St Mary's, Berkeley

The Acceptable Year of the Lord

Today we have, from Luke’s gospel, one of my favourite Bible readings. The picture is of Jesus reading the scroll of the prophet Isaiah: the spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor… to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. Then, sitting down with all eyes fixed on him. So, there must have been something arresting about the way he read those words. The congregation were expecting a sermon, but certainly not what came next, when Jesus said: Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. I wonder if they, or we, really understood the implications of what he said?
Carry on reading to verse 30. It seems that it took a little while for the significance of what Jesus said to sink in. The message that the liberating prophecies of Isaiah were now coming true was initially well received; every Jew had been waiting and hoping for that. But when it dawned upon them that he was claiming to be the promised Messiah, the mood changed. We might today imagine them saying “who does he think he is? This is just Joseph’s son; he is no better than us!” Luke goes on to say that all in the synagogue were furious and threw him out.
This is an important passage, as it is one of the few occasions when Jesus announces publicly who he really is; the greatest of the prophets who will bring God’s kingdom down to earth and change our priorities for ever. His own people found this too much to swallow and rejected him. What about us? Do we take Jesus’s claims seriously? Because he is not just telling nice stories or healing people here. He is telling us he will turn our world upside down, that all those we thought were least important are actually the most important. That acceptable year of the Lord, when we can be changed forever and accept a new set of priorities in our life, is now, not in some far future. Are we prepared for that?
Steve Chandler - Reader

Brain Tumour Support is a charity based in Thornbury and is uniquely dedicated to providing support for anyone affected by any type of brain tumour, at any point from diagnosis and for as long as support is needed.
We are here not just for the patients themselves, but also families, carers and loved ones who are dealing day to day with the impact of a brain tumour. We provide specialist, tailored services through one-to-one and group support, as well as online and telephone support and specialist counselling.
The origins of the charity lie in one family’s own devastating experience of a brain tumour diagnosis. A tough journey but one which resulted in a pioneering support service which has developed over the course of fifteen years through the hard work of its team and the dedication of supporters and fundraisers. The charity now also works in partnership with Macmillan which has enabled the support services to further expand.
Moving forward we determine more than ever to make real our vision that no-one feels alone in their experience of coping with a brain tumour.

Can you see clearly now?
John 2:1-11

For the last few mornings as it got light I realised I still couldn’t see a thing. Fog so thick that it felt like something you were swimming in filled the garden so that I couldn’t even make out the boundary hedge at the bottom. Then as the sun came out very gradually shapes began to reveal themselves and I could make out the washing line and the garden bench.
We are in ‘Epiphany season’ and the word epiphany is about ‘revealing.’ Just like the fog clearing, each week in our Bible readings something else is revealed to us about Jesus and we get to glimpse more of him to reveal his glory. This week we have the first of Jesus’ miracles when he turns water into wine at a wedding, although at first he says ‘My time has not yet come’ (v4) pointing towards the unexpected way that his ultimate glory was revealed to us; through death on the cross. Does all this sometimes seem a bit baffling as we try to work it all out? Do we feel like we are back in the fog? Like the car journey I had to make where parts of it felt very disorientating at first, until I suddenly hit a clear patch when the road ahead revealed itself, before being plunged back into fog in the next moment.
I used to feel a bit like that when trying to understand the Sunday sermon until I was helped to read the Bible properly. When we deliver the talk or a sermon we have been reading the Bible passages all week and they become familiar to us. Whereas the listener has hardly had time to think what has been said before it is being unpacked in front of them. I mean you wouldn’t read any other book without looking at the ‘blurb’ on the back or go to the cinema without knowing the start of the plot would you? If that sounds familiar and you want to be able to enjoy the sermon a bit more instead of drifting off to think about what you are cooking for lunch (done that!) The friend you must call tomorrow (yes, that too) or becoming fascinated by a stained glass window (guilty!) then I recommend delving into the Bible a bit more. What might it reveal to you this epiphany and beyond?
Sherri- Reader.

Starting gun

“Ready? Get set...go!” And firing something that looked suspiciously like a real pistol, the master would set us hopeful athletes off on the race. This Sunday in the Church’s calendar recalls the baptism of Christ, and the Gospel (Luke 3.21-22) records Jesus being baptised by John the Baptist, the start signal you might say, for Jesus’ public ministry.
Whether for a baby by proxies (parents and godparents) or by personal decision and choice when older, baptism indicates a new start on a new journey, and always as a visible and public statement of choice and intent. And before anyone goes along that new course, there will always have been a period of readying and getting set before the race starts. In the case of the athlete, a certain amount of thought, practical and strategic planning, training and coaching along with a good diet and the avoidance of all the things which can hinder good performance. In the case of baptism, similar serious preparation and thought for the coming race, based on the sense of the need to run it well and with energy and purpose, along with the realisation of a greater cause, a higher motivating purpose and the exploration of a new identity, which like a name given at baptism, is given for life.
The Old Testament lesson for Sunday (Isaiah 43) is helpful in our understanding of this new identity. “I have called you by name, you are mine” This is not a private project, but a collective and communal endeavour, a gathering together of “everyone who is called by my name” under God’s guidance, protection and blessing, a calling with a purpose which is uniquely ours to discover along with the help of others. As Jesus tells his disciples “I will not leave you as orphans.” (John 14.18) Nor did God leave Jesus on his own as he sat dripping and praying and contemplating “the race that was set before him” after his baptism, but sent his very self, his Spirit, to be with him. As we stand on the start line for 2022, let us recall Isaiah again: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you...I will be with you.”
David Frith, Reader.

