大象传媒

大象传媒 RADIO 4:听 It鈥檚 ten past eight and Sunday Worship is comes from All-Hallows-by-the Tower, the Guild Church of 鈥楾oc H鈥� an international Christian organisation,听originally founded in by a British Army Padre during the Great War and celebrating its centenary this month. Worship is led by the Vicar, The Rev鈥檇 Bertrand Olivier, and begins with the carol: 鈥楪ood King Wenceslas.鈥�

惭鲍厂滨颁:听
CHOIR & CONGREGATION听 - Good King Wenceslas

BERTRAND:
A very happy and blessed Christmas to you!听 That story of Wenceslas and his compassion toward his young servant and the poor man is told in the language of the middle ages: of kings, peasants, and pages 鈥揵ut its message in the last two lines is clear and timeless in this season of Goodwill to ALL:听

鈥楾herefore, Christians all, be sure, wealth or rank possessing, Ye who now will bless the poor, shall yourselves find blessing.鈥�

In Edwardian Britain, social and class structures had never been more rigid: men fighting in the trenches were equal only in death.听 Talbot House (known in the wireless-operator鈥檚 code of the time as 鈥楾oc H鈥�) founded 100 years ago this month in the little Belgian town of Poperinghe, very near to the Front Line, was a place where soldiers of all ranks mixed as equals.听 It became known as 鈥楨veryman鈥檚 Club鈥� and was a startling departure for military men more used to knowing their place as 鈥榦fficers鈥� and 鈥榦ther ranks鈥�.听 And the notice placed over the door by the founder, Army Padre Philip Clayton 鈥� known to all as 鈥楾ubby鈥� 鈥� set it out in black and white: 鈥楢ll Rank Abandon, Ye That Enter Here.鈥�
As we share in the humanity that all men and women hold in common with the Almighty God who humbled himself to be born in a stable as the least of one of us, we pray:
Almighty God, who wonderfully created us in your own image,
and yet more wonderfully restored us
through your Son Jesus Christ:
Grant that, as he came to share in our humanity,
so we may share the life of his divinity;
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
ALL: Amen

BERTRAND:
In the darkness of World War One, Christmas 1915 was quite different from that of the previous year, especially for soldiers on the front in Flanders.听 After over a year of hostilities, there was no Christmas truce, and the atrocities as well as the boredom of life in the trenches were taking their toll.

Tubby Clayton and his colleague, Senior Chaplain Neville Talbot, had named Talbot House in memory of Neville鈥檚 brother, Gilbert, who had been killed in action earlier that year.听 Men on day leave from the trenches of the Ypres Salient found it a home from home, contrasting with the bars, gambling houses and state sponsored brothels.听 All were welcome, all were treated equally, all were part of the human family, all became friends even if just for a moment.
Those who visited Toc H could enjoy a cuppa singing songs around the piano on the ground floor, find space to write letters home on the first, read in quiet on the second, and most importantly pray in the small chapel in the converted hop store under the rafters on the third floor.听 It is in that chapel, where the lamps adopted as the symbol of Toc H, shone dimly 鈥� small points of light in the dark streets.听 It was there, away from the immediacy of war, that men made peace with God as they grappled with the daily horrors.听 Some were baptised there, and many made their last communion in that place of unexpected quiet, holiness, and stillness in a world where Peace and Goodwill seemed very far away鈥�

MUSIC:
CHOIR PLUS CONGREGATION IN LAST VERSE - O Little Town Of Bethlehem (Walford Davies)

BERTRAND:
The survivors from World War One returned from the war utterly changed 鈥� and to a very different society.听听 Together with colleagues such as The Rev鈥檇 Dick Sheppard, founder of the Peace Pledge Union, and many of those who had received communion at Toc H, Tubby Clayton set out to found an international movement to transform the world through the building of better, fairer communities - promoting Christianity through deed and example, rather than by preaching.听 The mission of the Toc H membership was and still is quite simply to bring people together in reconciliation and reach out to those in most need 鈥� and it鈥檚 focused around four key principles, known as 鈥楾he Four Points of the Compass鈥�.听 Members are called to Friendship, by loving widely; to Service;听 to Fair-mindedness; and to witnessing humbly to the Kingdom of God.听听 Since then, they have joined with men and women across the world who have been moved to love their neighbour and to bring a dim light of friendship and service into a dark and troubled world.听

Linda Parker, biographer of Tubby Clayton, reads from the Gospel of Mark.

