Tell me a story...

Last week my parish, my church were fortunate to host the most astonishing theatre production. It was marvellous. It was original and ancient (a new adaptation of Beowulf by 5 Yorkshire poets). It was full of fear and hope, courage and compassion. It was creative storytelling at it's best. 

 A church is many things.  It is an idea about what it means to be human. It is a community of faith. It is a place, a building, sometimes full of beauty, echoing the faith of generations.  At each of these levels our church -  our people, our space and its ancient stones collaborated with the talented and committed cast and crew of Proper Job Theatre. 

The wonderful architectural hotch potch that is Huddersfield Parish Church (stones that wouldn't look out of place on a Dales' barn, an Elizabethan font, Georgian galleries, all like a jigsaw taken appart and put back together in the 1820s) became the mead hall of a Viking lord.  A long ship sailed down the nave, bearing a hero who would save a community. She (yes, delightfully, she) would later reflect on life and death, victors' guilt and the trauma of the vanquished, compassion and the just wielding of power.  

Light danced across our vaulted ceiling, bringing the warmth of sunshine, prosperity and peaceful blue skies.  Shaddows and curdling screams took us as close as any of us would every like to be to desperate carnage, devestation and primordial fear as the dragon passed over our heads.  As our dead hero was carried in state through the audience and the pall bearers sang "will we remember?" it didn't pass me by that we literally would.  And we did - about 14 hours later, in the same space, although by that time it would appear very different.  

We remembered courage and sacrifice. We remembered the dilemas we face when we attempt to act justly, love mercy and walk humbly - while needing to defend the right of all humanity to do the same.  We remembered the carnage that comes from the sky for people in all the places our world fights and sheds blood today, and prayed for those whose every moment is still domonated by equal fear.  

As I mentioned - it was wonderful.  It was wonderful because such story telling belongs in churches - places that understand storytelling is not just reportage or clickbait. It's not just that something happened, and it's certainly not that anyone has anything to sell (though we may ask you to follow and subscribe!) 

Storytelling is learning how to live, acknowledging shared humanity. It is turning our faces towards the possible or impossible truth of how good and how bad we can be. Our capacity for gore and for glory.  And  the story is richest and most revealing when it is told together. We know that more is revealed when we are together, when we each bring our skills and gifts to the process.                       

In telling our story, and God's story which is our own, we glimpse our own possibliities.  I would say that when we tell our story together (in word, in music, in dance, in bread broken together) we become greater than the sum of our parts. Something is made that we could not have made alone and is greater than each of our individual contributions. Transcendence.

 For me, proof of our Creator's limitless love.  Both that God gives us this spark of creativity so we might know ourselves, one another and God - but also this transcendence is a sign that God is with us now.  

General Synod 2023

Today I am back at General Synod.  The first Synod of my elected term was November 2021 and it feels slightly odd to be coming to the end of my second year on Synod still feeling in many ways like a 'newbie' (amongst the 60% of Synod who were also new for this Synod term). It is a very particular experience. The procedures take some getting used to. As does developing the discermnent to know when it's a good idea to speak and not to. (Has it already been said?  Is the way you're going to say it speak to a different constituency? Does what you're saying move the conversation on, open it up, or indeed provide a concise and clear conclusion?)

Can you feel I'm going to say something sunshine-y now? 

This Synod has been notable for providing 'induction' for us newbies.  This has extended to zoom sessions as well as on-site stuff - and has been well received and much appreciated. Please note  - the Business Committee didn't have to wait for someone to whinge about the provision they hadn't made and how difficult it was to acclimatise. There was thoughtful and on occassion inspired provision.  Thank you. 

This afternoon we have passed a motion to enable more young people to be part of Synod.  With our eyes wide open we have acknowledged that to be a younger church and a younger Synod of that church people will have to step back and let others have a go.  This might seem a no brainer. In one way it is. But as a 50 yeard old who has spend her life in the Anglican church, and has spent much of the last 15 years of ordained ministry being reminded she is "young", and is still now sometimes told that she's not old enough for some things....... there is culatural complexity to be overcome. 

We wait and wait until it is our turn to speak - only to suddenly be told that if we were smart, or interesting or competent we would not have waited - and not it is too late.

I have also been part of several conversation with very varied groups about the 'tone' of Synod.  General consensus from people of many different perspectives seems to be that Synod has got nastier in the last 5 years.  This is interesting because I think it points to a broader cultural movement.  The current Synod, elected in 2021, is undoubtedly loaded with folks who are here because of LLF (Living in Love and Faith) - from either side of the debate. You might quite rightly expect things to be feisty.  But anecdote says this predates the present Synod.

My feeling is that this is not a unique Church phenomena - but goes back to something I heard the sociologist Grace Davie say in the early days of my ordained ministry.  She argued that despite increased secularisation and decreases in church attendance - the Church of England - those who worship in it and engage in it's ministry and leadership  - are not uniquely different from the culture surrounding us.  When people accuse the church of being exclusive, patriarchal, homophobic, racist, ablist, classist and the rest - they are not wrong - and it is not OK. Davie's argument was that even in our smaller, less central position, we are not an enclave for these problems amid a fair, just and inclusive wider culture.  Instead she suggests we reflect the continuing presence of these problems in our wider culture and society. 