Special guest at our Crib Service!

‘Fruit bearing’ Christmas List.
Luke 3.7-18

As a child around this time of year, mid way through December, I would be wondering whether I had ‘made the grade’ as far as Father Christmas was concerned. Did I make the ‘good’ list and would there be presents awaiting me on Christmas morning?
In the gospel reading last week, John the Baptist tells the people that it is in fact the long awaited Messiah that will ‘come to town’ and so they need to prepare the way.’ This week, the reading follows on from where we left it last time and John tells the people that they are not automatically on any ‘good list’ saying ‘Produce fruit in keeping with repentance’ (v8) and in return is asked ‘What should we do then?’ (v10).
John explains the ‘fruit bearing checklist’ in practical terms; sharing with those who have nothing, being honest in your work, being happy with what you have. When people start to think that John is the Christ, he adds another ‘fruit bearing’ quality to the list; humility, because he says he is not ‘worthy to untie his sandals.’ Untying the sandals of your ‘teacher’ was not a job expected of a disciple, it was the job of someone lower down in the pecking order. So John is saying, even this lowly job is too great a job for me to do when it is done for the coming Messiah.
Of course it is Jesus for whom John is the ‘warm up act.’ Jesus who will take centre stage, Jesus who will bring truth and that in the person of Jesus, it is God who will 'come to town.’
I don’t know about you, but I find that bearing the right sort of ‘fruit’ is easy on some days and feels really difficult on others, and I just get it wrong. So it is very comforting for me to remember on such occasions that God loves us, even though we get it wrong and can sometimes feel like giving up; He doesn’t give up on us. In Jesus we have the greatest gift, and through the Holy Spirit we can keep on trying to bear that fruit which shows we are people who turn to God.
Sherri - Reader

Reality Check?

Knock, knock! Wake up, get real! You might have heard this or something similar when expressing fantasies or dreams of a happier, care free, sunlit alternative version of present reality. Ah! Wouldn’t it be nice if......! In the calendar we are also approaching a season of dreams and a widespread collective projection of, among other things, lovely food, parties, time with nice people, perfect presents, everything beautifully themed, joy and peace to all as a happy alternative (escape?) from dreary, often grim reality, in a dark and chilly season.
The present Church season, Advent, is regarded as the beginning of the Church’s new year. You’d think, as with secular New Year, it would be similarly hopeful and optimistic and cheerful. None of it – knock, knock! We are called to consider a different reality which feels forbidding, austere and frightening. You only have to look at some of the seasonal Bible readings speaking of suffering, darkness, judgement to see this, for example, the reading from Malachi set for this Sunday. The day of God’s coming, so looked forward to, is actually going to be a nightmare for many, with pain and destruction when it arrives. Phew! Let’s stick to the fun stuff! Yet delightful though a bit of end of year escapism can be, reality beckons. Better wake up and get real: wars, mass migrations, climate disaster, health worries, the rise of authoritarian regimes won’t disappear if we choose to ignore them.
So how do we cope? How do we stop going mad with despair? If you look at the dark seasonal texts a bit more closely, there is a path of hope available. Read on in Malachi and you find this: “But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. And you will go out and leap like calves released from the stall.” We might yearn for the easy path of escape, but the message of Scripture is that the God of hope and love calls us to an unimagined future, with us as its agents. In this new year, can we resolve to trust more in God’s vision and reality?
David Frith, Reader.

The beginning and the end

I am reading a book by a cognitive neuroscientist who believes that what we see is not reality but just an interface, like icons on a computer screen, that represent some underlying reality forever hidden from us. From that perception, the question Pontius Pilate asks Jesus in St John’s gospel seems a fair one: what is truth? That is a question many people would ask today, if we start to talk about the truth of God.
What is your perception of God? What is mine? What is the truth about God? Pilate had difficulty in understanding how the Jesus before him could be both a poor, rejected Jewish preacher and also a king. Perhaps we have that same difficulty with the idea of God being above us but also with us?
In the reading from the Old Testament, we hear how the prophet Daniel’s heavenly vision was of one that was ancient of days, a term referring to the most primary source of creation. At the very end of the Bible, we hear from the book of Revelation the Lord God saying: I am the Alpha and the Omega, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty. This is a picture of an eternal God who is above and beyond all creation, a transcendent God.
But, as Pilate no doubt felt, this is a very different matter to a man, like Jesus, that we can meet and have a conversation with. It is the apparent paradox at the heart of our Christian faith; a God who is involved in the creation, sustaining and end of the universe, but who also lived among us and is available to us in prayer. The doctrine of the Trinity is our attempt to explain this.
So, as we celebrate this festival of Christ the King, we recall that he is King in a way that Pilate could never have understood and that we still struggle to understand. King of all that ever has and ever will exist, above all but also in all, through all and with all. The Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.
Steve Chandler - Reader

