Sermon (29/01/06) - The Rev'd Paul Holland
And he fell to the earth. In the name of the father son
I love being on the water, and last Friday morning at eleven o`clock I took the boat from Westminster bridge to Greenwich .I missed seeing the whale that had suddenly made an appearance. I was making a journey by boat to see the picture of St. Paul found above the altar, in the chapel of the old royal naval college, in Greenwich. The artist Richard Lawrence was paid 50 shillings per foot for it. The picture measures 25 ft by 14 ft. please do not spend the rest of the sermon working out how much he was paid.
The artist depicts St Paul immediately after being shipwrecked in Malta, holding a snake that had just bitten him and to the amazement of those around him surviving.This picture combines the themes of water, and healing appropriate to a naval college and the hospital for sailors which the chapel served.
Today we celebrate the conversion of St Paul, and I have always regarded this moment in his life falling of his horse as a kind of mid -life crises. Suddenly on the Damascus road Paul`s life falls apart. Everything he believed in, hoped for, aspired towards, was thrown into question .To his horror he has discovered he was persecuting the truth rather than propagating it. There had to be a change of direction. The future, his future which he was so sure of has suddenly become shrouded in darkness he can no longer see the way ahead. Paul has to rethink his entire understanding about god.
He had now a choice , of either deepening his faith in a new direction or loose it altogether. All of us like Paul, will have moments in our lives, when, due to some kind of crises , we have to deepen our faith, take it more seriously, engage with it in new and imaginative ways or loose it.
Our relationship with god like all relationships is one of change and growth. We may have first attended church for the sake of our children in the desire that they hear and absorb the Christian stories. As that need changes the habit of attending is slowly broken.
To keep that journey alive our journey we have to ask ourselves afresh what is in it for me what are my needs that worship and prayer can now inform and enliven my life.In middle age we sometimes go through the toughest experiences that throw our faith into question. We may have become divorced, or have to face a serious illness or our parents die. The shock of these losses can be so overwhelming that we find the faith we have had does not seem to bear or contain them in a creative and life giving way.It may be the love and care of the congregation at this time, the sense of belonging, that holds us in place.
And that is wonderful but it can only take us so far. At such times we may be looking for a god who will take away our pain and sense of loss. We may be looking for that vicar who will explain the problem of evil and pain but he is not there and we feel abounded. So often the spirituality of the church is one of abundance and celebration celebration of the opportunities in life.
The focus can be on building relationships, the birth of children, the strengthening of family life, that thankfulness that we have achieved career goals. Life can seem to be one long, logical progression towards some restful and peaceful state of plenty. Ten like St Paul we fall off the horse.
Some shattering experience throws everything into question and we wonder if we ever had a faith in the first place. The issue here for me is that so often what is missing in people`s lives is that due to all the other pressures around them they have not accessed their inner world, the life of the spirit. They have not paid attention to themselves and their deepest needs for it is in this area that we can discover resources and strengths that will see us through. A time of crisis is an invitation, to pause, step back and listen, listen to one`s own inner voice. And we can do this in countless ways.
I love being on the water for it is always a reminder that for all our sense of certainty and security we are always vulnerable to change, change we cannot control. But last Friday being on the water I made time to travel in a particular direction to satisfy a need in me. I wanted to see this chapel and this picture. And in so doing I was strengthening, nourishing my inner world. I returned to Westminster Bridge a different person, refreshed by my experience. This is what the life of the spirit is about.
Now each of us will nourish our inner world in different ways. We may want to take up tia che or a yoga class. We may want to join the rugby club, write a short story or take up singing. We may want to deepen our understanding of scripture and find a course to help us explore that need.
Some will choose to deepen their understanding of Christianity with its reliance on traditional language , liturgy and familiar images of god while others will want to let go of it all and start again simply with the teachings of Jesus and try to apply them to their lives without all the para-finalia of doctrine and belief. In all these ways we are strengthening our inner world.
We are being true to our deepest selves. And it is here that we are also nourishing our inner world the life of the spirit god’s life within us. Our inner world is his world a world that will hold us and enable us to move forward in creative and life giving ways. But we have to listen and give that world time to breathe, surface and live within us.
Conversion is a constant turning, a journey, a pilgrimage, it is not won in a day it is a life time exploration. We are all called to embark on that journey and keep moving, changing and rediscovering our faith in new and surprising ways.
In the end we are called not to be religious but human, human with a humanity that is deeply self accepting and embracing of others.
This journey begins by listening to the voice within, the most human voice of all who calls us each by name and simply longs for us to discover who we are and draw us confidently into communion with him and others. It is also a voice we can learn to trust in whenever we may fall of our horse. Amen.