Add to this the polarisation of our culture in the last 10 years - the impact of populism and post-truth - the resulting difficulty in engaging in respectful, nuanced and open minded debate - debate that holds the possibility of compromise or changed minds.

The question for me is how to function well here in service of God and God's people now - despite and through all this. How to encourage and enable the young people we spoke of and others whose voices are still not represented, into a Synod culture which reflects not mereley the fractures of the world, but the wholeness we find in Christ's counter-cultural Good News. I feel that some of this is about disengaging with unhelpful dialogue, as much as it is about discerning the places where good progress, good dialogue, good debate can be modeled. 

This is not a manifesto - or even a complete thought. It is thinking out loud.  No doubt not the last blog from this Synod. 

Singing

 It is well known and intermittently discussed that singing is good for us. It good for our mental health. It helps folks with dementia. It's good for your social life if you join a choir (or become a regular at the local karaoke night). 

Singing is physically good for us too - all that huffing and puffing. I remember quite some years ago having my joining assessment at a local gym. The trainer insisted on checking my lung capacity 3 times. I was quite obviously unfit - but my lung capacity reflected the goodness singing did for me despite this. 

Tonight I'm listening to a local ladies choir and just wanted to share the impirical evidence of this goodness. They're not a huge choir but they make a good sound together and they are literally glowing. The joy of making music is shining from this diverse group of women. I wasn't looking forward to this evening but it's lovely and I am always up for some joy. 

This week I hope to get some singing in as my church observes Holy Week. The making and sharing of music, in harmony with our liturgy, scripture and sacrament. Together they will take us through the joy of Jesus arrival in Jerusalem, hailed as King, bringer of longed for liberty. They will take us to an upper room and the familial intimacy of a meal shared, to a garden charged with tension, intense prayer and treachery. 

We will sing of the sacred head surrounded with torturous thorns, and of the drop drop of our slow tears as we weep for Jesus pain, betrayal and suffering. 

And when Easter Day comes I hope as I sing the wondrous story of the Christ who died and rose again for me,every note is embued with the deep human joy which I have witnessed shining in the faces of tonight's singers. 

He came down that we might have joy - alleluia for evermore. 

Rock Mass 2023

Last night I was delighted and moved to be the guest president and preacher for the relaunch of Rock Mass. Is it a fresh expression? Is it a youth thing? No (well maybe/could be/yes-ish). But mostly it's a rock mass. Ronseal all the way. 

There was prayer and incense and God's invitation to all to come to God's banquet. And rock. Lots and lots of rock.  If you like rock, and prayer, and incense, and sacramental worship, and rock - it happens once a month and they have interesting guest preachers ;-) 

For those of you who were there and have been kind enough to ask for a copy of my sermon - here it is.  I'm less funny on paper - you don't get the terrible Les Dawson impressions - but glad to be asked and glad to share. If you want to read the sermon - please click the link and read the scripture reading first - it will make more sense.

Matthew 22.1-14 Rock Mass  

Abundance is offered – co-operation is needed. The Kingdom is like……..

So we’re back – Rock Mass is back – the thing that was happening – or one of the things that was happening (whispers 'pandemic') – is mostly over and we are getting forward to the Kingdom. Or up to the Kingdom.  I haven’t decided yet – I like forward –  but I absolutely love the idea that our life with God is something we are getting up to together.

Whatever we’re doing – we’re not getting back to normal.

For two reasons.

1.  One because there’s no such thing as normal and there never was – and this really shouldn’t come as a surprise to followers of Jesus. Sometimes I think the whole purpose of Jesus ministry was to combat the delusion of normal.  The fantasy that there is some place where all our defensive, closing down, restrictive, safety seeking, excluding, scarcity focussed human instincts put us in the right place.  I think Jesus showed us a way of being where with our trust in him, creator, saviour and spirit, we might just dare to breathe in and out and know that we are not the same as we were before we took that breath.  That change is the only constant and we do not need to be afraid for God is with us.

     The second reason we’re not going back to the thing that doesn’t exist? The trajectory of the planet the good God sent spinning into space is unidirectional – by which I mean it’s going one way – only one way, and that’s forward.  There is no going back – just ask Don Henley and the Boys of Summer. (80s reference).

So what we’re doing, as a community, as Christians, as the church here in Mixenden and Illingworth, as the church wherever each of you happens to be the savoury flavour or the head torch of truth – as the body of Christ - what we’re doing is getting forward  - re-orientating ourselves to Christ’s way. We're checking to see how the ground beneath our feet feels – and what we’re getting forward to – or maybe getting up to – what we’re getting up to is the Kingdom. The Kingdom that wasn’t what people thought was normal when Jesus first told this parable – and the Kingdom that doesn’t feel like what the world around us now calls normal. The Kingdom that is breaking through.