God our help and hope

It seems too easy to ‘buy stuff’ these days with online shopping covering everything, from the smallest items to the ‘designer brands’ coveted by many. Sometimes it seems like there is more loyalty to those shops and brand names than there is to God; The God of creation, the God we love, and know we can trust.
In Psalm 16 we hear a Psalm of David which centres on trusting God and finding joy in his presence. In the message translation of the Bible I have found a really interesting way of describing that loyalty which David talks about in verse 4: ‘Don’t just go shopping for a god, Gods are not for sale. I swear I’ll never treat god-names like brand-names, my choice is you, GOD first and only.’
Whilst looking through a book of WW1 poetry, written by those serving in the forces at the time, for something I might use in the remembrance service, it struck me that many of the poems mentioned God and faith in him in some way or another. There was loyalty and trust, and remarkably, given the circumstances they found themselves in, a sense of joy in knowing and loving Jesus.
As I watch the news and see the many problems in our world today I can’t help but think that the words David used in the Old Testament are just as true for us today – Do we ever learn?
We won’t find happiness or refuge in being loyal to the wrong things. Is this a time for ‘turning back to God’ – the meaning of repentance- To get back to that loyalty and trust in God instead of thinking that the answers lie elsewhere.....
Many of us are likely to be singing the words written by Isaac Watts in the well known hymn for Remembrance Sunday ‘O God our help in ages past’ this weekend and the words give that same sentiment. Despite everything, God is ‘our hope for years to come’ and in the person of Jesus he shows us how he is a ‘shelter from the stormy blast and our eternal home.’ Sherri - Reader

No COPping out?

“You know what you must do, so now go and do it!” This in a nutshell might be the message we want our world leaders to hear and act on, even though in view of the complexity of the issues we may fear less than radical decisiveness and solutions from Glasgow as we wait in the “last chance saloon.” It is a human tendency to seek to hide from, avoid and find reasons (excuses?) for kicking the can down the road instead of facing up to tough action or disagreeable tasks. In the Scriptures, we see this exemplified very early on when Adam and Eve have rebelled against God’s very specific instructions for harmonious living in their delightful environment and instead go and skulk in the undergrowth when they hear God coming (Gen. 3.9). But God comes calling (“where are you?”) not to check up and wag the finger so much as out of concern for the pinnacle of his creation with whom he seeks to work in mature, responsible and fruitful relationship.
In the story of Jonah (OT lesson for Sunday) we see another typical response when Jonah senses he is being called to a task he dreads. Earlier in the story he thinks distance will solve the problem and escape from God’s sphere of influence. He buys a sea ticket to Tarshish, about as remote as you could get in the ancient world. He quickly learns the hard way that God is bigger than his image of him, and that God is not going to let go. So Jonah, chastened by his appalling near-death experience, does what he was originally called to do...and hey presto! The people of Nineveh listen and respond and change their behaviour and way of life and so avoid the disaster God (via Jonah) tells them is coming otherwise.
This is a good story to point us to the optimum response when we sense God calling: a listening, thoughtful, active response to that call. All of us are called by God, and although we frequently do the equivalent of skulking in the undergrowth or buying a ticket to Tarshish, God is kind and persistent. Let us pray for strength to now go and do and live faithfully.
David Frith, Reader

Following the Rules

Over the past 18 months, we have had to adapt and adjust to lots of rule and law changes to help steer us through the Covid-19 pandemic. We have gone from total lockdown, to tiers, to red, amber, and green. We’ve gone from meeting no one outside our household, to having bubbles, to six in a garden, to no restrictions as to who we can see. To mask or not to mask? And are we now heading to “Plan B”? It’s all quite confusing to keep up. We want to do what we can for our neighbours, hoping the regulations are based on the best medical evidence in this changing situation.
In our reading from Mark today, Jesus is asked by the teachers which are the most important laws. It was supposed to be a trick question as by this time there were hundreds of laws Jews had to abide by. Some had categorised them into major and minor laws, while others felt all the laws to be important. Jesus distilled them into two succinct commandments: “Love the Lord God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength” and “Love your neighbour as yourself”.
These commandments are so fundamental to our faith, and it is strange to think the teachers of the law were expecting any other answer! Jesus cuts through the complexity, to get to the heart of how we should live. But is it that simple? Of course not. We are imperfect beings, who get things wrong all the time. Like a moth to the flame, we are drawn to the next flashy thing which takes our attention away from God. We struggle to love our neighbour who says/does/believes differently to us. We can’t do this alone. We need Jesus’ forgiveness and encouragement to live as he wants us to. Our journey of faith is to strive to live as the commandments instruct us, and to pick ourselves up and to try and try again when we inevitably fail.
Let’s hope we have some clarity over the Covid rules so we can continue to protect our neighbour.
Pam Curtis – Informal Worship Group

