大象传媒

EXECUTIVE HEAD MASTER:
Good morning and welcome to the flamboyant and imposing high Victorian chapel of Rugby School. I鈥檓 Peter Green, the Executive Head Master, and I鈥檓 joined here in the chapel by our Chaplain and Assistant Chaplains to lead the service, along with the 870 girls and boys of the school. Two hundred years ago this year, on the playing fields right outside these doors, one schoolboy鈥檚 rebellious act would go down in history. It was the year 1823, and a young pupil called William Webb Ellis, losing patience with the kicking game, took the ball in his arms and ran towards the opposing touchline. From that moment there developed the game which the world knows as Rugby, and whose top players from many nations are gathered in France right now for the World Cup. Here at the home of the game, this bicentenary year has been filled with celebration, as our school has played host to parties, lectures, visits 鈥� and of course games of Rugby football, here on the famous Close 鈥� games involving old and young, men and women, boys and girls, internationals and novices. William Webb Ellis, in his time, didn鈥檛 just play on the fields outside; he also sat on the pews in this chapel. Along with his schoolmates he sang his hymns and offered his prayers, and like today鈥檚 Rugbeian girls and boys, he heard the unchanging message of God鈥檚 love for the world, revealed in the life, the death and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.听听

HYMN: Praise, my soul, the King of Heaven (Praise, my soul)

ASSISTANT CHAPLAIN:
Blessed are you, Sovereign God of all,
ALL: To you be glory and praise for ever!
In your tender compassion,the dawn from on high is breaking upon usto dispel the lingering shadows of night.As we look for your coming among us this day,open our eyes to behold your presenceand strengthen our hands to do your will,that the world may rejoice and give you praise,Father, Son and Holy Spirit:
ALL: Blessed be God for ever!

ASSISTANT CHAPLAIN:
The game of Rugby began with the breaking of a rule. History does not record the precise details of the game鈥檚 evolution into the sport we know today. Human nature being what it is, though, it鈥檚 likely that there was plenty of opposition. We don鈥檛 always like change, especially change to the things we know and love the most. Although any ordered society needs rules to function, sometimes we can hide behind the rules and customs to protect ourselves from things we find threatening. Such was the case in the Bible reading we hear now from Matthew鈥檚 Gospel.听听

READING: Matthew 12:1-3
Jesus went through the grain fields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, 鈥淟ook! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.鈥� He answered, 鈥淚f you had known what these words mean: 鈥業 desire mercy, not sacrifice,鈥� you would not have condemned the innocent. For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.鈥�

ASSISTANT CHAPLAIN:
We鈥檙e reflecting this morning on the importance of place. To many people, the field outside this chapel is a place of special importance because it鈥檚 where the game of Rugby began. In the Christian faith, the story of God鈥檚 people is filled with places where they met with him in a special way. One such was the patriarch Jacob who encountered God in a dream at Bethel; when he woke up he exclaimed, 鈥淪urely the Lord is in this place!鈥� The Latin chant 鈥淟ocus iste鈥� is based on that Bible text. Here it is set to music by Matthew Sandy, Head of Vocal Studies here at Rugby School.

MUSIC: Locus iste (Matthew Sandy)听

ASSISTANT CHAPLAIN:Wherever Jesus went, strange and wonderful things happened. Sick bodies were made whole. Evil spirits were driven away. In every village and by every roadside crowds gathered to see these marvels, and Jesus taught them about the coming Kingdom of God. In the next reading from the Bible, also from Matthew鈥檚 Gospel, Jesus uses stories to explain how the influence of God鈥檚 Kingdom in a person鈥檚 life, or the life of a community, starts in a small way, often unnoticed 鈥� but grows to fill and to bless that whole life.

READING: Matthew 13:31-34
Jesus told them this parable: 鈥淭he kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.鈥� Then he said: 鈥淭he Kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a great weight of flour until it worked throughout the dough.鈥� Jesus said all these things to the crowd 鈥� in all of his teachings he spoke to them in parables.

HYMN: Guide me O thou great redeemer (Cwm Rhondda)

ASSISTANT CHAPLAIN:
The song 鈥淪wing low, sweet chariot鈥� comes from the Bible鈥檚 account of the death of the prophet Elijah, who was taken up to heaven in a flaming chariot 鈥� the original 鈥渃hariot of fire鈥�. The song was made popular by the civil rights movement as a song of freedom and a prayer for God鈥檚 deliverance. And recently, of course, it has become a prayer for victory in competition, sung by Rugby fans to spur on their team. It鈥檚 quite possible to hold these desires simultaneously in our minds as we listen to it. The soloist is Naomi, a pupil here at Rugby and this year鈥檚 大象传媒 Young Chorister of the Year. The musical arrangement has been specially written for this service by our Jazz Piano teacher Al Gurr, who accompanies Naomi now.

