in Isaiah 43:16-21, when her people were led to freedom. This is the exodus Isaiah promises, a new thing, leading to freedom for the whole of creation, giving us a new way of living. A way which honours every person as precious and valued, worthy of excessive love and lavish attention. Judas is wrong, not because he has dubious motives, or because he has a practical, utilitarian approach to how best to use resources but because he does not recognise that there are no limits to God’s love, that God also holds nothing back, but will pour out everything for love of us. Her extravagant devotion leads us to ponder how we respond to the limitless love God pours on us and whether we, like God, perceive others as also worthy of such lavish attention.
Today, on Mothering Sunday, we celebrate our Mother Church and all those (related and unrelated, male and female) who nurture and care in our lives and in our world.
We hear again the story of the infant Moses from Exodus 2:1-10 and the community of individuals of different faiths and ethnicities who came together to keep him safe and raise him. In it, Pharaoh’s daughter names him Moses (which comes from the Hebrew verb Moshah to draw or pull out of water) “because, she said, I drew him from the water”. When Moses was drawn from the water, he was given a new life just as we are when we emerge from the waters of baptism. Just as Moses is given a new family, we too are part of a much wider family because of our baptism, a family, like Moses’, which is made up of people who are like us and people who are not. We are called to care for them, protect them and nurture them, to be mothers to one another. Pharoah’s daughter was taking a risk when she protected Moses, by law she could have been put to death. In Luke 2:33-35, Jesus has just been recognised by Simeon as one who will care for not only his own people but all people, Simeon knows that this will come at a cost. Our readings remind us of our baptismal calling, asking us to become a community of mothers who take the risk of extending love and protection to all those God sends to us.
If you attend the Church regularly, you might like to be on our electoral roll.
The Electoral Roll is a list of the members of the Church. If you are on the Electoral Roll, you can vote at the annual parochial church meeting (APCM).
Why, Isaiah 55:1-9 asks, do we spend our time, energy and resources on “that which does not satisfy” whilst refusing the gifts God offers freely? The answer has something to do with why Jesus’ contemporaries thought that those who suffer misfortune were worse sinners than those who escaped misfortune: we think that we are responsible for good gifts we enjoy, we think that we have earned them. Jesus and Isaiah are each try to change the way we see both ourselves and those who are in need. We are all in need of God. None of us can succeed by our own efforts alone. We are the same. All of us are vulnerable. And if all of us are vulnerable, how should we act towards those in need? In Luke 13:1-9, Jesus, having castigated those who think people bring trouble upon themselves, tells a parable of the man who wants to cut down his fig tree because it is not bearing fruit, it is not paying him back for the efforts expended on it: the feeding, watering and tending. But the gardener asks that, instead, the fig tree be given even more time and even more care. Jesus is inviting us to stop seeing the world in transactional terms but instead to view life in relational terms. When we are aware that we too are needy we are more likely to show empathy for others in need. If our eyes are opened to see that there is no distinction between the fortunate and the unfortunate perhaps we will be more committed to building a world in which the needy are responded to with the abundant compassion and generosity of the gardener.
Our first reading, Genesis 15:1-18, recounts God making a covenant with Abram. Covenants were usually two-way affairs, binding both parties. This acknowledged by them each passing between divided carcasses, symbol of the dangers of division. In this instance, only God is bound. Promising that God will remain faithful even when humanity fails. It is trust in this promise that gives Jesus the courage, in Luke 13:31-35, to continue on his way to Jerusalem despite the dangers that await him. He is given the opportunity to flee, to act in his own self-interest, but refuses. He understands that standing up to power has consequences but so does appeasing power, it will lead to his people being scattered like the chicks who refuse to be gathered together by their mother hen.
We are currently witnessing something similar play out on the international stage. In the face of threats (to impose tariffs, end military assistance, cut aid) governments around the world face the choice of putting their own interests first, protecting their own backs, or standing in solidarity with the weakest and most vulnerable. Our decisions may not be so far reaching and yet we all make choices that result in affirming or denying our solidarity with one another and with those most in need. We too can be agents of gathering or scattering. We cannot always trust those with power to use it for the good of all. We need to trust that God’s power is manifest always in gathering and never in dividing.
On the first Sunday of Lent our readings reflect on the importance of the wilderness, a place of uncertainty, where we are not in control and can no longer rely on our own strength. It is in the wilderness that we learn to trust in God and are formed into the people he made us to be. In Deuteronomy 26:1-11, the people of God have left the wilderness but are reminded of its lessons: that they are made by God, that their flourishing depends, not on their own hard work, but on God’s grace and that they are to share their blessings with others. Like his people before him, Jesus heads into the wilderness in Luke 4:1-13. Here the voice of Satan tempts him, encouraging him to be a Messiah who can feed the people, perform miracles, gain power and authority. Jesus resists these expectations by his commitment to listen only to God. We too are tempted by many voices, society, culture, family and friends all have expectations of who we should be but only God can tell us who we are. When we have lost our way, when we feel unsure of ourselves, God is inviting us to listen so that we can be formed and shaped back into the person God made us to be.
On Sunday 9th March at 6.30pm in church, our monthly choral Evensong service. During Lent Churches Together in Clapham worship together in the evening so we shall be welcoming our sister churches and Rev Kit Gunasekera from St James’ will be preaching. All welcome.