5th Sunday of Easter

St Barnabas Anglican Church, Warrington

“I am the way, and the truth, and the life.”

10 May 2020

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Grace and peace to you from God.

Today is the 5 th Sunday of Easter.

We are at Pandemic Level 3.

Readings:

Acts 7: 55-60 1 Peter 2:2-10

The Gospel lesson is John 14:1-14.

Acts 7: 55-60

⁵⁵ But filled with the Holy Spirit, he gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. ⁵⁶ “Look,” he said, “I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!” ⁵⁷ But they covered their ears, and with a loud shout all rushed together against him. ⁵⁸ Then they dragged him out of the city and began to stone him; and the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul. ⁵⁹ While they were stoning Stephen, he prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” ⁶⁰ Then he knelt down and cried out in a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he died.

1 Peter 2: 2-10

² Like new-born infants, long for the pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow into salvation— ³ if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. ⁴ Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight, and ⁵ like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. ⁶ For it stands in scripture: “See, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.” ⁷ To you then who believe, he is precious; but for those who do not believe, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the very head of the corner,” ⁸ and “A stone that makes them stumble, and a rock that makes them fall.” They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do. ⁹ But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light. ¹⁰ Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

John 14:1-14

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. ² In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? ³ And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. ⁴ And you know the way to the place where I am going.” ⁵ Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” ⁶ Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. ⁷ If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” ⁸ Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.” ⁹ Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? ¹⁰ Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. ¹¹ Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves. ¹² Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. ¹³ I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. ¹⁴ If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it.

I’ve had an odd kind of theological, or perhaps liturgical, failure during Lock down. Maybe just a senior moment, but it has made me reflect. How can I be sure I wash my hands for 20 seconds? Some pundits say we should sing Happy Birthday twice. “Surely a Christian can do better than that?”, I thought. So I decided to use the Lord’s Prayer. Once would be enough. I must admit that my ‘Lord’s Prayer is always a bit shaky. Unless I read it, some time on the way through I swop over to “Our Father” as it was when I learned it as a kid. Sometimes I get as far as trespasses instead of sins; sometimes I slip that old ‘it’ onto ‘as in heaven.” And I’m in the old version from then on. However, when I tried to use the prayer as an aid to personal hygiene, I just got tangled and lost. I kept missing out my daily bread and after that it was just a mumble of sins versus trespasses.

Those of you who pray for my soul will be glad to know that by banging my head against the Prayer Book, I have got there in the end. I can say my ‘Pater Noster’ in the way God would have intended, (if he had spoken modern English), and my hands are clean.

I don’t think there is a deep message in this, I think memory is fickle and very dependent on context. It is important when we read our liturgy to read and pass the words through our minds. The power of our liturgy comes in part from the efforts of great minds and 2000 years of reflection to choose the right words.

I enjoyed Louise’s reminder of the great uncertainties of our parents’ lives. It is hard to grasp all the events of a hundred years even if it is a human lifetime.

The great exploration at the beginning of the 20th century was quite close to home really as it was the expeditions to the South Pole. The explorers with Scott travelled by the sailing ship Terra Nova which is remembered visiting Port Chalmers on the way to the South Pole in 1911. The next ‘first visit’ was less than 60 years later when Apollo 11 went to the moon in 1969. From a sailing ship to a space rocket in the span of a human life.

One of the many sad stories from lock down was of a Mum giving birth without the father because he wasn’t allowed in the hospital. As a Dad who was there, for something that changed me and my life, I cannot imagine the loss and I feel the pain. Yet my Father would never have expected that. I was born in a hospital (Redlands Hospital for Women) which didn’t allow any men on the premises at any time. Indeed, I happened to find the only way I could have got in. What have we got that our parents didn’t have? If we look at the little things we can find lots of stuff. Mostly just stuff. In many individual cases there will be something important, but not something that comes from man’s ingenuity. The important things that express our created humanity have always been present.

Love, sacrifice, the creation of new life.

The love of God and the promise of redemption.

Amen. So be it.

As we approach Level 2 I have prepared a submission seeking the Bishop’s approval to reopen St Barnabas for Sunday Worship. I will share this with the Wardens this weekend, seeking their approval.

I do not approach this lightly, and wonder where we find ourselves. So many of us are in the “vulnerable” category that, if we are collectively sensible, and I’m not holding my breath on that, it will be a long time before our numbers are normal again and I suspect the first Sunday we will be able to count the congregating actually there on the fingers of one hand. I’m going to try to broadcast on my cell phone from the church and will let everyone know if we can have our own “Zoom” service.

Blessings

Jeremy

Rev Dr JJ Nicoll, 0274 361 481

Priest-in-Charge, St Barnabas, Warrington, NZ

Collect 5th Sunday of Easter. 

 

Almighty God,

who through your only-begotten Son Jesus Christ

have overcome death and opened to us the gate of everlasting life:

grant that, as by your grace going before us

you put into our minds good desires,

so by your continual help

we may bring them to good effect;

through Jesus Christ our risen Lord,

who is alive and reigns with you,

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and for ever. Amen

Intercessions

We pray to Jesus who is present with us to eternity.

Jesus, light of the world,

bring the light and peace of your gospel to the nations …

Jesus, Lord of life,

in your mercy, hear us.

Jesus, bread of life,

give food to the hungry …

and nourish us all with your word.

Jesus, Lord of life,

in your mercy, hear us.

Jesus, our way,

our truth, our life,

be with us and all who follow you in the way …

Deepen our appreciation of your truth

and fill us with your life.

Jesus, Lord of life,

in your mercy, hear us.

Jesus, Good Shepherd who gave your life for the sheep,

recover the straggler,

bind up the injured,

strengthen the sick

and lead the healthy and strong to new pastures.

Jesus, Lord of life,

in your mercy, hear us.

Jesus, the resurrection and the life,

we give you thanks for all who have lived and believed in you …

Raise us with them to eternal life.

Jesus, Lord of life,

in your mercy, hear us,

accept our prayers, and be with us always.

Amen

Acclaim the Risen Christ.

Alleluia. Christ is risen.

He is risen indeed. Alleluia.

Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

He has given us new life and hope.

He has raised Jesus from the dead.

God has claimed us as his own.

He has brought us out of darkness.

He has made us light to the world.

Alleluia. Christ is risen.

He is risen indeed. Alleluia.

The Dismissal Gospel

Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John.

Glory to you, O Lord.

Jesus said, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.’ John 11.25,26

This is the Gospel of the Lord.

Praise to you, O Christ.