BENEFICE BULLETIN – Pentecost – 27th May

SERVICE Ten years ago, at the beginning of the Queen’s three month Diamond Jubilee tour, I saw a cartoon purporting to show Prince Philip being interviewed by a reporter and what, sir, will you enjoy most about the three month Diamond Jubilee tour in May June and July asked the reporter. August 1st was the prompt reply. Although I’m sure that the cartoonist was taking a pop at Prince Philip in his cartoon it spoke to me of service

THANKSGIVING The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee is a great celebration. It’s a very special anniversary and an occasion of great rejoicing and thanksgiving. For some, every day is a day of thanksgiving, because we have another day of life. Perhaps that’s not too special when we’re young but, as we get older, it becomes all too evident that every new day is something to give thanks for. And a 60th anniversary such as the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee speaks to me of thanksgiving

FAITH The Sabbath is a weekly reminder of all that God has done for us and that we should place our faith in him and him alone. And, in Old Testament times, a sabbatical year came around every seventh year and a jubilee was a celebration of a sabbatical of sabbatical years. So it was a time of great celebration and thanksgiving for all that God has done for us. And, so, the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee speaks to me of faith

Service thanksgiving and faith………

THE QUEEN’S SERVICE Since her coronation, during which she took on the mantle of defender of the faith, the Queen has visited every county in Britain and every country in the commonwealth. She has seen for herself developments in industry, agriculture, education, the arts, medicine, sport and, many other aspects of national life

As Head of State the Queen maintains close contact with the Prime Minister, with whom she has a weekly audience when she is in London, and with other Ministers of the Crown. She sees all Cabinet papers and the records of Cabinet and Cabinet Committee meetings and receives important Foreign Office telegrams together with a daily summary of events in Parliament and no matter how late she arrives home after a function she always studies the contents of her boxes – dedication to duty indeed!

Her Majesty acts as host to the Heads of State of the Commonwealth and other countries when they visit Britain and receives other notable visitors from overseas. She holds Investitures and, as Sovereign, is head of the Navy, Army and Air Force of Britain. Every year Her Majesty entertains nearly 50,000 people from all sections of the community, including visitors from overseas, at Royal Garden Parties and other occasions

At least three garden parties take place at Buckingham Palace and a fourth at the Palace of Holyrood house in Edinburgh and, in addition, special parties are occasionally arranged to mark special occasions such as a charity’s centenary

Her Majesty also gives regular receptions and lunches for people who have made a contribution to national and international life. She also appears on many public occasions. And, of course, the Queen’s Christmas broadcast is a national institution – no Christmas Day is complete without it and whatever stage we have reached in the festivities everything has to stop for 15 minutes in our home while we watch Her Majesty give her account of her year.

Throughout each broadcast, it is clear that her faith in God is an important facet of her life and that she lifts up her hands daily in prayer as we were all urged to do. Even in her Annus Horribilis, she gave thanks to God for all the good things in her life.

The Queen is patron of over 700 organisations and each year undertakes 500 or more engagements at home and abroad – that’s one every morning, afternoon and evening of every day except for holidays and the occasional day off.

WE GIVE THANKS Throughout her reign, our Queen has given such a record of service, such a life of faith, such a lot for us to be thankful for

And so we give thanks for our Queen, for the hard work she gives to our country, for the service she gives to each one of us and for the example of faith she gives to us all by her church attendance week by week and by the way she lives her life day by day.

We, in this country, are very fortunate to have a sovereign who cares so much for us and who dedicates her life so completely in our service. May God continue to bless her, her country and us and all her subjects.

When stock is taken of your life, will we be able to give thanks for the service you have given to the community and for the example of faith you give by your church attendance week by week and by the way you live your life day by day? I pray that we will. AMEN

God Bless,

Henry

The Feast of Pentecost falls on the last Sunday of May and, after Easter and Christmas, is the most important festival in the church’s year because it is the day when we celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit – the third person of the Holy Trinity.

Christians think of God as being three people all rolled up into one – Father Son and Holy Spirit. Now this isn’t a strange concept because we are just the same and everyone sees us from a different aspect and their own perspective. For example, to my wife Linda, I am her husband and she thinks of me as a life-long companion through the roughs and smooths of life; to my children Vanessa, Victoria and Nicholas, I am their father and, I hope, think of me as a stable rock in their lives; to you, my parishioners – well, you’ll each have your own view on that!

God the Father is, from the beginning of time, and we acknowledge him as the creator of all things. I am happy with the Big Bang theory but I believe that it was God who created the big bang. I am happy with Darwin’s theory of Evolution but I believe that it is God who drives this evolution along. He doesn’t force us to do anything: he gave us free will and this means that we can do what we like but, of course, it’s not as simple as that because there are always consequences to whatever we do.

God had commissioned people such as Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel to tell people what he would like them to do but they took no notice. He even gave us a set of commandments (the 10 commandments) which set out simple guidelines for us to keep. Basically, they entreat us not to steal: don’t steal someone’s life, don’t steal their possessions, don’t steal the love which belongs to someone else, don’t steal their leisure time and so on. But still they took no notice

So he sent Jesus, God the Son, who was born a man and lived about among us for 33 years 2,000 years ago. During his short life, he taught his disciples and all the other people he came into contact with how to behave towards one another; he taught them just how much God loves us; he taught them to give a little of their time each day to God; and he helped them to draw closer to God.

The authorities didn’t like that very much and did their best to keep him quiet but he wouldn’t be silenced. In what appeared to be the end, he died a cruel death on the cross on the hill of Golgotha at Calvary just outside Jerusalem in the year A.D. 33. But this wasn’t the end because three days later his tomb was found to be empty and the grave clothes which had been wrapped tightly round his body were lying loose on the stone bench where his body had been laid. He then appeared to Mary Magdalene, several other women and later to all his disciples, including Thomas who made a big thing about touching the wounds Jesus had suffered on the cross.

His resurrection which we celebrated on Easter Day is the most important event in the whole of history because it demonstrated that there is life after death and that we can look forward to this at the end of our lives here on earth. No matter what happens to us here on earth, this is one fact that we can hold on to and draw comfort from.

God the Holy Spirit is Jesus’ gift to the world. Where God the Father is the authoritarian God above us and Jesus is the friendly God beside us, the Holy Spirit is the conscience of God within us so he is always with us whatever we do and wherever we go. Jesus told us that he would reveal all truth to us and, so, I believe it is the Holy Spirit’s guidance which enables us to conquer disease, invent new technology, make new inventions, write beautiful prose or poetry, build impressive buildings and paint exquisite pictures. His hand is in all that is good and noble and true. No wonder we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost (which simply means the 50th day of Easter).

The Holy Spirit (the gift of Jesus) brings many gifts of his own for each one of us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. May you develop these gifts for the good of all whom you love; for all whom you know; for all whom you meet in your daily lives.

God Bless,
Henry