大象传媒

Sunday Worship

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It may contain gaps to be filled in at the time so that prayers may reflect the needs of the world, and changes may also be made at the last minute for timing reasons, or to reflect current events.

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Radio 4 Opening Announcement:.听 大象传媒 Radio 4 (Time check).听 November marks a period of remembrance and Remembering is explored in this morning鈥檚 Sunday Worship.听 The service is from the church of St Martin-in-the-Fields in London.听 It鈥檚 led by the Revd Richard Carter.

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Remembering Hidden lives

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Richard Carter

Good morning and welcome to St Martin-in-the-Fields where today we will be celebrating All Saints and All Souls Day. 听Our theme today explores ideas of re-membering - remembering hidden lives. 听We begin with our first hymn: 听鈥淔or all the Saints鈥�.

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HYMN For All the Saints

William W How (1823-1897)

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Richard Carter

The standards of sainthood seem quite daunting in the hymn we have just sung 听鈥� 听strong to live and strong to die - saints on fire with love and burning with a flaming zeal for right鈥� 鈥� hard to match up to that. But as Oscar Wilde said, 听鈥淓very saint has a past and every sinner a future!鈥� 听听I鈥檝e been privileged to have known seven saints - the seven martyrs of the Melanesian Brotherhood who were killed working for peace in 2003 now remembered by the Anglican Church each year - and the thing about them is they are friends 鈥� the most fallible ordinary men you could ever imagine. 听I always think in heaven they must be laughing to see themselves remembered 鈥� 鈥淲hat me a saint? 听You must be joking!鈥� 听And yet it鈥檚 just this, the lives of the most ordinary, extraordinary human beings who we remember who have lifted eyes to the love of God and excited others to holiness and a nation to peace.

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How often it鈥檚 only after someone has died that you think, 鈥渋f only I had known that, if only I had spent more time listening...鈥� 听I remember putting together the funeral service for someone I knew as Sonia.听 It wasn鈥檛 until her tragic death that I discovered she was a brilliant human rights lawyer working with refugees. 听How many questions I would have liked to have asked her about this vital work. 听

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So often we see someone without really seeing. 听鈥淐ould you follow what I was saying?鈥� 听I once remember asking rather patronisingly after preaching at a convent to very elderly sisters. 听鈥淲e understood perfectly,鈥� came the reply.听 鈥淒o you realise there were sixteen former headmistresses in the congregation?鈥� 听听We can fail to see the treasure beneath the surface. 听Even St Paul wrestled with words as he tried to

to explore the deeper mysteries of God.听 He wrote, 听鈥淣ow I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I am fully known.鈥�

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Let us pray

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God of the spirits of all people

We pray you to give freely to all those who rest in you

the many blessings of your love,

that the good work you have begun in them here

may be finished in the day of Jesus Christ

Kind father in heaven,

May we who now serve you here on earth,

Be found fit at the last

To share with them the life of the saints in light.

ALL

Amen.

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CHOIR 听听听听 Give us the wings of faith听听听听听 James Whitbourn

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Richard Carter

Memories are not only sometimes kept hidden and silent.听 They are also suppressed in the collective consciousness of Church and society. 听There are lives our collective memory would rather omit or choose not to see. 听We block them out. 听But in a church we are not able to choose who will walk through the doors, each person who enters challenges us to be open to an encounter with Christ. 听Word made flesh disturbs us. 听听In the story of St Martin it鈥檚 not the generous soldier and benefactor Martin who shares his cloak who is the Christ figure, it is the beggar. 听听It is in our own human poverty that God is often most fully disclosed.

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One of the people in our church who I have had the privilege of getting to know better in the last year is Gemma:

Gemma Poncia

I was diagnosed with schizophrenia when I was 鈥�.. Several months ago I began writing a book of reflections so that my story may help others.

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This is one of my reflections:

During one of my worst bouts of depression, all I could do was lie in bed and pray to a God that the depression kept me from fully believing in 鈥淧lease God, take my life!鈥� 听Clearly God didn鈥檛 want to punish me. 听He didn鈥檛 answer my prayer.

