大象传媒

MUSIC:听 COLUMBA ASPEXIT 鈥� COMPOSER: ABBESS HILDEGARD OF BINGEN
From CD 鈥楢 Feather on the Breath of God鈥�, Label Hyperion CDA 66039
Gothic Voices with Emma Kirkby, directed by Christopher Page听

PHILIP听听
Good morning and welcome to this beautiful place, Melrose in the Scottish Borders. I'm walking up the Eildon Hills, which dominate the skies around my Parish of Holy Trinity.听 During lockdown, with all the strains and stresses of life that the pandemic brought, these hills have been a helpful space to walk, and think, and sometimes not think.

That can be hard, not thinking. I've often had what I call days of churn, where thoughts keep bobbing up to the surface and won't float away. Many of us have lost a lot during this last year; lost livelihoods, lost friends, lost peace of mind. I have lost many people who were dear to me and the graveyard of my church now holds in its arms friends who had sat on the pews and were singing before lockdown began. And it's okay that those feelings of loss and grief come to the surface every now and again.

That's what these hills do for me, they weave a magic for me as I walk along their paths, allowing those wounds to come to the surface, and begin gradually to heal.听 Allowing me to let them.

I have often listened to the music of one of my favourite saints, Hildegard of Bingen, as I walk, and with her wild, soaring music, it becomes a different sort of walking to the task-bound hill climbing I'm used to.听

MUSIC听

PHILIP

What I have learnt from these intricate hills and from the music of Hildegard, is that it's okay to meander, to double back, to explore tracks even if they peter out.听 I often walk in search of something less easy to find than a destination. There have been days when I've needed to walk off a bad mood or a heavy spirit. Days when I've needed to let Hildegard tell me the ending and the journey. Days when I just needed to climb up the hills, which promise something which is never defined but much to be desired.听

MUSIC听

PHILIP
Our town was built around Melrose Abbey, which was a traditional place of pilgrimage - and it still is. Founded by St Cuthbert, Melrose Abbey is the beginning of the St Cuthbert's Way, the path I鈥檓 walking now, which ends with his other most closely associated Abbey in Lindisfarne, the Holy Island. St Cuthbert was well known as a traveller, and when I walk around the hills he would have known, there's something thrilling about knowing I might be walking in the steps of the Saint.听

MUSIC: HYMN 鈥� COME DOWN, O LOVE DIVINE听 (Tune: Down Ampney)
From CD 鈥楤est Loved Hymns鈥櫶� Label: EMI 724355702623
Choir of King鈥檚 College, Cambridge, directed by Stephen Cleobury

PHILIP

I'm joined in this service by Claire Nicholson, who has been a student with us at Holy Trinity this year.

CLAIRE

Whenever we set out on a journey, whatever we may be walking towards or away from, may we always be mindful of the presence of the Trinity, our creator, redeemer and sustainer.

MUSIC:听 O ECCLESIA 鈥� COMPOSER: ABBESS HILDEGARD OF BINGEN
From CD 鈥楢 Feather on the Breath of God鈥�, Label Hyperion CDA 66039
Gothic Voices directed by Christopher Page

CLAIRE听 Let us pray with the words of St Hildegard:

Holy Spirit,
Filling the world,
from the heights to the deep,
Raining from clouds, filling rivers and sea,
Fill our minds!

Holy Spirit,
Forgiving and giving,
uniting strangers, reconciling enemies,
Seeking the lost, and enfolding us together,
Fill those gathered here!

Holy Spirit,
Bringing light into dark places, igniting praise,
Greatest gift, our Hope and Encourager,
Holy Spirit of Christ,
We praise you!

MUSIC

CLAIRE
The journey of faith is one with many ups and downs, as we travel through the mists of doubt and into the (occasionally) clear light of joyful belief.

Our Gospel reading is perhaps one of the most perplexing and rich stories of a journey in the Bible. It is about two people on the road to Emmaus, followers of Jesus, who had seen his death, and had heard of the resurrection. But they are deeply unhappy.听

PHILIP:听 Reading with us this morning is Grace Redpath, a fellow priest here in the Borders.听

READING听 Luke 24:13-35听

From the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 24.

Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened.

While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him.

And he said to them,听

"What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?"听

They stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him,听

"Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?"

He asked them,听

"What things?"听

They replied,听

"The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him.

MUSIC:听 THE SPHERES / KYRIE from Sunrise Mass: 听COMPOSER - OLA GJEILO
From CD Sunrise Mass听 Label GIA Choralworks CD-1048
Westminster Williamson Voices directed by James Jordan

But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive.

Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him."

Then he said to them,听

"Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared!

Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?"

Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.

As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on.

But they urged him strongly, saying,听

"Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over."听

So he went in to stay with them.

When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them.

Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight.

They said to each other,听

"Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?"

