Simon Says ...

Isaiah 2.1-5 ; Matthew 24.36-44 “O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord.” Take it or leave it.   I suspect we’ve all had offers like that. But the Gospel reading this morning asks us a harder question – taken or left, which will we be?   “Two will be in the field, one will be taken and one will be left.   Two will be grinding meal together, one will be taken and one will be left.”    If we look a little harder at the passage, it’s not even abundantly clear which I want to be, taken or left.   When the secret police come knocking, it is clear that you want to be left.   There are Christians and others in the world today who fear the knock at the door.   They desperately want to be left.   But when you live in the midst of war and poverty, you want to be taken to another, better place.   There are many in the world today, not least the many refugees, who long to be taken more than anythin...

A Sermon for the Feast of the Hallowing of Derby Cathedral Jeremiah 7.1-11 ; Luke 19.1-10 Nothing befits the solemn festivities of the feast of the Hallowing of Derby Cathedral more than a quotation from one of the foremost theologians of our age.   So let me share this as a theological gift to mark this feast: “I may not know much about God, but we built a pretty nice cage for him”.   “I may not know much about God, but we built a pretty nice cage for him”. The theologian, for those who did not spot it, is Homer Simpson, patriarch and star of the long running animated family saga The Simpsons .   In one episode, Homer becomes a missionary in the South Pacific, and builds a chapel for the natives.   As the final piece of the chapel is put into its place, Homer says “I may not know much about God, but we built a pretty nice cage for him”. Jeremiah would, I think, have recognised the satire behind Homer Simpson’s theology. ...

Daniel 7.1-3,15-18 ; Ephesians 1.11-23 ; Luke 6.20-31 Let me begin by offering you greetings on our shared patronal festival Sunday from the Cathedral.   All Saints’ Sunday is a good time to be with you, and I want to assure you that the Cathedral prays for you regularly, and that you are in my prayers also. But let me take you to another church in the Diocese, in the village of Newton Solney.   I know it well, because each year for a week it is used for the pre-ordination retreat.   This is a time for those about to be ordained to spend time in prayer and preparation.   As I have sat in the church, I have spent some time looking at the stained glass windows.   They have been bleached by the sun, so that it has taken me some effort to work out the stories that they tell.   As I worked out what those stories are, it also occurred to me that the windows now tell a deeper story than they did when they were easy to understand. ...

A sermon for Evensong   Ezra 1 ; John 7.14-36 All that I have to say in the next few minutes is contained in a very helpful visual aid that is built into the fabric of this Cathedral.   The Baldacchino, the canopy over the altar, is a sign and reminder of all that I will say.   You could, of course, decide that means that all that follows is redundant, and you would be right to a point.   However, as a Baldacchino is rather uncommon in Anglican architecture, it may be that it would benefit from some explanation as to what it is a sign and reminder of! It was, the Gospel tells us, the middle of the Festival of Booths when Jesus had this rather difficult exchange.   The Festival of Booths is also known as the Feast of Tabernacles, or Sukkot.   It is a harvest festival at the end of the agricultural year.   It is also an annual reminder of the forty years that the people of Israel lived in the wilderness on their way to t...

A Sermon for Evensong   Genesis 41.1-16,25-37 ; 1 Cor. 4.8-13 Only I could see it.   There was a Zubat in the kitchen.   Quickly I lined up my Pokeball and threw it at the creature.   I caught it, and gathered it into my Pokedex.   For the uninitiated, I am talking about the game Pokemon Go .   It is an app for phones and tablets that allows you to see the mystical Pokemon creatures in the real world.   Samuel and I went for a walk yesterday and caught about ten different Pokemon.   The Cathedral, I am sure you are aware, is a PokeGym, and has been welcoming a range of new, younger visitors over the past couple of days.   The Church of Englandhas issued guidelines about this.   More worryingly, so has the NSPCC .   Pokemon Go works with the idea that there are things beyond the reality that we can see and touch and smell.   All it takes is the right software and technology and a new and exciting ...

A Sermon for the First Eucharist of Sarah Dawson Habakkuk 2.1-4; Ephesians 2.19-end; John 20.24-29   It is a great pleasure and an enormous privilege to be here this morning.   I bring you greetings from Derby Cathedral, where I minister.   Thank you to Joabe for the invitation.   Thank you also to Sarah.   I’ve known Sarah since I was 11.   She and I have laughed, cried and gossiped our way together through our lives for a long time now.     It is a real joy and delight to be here when she presides at the Eucharist for the first time. Some words from the Gospel this morning: ‘Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.’   Today we gather to celebrate with Sarah, to share bread and wine, which are for us the body and blood of Christ.   And we also gather to thank God for St Thomas, one of Jesus’ first disciples and an apostle of the church.   In the midst of all of this, we...

Luke 7.36-8.3 Some words from the Gospel reading this morning:   Jesus ‘went on through cities and villages proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God.   The twelve were with him, as well as some women’. It’s a great pleasure to be with you this morning.   My thanks to Simon for his invitation, and to you all for your welcome.   I bring greetings to the Cathedral of the Peak from your Cathedral Church in Derby, where we pray for you regularly.   I’m here, I think, because one of the roles I have is as the Director of Curate Training in the Diocese.   So I have been involved with Sue, not least as she prepares to be ordained priest at the end of the month.   I want to say a few things this morning to help us all prepare for that new ministry.   At the end of the Gospel reading this morning we hear that Jesus ‘went on through cities and villages proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom...

A Sermon for the Mothers' Union Leadership Conference 1 Peter 4.10-11 ; Mark 10.35-37,41-45 It is a great pleasure and a privilege to be here with you today. I am a proud member of the Mothers’ Union , and what convinced me to join was the work you have done on Bye Buy Childhood .   Thank you for that, and for the many different acts of service that you do, individually and collectively.   I would welcome you to the Diocese of Derby, but since most of you are about to go home, let me instead bring you greetings from the Diocese of Derby, where you have been for the past few days, and especially greetings from Derby Cathedral where I serve as Canon Chancellor. Some words from the first reading: “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others.”   “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others.”   It is truly wonderful that you have spent this time learning about servant leadership.   ...

Acts 16.16-34 ; John 17.20-26 It was one of those moments when my mouth engaged before my brain.  I was being interviewed for a parish job, and had just been asked what I would do if someone refused to work with the Parish Child Protection policy.  "They can't be allowed to work with children" I said, and almost immediately began to soften it.  "Of course, I would speak with them and try to help them engage with the policy first" and so on.  But knowing what I began to know shortly afterwards, I think it was one of the reasons that I was offered the job. After several days of being followed and spoken about, however accurately, by a slave-girl with a spirit of divination, Paul finally loses his temper.  "Very much annoyed" is how Luke puts this.  He turns round and orders the spirit to leave her.  Those who read Paul's letters carefully might wonder how he managed to last for "many days" without getting cross earlier.  There is, no d...