Leader and servant

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! I have written a number of these reflections on the stages of our vacancy and selecting a new priest for our Benefice; now it is complete. We welcomed the Revd. Steve Godsell and his wife Debbie at a wonderful, joyful, service last Sunday when Steve was licensed by Bishop Robert and installed by Archdeacon Hilary. You will read more about Steve’s background elsewhere, but I want to reflect now on the significance of the priestly leadership we now have, in relation to the reading from Hebrews.
I suggest you start reading from chapter 7, verse 17: Thou are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek. The significance of Melchizedek is that this was something new, untainted by the past (see also Genesis 14 and Psalm 110). The reading goes on to make clear that Jesus became the true high priest, unstained and sinless, replacing forever the fallible Jewish high priests. Today, our priests in the Christian church are ordained by bishops, in in a line of succession from St Peter, who was appointed as head of his Church by Christ himself. So, although Revd. Steve would probably be the first to admit he is not infallible, he is our priest, appointed to represent Christ among us. He is a new beginning for us.
I was led to think about all this by some conversations I had after the service. I knew one of Steve’s previous parishioners, who told me she was a bit overwhelmed by the Anglican clerical hierarchy on display in the service. I was also asked if our coloured hoods show our seniority (they don’t). I realized that we need to be careful here. Our priest represents Christ among us, as head of his Church, but don’t expect him to do everything! As Archdeacon Hilary pointed out, even Christ sent 70 people to do his work. Hierarchy is not the issue, but a spirit of service is. We are all ministers of the Word, but we all have different jobs, and we are all servants of the servants of God.
Steve Chandler - Reader

Our new Priest-in-Charge
Steve Godsell

The licensing of Revd Steve Godsell, Sunday 17th October..

Welcome to Steve, Debbie, Robert and Hannah

We are so pleased that you have joined our benefice.

Vocation, Vocation, Vocation:
Mark 10:35-45

James and John in our Gospel reading today are looking to be the ‘top dogs’ amongst the disciples as they ask Jesus if they can be at his ‘right hand’ and left hand’ when he reaches his ‘glory.’ Of course the ‘glory’ they see coming looks a bit like being in charge of a new kingdom or political party, and they want those top positions in the ‘cabinet reshuffle.’
Of course, we know as we read, what will happen to Jesus. The kingdom of Jesus is not as they thought and the ‘glory’ of Jesus is found on the cross and the people at his ‘right and left hand’ are there to die too.
Jesus responds ‘Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with’ (v38).
Jesus’ baptism was at the start of his public ministry, the start of his ‘visible vocation.’ This vocation of ‘messiahship’ is not ‘a cup’ which can be handed over easily to someone else. He prays in the garden of Gethsemane for God to ‘take the cup from him’ if possible, but if it is what God wants, he will accept the ‘cup’ he has been given.
This weekend is a special one in the life of our 3 Churches and the wider communities in which we serve as we welcome our new Priest in Charge; Steve Godsell. It is a special weekend for Steve too as he starts the next chapter of his vocation. We welcome Steve, his wife Debbie and their family as they come to live and work amongst us.
As Steve accepts the ‘cup’ which God offers, we might think about what that ‘cup’ looks like for us and what God is trying to task each of us with? ‘Vocation’ is not just about the jobs up the front on a Sunday. Your task or ‘cup’ will be unique to you, as helped by the Holy Spirit; you use your gifts and personalities in different ways.
In our prayers, perhaps we can ask God about what ‘the cup’ is he wishes us to take and in accepting it may our ‘cup brim with blessing’ (Psalm 23, The message Bible). We pray the same for Steve, may his ‘cup brim with blessing’ this weekend and in the coming weeks and months ahead.
Sherri - Reader

Telling it like it is

Honesty may be the best policy, but does it pay out as well as the alternatives when the crunch comes? In a week where Pandora’s box has been opened and her papers published revealing in great detail the extent of corruption at the highest level in a number of countries, you might think dishonesty and injustice were better payers.
If cynical resignation (“nothing ever happens or changes”) tends to be our response when considering systemic or institutional injustice, say towards the marginalised or disadvantaged minorities (those on benefits, migrants fleeing hardship or persecution?) some of the readings set for Sunday might come as a shock.
The challenge of the Old Testament readings is sharp- and timely. Job (ch.23) illustrates that when we are in distress God often seems absent (“If only I knew where to find him!”) Amos (ch.5) is blunter, and challenging to the complacent. In the seeming absence of God, abandoning the tough, austere walk of trust and faith, self-interest, exploitation of the weak and vulnerable to our advantage can seem easier options “You trample on the poor, and force him to give you corn, you oppress the righteous and take bribes, you deprive the poor of justice.”
The anguish of the writer of Psalm 22, quoted by Jesus in his dying words (“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”) captures the dilemma of the absence of God in a nutshell. But the path out of anguish is not giving in, but keeping on keeping on in faith. Job again: despite his extreme anguish he can say: “yet I am not silenced by the darkness, the thick darkness that covers my face.” Later, in extreme weakness in the wilderness, attacked by temptations to take the easier and less painful way for his future life and ministry, Jesus relies on the word of God and is strengthened (“Angels attended him” Mark 1.13.) The same can apply to us; as Amos says, by our inner choices and attitudes: “Seek good, not evil, that you may live...hate evil, love good, maintain justice.”

