kneel in wonder at heaven touching earth» Cross

May we place at his feet all that we are

Paul Sibley — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 08:00:39 +0000

On that very first Good Friday, two thousand years ago, the day that our Lord Jesus Christ was crucified, a cruel and horrible death, he gave his all for us. He was willing to suffer that hideous death for us! For you and for me.

“He opened wide his arms for us on the cross” are words (from Eucharistic Prayer B, Common Worship) that always paint a powerful picture for me. They remind me of the sacrifice that Jesus made of himself for our sake, for my sake.

We often seem to talk of the Son as being almost separate from the Father, two beings. But, perhaps especially on Good Friday, we should remind ourselves that they’re actually all a part of the same God, with the Holy Spirit. And, whatever the reasons behind the crucifixion, whatever the theology, it was God himself on that cross; it was God himself, in his human form, who sacrificed himself on the cross for us, for me, that’s how much he loves each of us!

Jesus did so much for us — loves us so much that he was willing to do what he did for us — shouldn’t we, at least, give ourselves back to him. He doesn’t ask us to make the same sacrifice for him that he made for us, but he does want us to let him into our lives. And the place we do that, on Good Friday especially, is at the foot of the cross.

All that I am I place at your feet Lord Jesus. Take me, and use me, to do your work, in whatever way pleases you. Your gift to me was your life on the cross, my gift to you is my life. Amen.

Eternal God,
in the cross of Jesus
we see the cost of our sin
and the depth of your love:
in humble hope and fear
may we place at his feet
all that we have and all that we are,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Additional Collect for Good Friday
is Copyright © The Archbishops Council

That we may know eternal peace

Paul Sibley — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 09:00:07 +0000

The traditional name for today, The Fifth Sunday of Lent, is Passion Sunday. It marks the beginning of the last two weeks of Lent, traditionally called Passiontide. I think the Roman Catholic Church has, since 1969, transferred the name Passion Sunday to be an alternative for next Sunday, Palm Sunday. And many Anglican provinces have followed the Roman Catholic lead. The Church of England, as far as I understand things from the lectionary, allows for either. The Collects, however, read as though we should still call this Sunday by its traditional name. Personally, I prefer to keep the traditional name because of the way it points us towards the passion of Christ.

Today’s Collect tells us in no uncertain terms what Christ’s death achieved for us — eternal peace: the peace of God which surpasses all understanding (Philippians 4:7). We can enjoy a peace-filled eternal life because of what God, through his Son, did for us on the cross. He suffered the agonies of crucifixion so that we may know eternal peace.

That’s how much God loves us! Isn’t that an incredible thought?! Every year at this time, in the two weeks of Passiontide, I shed many a tear thinking about the sacrifice that was made for me.

“Amazing Love, O what sacrifice, The Son of God, given for me” Graham Kendrick.

Gracious Father,
you gave up your Son
out of love for the world:
lead us to ponder the mysteries of his passion,
that we may know eternal peace
through the shedding of our Saviour’s blood,
Jesus Christ our Lord.

Additional Collect for The Fifth Sunday of Lent
is Copyright © The Archbishops Council

On each day during Passiontide last year I published a short reflection on one of the Stations of the Cross. Here is a linked-list of those posts; they may help you on your journey through these last two weeks of Lent.

Station One — Jesus is condemned to death
Station Two — Jesus receives his cross
Station Three — Jesus falls the first time
Station Four — Jesus meets his mother
Station Five — Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus carry his cross
Station Six — Veronica wipes the face of Jesus
Station Seven — Jesus falls for the second time
Station Eight — Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem
Station Nine — Jesus falls for the third time
Station Ten — Jesus is stripped of his garments
Station Eleven — Jesus is nailed to the cross
Station Twelve — Jesus dies on the cross
Station Thirteen — Jesus is taken down from the cross
Station Fourteen — Jesus is laid in the tomb

The New Wisdom

Paul Sibley — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 08:00:40 +0000

Here is the text of the sermon I preached, more or less, when I officiated for Evensong at Godmanchester on Sunday, The First Evening Prayer of Saint Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist. It was, as it always is, a great pleasure and a privilege to be able to sing the Office, and to preach the sermon.

