大象传媒

Radio 4 Opening Announcement:听 大象传媒 Radio 4.听 The Bishop of Rochester the Right Revd James Langstaff is the preacher now for the first Sunday Worship of Lent.听 The service is led by the Dean of Rochester, the Very Revd Dr Philip Hesketh and it begins with the choir singing Barry Ferguson鈥檚 setting of a letter written by St Teresa of Calcutta: 鈥業t was in that train, I heard the call to give up all and follow Christ into the slums.鈥�

CHOIR INTROIT:听It was in that train

Barry Ferguson (b.1942)听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 Saint Teresa of Calcutta听 (1910 鈥� 1997)

THE DEAN:听
Good morning and welcome to our Lenten worship from Rochester Cathedral.

The question of seeing is central to the gospels. Jesus came to open the eyes of the blind 鈥� not just in the medical sense of that word, but to open our eyes in terms of insight, awareness, true perception. There is a seeing with the eyes and a seeing with the heart. Time and again, he says to those around him, 鈥榊ou have eyes. Can you not see?鈥�

鈥榃hat we see, we value鈥�. This is the theme of the first chapter of this year鈥檚 Lent book 鈥楧ethroning Mammon鈥� by Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury.

In his book he explores some of the tensions that arise in society because of Mammon being seen today not as a means to improve people鈥檚 lives but as the 鈥榞oal鈥� in the pursuit of a good life.听 We begin by listening to the Archbishop himself as he reflects upon this 鈥� and his reflection leads us later to the story of the raising of Lazarus.
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INSERT 1:

ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY:

鈥淣o experience of sorrow and suffering is able to overcome the capacity of God to bring life. The generosity of God overflows with such power that even death is swept away. But the power of death to deceive, to cause to see wrongly the nature and purpose of our existence in this world, is something we all experience at some point.
When we are at the funeral of a loved friend or relative we hear death saying to us 鈥業 am the final answer; all ends in complete nothingness and emptiness; do not deceive yourselves.鈥�
What we see, we value. In our society we value wealth that is visible and life that is confident. Those being interviewed for jobs lose marks for being quiet and not putting what they have on show. The 鈥榝lashing confident鈥� are likely to be promoted despite the fact that they may often prove disappointing. We listen more carefully to, and are taken in by, someone who is successful with evident wealth. We airbrush out those in sickness, despair, depression and want. Such conditions speak more of absence and death on which we prefer not to dwell than prosperity and growth. And so we tend to value less.
Christians should see more clearly because we have seen Jesus. We are people whose vision has been challenged and corrected, so that we can see the world as it properly is. The sisters of Lazarus see only death, but Jesus challenges them to see with the eyes of faith that life in him is stronger than death.鈥�

THE DEAN:听
Our opening hymn speaks of God as the 鈥楺uickener of the dead鈥� who guides our vision even while our eyes are set on the world, the flesh and the devil.

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HYMN:听Be thou my guardian and my guide
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Abridge (Isaac Smith, 1734-1805)听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 Isaac Williams (1802-1865), 1842

THE DEAN:听听
Let us pray the Lenten Collect.
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听Almighty and everlasting God,
听you hate nothing that you have made
听and forgive the sins of all those who are penitent:
听create and make in us new and contrite hearts
听that we, worthily lamenting our sins
听and acknowledging our wretchedness,
听may receive from you, the God of all mercy,
听perfect remission and forgiveness;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
ALL:听听听Amen.

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LECTOR 1:听
A reading from the 11th chapter of the Gospel of John:

Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair; her brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, 鈥楲ord, he whom you love is ill.鈥� But when Jesus heard it, he said, 鈥楾his illness does not lead to death; rather it is for God鈥檚 glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.鈥� Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, after having heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.

Then after this he said to the disciples, 鈥楲et us go to Judea again.鈥� The disciples said to him, 鈥楻abbi, the people there were just now trying to stone you, and are you going there again?鈥� Jesus answered, 鈥楢re there not twelve hours of daylight? Those who walk during the day do not stumble, because they see the light of this world. But those who walk at night stumble, because the light is not in them.鈥� After saying this, he told them, 鈥極ur friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to awaken him.鈥� The disciples said to him, 鈥楲ord, if he has fallen asleep, he will be all right.鈥� Jesus, however, had been speaking about his death, but they thought that he was referring merely to sleep. Then Jesus told them plainly, 鈥楲azarus is dead. For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.鈥� Thomas, who was called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, 鈥楲et us also go, that we may die with him.鈥�

CHOIR:听He shall drink of the brook听听

G.F.Handel (1685-1759)听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 from Dixit Dominus 鈥� Psalm 110听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听

THE DEAN:听
G.F.Handel鈥檚 setting of Psalm 110 includes the words we have just heard 鈥� 鈥楬e shall drink of the brook in the way: therefore shall he lift up his head.鈥� They were sung by Edward Hyde, the 大象传媒 Radio 2 Young Chorister of the Year, and by his fellow chorister who also participated in last year鈥檚 final, Rupert Walker.