David Frith, Reader

There is no Planet B

The words of Psalm 8 have inspired some of our most popular Harvest hymns, like “For the Beauty of the Earth” and “How Great Thou Art”. At Harvest time, we marvel at the wonders of God’s Creation and give thanks for all He has provided from the land. But today’s reading also reminds us of our responsibility towards this, for “God made man the ruler over the works of His hands”.
In the run up to the COP26 Climate Summit in Glasgow in November, I find myself wondering how well we are living up to this responsibility. Extreme weather events seem to be hitting the news headlines with alarming frequency: extensive flooding across parts of central Europe this summer; record 50° temperatures recorded in Australia and Canada; wildfires in California, Greece and Turkey. All consequences of rising temperatures caused by the greenhouse effect from the burning of fossil fuels.
The psalm ends with the psalmist expressing his and all the earth’s awe of God’s majesty, but does our lifestyle, with its dire consequences for our planet, really reflect a heartfelt praise of God’s amazing works? In our drive for personal and corporate profit, who gives a thought for “the flocks and herds, the animals of the wild, the birds in the sky and the fish in the sea”? And let’s not forget it is the world’s poorest people who are hardest hit by the impact on the environment.
It’s vital that the coming together of world leaders at the Summit does lead to policy change in their home nations. The damage caused to our environment may soon be irreversible, and as the pundits tell us, there is no Planet B. But we also each individually need to own this problem and do what we can in our own way to contribute to reversing the effects of climate change. This may be costly for us, either in financial terms or in some discomfort it causes us, but action does have to be taken. For unless we are prepared to make the sacrifices required, how can we truly stand before our God and claim “Majestic is your name in all the Earth”?

Debbie Page Informal Worship Team

Oh to be wise!
Proverbs 31:10-31, James 3:13-18, Mark 9:30-37

Who is this perfect superwoman described in Proverbs 31:10-31? Is she for real? Not only is she a good wife and mother, but she is running a business and giving to the poor. Do women really have to be that perfect? This genre of writing which is known as ‘wisdom literature’ means that this passage is not a recipe for the perfect ‘superwoman.’ The book of Proverbs starts by personifying ‘wisdom’ and ‘folly’ as two different women to paint a picture of these character traits and also tells us: ‘The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.’
In verse 30 we now find out that our ‘superwoman’ is a woman ‘who fears the Lord’ and is therefore ‘to be praised.’ The language of ‘fear’ is not as we would use it today, but is more about being ‘in awe’ of God and so wisdom is gained when we start with God and make everything about him rather than about ourselves. With this in mind I can warm to ‘superwoman’ after all because it shows us that all of our lives are important to God and that he is with us in the everyday activities of our ‘Monday to Saturday’ lives and does not just ‘show up’ on a Sunday when we join together in a church building to sing and to pray together.
What does it mean to us if we are able to honour God in all aspects of our lives? What does it look like in our domestic life, in our work life, in how we interact with the people we meet and in the everyday tasks? In the James 3:13-18 passage set for this week we hear about two different types of wisdom. The wisdom which comes from God which is pure and sincere and full of good fruitful living. This is in contrast with earthly wisdom; leading to envy and selfish ambition and disorder. (Was this the sort of wisdom shown by the disciples jostling for position in the Gospel reading for today? Mark 9:30-37, and which Jesus soon put a stop to.) Perhaps, instead of being jealous of ‘superwoman’, I can find inspiration from her and put God first and then maybe the right kind of wisdom will be with me this week.....
Sherri

Worth the risk?

We live in a risk-averse culture. This is a good thing, because as individuals, organisations, businesses and institutions we are required by law to consider and identify risks which could result in injury, pain and expense. We do so, we trust, primarily out of kindness and consideration for others, but with the sharp goad of recourse to law as the final motivator. Even the hazards of church buildings and the specific events which take place in them are all subject to risk assessments, because naturally we want people to be safe and happy there. But can our society’s strong focus on health and safety and risk aversion have a more insidious negative side? Can things become so “safe” that they can also tend to become dull and uninteresting? If so, can our attitude towards faith similarly risk becoming dulled and less exciting as well? Can religion as we practise it, frankly, become dull and boring and lose relevance to our lives?
The Gospel for today (Mark 8. 27-end) gives quite a jolt. Serious discipleship, a true desire to encounter God and live for him is a profoundly risky, counter-cultural and frankly dangerous undertaking, Jesus is saying. Like matrimony, according to the Prayer Book, not to be taken unadvisedly, lightly or wantonly. So we might run the risk of shying away and sticking instead to “safer” more congenial modes of religious life and practice of our choosing. True discipleship, Jesus is saying will require considerable cost to self. The stakes are high: “What can a man give in return for his soul?” (v.37) Whether we take the risky, painful path (“take up your cross each day”) or incline towards a less demanding way depends on how we reflect on and answer the question in verse 29: “Who do you say that I am?”
The indescribable joy and peace that can come in taking the risky route of radical faith may only begin to dawn after we take that risk, when we realise, as Peter did of Jesus (John 6.67) “You have the words of eternal life. To whom else shall we go?”
David Frith, Reader.

Personal piety or public service?