That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together.

They were saying,听

"The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!"

Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.

MUSIC:听 O JERUSALEM 鈥� COMPOSER: ABBESS HILDEGARD OF BINGEN
From CD 鈥楢 Feather on the Breath of God鈥�, Label Hyperion CDA 66039
Gothic Voices with Emma Kirkby, directed by Christopher Page

PHILIP

When we walk with someone as Jesus did on the Emmaus road, we do more than just travel in the same direction. A shared journey can be a powerful sign of compassion, of care, of companionship.听

Liz Henderson is the Minister of Richmond Craigmillar Parish Church in Edinburgh, and co-founder of 鈥楻ichmond鈥檚 Hope鈥�, a charity devoted to helping children through their bereavement and loss.听

In 2018 Liz was appointed a Queen鈥檚 Chaplain in the Royal Household in Scotland, in recognition of her work 鈥� something she wasn鈥檛 expecting.听

INTERVIEW WITH LIZ HENDERSON
LIZ听 I think it鈥檚 a huge honour.听 It鈥檚 a huge honour for my church and my community.听 I work in a deprived area of Edinburgh and I think people were all the more excited that that would happen for us.听 And often it鈥檚 an area where you only hear bad things about us so I think that honour was really important for the community as well as for myself.听

We started Richmond鈥檚 hope 18 years ago really as a result of a girl who, a woman who became my colleague, Jessie Douglas, her son was killed in a motorbike accident, and it was not long after I arrived at Richmond Craigmillar and I did the funeral.听 And that led to us walking round the park together, walking our dogs in the morning every morning, talking and listening and thinking about bereavement together.听 And she grieved but also felt for the grief of local families.听 We had a lot of funerals of young people, and she always said, if it was this difficult for her, what was it like for the children?听 And that led to the creation of our bereavement project for children who have been bereaved.听

PHILIP 听And what sort of things have you experienced children having to face?听

LIZ听 Everything from trying to understand the difference in their life, the loss, the pain of loss, the anger, feeling responsible in some cases, not understanding what鈥檚 happening, not having the full information around the death, lots of things.听

I think one of the things that I discovered and really through my walks and conversations with Jessie is that grief doesn鈥檛 end, that we grieve for the rest of our lives but it鈥檚 about helping people to grieve well so that grief doesn鈥檛 take away everything else that鈥檚 good in our lives.听

So many children are in tiny wee houses or wee blocks and the rooms get smaller and smaller, and, you know, quite hard to have that expression.听

And the children really learn to tell their story, learn to express their feelings, learn to capture memories and find ways of dealing with their grief, ways of coping in the future.听

PHILIP听 I noticed over the death of Prince Philip, there鈥檚 been so many really positive stories about how he made the world a better place around him.听 Do you think there鈥檚 a model in there for how we can talk about our grief and our loved-ones?听

LIZ 听You know I was in contact with a girl who came to Richmond鈥檚 Hope recently and she鈥檚 now all grown-up!听 And she鈥檚 done exceptionally well after a very difficult bereavement in her childhood.听 And I think that resilience that鈥檚 there, and that looking forward and knowing that if we cope with the things in childhood that happened to us in childhood, children can grow up to do all sorts of wonderful things, and be stronger and better people because of the difficulties that they鈥檝e faced.

Our children often project into the future and look at different days that will be difficult for them, like when they get married if their Mum鈥檚 not there, when they have their first child if their Mum鈥檚 not there, and then through the work at Richmond鈥檚 Hope, we鈥檒l often plan that day in advance.听 I know that sounds odd but it gives them a sense of empowerment.听 So the day is still difficult, but they might open a memory jar that they鈥檝e made or a memory box on that day, or read a letter that they鈥檝e written to themselves for that day.听

PHILIP 听That鈥檚 wonderful. How does your faith impact on the work that you do?听

LIZ听 I think there鈥檚 a lot of faith that is hope and optimism.听 Sometimes nowadays we鈥檙e told that if children have a bad start in life that they鈥檒l be that forever more.听 And I absolutely in my faith don鈥檛 believe that that鈥檚 true.听 I believe in the potential of everyone, and I believe that God loves everyone and I believe that love can change people, and the very act of travelling with somebody and loving somebody through a difficult situation, that kindness, can change lives and bring hope.听

PHILIP听 I totally believe and I still do the power of love to transform everything.听 And it does.