James Langstaff, the Bishop of Rochester, now reflects on the gospel challenge to all who 鈥榙rink of the brook in the way鈥� to see the capacity of God to bring life out of death.

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SERMON - PART 1听
THE BISHOP: 听
What we see or don鈥檛 see, what is real and what is not real - these things are very much part of our current public discussion.听 What is true and what is not; what is a fact and what is not; and we even hear talk of alternative facts and post-truth.听

Writing before all this hit the headlines, Archbishop Justin challenges us about what and how we see, about what we value.听 And when we ascribe value to something, or indeed to somebody, we give to that thing or that person a power to shape our own lives.听 And when it is the material which has that power to shape and govern us, then we are in the world of what Jesus describes as Mammon.

We heard the beginning of the gospel story of the raising of Lazarus, the brother of Martha and Mary, and a man loved by Jesus. When we meet this same family in Luke鈥檚 gospel, the question of what is to be valued most has already been raised.听 Martha busies herself in the kitchen, while Mary sits and listens to Jesus; Mary is said to have chosen 鈥榯he better part鈥� 鈥� though I confess to a certain sympathy for Martha.听 And as our account in John continues, so we discover that all the attention is on death 鈥� their world at that moment is, perhaps understandably, shaped and controlled by grief and by the consciousness of human mortality and vulnerability.听 What they see is that reality.听 What they don鈥檛 see is the capacity of Jesus to change that, to bring new life.

And that is what Jesus does 鈥� in bringing his friend Lazarus back to life described later in John chapter 11.听 He opens their eyes to see a different reality, the reality within which he is resurrection and life, and death is no longer the ultimate threat to our being 鈥� complete nothingness and emptiness do not have the final word.听 Perhaps then the language of alternative facts is not so wide of the mark.听 Mammon presents us with what looks very like fact and truth 鈥� death is the end.听 Jesus opens our eyes to the alternative fact 鈥� life which overcomes death.

The words of the hymn, which we now sing, Be still, for the Presence of the Lord, the Holy One, is here, remind us that God the Holy Spirit opens our eyes to Christ as a life-giving spirit.

HYMN: 听Be still, for the Presence of the Lord

David Evans (b 1957)

SERMON - PART 2听

THE BISHOP: 听
How then do I see?听 What do I see?听 What do I not see?听 To what do I give value?听 To what or to whom do I (consciously or not) give power to shape my existence.

In the account of the death and raising of Lazarus, we encounter people whose whole world at that moment is shaped by their experience of bereavement 鈥� and many of us know that reality ourselves.听 The Archbishop writes about money that 鈥榠t makes a big noise about itself and calls us to value it, over and above anything else in our lives鈥�.听 Money, he tells us, 鈥榳arps our judgement of wealth and corrupts our appreciation of individuals鈥�; and especially he alerts us to the iniquitous power of inequality and of debt.听 And we don鈥檛 have to look far to see how that works itself out in our society and globally.

We have a diocesan partnership with the Anglican Diocese of Kondoa, one of the poorest parts of Tanzania, and at present they are faced with the reality of famine.听 But, though lack of rain is part of the picture, the situation is exacerbated by patterns of economic and social life both local and global 鈥� these things have power.

Money is not in itself bad; nor of course is grieving.听 Nor is it bad for us to want to do well in education, career, politics or any other part of life.听 It is not bad to enjoy the arts, good food or our leisure pursuits, nor to seek for fulfilment and fun through family and other relationships.听 But when any of these or other things take us over, becoming the focus of our energy and commitment, then we must ask whether we are seeing things right.听 As Jesus restores life to Lazarus, so God in Christ offers us life and love in abundance, overflowing, generous, forgiving, without limit.听

Through the sacrificial love of Jesus Christ God was at work in the redemption of the world. The work of Christ upon the cross dethroned the power of death and enabled his disciples to see the realities of the world with new eyes.

CHOIR ANTHEM:听听听 Ave, verum corpus

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 鈥� 1791)听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 Pope Innocent VI (d. 1362)

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THE DEAN:
鈥楢ve, verum corpus. Hail true body, born of Mary.鈥� The
music of Mozart focusses our attention on Jesus where true value is to be found.

We cannot experience Jesus Christ as a human being, as Mary and Martha did, but we can encounter him as a life-giving spirit. This is the mystery of Jesus鈥� promise to Mary and Martha: 鈥業 am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live.鈥櫶�

Our precentor Ralph Godsall glimpsed this when he was in India some years ago. He tells how what he saw there impressed him with the truth of this in a quite unforgettable way.