The New Wisdom
Isaiah 33:13-17 — Matthew 6:19-end

A Jewish Gospel
Saint Matthew begins his Gospel with the words,

“An account of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham” (Matthew 1:1).

However, he doesn’t just have a dry-as-dust interest in family trees, though it has to be said, the first chapter of Matthew’s Gospel, isn’t the most exciting place to start reading the Bible!

“Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Aram, and Aram the father of Aminadab, and Aminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon . . .” (Matthew 1:2-4).

and on through forty-two generations in all, I’m sure you don’t want me to read them all: the list finishes with,

“. . . and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah” (Matthew 1:16).

Matthew wants to give Jesus his place in history. He wants to show the Jewish roots of the Christian gospel.

Saint Matthew’s has been described as the most Jewish of the Gospels. He never misses a chance to show how the events of Jesus’s life, are a fulfilment of patterns and predictions in the Old Testament. Jesus is the climax of the process, which began with the Jewish kings, prophets, and lawgivers.

Wise people
But there was another strand in Jewish religion, which we often forget about, and which Jesus also fulfilled. These were the wise people — although all of them were male, I’m hesitant to call them ‘wise men’, because you’d most likely think of them as the three wise men who visited Bethlehem, but those were non-Jewish, or Gentiles. These ‘wise people’, who I’m referring to, were secretaries in the court of the Jewish kings.

As the job of these ‘wise people’ was reading and writing, they were frequently called ‘scribes’. They most likely based their work on the example of the Egyptian courts. There, the scribes of the Pharaohs wrote books describing the wisdom, that was needed by those who were to advise the monarch, often in the form of proverbs or wise sayings.

The Jewish scribes in the court of King Solomon, which had close contacts with Egypt, made collections of wise sayings, several of which appear in the biblical Book of Proverbs.

Matthew may have seen himself as standing in this tradition — our New Testament reading (Matthew 6:19-end) this evening certainly has that feel about it. And he’s the only one of the Evangelists to record Jesus saying,

“Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old” (Matthew 13:52).

Wisdom
What then was this wisdom that the scribes wrote about? To a large extent it was practical common sense. The scribes would’ve most likely learnt to write by copying out proverbs written by their predecessors. And as they wrote they would’ve absorbed much of what they were reading, and so learnt to be a good advisor to the king.

Along with the Book of Proverbs, the scribes are credited with writing several other books, such as Job, Ecclesiastes, and several of the Apocryphal books, which, together, we call the ‘Wisdom Literature’.

Many of these contain poems in praise of Wisdom, who is imagined as if she were a wise teacher. One such, from the Book of Proverbs is:

“Happy are those who find wisdom,
  and those who get understanding,
for her income is better than silver,
  and her revenue better than gold.
She is more precious than jewels,
  and nothing you desire can compare with her.” (Proverbs 3:13-15)

The moral teaching of Jesus
Saint Matthew’s Gospel then probably regards the moral teaching of Jesus, as not only fulfilling the Jewish Law, but also taking on the mantle of the teachers of wisdom. His wise advice on loving God and loving your neighbour is common sense.

The teaching of Jesus, as presented by Saint Matthew, could justly be called, ‘the New Wisdom’.

The call of the tax collector
It’s hard to believe sometimes that this is the same despised tax collector whom Jesus called to be one of his Apostles.

The people despised tax collectors in Jesus’s day, because they’d bought — from the hated occupying Roman government — the rights to collect customs dues from everybody who crossed the provincial boundary, in a particular place. They were able to charge whatever they liked, and did — extortionately.

So Matthew wasn’t only a cheat and a swindler, but he robbed his own people on behalf of their enemies — he was a quisling and a traitor. No wonder he was hated. But Jesus saw through all of that, and was able to see the potential in the despised and hated tax collector.

