All of Life is a Sacrement

Sermon preached @ St David, Childwall May 16th

St. Mary de Crypt, Gloucester

Last Week Gill and I decided to take a short break in Gloucestershire. On the Friday we visited Gloucester itself and, like dutiful tourists, we visited the Cathedral. Now Gloucester Cathedral is a grand mix of Norman and Gothic architecture,the burial place of kings and has its marvellous monastic cloisters still intact: they are so good they have become part of Hogwarts! However, as we so often find, it is not these grand places that tend to speak to me but those which are smaller and which we often stumble on more by accident than design. One such place was St Mary de Crypt right in the middle of  what is now the main shopping area of the City.

We were fortunate to find St Mary’s open as like many City Centre Churches it is struggling to survive. Built on a more ancient site the present church dates from the 15^th Century and is typical of many built in that period. But the Church is not just buildings – it is people and here St Mary’s has some claim to fame. It was at St Mary’s that George Whitefield  preached his first sermon after he was ordained and the pulpit he used is still in used today. Whitefield’s name along with that of John Wesley has become synonymous with  the 18^th Century Evangelical Revival which undoubtedly changed the course of English history. Whitefield, like so many great men was banned by the Church of England from preaching in its pulpits and so preached in the open air. The same year that Whitefield preached his first sermon a child was baptised at St Mary’s and later attended its Grammar School – that child was Robert Raikes.

Many people credit Raikes as being the founder of the Sunday School movement. Now when we say Sunday School we should not think of what we have today, these were much different. They were designed to give poorer children, many of whom worked long hours in factories and fields, the chance to learn the Three R’s. In an age when educations was only for those with money, this was revolutionary. – Not a bad heritage to have as a church. -but back to our short break.

On the Saturday we visited Cheltenham. Travelling in by bus from the Park and Ride we were deposited outside of some very expensive shops. As we walked along we moved from the expensive into what I would call the ‘everyday’ – shops we would find in most town centres. Further walking brought us into a word of charity and pound shops. One end of the town could not be more different from the other.

We then moved on to Cirencester. Again we entered on end of the town and a quick look in the estate agents window revealed property selling in the region of £1.8 million. At the other end of the town stood a Big Issue seller and outside of the convenience store a man sat begging. This got me thinking – here was a situation that both Whitefield and Raikes would have recognised. And the more I thought the more I realised that the similarities went far deeper.

The 18^th Century was at the end of a long decline in religious values that had begun with the fall of the Commonwealth and the restitution of the Monarchy. People threw off the shackles of Puritanism and became more an more hedonistic in outlook.

There was a rise in ‘folk’ religion and practice

The Established Church had lost direction and was failing to meet many of the Spiritual needs of ordinary people.

In the 21^st Century we see ourselves in a similar position. We too are at the end of a long decline in religious values that reached their zenith in the mid Victorian period. People first reacted to the strict moral standards and prudishness of century before the coming of the First World War that swept away many certainties. Once again we have the cult of the individual and hedonistic lifestyles to rival that of our 18^th Century counterparts.

We too have seen a rise in ‘folk’ religion that is often a ‘pick and mix’ of many different beliefs. Witness the roadside shrines that are popping up everywhere.

Once again the Established Church seems to have lost direction. There is a watering down of the Gospel to fit in with what we think people want to hear. (See readings for today) In many quarters there is a lack of commitment to God and his message and a morbid fascination of trying to ‘get one over’ on those with whom we fail to agree.

18^th Century society saw a breakdown in old certainties. The Age of Reason was upon us which called into question long held belief. There was revolution in France and a real fear the Reign of Terror could spread to England, this lead to brutal oppression of any who challenged the social order.

Britain’s rise as a world power lead to a widening of the gap between rich and poor and the social divide was more and more based on personal wealth rather than class alone.

These are situations not to dissimilar to what is happening today.

Any cursory glance at Church History will show that it is not really the Church as an Institution that changes things – it is individuals, people like Whitefield and Raikes .As Christians we are called upon to bring about the Kingdom of God; often we see that calling as the building up of the Church and that is where we put our best efforts; but the Kingdom of God is not the Church. The Church has its role in the feeding and building up of those  who, with God’s aid will bring about the Kingdom but the truth is the Kingdom of God exists wherever God’s will is done.

At a meeting I recently attended we were shown pictures and asked to divide them into sacred and secular. Going to Church, attending prayer meeting were deemed spiritual but going to the pub, supermarket or chatting in the street were seen as secular. The thing is it does not work like that Jesus saw chatting round a table at a party or encountering people in the street just as important as attending the synagogue or the temple. Whitefield did his best work when he was denied access to the pulpits of the Church and started preaching outside in the places where people naturally congregated. Raikes went out of the Church and into the poorer areas to find children for his schools. Often his greatest opposition came from those inside the Church, not those outside.

There are 168 hours in a week, what percentage of them do we spend at Church? 1% – 2% and how many percent do we spend with work colleges, friends and neighbours? 30% -40% ? It is in that 30-40% that we can do our best work for the Kingdom, but we can only do it if we stop making an artificial divide between things ‘religious’ and things ’secular.’

Here is something which was emailed to me this week a little exercise that may help us

Notice the next person you see.

Are they familiar to you or a stranger?
What impression do they give?

You are looking at an image of God.

Jesus became an ordinary person, one of us. There was nothing in his appearance that made him stand out.

What if instead of a Jewish man 2000 years ago, God had decided to come as that person?

What if God does want to meet with you in that person.

What if God wants to meet them in you?

Today’s society is at one of its low points.

There is a need for the kingdom of God to be active more than ever.

God works through individuals, often outside of the Church.

God wants to use you

I’m not Whitefield or Raikes I here you say – God has not called me to great things

But God works also through the small things. I am here this morning because back in 1996 a young Jewish Girl said just six words that were to bring me up sharp and change the direction of my life. That is how the Kingdom works – in myriads of small things happening every day.

The Quakers have a saying:- All of life is a sacrament. This morning we will treat the Sacrament of the Eucharist with great respect -will we treat whatever we do 9am tomorrow the same?

George Whitetfield

Robert Raikes

Tags: Church, History, Kingdom of God, Ministry, mission, sharing, Social Justice