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I believe there鈥檚 a little piece of God in each one of us, in all of God鈥檚 creation, called our soul. 听It鈥檚 like a candle at the core of our being. 听Although in depression it feels like it, God cannot go out. 听听What do I do when my depression keeps me from believing in God?听 At a loss for anything else to do, I began praying the Daily Prayers of the church. 听To me these prayers seem steeped in thousands of years of belief in God. 听The belief of those who wrote the prayers little by little rubbed off on me.听 And part of the office is the psalms. 听Prayers that seemed to be written by deeply fallible people 鈥� asking God to do their bidding, be their servant instead of us being God鈥檚 servant. 听It seems like there is a psalm for every kind of despair. 听Slowly the prayers seem to sink in. 听But not for God to hear my prayers, but for me to hear his.

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Katherine Hedderly

Reading: Psalm 139 听

A reading from Psalm 139

Lord Where can I go then from your spirit? 听
Or where can I flee from your presence?

If I climb up to heaven, you are there;

if I make the grave my bed, you are there also.

Even darkness is no darkness with you;

the night is as clear as the day;

darkness and light to you are both alike.

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HYMN: Be still my soul

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Stille, meine Wille; dein Jesus hilft siegen Katherina A D von Schlegel (born 1697) tr Jane L Borthwick (1813-1897)

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Richard Carter

On Thursday next week we鈥檒l hold at this church the Commemoration of those who have died homeless in the last year. 听Ironically, the list is always painfully long in this, one of the richest capital cities of the world. 听Think of the joy of naming a child, think of how Christ taught that each hair of our head is counted by God and then think of this long list of names, each single name a life, made in the image of God. 听Lesley asked me, 鈥淲hy do they call us 鈥渢he homeless? 听I don鈥檛 call them 鈥渢he inhousers鈥�.听 I mean we鈥檙e all just people.鈥� 听Yes just people, people like you and me and like Mada who wrote this poem from his own experience for that commemoration service

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(Mada)

Walking听 the Pavement

On the road

I am caught inside rivers of cars

Rhythms of wheels,

Crunching bones

My life changes CRUNCH and I fly,

In between white lines鈥�

Where do I belong?

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Each blind alleyway has a sign

Saying 鈥淲elcome back home鈥�

A home with no walls

A home with nothing to call my own

Hubbub, a cacophony,

A symphony of dead men鈥檚 clothes that I wear

That I wear to survive.

Me? 听I am just chasing pavements

In search of my road

Now quiet I listen

The music in my ear

It鈥檚 the crunching of bones

In the big gear box of civilisation

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One more leap, no more steps

Stop, pause turn鈥�

Did you call me?

But who remembers my name?

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Richard Carter

Helen Bamber has spent 60 years of her life working to heal memories and bring them into the light. 听The 听works with survivors of human rights abuses 鈥� including genocide, torture and human trafficking.

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Helen Bamber

I鈥檝e spent many years of my life listening to the memories of refugees who鈥檝e been subject to violence no human beings should ever be subject to. And one of the greatest tragedies is that the suffering does not cease in the country they have fled to for sanctuary - where their memories so often remain unheard or treated with suspicion and disbelief. Many of those victims of torture not only need mental or physical healing but spiritual healing from all that they鈥檝e suffered. 听It鈥檚 only when I hear them sing that I cry, because it seems to me that their voices express the spirit of our humanity, the longing to be free and that each one of us are much much more than survivors. They can indeed become our teachers. 听

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Richard Carter

Woven Gold is the music group at the Helen Bamber Foundation, which works with survivors of cruelty, and includes refugees and asylum seekers from Algeria, Burma, Chechnya, Iran, Kurdistan, Pakistan, and from many African countries. This is their song:听 鈥淚 am more than a survivor.鈥�

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WOVEN GOLD: Song: 听I am more than a survivor

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Richard Carter

Our Gospel reading for today is about remembering Jesus, and its read for us by Naomi Walters the Head Girl of St Martin-in-the-Fields High School for Girls.

