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| Farewell by August Macke, 1914 |
A Thought for the Day given at a lunchtime service of Holy Communion (BCP) at St Giles-in-the-Fields on Wednesday 6th November 2024 based on the text of Luke 11.42-46 and the words of Archbishop William Temple who is remembered by The Church of England on this day.
Why are you here?
Perhaps it’s because you come from a Christian
family? Maybe you were baptised as a baby and confirmed as a child? Or did you
come to church later in life? Maybe someone close to you was
seriously ill or died and they were a religious sort? Maybe you took a shine to
one of the priests here, or they were kind to you or did something for you or
your family once? Perhaps you have kids and coming to church helped get them into
a decent school?
Are you here because you find the building special -
a space in which you feel at peace? Or you like the music sung and played here
on Sundays and Wednesday evenings? Perhaps you love the sound of the King James
Bible - or maybe you are a card-carrying member of the Prayer Book Society here to
keep its liturgy in use? Perhaps you benefit somehow from the charitable
activities of the church or its linked charity and are here to give thanks for
that support?
Is it possible that being associated with the long
history of this place, its historic wealth, somehow makes you feel part of that
– a buzz that you wouldn’t get in your local suburban parish?
Perhaps one or more of those reasons for being here
ring true for you, as they do for me? Or perhaps you are here because of
something else entirely.
In today’s gospel reading, Jesus turns to the crowd
and asks them to consider why they are following him.
Why they are there.
He explains that if it’s because of an attraction or
attachment to a close friendship or familial relationship; or to material
things; or to a perceived position or status - then they cannot be
his disciples.
Only those who are willing to let go of family and
friends, possessions, position and status - can become his disciples. Letting
go of these human priorities is the cross we are called to carry as
we walk with Christ towards the heavenly Kingdom.
We have all followed many different paths to get here. Jesus is calling us to leave all that behind and commit the rest of our lives to becoming his disciples.
Today the Church of England remembers Archbishop
William Temple. It is said that during a service at the University Church in
Oxford he challenged the congregation to think about what carrying that cross
means. Interrupting the hymn “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross” he asked
everyone to read the words of the final verse carefully. “If you mean
them with all your heart, sing them as loud as you can,” he said. “If you don’t
mean them at all, keep silent. If you mean them even a little and want to mean
them more, sing them very softly.” As the organ began playing
again, two thousand voices whispered the words “Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.”
May we do the same today.
Image : Farewell by August Macke, 1914
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