Introduction

In 1991 I was vicar of Clock Face and Sutton Manor, in the Sutton area of St Helens. St Helens is a rugby league town and the players are local celebrities. I was also a member of a gym in St Helens. One day, Apollo Perelini came into the gym while I was doing my workout. Perelini played internationally for Western Samoa. (He was born on the day that Apollo 11 was launched. His actual name is Apollo 11 Perelini.)

I don’t know if you have ever been close to a professional rugby player. Imagine wearing a pair of jogging bottoms and stuffing a sack of potatoes down each leg. Apollo Perelini looks like that when he’s wearing shorts. And if you’ve never been in a gym, let me tell you that there are two kinds of people in gyms: the fitness fanatics – women who wear two strips of lycra and men who wear sleeveless vests so that you can see the work they’ve done on their arms – and then there are people like me who wear the biggest, baggiest tea shirt they can get their hands on, one that it covers a multitude of sins. When Perelini came into the gym, even the men in the sleeveless vests shrank a little.

I was on a stepper machine and Perelini got onto a similar machine on the row in front of me. My little legs were paddling away furiously. And his… Have you seen Jurassic Park when the T Rex is approaching? Every footstep makes the earth shake. Perelini makes the floor shake!

I finished my routine and went in the changing room. A few minutes later, Perelini came into the changing room. It was at that point that I decided not to have a shower but to go home in my tracksuit.

Why Bother?

There are two ways of reacting to a situation like that. One is to say, What an inspiring role model! I should work hard to get as fit as I possibly can! The other is to say, Why do I even bother! I am never going to have a body like Apollo Perelini!

People talk about the Mother Teresa effect. Teresa’s Christian commitment took her to renounce material wealth and to go and serve God in the poorest of the poor. Do we say, What an inspiring role model! Or do we say, If that is what it takes to be a Christian, why do I even bother!

On All Saints’ Day, we are encouraged to think of the heroes of Christian faith – the martyrs, the missionaries, the trailblazers. Are we encouraged by their example? Or are we put off even trying? What does it mean for me to be a saint? It’s what I’ve been called to be.

I’m never going to be Apollo Perelini. I’m just not built like that. And I’m never going to be Mother Teresa. But then, I’m not called to be. I suspect that a saint is someone who is the person they were meant to be. I think I’m meant to be your vicar.

More importantly, I’m called to be a husband, father, son… I’m called to be me. I’m going to say that a saint is someone they were meant to be. And sometimes that’s the hardest calling of all!

Being A Saint

Although All Saints’ Day invites us to commemorate the heroes, we are all called to be saints (Romans 1.7; 1 Corinthians 1.2). To be a saint is simply to be the person you were created and called to be. When the New Testament refers to ‘saints’ it means all who belong to the Christian community (e.g. Acts 9.13) – the living (not just the dead; cf Mt 27.52).

The greatest saints knew that it was not them but God working in them that made them what they were. It’s God’s light that shines through the saints. (Matthew 5.14; cf John 8.12:)

The NT never uses the word ‘saint’ in the singular, always in the plural, meaning the community of believers in a place. It’s something we do together. We are called to be saints here, with one another and with all who have gone before us.

Conclusion

A famous Rabbi – Meshullam Zusya – once said

“In the coming world they will not ask me,
‘Why were you not Moses?’
They will ask me, ‘Why were you not Zusya?’
(Rabbi Meshullam Zusya of Hanipol (1718-1800) Hassidic teacher)

God will not ask you, Why were you not Mother Teresa? But why were you not you?

To being with a question: Did Jesus come to bring peace on earth?

Yes, of course! Right from the beginning, from the Christmas story, we hear the angels sing:

‘Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace among those whom he favours!’ (Luke 2:14)

(Not everyone then? Just those whom God favours? Maybe it will turn out that God favours everyone!)

Or, if you want to go back earlier and pick up the verse in Isaiah as a pointer to who Jesus is, he is the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6)

Jesus, Prince of Peace

Jesus’ life and ministry are all about bringing peace, aren’t they?

We see it when Jesus meets individuals in need:

And he said to the woman, ‘Your faith has saved you; go in peace.’ (Luke 7:50)

And in his preaching:

‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. (Matthew .9)

When he sends the disciples out to preach:

Whatever house you enter, first say, “Peace to this house!” (Luke 10:5)

Jesus weeps over his city, Jerusalem, and with it, the world:

‘If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. (Luke 19.42)

And his parting gift to those who put their trust in him is peace:

‘Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.’ (John 14.27)

Not Peace, But Division

And yet, in today’s Gospel we read that Jesus says:

Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth?
No, I tell you, but rather division! (Luke 12.51)

In Matthew’s gospel (Mt 10:34), it’s a sword that Jesus has come to bring, not peace. So what’s that all about then?

