Sermons

We’re one week into the new year. How are your resolutions coming along?

People plan all kinds of things. Giving up alcohol or chocolate. Getting up earlier. Exercising more. And 101 things that are very specific to you.

There’s one more. Many people plan to give church a bit more of a go in 2017. And maybe you’re one of them.

That’s a good thing. But you want to keep your resolution, so it’s worth thinking about why so many people choose not to follow Jesus.

Apparently Christmas has been hijacked.

It’s supposed to be about the birth of Jesus. It’s become all about giving presents.

I’m the vicar. I’m supposed to tell people to focus less on the presents, and more on the real meaning of Christmas.

I’m not going to do that! Because the real meaning of Christmas is all about giving presents. In fact, the more you grasp what Christmas is really about, the more you’ll want to give things to other people.

Where in the world would you most like to visit? The Grand Canyon? South Africa? Everest base camp?

And where in the world do you most care about? Perhaps it’s Kemsing? Or the village where you were born? The place your parents live and brought you up? A country you used to work in as an expat?

Two questions about geography: Where would you most like to visit? About which place’s wellbeing do you most care?

Life can be extremely painful. You don’t need me to tell you that. Life is full of difficulty.

All of us face challenges and difficulties. Sometimes massive. Sometimes smaller. But we’ve all stood and looked into the week ahead, or the year ahead, and thought to ourselves: This is going to be a tough one. Who’s going to get me through?

Who would you like to have a meal with? Sit down. Eat. Chat.

Last May, a photo was circulating. It showed Barack Obama having a casual dinner with a TV chef. They were in a run-of-the-mill diner in Hanoi, and it cost $6. The reason the photo went viral was because the other diners seemed totally unfazed by the President of the United States of America sat at the next table.

Which of us is not drawn by the desire to be fully alive? To experience life to the full? Not to be missing out on the best that life has to offer?

We all want it. It’s why people party. Take exotic holidays. Climb to the top of the mountain. Swim to the bottom of the ocean. We all want life, with a capital L.

For our combined services we’ve started looking together at one chapter of the Bible, John chapter 17. We only join together like this 4 times a year, and I think we’ll be in this chapter for some time.

Being excluded feels horrible.

Children in the playground, deliberately leaving out a child they don’t like. A group of work colleagues going out for a drink, deliberately not telling one of their number where they’re going.

Even worse is religious exclusion. Being told that you’re not a proper Christian, not a true member of the people of God. If you care about God and his purposes, that hurts.

I greatly respect our doctors. They work hard. And a good doctor knows how to measure a person’s vital signs. Not every death can be prevented. But if they spot that body temperature, blood pressure, heart rate, breathing are getting weak, quick intervention could save them.

That’s people. What about churches? They die too. How would you know if your church was on its last legs? What could be done to nurse a church back to health?

It’s hard to keep going if you feel isolated.

Picture the scene. You’re at Kings Cross, boarding a train to Edinburgh. A large crowd is watching the departure signs. Finally, a platform number: platform 4. The crowd surges that way, and you’re among them. But once you’re through the ticket gates, most people board the train the other side, on platform 3. You get on the Edinburgh train, along with a number of others. And you sit watching platform 3 fill up. And you wonder. Did I get on the right train?

Let me tell you about a church I’ve got to know, and some of the pressures it faces.

Some people in the town really don’t like this particular church. They’ve had major aggravation from the town council, and from the media. There’s real hatred from a few, but sometimes that’s all it needs to sway public opinion.

It’s a tough place to be a Christian, but they’ve weathered it well. They’ve kept worshipping. “We’re Christians,” they say, “and that’s what we’ll remain however unpopular it makes us.”