Only by grace
Perhaps though, it’s because of his own recent history, that Matthew knew so well, that it’s impossible to put that New Wisdom into practice. On your own, that is.

As Saint Paul said, describing his days as a Pharisee,

“I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do” (Romans 7:19).

It’s impossible to follow the wise teaching of Jesus, until we receive grace.

The Cross
So in the second part of his Gospel, Matthew moves on from wise teaching and describes the death and resurrection of Jesus. His suffering and his triumph bring us the grace that enables us to obey his commandments, and to begin to follow his wise teaching ourselves, to begin to behave wisely.

Without the cross, wisdom is just wishful thinking. With the cross at its centre, the Christian teaching isn’t just wisdom, but Gospel — the good news that God loves us. It’s this that elicits our love for God in response, and gives us the grace to serve with wisdom.

Thank you
Thank you, Matthew, for writing your Gospel to bring us the good news of God’s grace, which is more precious than jewels, and nothing we desire can compare with it.

The Trouble Tree

Paul Sibley — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 08:00:01 +0000

The Trouble Tree

I really like the way this carpenter puts the troubles of the day behind him when he gets home. Something we could, I’m sure, all learn from.

Fact, fiction? Who cares? We all need a Trouble Tree! But the best ones are “Cross” shaped.

The Trouble Tree

The carpenter I hired to help me restore an old farmhouse had just finished a rough day on the job. A flat tyre made him lose an hour of work. His electric saw quit, and now his ancient pick-up truck refused to start.

While I drove him home, he sat in stony silence.

On arriving, he invited me in to meet his family. As we walked toward the front door, he paused briefly at a tall tree, touching tips of the branches with both hands. When opening the door, he underwent an amazing transformation. His tanned face was wreathed with smiles and he hugged his two small children and gave his wife a kiss.

Afterwards he walked me to the car. We passed the tree and my curiosity got the better of me. I asked him about what I had seen him do earlier.

“Oh, that’s my trouble tree” he replied. “I know that I can’t help having troubles on the job, but one thing’s for sure. Troubles don’t belong in the house with my wife and children. So I just hang them up on the tree every night when I get home. Then in the morning I pick them up again. “Funny thing is,” he smiled, “when I come out in the morning to pick ‘em up, there ain’t nearly as many as I remember hanging up the night before.”

Jesus is laid in the tomb

Paul Sibley — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 11:00:08 +0000

Station Fourteen

– Jesus is laid in the tomb –

Jesus, your body is prepared for burial. Joseph gave you his own tomb. He laid your body there and rolled a large stone in front of it, then went home. What a sad day it has been for so many people.

Sometimes we can be selfish. We can accumulate things and keep them for ourselves. We try to make sure we have what we want before we share what we have with anybody else.

Help us think of Joseph of Arimathea, who risked his own life as he accepted Jesus’ body for burial. Help us think of how Joseph loved Jesus so much that he gave him his own tomb.

† † †

O God, your blessed Son was laid in a tomb in a garden and rested on the Sabbath day: Grant that we who have been buried with him in the waters of baptism may find our perfect rest in his eternal and glorious kingdom; where he lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.

Jesus is taken down from the Cross

Paul Sibley — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 11:00:32 +0000

Station Thirteen

– Jesus is taken down from the Cross –

Jesus, how brutally you were put to death. How gently you are taken from the cross. Your suffering and pain are ended, and you are put in the lap of your mother. The dirt and blood are wiped away. You are treated with love.

Sometimes we seem to be kinder when someone dies. If only we could learn to see the good things about them while they were alive. If only we would tell those around us how much we love them, while we still have the opportunity to do so.

Help us look for the good in those around us, especially those we love the most. Help us live each day as if it were the last. Help us become more gentle and loving people through our greater appreciation for those around us.

† † †

Lord Jesus Christ, by your death you took away the sting of death: Grant to us your servants so to follow in faith where you have led the way, that we may at length fall asleep peacefully in you and wake up in your likeness; for your tender mercies’ sake. Amen.