READING - Mark 12.28-34
LINDA PARKER:
One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, he asked him, 鈥榃hich commandment is the first of all?鈥� Jesus answered, 鈥楾he first is, 鈥淗ear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.鈥� The second is this, 鈥淵ou shall love your neighbour as yourself.鈥� There is no other commandment greater than these.鈥�

Then the scribe said to him, 鈥榊ou are right, Teacher; you have truly said that 鈥渉e is one, and besides him there is no other鈥�; and 鈥渢o love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength鈥�, and 鈥渢o love one鈥檚 neighbour as oneself鈥�,鈥攖his is much more important than all whole burnt-offerings and sacrifices.鈥� When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, 鈥榊ou are not far from the kingdom of God.鈥櫶�

BERTRAND:
Friendship is the first point of the Toc H compass, because the Kingdom of God cannot exist without it.听 There are so many examples in history of friendships that have transcended adversity, transcended borders, transcended differences. We cannot truly love God if we do not love his people, we cannot live in a cohesive community if we do not work at being friends.听

A hundred years ago, in the midst of war, men on the front line were utterly reliant on their friends, those with whom they shared their daily lives, those with whom they shared life and death.听 And Jesus too was a dear and near friend to many of them, bringing hope even when their human friends had disappeared before their eyes鈥�which is why our next hymn was one of the most popular for men at the Front and remains so with all those who have a Friend in Jesus.听

MUSIC:
CHOIR & CONGREGATION -听 What a Friend We Have In Jesus

BERTRAND:

We will shortly hear a homily from The Venerable Peter Eagles, who is Archdeacon for the Army and Deputy Chaplain General.听 And although the reasons for the founding of Toc H by two army padres have now passed into history, we know only too well that the world is still not at peace, and goodwill is still not extended to all, and Army chaplains, in their timeless ministry of support for soldiers and families and veterans, continue as custodians of the Talbot House legacy and of pastoral care on the battlefield.听听

Making peace in the midst of conflict goes a long way to contribute to a commitment to a better world.听 Extending the hand of friendship is both a joy and a challenge, an element of mindfulness to be practiced daily.听 As a Frenchman of Belgian descent, I contemplate the recent atrocities:听 and for every one of us, Christmas can be darkened by sad news on a personal or national level.听 Our next carol is the beautifully evocative song by Bob Chilcott, who today is directing the London Oriana Choir.听 It鈥檚 based on a poem by Charles Bennett, and reminds us of the gifts of friendship in a metaphor for the gifts we bring to the Christ Child 鈥� a ploughblade to open our hearts, a bird鈥檚 song to warm our hearts, a raindrop to heal our hearts 鈥� and when we have all three, then perhaps can we recognise the Christ child in our midst.

MUSIC:
CHOIR ONLY -听 Gifts For The Child Of Winter

SERMON
PRE-REC - PETER EAGLES:
May I speak in the name of God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.听 Amen.
How do we live faithfully with the Gospel?听 As a chaplain in the British Army, I carry my own personal burdens as well as a share in the burdens of the world, as in our own way we all do.听 How can I put that down, and live with integrity with my neighbour?