I think we’re spending this year hearing from lots of lovely guest preachers like me about what the Kingdom we pray is coming might be like – and there are so many places this reading could have taken us tonight – but I’d like us to focus on three things – adulting (sorry!) - invitation and abundance.

So this isn’t a parable for the faint hearted – it does not say that whatever you do everything is going to be absolutely fine cos God’s just lovely. It’s more like God is lovely AND just. This life is more than a game.  I am a parent of teenagers – and the bit of info I keep trying to crowbar into my kids heads – is that our actions have consequences – and we have to deal with those consequences. It’s not so much that you make your bed and you have to lie in it.  More that once you’ve made it, you might have to unmake it, repent of it, respond to your invitation, and try again.

You can choose to ignore your invitation. You can even turn up and then change your mind and walk away. But you can’t really blame God for that decision. We have been given the freedom to make the choice, a huge risk that our God takes out of love for us -  and we have to take responsibility – we are not playing good daddy bad daddy games with God.

Wisdom has set her table. The God of all time and space has sent us gold-plated invitations.  We need to adult on up there to the banquet and join in with what God is doing.

And let’s think about that gold plated invitation. I think this has a particular kick for us post-pandemic.  I know this parable is telling us a story about God and God’s people through history – that those to whom Jesus was sent would not recognise him – the people you might have expected to be the a-list invitations would not come to the party table.  But it feels, as parable so often do, that it’s telling us a story of now too.  You are invited.  The challenges of the last three years have left us I think desperately needing to respond to God’s invitation, needing in faith to step out and offer God’s invitation in turn to others, but feeling like we want to curl up in a corner and sleep too. 

But we’re the ones who know God is good, we’re the ones who have come to baptism, who have chosen to be here, who have glimpsed the coming kingdom in our friendship, in what we can do for the communities around us, in the goodness that flows from being together like the father, son and holy spirit are together.

God has sent you a gold plated invitation to come to the banquet and join in with what God is doing.

Has God done that Rachel? - you might well ask - really?  I don’t remember getting that invitation, you might be thinking. But you’re standing in it, next to it, listening to it, dancing to it.  Your gold-plated invitation tonight is played by a rock band and crafted with love to help you connect with God. 

Your gold plated invitation is at the lunch club, at the community pantry, at the scouts, in the creating, making and being real community which exists here and is growing.  Your gold-plated invitation is people being who they are, throwing their gifts and skills into the pot together to do things God’s way. An invitation to be just like you, the best, transformed in Christ’s image you, being in God’s service.

Come, all you vagabonds,

Come all you ‘don’t belongs’

Winners and losers,

Come, people like me.

Come all you travellers

Tired from the journey,

Come wait a while, stay a while,

Welcomed you’ll be.[1]

And what you are welcomed to is abundance.  Rather marvellously the idea of abundance came up in the midweek zoom bible study at my church this week – we were reading the Isaiah reading from the Feast of Epiphany which says

the abundance of the sea shall be brought to you,
   the wealth of the nations shall come to you.
A multitude of camels shall cover you,[2]

I know – weird right? We got briefly caught up in the weird – but then realised that when those bible guys tried to communicate what God was saying about abundance, they had to use ideas that our imaginations could reach for.  Wealth, seafood, camels, - exotic, unfamiliar, next level. The wedding banquet – probably the most sumptuous, delicious, wonderful feast anyone would experience in a lifetime – and even then not that often. 

Wisdom has set her table, she has poured her wine[3], and we are invited to the banquet. 

We have to choose whether to go. God will not force us, we are not playing games here – we are given the choice whether to respond and we are given fair warning that our choices have consequences that we must take responsibility for.

But if we choose to go to the feast we will find that the banquet we are invited to is beyond our imagining because the abundance which flows from God isn’t stuff that God gives us – the abundance is God.  God is the banquet.  The things that overflow from the baskets and bowls on the table are the things we really need to be whole in our humanity and transformed in it too. They are the abundance of the Kingdom.  For the banquet table of the Lord overflows with justice and mercy, compassion, patience, equity, respect, dignity, hope, wisdom, prophecy, serving, teaching, encouraging, giving – we are invited to gorge ourselves on this goodness that is the Kingdom and brings the Kingdom, that transforms us into Kingdom people.

O taste and see how gracious the Lord is – blessed is the one that trusts in the Lord.[4]

We thank God tonight for our gold-plated invitation.  I hope we will commit ourselves to try to respond and take responsibility for that choice as best we can in this coming year - and I hope too we will remind ourselves often that the abundance we need is not of this world, but can be found at a banqueting table overflowing with all that shows the Kingdom breaking into our community of faith and our world.

Amen.

 

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[1] Vagabonds by Stewart Townend

[2] Isa 60.1-6

[3] Proverbs 9.2

[4] Psalm 34