When Mary and Joseph take their child into the Temple, they meet the old man, Simeon:

And the child’s father and mother were amazed at what was being said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, ‘This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed—and a sword will pierce your own soul too.’ (Luke 2:33-35)

Mary’s son, the prince of peace, for all that his life will be an expression of peace, love and compassion, will know that you can’t force peace on others. Jesus, the man of peace is destined to be rejected by those in power, and that will break his mother’s heart. And Jesus will warn that those who follow him will also experience that pain. Families will be divided as some say yes to God’s offer and others reject it.

Peace With God

Peace? Yes – we can have peace with God.

Therefore, since we are justified by faith,
we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 5:1)

Peace With Others

We are to strive for peace with others.

If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. (Romans 12.18)

I love that “so far as it depends on you”. You can do no more!

Peace At The Last

We can look forward to the peace that is promised.

But to have a peaceful life in this world? Given the way the world is, how can anyone be comfortable? We dare not make peace with the world in which we live. Ultimately, peace belongs to the kingdom which is to come.

As Elvis put it so memorably, one day

There will be peace in the valley for me, for me

Or, in the words of John Henry Newman:

May He support us all the day long, till the shades lengthen, and the evening comes, and the busy world is hushed, and the fever of life is over, and our work is done! Then in His mercy may He give us safe lodging, and a holy rest,
and peace at the last!

In today’s Old Testament reading (2 Kings 9.17-end) we discover the ancient equivalent of someone who loves Top Gear: Jehu son of Nimshi; “for he drives like a maniac.”
We also read one of the earliest examples of dissing someone with a ‘your mother’ put down.
The mother in question – Jezebel – comes to a sticky end. Literally.

It Started in a Garden

The Bible, it is said, starts in a garden and ends in a city. The story moves from an earthly paradise to a heavenly Jerusalem. There is a tree in the Garden of Eden: eat the fruit of it and you will surely die, God warns (Genesis 2.17). But in the city, there is a tree of life, and “its leaves are for the healing of the nations” (Revelation 22.2).

Of course, Adam and Eve, having eaten the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, lose their innocence and die. Not physically – they are still alive – but spiritually; they are cast out of the garden and their relationship with God is broken. (Genesis 3:17-19) Not just that, their relationship with each other is fractured, as is their relationship with the good earth. From now on, the ground won’t simply give up its bounty, but it is by the sweat of his brow that the man will feed himself.

Food in the Bible

Have you noticed how often food is mentioned in the Bible?; that famine is a picture of judgement and feasting a picture of blessing?

Exodus

In the story of the exodus, God provides manna and quail to sustain the people of Israel in their journey. But they miss the meat and fish, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic of Egypt;

“but now our strength is dried up,
and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at.”
(Numbers 11:4-6)

They preferred comfortable slavery to the demands of the journey to freedom. But God has promised them “a land flowing with milk and honey” (e.g., Exodus 3:8; Joshua 5.6) (which sounds like a health and safety nightmare!) They struggle now but are promised peace and plenty at the end of their journey.

Fig Tree and Vineyard

The prophet Micah, speaking of “the last days” when nations will go up to the mountain of the Lord, and swords are beaten into ploughshares, spears into pruning hooks (Micah 4:1-4), tells us what peace looks like:

But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the Lord of hosts hath spoken it. (Micah 4:4)

Peace and prosperity – what God wants for his people – looks like that: a place where everyone has enough to eat and drink, and we may rest in the shade. Sounds good to me!

Parables and miracles

Jesus often tells stories which come from the everyday reality of agricultural life: the mustard seed; the sower; rising bread; and from the labours of fishermen.

His miracles are often done in the context of eating and drinking. He turns water into wine at the wedding feast in Cana of Galilee (John 2:1-11); he feeds the multitudes with bread and fish (e.g., Matthew 14:13-21). He speaks of the abundance of God’s provision and shows what that looks like.

In fact, have you ever noticed how much of Jesus’ ministry takes place at meals? How much time Jesus and his disciples spend eating and drinking? (As John Bell, of the Iona community enjoys pointing out.) And what Jesus does is not incidental: it’s his signature move – to eat and drink with sinners, and in so doing, to suggest that that is what God is like too! That God welcomes sinners to eat and drink with him at his table. (Cf NT Wright, ‘Jesus and the Victory of God’, p264ff)

Unlike John the Baptist, who stood in the ascetic tradition, Jesus gets the reputation for being a drunkard and a glutton. At least, that’s what his enemies say about him (Matthew 11:19; Luke 7:34). John practised abstinence. Jesus did not.