We have an interesting set of related readings for this Sunday that cover a common issue of confusion and concern: the place of rituals, rules and behaviours in our religion. A key issue is whether our personal faith and relationship with God is enough, or whether we need to demonstrate that in our behaviours.
We don’t have a letter from St Paul today, but his position is usually taken to be “justification by faith”, particularly from his letter to the Romans, that faith in Christ is sufficient for salvation. However, in his other letters he is also clear that Christians should be known by their loving behaviours. But we seem to hear a very different view from St James, who says in his letter: be doers of the word and not hearers only. Then, from the gospel, we hear of the Pharisees, who also felt that actions were important to demonstrate their religious observance but were contradicted by Jesus. What are we to make of all this?
The reading from Deuteronomy, the final book of the Torah, the Jewish law, makes clear that visible religious observance has an important role in helping us, and our children, remember what God has done for us. But, as Jesus was pointing out to the Pharisees, ritual and tradition must not become an end in itself. We might say in modern management-speak, that what is important are outcomes rather than processes. There is also a place for common sense; rules about food, for example, are no help for our behaviour towards others.
As with so much else in life, it is a question of striking a balance. Outward religious observance and keeping of its traditions has a role in preserving and demonstrating what we stand for and believe. But this needs to be done alongside the practical demonstration of our Christ-centred love for God’s world and people, in our words and actions. Personal piety and public service cannot be separated.
Steve Chandler - Reader

Lots to ‘chew over’
John 6:56-69.

Do cows or sheep make the most noise when ‘chewing the cud?’...... I know... I ponder on some strange things don’t I.... but I had always thought that cows would win on that score, until some sheep were right next to my hedge one evening a few months back, wow did those sheep chew loudly. So why do I mention it to you today?
Over the last few weeks the themes of our Gospel readings have centred around Jesus as the ‘bread of life’ and as we continue in the reading set for this week, Jesus makes a startling statement when referring to himself as the ‘bread that came down from heaven’ as he says ‘Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me and I in them.’(v56-58).
Apparently...so clever folk tell me, the Greek word for ‘eat’ used here is like the word used when animals ‘chew and munch’ and those cows and sheep spend a lot of time ‘munching’ grass followed by a lot of time ‘chewing the cud’ which is regurgitating the food(I hope you aren’t reading this over your breakfast!) and taking time to digest. When I thought about this I couldn’t help thinking that perhaps that it something I am sometimes missing from my relationship with Jesus. When I am reading my Bible passage for the day, I think I am reading it too fast, skipping over it in order to fit in all the other things I want to do. Perhaps I am not spending the time ‘chewing it over’ not really digesting Jesus, who is the ‘word made flesh.’
In verses 60-66 of the Bible passage, we hear that ‘many’ of Jesus’ disciples found his teaching hard. The wording doesn’t necessarily mean they couldn’t ‘understand’ what he was saying, but rather they couldn’t ‘accept’ what he was saying. In the ‘Message’ translation of the Bible we hear ‘This is tough teaching, too tough to swallow.’
So what do you think about the teachings of Jesus? Hard to swallow? Do we even spend enough time reading the Bible to understand it in the first place before we start to accept it? Gosh! That is a lot for me to ‘chew over’....what about you?
Sherri - Reader

When the going gets tough...

“When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” Does this popular saying really always match our deep-down experience? Is it not more often a case of when the going gets tough in so many areas of life, both in individual and group/corporate endeavours, we tend to shirk, avoid, minimise, go away from the toughness? The hard place can be an intensely lonely and uncomfortable place, so best steer away.
It takes deep vision, persistence and determination to keep going in the face of resistance, discomfort, discouragement, pain or opposition. There will have been no Olympic athlete competing at Tokyo, medallist or not, who has not at some stage “hit the wall”, that crisis moment when everything is so hard that choosing an easier option seems to be the only sane course.
Such themes are around in John 6, an extract of which is the reading for today. Jesus is talking about the heart and essence of faith, and it proves too hard for many to accept. The true seeker for God has (metaphorically speaking) to consume Jesus, who is the true bread that gives eternal life. Eating as an intimate act of trust: showing we accept that God knows best and wishes true life for us, if we can but do so; just as Peter (v68) realises: “you have the words of eternal life.”
So as we face personal and international crises, final warnings from scientists about our mortal home, what are we feeding on in our deepest place to keep us keeping on in faith and determination? David Frith, Reader

“Food for the soul”

Do you get “hangry”? Bad tempered when you’re feeling hungry and need something to eat? That’s something that definitely happens in our house from time to time. And it’s never a good time to pick a fight! Once the blood sugar levels have been restored however, regular service is resumed and I become my normal pleasant self again.
Imagine what it was like for the Israelites during their forty-year exile in the wilderness. They may have been slaves in Egypt but at least they were fed and watered. In the desert, without food in their bellies, and not knowing where their next meal was coming from, the grumbling soon began. But ours is a God who meets our needs, and in this case supplied manna to feed His hungry people. God wanted them to realise their dependence on Him and to learn to trust in Him to provide for their needs.
There’s another story in the Bible where Jesus feeds a hungry crowd, and draws a huge following as a result. In today’s reading from John 6:35,41-51, when the crowd has pursued him to Capernaum shortly after the feeding of the five thousand, Jesus explains he wants people to follow him not because they have had their fill of physical food, but because they see him as the Bread of Life.
The Jews listening to Jesus speak would have understood the reference to God feeding their ancestors manna in the wilderness. Even though many years had passed since that time, Jesus makes it clear they are still hungry for God.
The same lesson is there for us today. Two thousand years later, we still need more than food to satisfy our physical hunger. We need spiritual nourishment for the soul, what Jesus calls The Bread of Life. Only through Him can we find an end to our hunger for a happy and fulfilling life. We all have a need to belong, to have a purpose, to be loved, and a very human tendency to rely on ourselves to find things we think will meet those needs. The only thing that can truly relieve our hunger is a living relationship with God.