RALPH GODSALL:听
I was in Calcutta, visiting Mother Teresa who said when she fed the starving destitutes and cared for the dying that she was seeing Jesus under the distressing disguise of the poor. I was in the House for Destitutes being taken around by the sister-in-charge, Sister Luke.

There were two simple wards 鈥� one for the men and one for the women, separated only by a thin plastic curtain. Behind this curtain lay the naked, stick-like body of an old woman, being gently washed by a young girl, barely 14 years of age. Above them were the words, written in chalk on the wall, 鈥楤ehold, the body of Christ.鈥�

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THE DEAN:听
This is the most liberating of the opening of our eyes, when the figure of Jesus in history and in the Church encounters us in and through one another as the living Christ. It is the mystery of Jesus鈥� own promise 鈥業 am with you always鈥� and of what the Fourth Gospel teaches about the Vine and the Branches: 鈥榃e in him and he in us.鈥�

So let us come to the Lord, who is full of compassion and mercy, and seek forgiveness for the poverty of our sight.

INTERCESSOR:听
Jesus Christ, risen Master and triumphant Lord, we have lived by our own strength, and not by the power of your resurrection.
In your mercy, forgive us.

CHOIR:听听Kyrie, kyrie, kyrie eleison

We have lived by the sight of our own eyes, as faithless and not believing.
In your mercy, forgive us.

CHOIR:听听Kyrie, kyrie, kyrie eleison

We have lived for this world alone, and doubted our home in heaven.
In your mercy, forgive us.

CHOIR:听听Kyrie, kyrie, kyrie eleison

In confidence and trust, we pray for grace to value what we see with the eyes of faith.听 Our eyes are on the Lord Jesus, on our God.

CHOIR:听听Oculi nostri ad Dominum Jesum
听听听Oculi nostri ad Dominum nostrum

We pray that we may see the world through your eyes and become the bearers of your grace.听 Our eyes are on the Lord Jesus, on our God.

CHOIR:听听Oculi nostri ad Dominum Jesum
Oculi nostri ad Dominum nostrum

We pray that our eyes may be opened to the point of human need and for grace to serve you rather than Mammon.听 Our eyes are on the Lord Jesus, on our God.

CHOIR:听听Oculi nostri ad Dominum Jesum
听听听Oculi nostri ad Dominum nostrum

Let us pray with confidence as our Saviour has taught us.

ALL:听
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.听 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. Amen.

THE DEAN:听
Just up the road from Rochester Cathedral is St Margaret鈥檚 Church. There you will find a memorial to John Newton, an eighteenth century Anglican clergyman and slave ship master.

It took him a long time to speak out against the Slave Trade, but he eventually joined forces with William Wilberforce in the campaign for the abolition of the Slave Trade.

In February 1807, when the act to abolish the Slave Trade finally became law, John Newton, nearly blind and near death, "rejoiced to hear the wonderful news."

The author of the hymn we now sing was John Newton - a self-proclaimed wretch whose sight was restored by the amazing grace of God.

HYMN: 听Amazing Grace听

John Newton (1725-1807)听听 听American folk-hymn melody, arr. Robert Gower, b.1952听

THE DEAN:听
God鈥檚 gracious love and generosity enabled John Newton to see the world with new eyes and find the pearl of great value in life.

In The Bright Field the poet, R.S.Thomas, speaks about moments of grace in everyday life when we can encounter the divine and feel a deep connection to the brightness of God鈥檚 love within us.

LECTOR 2:听听I have seen the sun

I have seen the sun break through
听to illuminate a small field
听听for a while, and gone my way
听听and forgotten it. But that was the
听听pearl of great price, the one field that had
听听treasure in it. I realise now
听听that I must give all that I have
听听to possess it. Life is not hurrying

on to a receding future, nor hankering after
听听an imagined past. It is the turning
听听aside like Moses to the miracle
听听of the lit bush, to a brightness
听听that seemed as transitory as your youth
听once, but is the eternity that awaits you.

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THE DEAN:听听
What we see, we value. 听

Can you remember a time when God met you in a surprising or unexpected way?听听 Did that experience in any way change the way you see the world?

These are the questions we leave with you and with ourselves this morning. Our worship concludes with the Lenten hymn, Forty Days and Forty Nights.

HYMN:听Forty days and forty nights

Francis Pott (1832鈥�1909) attrib.Martin Herbst (1654鈥�81) after verses by George Smyttan (1822鈥�70)

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THE BISHOP:听
Let us pray that on our journey to Easter we may make Jesus the focus and perceive where true value is to be found.

THE BISHOP: 听The Lord be with you
ALL:听听听and also with you.

THE BISHOP: 听
God give you grace to grow in holiness, to deny yourselves, take up your cross, and follow him; and the blessing of God almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, be among you and remain with you always.
ALL:听听听Amen.

ORGAN: 听听M茅ditation 鈥� Maurice Durufl茅

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