MUSIC:听 RESTLESS IS THE HEART 鈥� COMPOSER: BERNADETTE FARRELL
From CD 鈥楻estless is the Heart鈥�, Label OCP 10827
Choir directed by Frank Brownstead

PHILIP: SERMON

The week following the death of Prince Philip has coincided with much of Britain coming out of lockdown in careful, cautious stages. It feels a little as though we are slowly coming out of hibernation, like opening the door of a shelter after a storm. We don't yet know what the world is going to look like. Each slow unpicking of restrictions feels good in a way but it also feels as though we are getting nearer to a future which we cannot yet know. For some the end of lockdown can't come soon enough. But for others, particularly younger people that I have met, it's going to be difficult getting used to big crowds and large school gatherings again, because isolation felt safe, even if it felt miserable, and they have grown used to the relentless caution of it all. As we emerge, we will become ever more sharply aware of where the gaps will be. People we have lost, institutions and groups which are no more, parts of the rhythm of our old lives now missing, and it might become hard to find our footing in this new world, this new path we have to tread. It is easy to stay too long in the place of sorrow and grief. But that is not the path we are called to tread as believers in the God of love.听

And in our Gospel reading, Jesus shows us a way out of that sorrow and despair. Because that is exactly what he does to the travellers along the Emmaus road.听

How do you picture these two travellers? We know precious little about them, but in my years of thinking about them, they have become vivid characters.听

We are only told the name of one of them, Clopas, and in my mind I've always assumed that they are husband and wife. They had already heard about the resurrection, and this is still that day, so they must have been close to Jesus. And we know that Mary the wife of Cleopas - if that is the same person - stood with Mary his mother at the cross.听

But early Christian writers identify Clopas as the brother of Joseph. Now we know that Luke the Gospel writer is the master of gentle humour, in his writings about St Paul. And I like to think that here, Luke may actually be presenting us with Jesus' Aunt and Uncle, saying to Jesus, "Are you the only one who has never heard of Jesus of Nazareth?"听

For Clopas and his companion, their hope of a Messiah was gone, they were discussing the resurrection stories, but doing so with that comforting despair that comes from a worldview of things inevitably getting worse. They must have felt as the apostles did, that it was an idle tale. How easy it is, how grown up and mature it seems, to give in to misery, to accept things which are unpalatable.听

And then someone from another place met them. A stranger. Someone with a different perspective.听

MUSIC:听 THE SPHERES / KYRIE from Sunrise Mass:听 COMPOSER - OLA GJEILO
From CD Sunrise Mass听 Label GIA Choralworks CD-1048
Westminster Williamson Voices directed by James Jordan听

PHILIP

So the scene Luke presents us with is (possibly) Jesus' relatives, certainly people who were close to him, who have heard the news of the Resurrection, who have heard the message of the Angels that they should stay in Jerusalem听 - and they are walking away, their hearts heavy with grief.听

Have you ever felt like that I wonder? After a bereavement or loss of job or security, after the breaking of a relationship or a loss of hope, it can be hard to accept that anything can be better, anything can be good any more. We can carry our darkness with us, and the longer we carry it the harder it can be to cast it off.听

So what did Jesus do for Clopas and his companion? Jesus had no new information to give them which could help them change their minds. They'd heard everything they could have heard, but here they were, walking away from the truth despite the evidence. Because sometimes the hardest truth to believe is good news.

He didn鈥檛 do what many of us do when people are in mourning, or heavy of heart, which is to try and "fix" things, or worse, to distance ourselves from them, because we don't know what to say or do.听

Instead, he took the long road. He was still Jesus, still his very robust self, "How foolish you are," he said - but he walked with them, in the wrong direction, talking with them, reasoning with them, expanding their understanding, until something had happened to them, something changed within them. They were confused, perplexed, but haunted by the possibility of a truth which they could not yet grasp, but which felt more authentic, more real, than their sad truths.听

This wasn鈥檛 a road to Damascus experience for them 鈥� seven miles on a hot day in rough country is a long journey 鈥� and at the end of the journey, at Emmaus, all they knew was that their hearts were burning, and they wanted to know more.听

And so they said 鈥渁bide with us, for it is towards evening and the day is far spent鈥�. And at that moment, when they were at last open to the possibility of receiving grace, Jesus broke the bread, and then disappeared from their sight. He left the rest to them, trusted in them and trusted in their faith and in their ability to change to spur them back along that dusty road, carried by the hope that was burning within them.听

MUSIC: UBI CARITAS 鈥� COMPOSER: PAUL MEALOR
From CD A Tender Light听 Label Decca 4764814
Tenebrae directed by Nigel Short听

I've never had a road to Damascus experience, but I've had many an Emmaus journey. I remember a time when for no accountable reason, the world weighed heavy on me. I had a strong faith, a wonderful family, a happy church, a good life. But the lines of the psalmist echoed within me - why are you so full of heaviness O my soul, and why are you so disquieted within me? And because there was no reason for it, I felt, if this is how I am when everything is good, then how will the dark times be?听

So I went to see an old friend, the wisest friend I had, so he could help me out. And he listened, and just said "I think we need to go for a walk". So we went for a walk. And it was slow because he was old, and it was long because it was slow. And as we went up one of the Eildon hills which dominate the skyline around this part of the Borders, he said, "There has been many an idle thought of mine which has tumbled down these hills as I walk up them". And the weather wasn't anything special, and there wasn't a beam of sunlight which suddenly lighted upon me, but going back down the hill was a world away from going up. Because my friend had given me above all the one thing I needed - just time to walk with someone until I had walked away from my own anxious thoughts.