Debbie Page – Berkeley informal worship team

Our New Vicar

We are delighted to announce that the Revd Steve Godsell has accepted the post as our new Priest In Charge, subject to the usual statutory processes. Steve’s licensing service will be held at St Mary’s at 3pm on the afternoon of Sunday 17th October and will be taken by the Bishop of Tewkesbury. Prior to being ordained, Steve spent more than 25 years working in the property market and also as a photographer. He was a Lay Reader at St Philip & St James Hucclecote and is currently serving his Curacy in a rural multi-parish Benefice of seven churches in the West of Severn Benefice.

We look forward to welcoming Steve and his family in October

Unity in diversity

Well, it is all over. Our representatives have chosen the Revd. Steve Godsell as the next incumbent of our Benefice. But of course, it is only just the beginning of a new chapter of our Christian witness in this place.
Today, we have a great reading from St Pauls letter to the Ephesians that might have been written especially for us, about maintaining unity while exercising the diverse spiritual and practical gifts we have all been given. St Paul attempts to reconcile what can seem paradoxical or at least difficult; that our Christian ministries are all different but are all of equal value. That is hard to grasp for most of us, brought up on the principles of hierarchy. St Paul highlights some of the key gifts or roles in the church: apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. Although we know St Paul himself can boast of being an apostle, there is no sense of hierarchy here, but rather a stress that this is all the work of ministry, of building up the body of Christ, until we all attain the unity of the faith.
I feel there is an important insight here about the essential unity, not just of our gifts and ministries but of ourselves with the world and through Jesus Christ, with God. St Paul expresses this idea very well in his words: …one God and Father of us all, who is above all and through all and in all. This is a key point, that God, although he above us in every sense, is also completely integrated in every part of his creation, including us. There is no escape from God and no escape from the unity of his creation. Whenever we breach that unity in our relationships with each other, we breach that unity with God. This is consistent with Jesus’s claim in today’s reading from St John’s gospel, when he says: I am the bread of life. It is only through his presence within us, as the living bread, that we can truly live in unity, as part of God’s creation.
So we welcome Revd. Steve here, to become the focus of unity in Christ, for our Benefice and community.
Steve Chandler - Reader

The Good, The Bad and the Ugly
2 Samuel 11:1-15

Picture the scene; a King strolling about on the roof, possibly to cool down....? but gets ‘hot under the collar’ instead, as he sees a ‘beautiful’ woman bathing. She is married to someone who works for him and he knows the law says the price for adultery is the death penalty – for both of them (Deuteronomy 22:22). He still ‘sends for her’ and sleeps with her anyway (did she have a choice?) It ultimately ends in the King arranging for the husband to be murdered...and who is this King? Well it is hard to believe, but this is King David, who we normally see as setting the ‘Gold Medal standard’ when it comes to Kingship. This passage sees the start of him wobbling from his podium position through his own ego as he abuses his position of power in an appalling manner.
Such are the characters in the Bible, where last week’s Old Testament reading (2 Samuel:7) saw God giving an unconditional promise to build David a Royal dynasty to last. Yet today’s reading sees the start of a domino effect of consequences resulting in chapter 12 with God’s message that ‘the sword shall never depart from your house....’ Indeed David’s family was blighted with deceit and violence from here on, he wasn’t let off the hook for the wrong choices he made, even though God still delivered on his promise of an everlasting dynasty through Jesus. If you need a recap, a good place to start is the beginning of the book of Matthew for the genealogy of Jesus..... God delivered on his promise and he keeps on delivering even when we fail to do so.
God sometimes says ‘yes’ to us and sometimes he says ‘no’ and in both cases things are to be done in his own way, but the biggest ‘Yes’ he gives us, is the ‘yes of Jesus.’
Can we perhaps see in the complex characters of the Bible something which is still true in the complex and flawed human nature of us all? God works with
the good, the bad and the ugly characteristics which we have, whilst trying to transform us through the work of the Holy Spirit.
Sherri - Reader

The long walk

Triumph and disaster: what a thin line separates them. One minute you are the hero of the moment as glory beckons, the next you become the butt of contempt and abuse. Elation, then deflation. Hosanna one moment, crucify the next. How true it is, and how bitterly experienced recently, as Alan Shearer comments, that the longest walk you’ll ever do as a footballer is the walk to the penalty spot. We too will all know such times in our lives when so much turns on an action or decision of a moment.
In the Gospel reading from Mark, the disciples have just returned from a highly successful mini-mission: in Luke’s account of the same incident they “returned with joy”. In Mark’s version the emphasis is on the rush and busyness of the moment of return as the crowds press in set against the need for the disciples to take time to assimilate and learn and reflect. “Come away with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” We may know and crave the rush of euphoria that comes from success, but setbacks and failures de-energise us badly. Jesus knows this: come away with me, said to us as well as the first disciples. There will be troubles ahead. Do we have strategies and habits in place to cope with those lows and black times which are very deep the more we are invested in a success culture, where crash and burn in the form of the failure of our deepest wishes and dreams is just unthinkable and the most fearful disaster?
Come away with me. In our disjointed times and a year of disrupted holidays, our need for rest and distance from present reality is great. Jesus offers the disciples, us too if we choose, his very presence as an antidote to a lifestyle addicted to success and bigger, better, faster, newer. “I have come that they may have life, and life to the full.” So perhaps some reflection on this might be life-enhancing. It might feel like a long walk to do so, but it is a choice worth embracing. Remember Jesus’ words: Come to me all who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.
David Frith, Reader