Heaven

What Jesus does provides a picture of the heaven that lies ahead. Heaven, Jesus says, is a feast, a banquet (e.g., Luke 14:15-24). His vision is like that if the prophet Isaiah:

On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-matured wines, of rich food filled with marrow,
of well-matured wines strained clear.(Isaiah 25:6)

Nothing but the best! The Psalmist says:

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. (Psalm 23:5)

We are invited to sit at God’s table, as his welcome, honoured guests.

Resurrection

After the resurrection, how does Jesus reassure the disciples that it is really him, not a ghost? He has breakfast with them (John 21:1-5; Luke 24:41-43). This is my kind of Saviour!

While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, ‘Have you anything here to eat?’
They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate in their presence.

Jesus reconvenes his community by eating and drinking with them.

Eucharist

And how does Jesus tell us to remember him? By eating and drinking. At the eucharist, Bread and Wine sustain us on our pilgrimage. We meet around the Lord’s Table to take bread and wine in remembrance of Jesus. And we look forward to eating and drinking with him at the heavenly wedding feast.

And the angel said to me, ‘Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’  (Revelation 19:9)

In a previous parish, a woman asked me, “Why do they keep changing the Lord’s Prayer?” I explained that the Lord’s Prayer that we use is a translation of the words Jesus would have said. Jesus spoke Aramaic, the ordinary language of his people. The earliest texts we have are in Greek, the international language of the early church. Our English versions are translations of the Greek. Since language changes, a translation has to change if it is going to mean the same thing. If we wanted to be sure we were using the prayer that Jesus taught, we would have to say it in Aramaic. She said, disapprovingly, “You’ve got an answer for everything!”

When you pray

The disciples have seen Jesus at prayer. They want to know how it is done. It’s what you’d expect from a religious teacher – some guidance on prayer – as John the Baptist taught his disciples.

Jesus gives them some words. “When you pray, say…” We know that Jesus was against simply reciting words; what he calls ‘vain repetition’ or babbling on and on (Matthew 6:7). Sometimes people seem to think that we can wear God down by simply going on and on until he gives in.

At the heart of Jesus’ prayer is not a formula, a device, a trick. At its heart, Jesus’ prayer is relationship with God. The words, the language, are a part of that. But without relationship, words have no meaning. Like telling someone you don’t care about to ‘have a nice day’.

And yet Jesus gives us words and we call them the Lord’s Prayer. Whole sermon series have been preached on those words. Many of us are so familiar with them that we can recite them without ever engaging with them. We are in danger of that ‘vain repetition’ Jesus warns against.

But if we slow down enough to notice what Jesus has given us we will be given a glimpse into his heart of prayer. Luke’s version is simpler and shorter than Matthew’s (Matthew 6:9-13) and they are recorded in different contexts – Luke shows Jesus giving the prayer in response to a request from one of his disciples, in Matthew it’s part of Jesus’ teaching in what we call the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). We are probably more familiar with Matthew’s text from liturgical use. The fact that there are two different versions of the prayer in the gospels suggests that Jesus may have given words for prayer on more than one occasion, not a script to be learned by rote.

Father

Jesus tells that we can address God as ‘Father’, ‘Pater’ in the Greek of Luke 11:2. Behind that is probably the Aramaic ‘Abba‘ (Cf Mark 14:6), Jesus’ most distinctive way of addressing God. The idea of God as ‘Father’ was not new. He was ‘father of the universe’, ‘father of the nation’. The king, representing the nation, could claim God as ‘father’. But Jesus uses the familiar word. ‘abba’. It is intimate, but not childish. The first word in his prayer, ‘Father’, tells us that relationship – intimate and dependent – is at the heart of his prayer.

But we are not to overstep the bounds. The Father we address is, in Matthew’s version, our Father in heaven (‘in the heavens’). Not a sugar-daddy, an easy touch. Not someone to take advantage of. The Father’s name is to be hallowed, not taken in vain (Exodus 20:7). It’s still God we are talking about and to. Like Prince Charles addressing his mother at her birthday celebration – “Your majesty – mummy!”

Praying the Kingdom

Our prayer is not simply a self-indulgent list of demands. We pray that God’s kingdom will come. As part of that we are able to ask for the things we need – daily bread, the forgiveness of sins and freedom from being tested. Given that we are to love God and our neighbour, our being forgiven is linked with our willingness to forgive others.

“It is taken for granted that all who are disciples of Christ pray. You may as soon find a living man that does not breathe, as a living Christian that does not pray.” (Matthew Henry, Concise Commentary.)

… having a go at God, telling Him He’s asleep on the job! (Psalm 44:24; Mark 4:38).