19 th July: 7 th Sunday after Pentecost

Teach me thy way, O Lord, that I may walk in thy truth (Ps 86:11).

Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go (Genesis 28: 15a)

It is often appropriate and beneficial to consult the Psalmist for guidance and inspiration when sermon writing. Today, the Lectionary conveniently directs us to Psalm 139, where we are once again re-assured of God’s great love for His people—that whatever we may do, wherever we may go, be it heaven or hell, He is there!

For private devotion, it is contended that Psalm compliments the words of the General Confession, as found in the Anglican Order for Evening Prayer. This requires the worshipper, in the company of others, to declare their shortcomings in such a manner of rigorous self-appraisal, which complements the implied introspection of the Psalm:

O Lord, thou has searched me and known me!

Thou knowest when I sit down and rise up;

Thou discernest my thoughts from afar (Ps 139:1).

It cannot have escaped anyone’s knowledge that the summer holidays are upon us, and many young people, together with their parents and grandparents, face an anxious six weeks wait until the publication of their examination results. The students will have been searched and tested: many will have been found wanting in various aspects of their work, but whatever disappointments—or indeed, successes or distinctions achieved—they may be assured that they have always been within the parameters of God’s gracious love and care.

The Lectionary also suggests that we examine the story of Jacob’s dream at Bethel, where the text invites us to consider the special relationship—or covenant—between God and Abraham; a relationship into which all may enter. The story is well known. On his travels, Jacob, rests his head on a stone for a pillow and dreams of a ladder reaching from earth to heaven, with angels ascending and descending.

Whilst sleeping, Jacob is visited by the Lord, who proclaims Jacob’s forth coming primacy amongst men, in that:

I am the LORD, the God of Abraham, your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants; and your descendants shall be like the dust of the earth. . . (Gen 28:13ff).

but, we must remember that this is a theme which recurs within the narratives of the Pentateuch, and particularly, Genesis, starting with the promises God made to Abram:

Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you I will bless those who bless you and by you all the families of the earth shall bless themselves (Gen 12:1–3).

and, referred to much later, by the writers to the Hebrews:

Therefore from one man . . . were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore (Heb 11:12).

As already noted, the importance of the Psalmist as a source of personal inspiration when preparing a sermon cannot be underestimated, and therefore it logically beholds us to ask the question: what precisely constitutes a sermon? Dictionaries concur that preaching is an act to ‘proclaim or expound the Gospel’. Paul takes the matter further when he writes: ‘but we preach Christ crucified’ in his discourse about the wisdom of God (1 Cor 1:23ff). Yet, it is suspected that many preachers will spend the better part of a Saturday evening, staring at a blank piece of paper, seeking inspiration. They may in those intimate moments, also become dreamers!

And what is wrong with dreaming, if it ultimately helps us to put the affairs of the world into some sort of rational perspective? Surely, this is what may have happened to Jacob. We deceive ourselves where we fail to find time for contemplation and reflection; and from his reflection emerged the realisation of his true relationship with the Lord; that he would become one of the founders of the nation of Israel. Indeed, we all do well to have moments for contemplation as can be exemplified by the poet William Henry Davies, who wrote:

What is this life if, full of care,

We have no time to stand and stand and stare. ¹

But, it may be asked, what has this to do with the word ‘sermon’? It so happens that I was involved in an ‘active’ sermon. On the Tuesday morning before the UK left the EU, some members of my gym club were engaged in a heated discussion about the merits, or otherwise, of leaving the European Union that week; and a middle-aged lady turned to us with the challenge: ‘What would Jesus have done?’ She then proceeded to regale listeners with the standard arguments for Jesus being a political rebel et al. In some respects, I was amazed that such a seemingly innocuous question could stimulate such profound debate: not something I wished to do when in sweatshirt and shorts—gasping for breath!

We have noted that whilst the sermon is an opportunity to proclaim the gospel of Christ, it is also an opportunity to present the listener with practical and intellectual challenges regarding their faith. It is not meant solely for devotional or evangelical consumption, but for every aspect of our lives. In our troubled world, it is meant for action: Winston Churchill marked memos with the banner ‘action this day’, and surely our political leaders, and their religious counterparts, should follow his example in their efforts to create an egalitarian world. It is no longer practical, or ‘political’, to proclaim that religion and politics do not mix: they must co-exist, and religious leaders must play their full part in all discussions. As the ‘sermon’ from my gym lady showed, when were you last accosted by someone who wanted an appreciation of what Jesus might have wanted? Notwithstanding the powerful efficacy of prayer, prayers alone, polite intercessions, and indeed, trite homilies, are no substitute for action!

It was the lady in the gym who was preaching the gospel of love and equality for all following the example of Paul: ‘we preach Christ crucified’. How many of us would, could, or do bear witness in such a way? Our humanity, coming from Jacob, is such as to make us children of God—with the appropriate responsibilities!

But Paul attempts to define and explain those responsibilities to his friends, whom he believes are living their new lives in the Spirit:

‘For all who are lead by the Spirit of God are children of God . . . and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ . . .’ (Rom 8:12–25ff).

This places a huge responsibility upon our shoulders, and those of people from other faiths, to ensure the spiritual health of all peoples. Remember, it is the child of Bethlehem, who has guided us throughout our lives towards redemption and salvation—and there is another child, from Sweden, ² calling on us to preserve God’s wonderful creation!