It is sometimes easy to be overwhelmed by our burdens, but we are called by God to be hopeful, and the truth is that even the tragedy of the Middle East and the refugee exodus is already present in the Nativity story:听 this is about a hope that is born, and then threatened, and finally realised and vindicated.听 This is a story about giving, not taking; serving, not ruling; humility and faithfulness rather than status or hubris or rank.听 So 鈥楢ll rank abandon, ye who enter here鈥� speaks not just of Talbot House and Toc H, but of the deeper Christian life and vocation, and this is surely a way of grasping the compelling call held out in the birth of Jesus. In the darkness of midwinter, the Christmas crib gives light.听 This is God鈥檚 act, God鈥檚 gesture, articulated not in words but in the devotion of the created order of angels and shepherds and animals.听 Even the Magi, speaking their different Eastern languages, expressed themselves in dramatic gestures of gift and offering and devotion, kneeling as potentates before the baby, subordinating their wisdom and kingship and authority to the sovereignty of God revealed in this most extraordinary and simple and earthly of places.听

And so it must have seemed to those who entered Talbot House in December 1915: they had entered an order beyond words, even perhaps something out of this world.听 This truly, by its very simplicity, was something close to an act of salvation, completely听 turning around the fears of many ordinary soldiers, to the point where some described it as 鈥榓 haven in hell鈥�.听 The Talbot House motto derives from the dreadful 鈥楢bandon hope, all who enter here鈥� above the gate to Hell in Dante鈥檚 Inferno, and we can imagine that soldiers in the trenches thought that they had arrived in a hell where all hope had been pushed into the far distance.听 In contrast to the trenches, Talbot House not only transformed hopelessness but then took the extraordinary step of classing all people as equal.听 It also took issue with the moral hell of sordidness which could otherwise have been the experience of the British soldier on local Rest & Recuperation and offered an alternative.听 Here, in this old hop-merchant鈥檚 house, each floor represented a different priority:听 one was for rest, one for food, and, in another inversion of Dante鈥檚 descending circles, prayer was at the top, in the chapel听 in the loft听 鈥� but only, of course, if you wanted to go there.听 Everyone was equal, and humanity, under constant erosion in the trench and at the front, was offered restoration and refreshment: physical, moral and spiritual.听 It was holistic care of the human being, long ahead of its time.听 In recent years the British Armed Forces have advanced hugely in our understanding of trauma and stress and mental injury, and in our understanding of how to reintegrate our people back into civilian society and, indeed, to enable them to enrich it, but the way in which, a century ago,听 the charism of Talbot House was able to transfer itself into the post-war world, and to hallow it with wisdom and grace, was nothing short of prophetic.听听 It anticipated what is now known as Trauma Risk Management: the idea that psychological health is supported and fostered by bringing people out of isolation or loneliness into a relationship of peer support and unthreatening companionship.听 Without explicitly saying so, it understood Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder as the consequence of prolonged exposure to battlefield stress and noise.听 And it grasped the fact that these things have their cure and their resolution naturally, organically, within the capacity of human relationships.听听听

Yet there was more.听 We speak of a 鈥榤oral compass鈥�, meaning a set of values which enable a person or a society to make ethical decisions to navigate moments of complexity, to enable us to find our way out of that dark forest in which Dante loses his way at the beginning of the Inferno.听 After the war, the wider establishment of听 the Toc H movement was characterised by the four so-called 鈥楶oints of the Compass鈥�, a new moral compass to be taken into the new world.听 Talbot House was a light in the darkness: a heartfelt gift in a bleak and wintry world - and its classless creed was a revelation, a balm to the beleaguered soul.听 So when the Bishops earlier this year asked the question 鈥榃ho is my Neighbour?鈥�, the answer is found not just in the Bible story of the Good Samaritan but also in the story of Talbot House.听 My neighbour is the person next to me:听 in the house, in the trench, in the hospital bed, wherever it may be.听 And such a person can only be embraced, if we understand humanity in this way.听 Talbot House and its values teach that the gift of God abides among us, and it is to be embraced simply, faithfully, gratefully.听 We leave behind any rank or presumed status, our lives are conformed to service and generosity, and our witness is of humility, in act and gesture even more than in words.听 We abandon our rank, laying it aside as did the Lord at his wondrous birth, and are clothed instead in something infinitely greater: the likeness of God.听听

MUSIC:
CHOIR & CONGREGATION -听 In The Bleak Midwinter (Darke)

BERTRAND:
Our prayers are led by Penny Molyneux, a long standing member of Toc H.