MUSIC:听 O FOR A CLOSER WALK WITH GOD:听 COMPOSER 鈥� Charles Stanford
From CD Stanford and Howells Remembered听 Label Collegium CSCD524
The Cambridge Singers directed by John Rutter听

PHILIP
This Gospel reading is uncomfortable, because it tells me that even when we hear the good news we can still feel heavy of heart. But it also tells me that Jesus will not let us stay in that shadow truth. It tells me that we have to move our feet, and we have to walk with people. People who perhaps disagree with us, who are different from us, because that is what makes us walk off our despair and encounter the always new reality of the God who makes all things new.

Above all this beautiful strange passage tells me that we are never alone in our journeys. God will walk with us, as he did with them, and if we listen, God will slowly and gently unpick the sorrows that we live by, until we are left with hearts burning with hope.

As we are released from this pandemic, we may well fear what is to come. It will be different and it will be new. But despair is only a shadow of a truth which will disappear when we walk with the sun of righteousness.

I like to imagine their journey back from Emmaus to Jerusalem. Hesitant at first as we are, nervously coming out of hibernation. But with each step, drawing away from despair and into a better and truer world.

Maybe, they thought, just maybe, we are blessed. Maybe, in the end, love does win, and Easter is true. Maybe God is around us, maybe his angels are this minute singing with the birds in the trees.

Maybe when we sorrow and cry, we are encompassed by the love of God.
Maybe those we love who are in beds of sickness and pain are clothed in light.
Maybe the world can be transformed.

Were not our hearts burning within us? That is our journey and our destination as Christians. To burn with the light of the joyous, giddy truth of love, a truth which is so bright, that despair vanishes like the shadows.听

MUSIC: AS ONE WHO HAS SLEPT 鈥� COMPOSER: JOHN TAVENER
From CD John Tavener Choral Works听 Label Hyperion CDA67475
Polyphony conducted by Stephen Layton听

PRAYERS听

CLAIRE听 Risen Lord, You are walking with us on our journey through life, but we do not always know You are there. Help us to hear Your word today as You speak to us in scripture. Help us to hear You in the voices of those who cry to us for help, to see You in those in need, to remember how generously You have shared everything You have made with us, asking only that we share what we have received with others.

GRACE 听Be with those for whom this last year has been a long and difficult road, and those for whom the road ahead seems harder still. We give You thanks for the small steps that we are beginning to be able to take together towards a more normal way life. We pray that You will sustain us on this journey, however long it may take.

CLAIRE听 Loving God, like the psalmist we remember how things used to be, and we long for what we had before. Our souls are cast down after everything that we have been through, and are still going through. Help us to put our trust in You, in the hope of the new life You offer us, in Your power to restore and heal us. Help us to long, not for the old world as it was before, but for a new world as You want it to be.

GRACE听 Lord, You can bring light into the darkest places in our lives if we will only open our hearts to You 鈥� if we do as Your disciples did on the Road to Emmaus and ask You to come and stay with us. We so often choose to "go it alone" because we can't quite believe that You care for us as much as You do.

PHILIP听 Be with us Lord, when it is towards evening and the day is far spent. Be with those who feel the sharp pain of loss, and grief. Be with the Royal family as they have taken leave of a beloved friend and relative.

Be with those who have been locked away in their sorrow, and who have felt isolated and alone. Be with us as we search out a future lived in your love and faithfulness in the days and years to come. Be with us now, and in eternity, for we put our trust in you.

Be with us as we pray to you in the words your son has taught us.听

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.
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
For Thine is the Kingdom,
the power and the Glory
for ever and ever. Amen.听

PHILIP:听 BLESSING

Now may God Guard us, guide us and keep us wherever our journey takes us. When we walk through the dark valley may he be our light. When we stray from our ways like lost sheep, may he call us home. When we tread the hard road of the Kingdom, may he walk with us along the way.

So may the blessing of God Almighty, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, be with us, and all for whom we pray, this day and for evermore. Amen.听

MUSIC:听 HYMN -听 GOD IS LOVE, LET HEAVEN ADORE HIM (Tune: Rustington)
From CD 鈥楩amous Hymns of Praise鈥櫶� Label: Priory PRCD 376
Choir of St Mary鈥檚 Episcopal Cathedral, Edinburgh, directed by Dennis Townhill. Organist: Peter Backhouse.