John the Baptist’s Death

The reading today is about John the Baptist’s death. It’s a gruesome and awful end to a truly remarkable person. A relative of Jesus, many thought he was the one spoken of by the prophets, the one who would be the saviour, but he was preparing the way for Jesus. He travelled widely, challenging people to turn away from their sins and baptising them as a sign of their repentance. He even baptised Jesus although John recognised that Jesus was sinless.
He dressed in an unconventional manner and ate strange food, but his message came from an obedience to God that spoke to the Judeans and he gained many followers.
His steadfast obedience made him uncompromising in his beliefs, regardless of what this meant to him personally. John spoke plainly to King Herod Antipas and told him that his marriage to Herodias, his brother’s wife, was illegal and a sin. Herod did not like to hear this, but he respected him and he imprisoned John rather than execute him for dissent. Herodias, on the other hand, was very resentful towards John and plotted her revenge. Following a beautiful dance Herod promised to grant her anything she wished, and she asked for John’s head on a platter. Herod did not want to grant this, but the loss of face in front of his guests was too much and he ordered John’s execution.
This story so horrifying, not just because of its violence, but the pointlessness of it. If Herod had been a braver man, he would have spared John. The paintings of Herodias with the platter show her to be unmoved, looking the other way, appearing to be indifferent to what she is holding. She achieved her revenge, but she does not seem to be gratified by it.
Revenge and the loss of standing in one’s social group are strong drivers for action, but they rarely result in the right outcome. A short-term win does not lead to long-term satisfaction.
Pam Curtis – Informal Worship Group

A big week for ministry

I love the story of Jesus in the synagogue at Nazareth. It is so authentic, how the regular congregation take offence at this Johnny-come-lately preacher who is just the young son of a poor local family. We might say they were unfair to do that, but how would we feel if a young unqualified son of a local family turned up in church and started preaching to us that we had got it all wrong about God?
This week’s message from our scripture readings is all about ministry and how difficult it can be when what you say is unwelcome. It is very demoralising, and we can feel hurt. We hear how God encourages Ezekiel: be not afraid of their words, nor dismayed at their looks… St Paul, who has a physical affliction that stops him fully enjoying his spiritual work is told: my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. This all reflects the reality that, important though the work of ministry and evangelism is, it will often be unappreciated and unrewarding. We are all, in our own ways, ministers of the Word and must serve without expecting praise or reward.
The theme is particularly relevant this week, when interviews are taking place for our new incumbent (priest in charge). Of course, we must pray for those with the responsibility of making this choice for us. I think we must also consider how we will receive and encourage our new priest. It is a big responsibility to take on the spiritual leadership of our benefice at this time. There will be plenty of challenges for our new minister and none of us will want to be like St Paul’s thorn in the flesh or collectively to be thought of as that “rebellious house” to which Ezekiel was called to preach. All of us, perhaps me especially as a traditionalist, will need to change our ways. We are all on a journey and don’t know all the turnings we will need to make to reach home. In words from last week’s Collect, we pray: we may so pass through things temporal that we lose not our hold on things eternal…
Steve Chandler - Reader

Wild Flowers at St Mary's

Jesus won’t keep you on the subs-bench
Mark 5:21-end

After a year long wait for ‘kick-off’ in the delayed Euro 2020 football championship due to the pandemic; some players have had to go into isolation part way through the first stage due to Covid. Can you imagine the pain of missing the last game your country gets to play before they are knocked out of the tournament? Being left with an agonising 2 year wait to possibly get to play in the World cup and to feel part of things again? No, me neither. But I find it harder still to imagine the pain and agony of the woman in the Gospel reading today when I hear that she has been waiting for not 1 year or even 2 years, but 12 long years to be part of things again. Because by the very nature of her illness (losing blood) she would not have been allowed to join in with ‘normal society’ as she and anyone she was in contact with would be classed as ‘ceremonially unclean.’ This rather too efficient ‘contact tracing regime’ is not something we understand in our culture, but it would mean not joining in at the temple, and remember that the culture of the day literally revolved around the temple and temple community. Is it this fear of not being in contact with others (because of the rules) the reason she ‘creeps up’ behind Jesus?
Jesus says ‘your faith has healed you’ and I have read that the same word in the Greek is used for ‘healed’ as ‘saved.’ If the woman had not been able to attend the temple which was seen as ‘the place God dwells’ then she will have felt spiritually disenfranchised as well as physically. I wonder whether in this encounter we see something of the message Jesus gives of being ‘the way, the truth and the life’ (John 14:6) Jesus is the bridge back to a relationship with God? Jesus ‘heals’ her, he ‘saves’ her and commends her for her faith. Jesus changed things on the cross so that God was no longer inaccessible in one place (the temple). He says to his disciples ‘Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father’ (John14:9) Isn’t the saving grace of Jesus a much more exciting thing to shout from the terraces than the prospect of winning the football on penalty shoot-outs?
Sherri – Reader.

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