I love being on the water, and last Friday morning at eleven o`clock I took the boat from Westminster bridge to Greenwich .I missed seeing the whale that had suddenly made an appearance. I was making a journey by boat to see the picture of St. Paul found above the altar, in the chapel of the old royal naval college, in Greenwich. The artist Richard Lawrence was paid 50 shillings per foot for it. The picture measures 25 ft by 14 ft. please do not spend the rest of the sermon working out how much he was paid.
The artist depicts St Paul immediately after being shipwrecked in Malta, holding a snake that had just bitten him and to the amazement of those around him surviving.This picture combines the themes of water, and healing appropriate to a naval college and the hospital for sailors which the chapel served.
Today we celebrate the conversion of St Paul, and I have always regarded this moment in his life falling of his horse as a kind of mid -life crises. Suddenly on the Damascus road Paul`s life falls apart. Everything he believed in, hoped for, aspired towards, was thrown into question .To his horror he has discovered he was persecuting the truth rather than propagating it. There had to be a change of direction. The future, his future which he was so sure of has suddenly become shrouded in darkness he can no longer see the way ahead. Paul has to rethink his entire understanding about god.
He had now a choice , of either deepening his faith in a new direction or loose it altogether. All of us like Paul, will have moments in our lives, when, due to some kind of crises , we have to deepen our faith, take it more seriously, engage with it in new and imaginative ways or loose it.
Our relationship with god like all relationships is one of change and growth. We may have first attended church for the sake of our children in the desire that they hear and absorb the Christian stories. As that need changes the habit of attending is slowly broken.
To keep that journey alive our journey we have to ask ourselves afresh what is in it for me what are my needs that worship and prayer can now inform and enliven my life.In middle age we sometimes go through the toughest experiences that throw our faith into question. We may have become divorced, or have to face a serious illness or our parents die. The shock of these losses can be so overwhelming that we find the faith we have had does not seem to bear or contain them in a creative and life giving way.It may be the love and care of the congregation at this time, the sense of belonging, that holds us in place.
And that is wonderful but it can only take us so far. At such times we may be looking for a god who will take away our pain and sense of loss. We may be looking for that vicar who will explain the problem of evil and pain but he is not there and we feel abounded. So often the spirituality of the church is one of abundance and celebration celebration of the opportunities in life.
The focus can be on building relationships, the birth of children, the strengthening of family life, that thankfulness that we have achieved career goals. Life can seem to be one long, logical progression towards some restful and peaceful state of plenty. Ten like St Paul we fall off the horse.
Some shattering experience throws everything into question and we wonder if we ever had a faith in the first place. The issue here for me is that so often what is missing in people`s lives is that due to all the other pressures around them they have not accessed their inner world, the life of the spirit. They have not paid attention to themselves and their deepest needs for it is in this area that we can discover resources and strengths that will see us through. A time of crisis is an invitation, to pause, step back and listen, listen to one`s own inner voice. And we can do this in countless ways.
I love being on the water for it is always a reminder that for all our sense of certainty and security we are always vulnerable to change, change we cannot control. But last Friday being on the water I made time to travel in a particular direction to satisfy a need in me. I wanted to see this chapel and this picture. And in so doing I was strengthening, nourishing my inner world. I returned to Westminster Bridge a different person, refreshed by my experience. This is what the life of the spirit is about.
Now each of us will nourish our inner world in different ways. We may want to take up tia che or a yoga class. We may want to join the rugby club, write a short story or take up singing. We may want to deepen our understanding of scripture and find a course to help us explore that need.
Some will choose to deepen their understanding of Christianity with its reliance on traditional language , liturgy and familiar images of god while others will want to let go of it all and start again simply with the teachings of Jesus and try to apply them to their lives without all the para-finalia of doctrine and belief. In all these ways we are strengthening our inner world.
We are being true to our deepest selves. And it is here that we are also nourishing our inner world the life of the spirit god’s life within us. Our inner world is his world a world that will hold us and enable us to move forward in creative and life giving ways. But we have to listen and give that world time to breathe, surface and live within us.
Conversion is a constant turning, a journey, a pilgrimage, it is not won in a day it is a life time exploration. We are all called to embark on that journey and keep moving, changing and rediscovering our faith in new and surprising ways.
In the end we are called not to be religious but human, human with a humanity that is deeply self accepting and embracing of others.
This journey begins by listening to the voice within, the most human voice of all who calls us each by name and simply longs for us to discover who we are and draw us confidently into communion with him and others. It is also a voice we can learn to trust in whenever we may fall of our horse. Amen.
posted by Sandbag at 7:41 AM
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