May we place at his feet all that we have and all that we are

Paul Sibley — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 08:00:32 +0000

May we place at his feet all that we have and all that we are

On that very first Good Friday, the day that our Lord Jesus Christ was crucified, a cruel and horrible death, he gave his all for us. He was willing to suffer that hideous death for us! “He opened wide his arms for us on the cross” are words (from Eucharistic Prayer B, Common Worship) that always paint a powerful picture for me. They remind me of the sacrifice that Jesus made of himself for our sake, for my sake.

I’m not very sure of the theology surrounding Good Friday. For a long while I was convinced by the penal substitution view, where Jesus took the punishment for our sins. But I find it quite difficult to accept that the God of Love would demand such a punishment of anyone, let alone his own Son. Then I remember that, although we talk of the Son as being almost separate from the Father, two beings, they are actually all a part of the same God. And, whatever the reasons behind the crucifixion, whatever the theology, it was God himself on that cross; it was God himself, in his human form, who sacrificed himself on the cross for me, that’s how much he loves me!

All that I am, and all that I have, I place at your feet Lord Jesus. Take them, and use them, to do your work, in whatever way pleases you. Your gift to me was your life on the cross, my gift to you is my life. Amen.

Eternal God,
in the cross of Jesus
we see the cross of our sin
and the depth of your love:
in humble hope and fear
may we place at his feet
all that we have and all that we are,
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Additional Collect for Good Friday
is Copyright © The Archbishops Council

Jesus dies on the Cross

Paul Sibley — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 11:00:37 +0000

Station Twelve

– Jesus dies on the Cross –

As Jesus hung on the cross, he forgave the soldiers who had crucified him, and prayed for his mother and friends. Jesus wanted all of us to be able to live forever with God, so he gave all he had for us.

Jesus, let us take a few moments now to consider your love for us. Help us thank you for your willingness to go to your death for us. Help us express our love for you!

† † †

O God, who for our redemption gave your only-begotten Son to the death of the cross and by his glorious resurrection delivered us from the power of our enemy: Grant us so to die daily to sin, that we may evermore live with him in the joy of his resurrection: who lives and reigns now and for ever. Amen.

Jesus is nailed to the Cross

Paul Sibley — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 11:00:51 +0000

Station Eleven

– Jesus is nailed to the Cross –

You are stretched out on the cross you have carried so far. The soldiers take big nails and drive them into your hands and feet. You feel abandoned by the people you loved so much. People seem to have gone mad. You have done nothing but good, yet they drive nails through your hands and feet.

Sometimes we discriminate against others. Even without thinking, we judge others because of their colour, intelligence, income level or name. We forget that we are to live as a brother or sister to all people. Sometimes we use harsh words when we speak to our children and family members. We can find it easy to look for something that isn’t very important and make it very important.

Help us look again at the people around us. Help us see the hurt and pain we have caused in others. Help us make amends for the harm we have done.

† † †

Lord Jesus Christ, you stretched out your arms of love on the hard wood of the cross that everyone might come within the reach of your saving embrace: So clothe us in your Spirit that we, reaching forth our hands in love, may bring those who do not know you to the knowledge and love of you; for the honour of your name. Amen.

Jesus is stripped of his garments

Paul Sibley — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 11:00:00 +0000

Station Ten

– Jesus is stripped of his garments –

The soldiers notice you have something of value. They remove your cloak and throw dice for it. Your wounds are torn open once again. Some of the people in the crowd make fun of you. They tease you and challenge you to perform a miracle for them to see. They’re not aware that you’ll perform the greatest miracle of all!

Sometimes we repeat stories that are disrespectful of others. We can entertain thoughts that are not clean. Sometimes we give the young people around us a bad example to follow.

Help us to keep ourselves pure and clean. Help us say things that build up the people around us. Help us overcome worldly desires that we may become more like Jesus. Help us set a good example for others to follow.

† † †

Lord God, who’s blessed Son our Saviour gave his body to be whipped and his face to be spit upon,: Give us grace to accept joyfully the sufferings of the present time, confident to the glory that shall be revealed; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.