PRAYERS
PENNY MOLYNEUX:
O God, you gave us your son to call us back to the essence of life and to learn to recognise you in all those around us.听 Give us the courage to be your friends and the friends of all, that through our lives we may be a light to others and a light to the world, especially in these troubled times.听 We pray that through the hand of friendship, wars and acts of violence may cease.
Lord, in a dark world:
ALL:听 Give us your light.

PENNY:
O God, with the shepherds and wise men, we want to bring you our gifts but often we don鈥檛 know where to start.听 Our hearts and minds are willing, but the flesh is weak.听 Inspire us by the example of your son, and through the gift of your Holy Spirit, that our eyes may be open to the needs around us, and that we may find the right first steps that transform the lives of others and the life of our communities.
Lord, in our uncertainty
ALL:听 Give us your light.

PENNY:
O God, we are constantly assaulted by so much information that we have learnt to jump to conclusions based on hearsay or after a first encounter. Give us the grace and the time to listen to others as they speak of their experience, and give us hearts to respond as you would.听 We pray specially for all those who mould public opinion, that in the noise of the world, your peace may help us to think fairly.
Lord, in our confusion
ALL:听 Give us your light.

PENNY:
O God, to meet and know you is a joy which brings more responsibility than privilege, opens up more questions than provides answers. In our faith and in our doubts, give us the humility to acknowledge that the vision you give us is one of many, and that it is only in working with others that together we can build your Kingdom of love, justice and peace.听 Especially we pray for all those who work in the field of ecumenism and interfaith relations, and in world peace making organisations, that they may be filled with renewed energy for your glory.
Lord, in our ongoing tasks,
ALL:听 Give us your light.

BERTRAND:
As we say the Lord鈥檚 prayer, we place before God all refugees, those who are sick, the bereaved, the lonely and those in any kind of distress:
听
摆笔础鲍厂贰鈥�]
BERTRAND & ALL:
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.听 Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.听 For thine is the kingdom the power and the glory for ever and ever.听 Amen

BERTRAND:
From friendship flow other points of the Toc H compass: A commitment to service of neighbours in the local community, a willingness to listen and not judge, and an acknowledgement that whatever task we undertake, we cannot do it alone but only by the grace of God.

The lyrics of our next piece of music are taken from the nineteenth century poet, Gerard Manley Hopkins.听 They remind us of how often we are trapped by our self, the ego who thinks we are the centre of the universe.听 But the Bethlehem star leads us on a different journey as we are led to the crib of the Christ Child -听 a pilgrimage of self discovery and stripping of the ego, where so many of the things we think are vital in our lives become unimportant.听 And it is only as we follow this path of transformation, step by step, that we can truly see God in the Christ, and the face of Christ in all those around us.

MUSIC:
CHOIR ONLY - The Bethlehem Star

[BERTRAND:
O God, who has so wonderfully made Toc H, and set us in it to see our duty as thy will, teach us to live together in love, joy and peace; to check all bitterness; to disown discouragement; to practise thanksgiving, and to leap with joy to any task for others. Strengthen the good thing thus begun that with gallant and high-hearted happiness we may work for thy kingdom in the wills of all people, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
ALL:听 Amen.]

BLESSING
BERTRAND:
When Toc H members meet still today, they light a Toc H lamp as they take the Ceremony of Light, through which they remember and give thanks for comrades, men and women, who have died.

[strike match and light lamp]

As we light the lamp, we also re-affirm our commitment and purpose through this beautiful adaptation of the prayer of St Francis:

BERTRAND, PENNY & LINDA TOGETHER:
We are called to be instruments of God鈥檚 Will.
Where there is hatred, let us bring love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is sadness, joy
And where there is darkness, let us bring light.
ALL:听 Amen

BERTRAND:
Let your light so shine before all people that they may see your good works
And glorify our Father who is in Heaven
And so the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, be among you and remain with you always.
ALL:听 Amen

MUSIC:
CHOIR & CONGREGATION听 - Christ Be Our Light

ORGAN VOLUNTARY:听 Arr of Good King Wenceslas by William Lloyd Webber