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Naomi Walters

A reading from the gospel according to St Luke, chapter 22 beginning at the 14th verse.

When the hour came, [Jesus] took his place at the table, and the apostles with him. 听He said to them, 鈥業 have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I tell you, I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.鈥櫶� Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he said, 鈥楾ake this and divide it among yourselves; 听for I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.鈥� 听Then he took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, 鈥楾his is my body, which is given for you. 听Do this in remembrance of me.鈥� 听And he did the same with the cup after supper, saying, 鈥楾his cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.

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Richard Carter

Our preacher is the new vicar here at St Martin-in-Fields, who joined us in July - Dr 听Sam Wells.

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Revd Dr Sam Wells

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We live our lives by two stories. There鈥檚 the one we present at interview, when we want to impress people; and there鈥檚 the other one we tell only to a counsellor, a confessor, or the most trusted friend. The church also lives its life by two stories. There鈥檚 the story of faith, and courage, and martyrdom, and sacrifice, and perfect love. That鈥檚 the story we call All Saints. And then there鈥檚 the story of fragility, and fear, and failure, and foolishness, and forgiveness. That鈥檚 the story we call All Souls.

Every Christian makes the same mistake. We all think God wants our posh story, our All Saints鈥� story. But the truth is, God wants the real story, the All Souls story. Being a Christian means longing to be a saint 鈥� but, in the meantime, offering to God the reality of our soul.

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The title of Kate Atkinson鈥檚 1995 novel, Behind the Scenes at the Museum, gives a clue to its theme. The novel鈥檚 a museum, because it鈥檚 full of memories, mostly about four generations of women in the family of the narrator, Ruby. But it鈥檚 behind the scenes, because, one by one, elements are reintroduced into the story that鈥檝e been forgotten, denied, or suppressed. The plot rattles along through post-war British history on a hilarious rollercoaster course, and you鈥檙e never sure if the intention is simply to evoke rib-tickling laughter. But that leaves you wholly undefended for the moment when suddenly, very near the end, the savage twist clasps you like a stomach cramp, and you鈥檙e gasping for air.

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By this time Ruby鈥檚 a young adult. Piecing together stray remarks and inexplicable anomalies, she鈥檚 driven to rummage through the shoebox that contains the family鈥檚 most precious treasures. In the shoebox Ruby discovers the buried key to her whole existence. She comes upon a birth certificate, and realizes she had a sister, Pearl. Not just a sister 鈥� a twin, born on the very same day as she, Ruby. She was born a twin. Ruby and Pearl. And there, to prove it, a locket, with a photo of the two sisters, one on each side. But then, a death certificate, dated four years later. Cause of death: drowning. The precious Pearl had drowned, aged just 4.

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Ruby seeks out her mother. In dismay she yells, 鈥榊ou can鈥檛 just blot someone out like that. 鈥� You can鈥檛 pretend someone never existed, not talk about them, not look at photographs.鈥� Her mother replies, defensively, 鈥楾here were photographs. And we did talk about her. It was you who blotted her out, not us.鈥� But Ruby鈥檚 outburst has unlocked a chamber in her mother鈥檚 soul. They open up the locket with the photos of the twins and look at it for a long time in silence. Ruby demands to know, 鈥榃hich one? Which one is Pearl?鈥� Her mother points to the one on the left, and says, 鈥楳y Pearl. My Pearl,鈥� and begins to weep.

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Think of that locket for a moment. On the right is a picture of Ruby 鈥� the story Ruby thinks she knows, the story it鈥檚 easier for everyone to tell. And on the left is a picture of Pearl 鈥� the story full of regret, and guilt, and grief, and loss, and sadness 鈥� the story no one really wants to tell. Except Pearl, perhaps. And, deep down Ruby and her mother, desperately, achingly, wrenchingly 鈥� Ruby and her mother, who can鈥檛 truly tell any kind of story to one another until they鈥檝e gone back and told a truthful story about Pearl; the fact that she lived, and the way she died.

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Think of that locket as the two stories of the church 鈥� on the right All Saints, the story we want to tell, and on the left All Souls, the story of what took place behind the scenes, the story we鈥檝e suppressed, have forgotten, have denied 鈥� but the story God knows, the story God remembers; and the story we have to learn how to tell if we鈥檙e to stand truthfully before God and be restored in our relationship with one another.

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In our service today we鈥檝e been bringing to mind the left-hand picture in that locket. We鈥檝e been naming some of the faces and hearing some of the voices our society and our church has tended to forget, tried to suppress, or sought to deny. We鈥檝e heard from Gemma, speaking of mental illness. We鈥檝e heard Madda, describing the experience of homelessness. And we鈥檝e listened to Helen, speaking of the life of refugees and asylum seekers. And we鈥檝e been mindful of those memories and experiences in ourselves that, like Ruby, we鈥檝e tried hard to bury behind the scenes in the museum of our own imagination.

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Why are such voices integral to our worship? Because when we stand before the throne of grace, as a person, a society, or a church, we can only ask God to redeem that which we bring with us. If we show God just the right hand side of the locket, if we try to tell God just an All Saints story, God will either laugh, or cry.

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At the Last Supper Jesus took bread, and broke it, to represent the breaking of his body. And he said, 鈥楧o this, and remember me.鈥� Do this, he said, and re-member. That鈥檚 our hope. Not that our lives and memories and lockets aren鈥檛 broken. We know they are.

But that we鈥檒l be re-membered in God. That鈥檚 what resurrection is 鈥� God putting all our members back together, going behind the scenes, and literally re-membering us. And so to open our lives to the suppressed, the forgotten, and the denied members of our society and our church is to anticipate heaven, by the same process of re-membering.

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The last chapter of Behind the Scenes at the Museum is called 鈥楻edemption.鈥� Ruby鈥檚 talking to her surviving sister, Patricia. Patricia鈥檚 trying to encourage her sister to move on. She says, 鈥楾he past is what you leave behind in life, Ruby.鈥� Ruby鈥檚 having none of it. 鈥楴onsense, Patricia,鈥� she retorts. 鈥楾he past is what you take with you.鈥�

And that鈥檚 the gospel. We鈥檙e on the left-hand side of God鈥檚 locket (Pearl鈥檚 side) but God doesn鈥檛 suppress us, deny us, forget us, or leave us behind. Broken as we are, God re-members us, and embraces us, and says, 鈥業鈥檓 taking you with me.鈥�

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Choir anthem

Agnus Dei听 Vaughan Williams

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Katherine Hedderly

Agnus Dei, Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, have mercy on us and grant us peace.

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We pray:

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God of light and truth, reveal the treasure of our lives, in acts of faithfulness and love. And open our hearts to see the depth of your love for all that is hidden and hurting.

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Sung Response: 听Take O Take me as I am

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God of compassion and justice, restore with dignity and strength, the hidden lives of those who are cast aside, forgotten or denied.听 Help us to re-member your truth within our families, our communities, our nation and our church, so that your truth may set us free.

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Sung Response: Take O Take me as I am

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God of love, we celebrate the gift of our memories and the lives of those we have loved. 听Re-member us. 听Restore us in relationship with one another, with ourselves, and with you. 听With all your saints, show us how to walk on the earth and sing the song of heaven.

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Sung Response: Take O Take me as I am

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Richard Carter

A prayer by John Donne
Bring us, O Lord God, at our last awakening, into the house and gate of heaven, to enter into that gate and dwell in that house, where there shall be no darkness nor dazzling, but one equal light; no noise nor silence but one equal music; no fears nor hopes but one equal possession; no ends nor beginnings but one equal eternity; in the habitations of thy Majesty and thy Glory, world without end. Amen.

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HYMN How shall I sing that Majesty

John Mason (c1645-1694)

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Richard Carter

May the Lord bless you and keep you

May he Lord make his face to shine upon and be gracious to you

May the Lord lift up the light of his countenance upon you and give you peace

My brothers and sisters may the Lord bless you.

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