MUSIC: Swing Low, Sweet Chariot

ASSISTANT CHAPLAIN:
At the time of Jesus鈥� conception the angel had told his mother Mary, 鈥渘othing is impossible with God.鈥� It was the beginning of a life of rule-breaking, and it would end with him breaking the rule that gets us all in the end 鈥� the rule of death. On the way, there would be many indications of Jesus鈥檚 power, like the one we shall hear about in the next Bible reading. In his Gospel, Mark describes an occasion on which his power over death changed people鈥檚 scornful laughter into shouts of joy.

READING: Mark 5: 21-24, 35-43
One of the synagogue leaders, named Jairus, came, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet. He pleaded earnestly with him, 鈥淢y little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.鈥� So Jesus went with him. While Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. 鈥淵our daughter is dead,鈥� they said. 鈥淲hy bother the teacher anymore?鈥� Overhearing what they said, Jesus told him, 鈥淒on鈥檛 be afraid; just believe.鈥� When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly. He went in and said to them, 鈥淲hy all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.鈥� But they laughed at him. After he put them all out, he took the child鈥檚 father and mother and the disciples who were with him, and went in where the child was. He took her by the hand and said to her, 鈥淭alitha koum!鈥� (which means 鈥淟ittle girl, I say to you, get up!鈥�). Immediately the girl stood up and began to walk around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely amazed!听

ASSISTANT CHAPLAIN:
The hymn 鈥淚 vow to thee my country鈥� was written amidst the horrors of World War 1. Since then, it has become associated with the game of rugby, and as we sing it now we shall no doubt be trying to send out strength and encouragement to the teams we support. Over the years, the hymn has often been misunderstood. Its patriotic first verse can only be understood within the context of the second verse: a beautiful hymn to that other country, our true spiritual homeland that quietly grows around us and within us: The Kingdom of God.

HYMN: I Vow To Thee My Country (Thaxted)听

CHAPLAIN:

Every morning when we come to chapel, we walk around the edge of the famous Close where the game of rugby football began. Every day we go to and from our lessons past the stone plaque which commemorates that beginning. In 1823, it tells us, William Webb Ellis 鈥渨ith a fine disregard for the rules鈥�, took the ball in his arms, and ran.

He was, quite literally, a game-changer. We don鈥檛 know whether the young William鈥檚 act was premeditated, or simply born of frustration at a boring passage of play. But it must have taken some courage to stoop among the flailing feet of his opponents, reaching in front of swinging boots to scoop the ball away.

Let鈥檚 be clear 鈥� any member of this school who shows a fine disregard for the rules of our community will not be displaying the kind of courage we鈥檙e trying to build in Rugby鈥檚 pupils today. Rules have a purpose 鈥� they guide the way we behave towards one another and they build up our community.

Nevertheless, to disregard the rules can be a brave thing to do, it can be a fine thing to do, and, just sometimes, it is the right thing to do. We鈥檝e already heard how a fine disregard for the rules in 1823 led to the game whose bicentenary we鈥檙e celebrating today. In the early years of the 20th century a fine disregard for the rules of Newtonian mathematics led Albert Einstein to the principles which underlie our modern understanding of science.

In the 1920s the Suffragettes, with a fine disregard for the rules of the British electoral system, campaigned, fought and even died so that women could have the vote. In 1955 a fine disregard for the rules in segregated Alabama made Rosa Parks refuse to give up her bus seat to a white passenger, a courageous deed which proved a catalyst in the American civil rights movement.

I could go on 鈥� but I can鈥檛 think of anyone who disregarded quite so many rules, nor to such fine effect, as Jesus of Nazareth. Beginning with his appearance in the womb of Mary with a fine disregard for the rules of human fertilisation, his was a life of joyful, painful, playful, disturbing, rule-breaking.

With a fine disregard for the rules of his culture, Jesus sought out the most unlikely people. He went to the homes of sinners and ate with them. He called despised tax-collectors to follow him. For his closest followers he chose uneducated working men. Unlike other Jewish rabbis of that era he spent time with women and showed that they too could receive, and give, God鈥檚 blessing. Going beyond his own people he healed and blessed those whom the Jews of his time regarded as of inferior race. He accepted the devotion of prostitutes and showed special love to the poor.

With a fine disregard for the rules of religion, Jesus infuriated the Pharisees, who seemed to care more about the letter rather than the spirit of the law and the love of God. He went to a synagogue on the Sabbath and broke the rules by healing people on that day when Jews were supposed to do nothing but pray. He offended the priests who considered themselves God鈥檚 gatekeepers by telling the crowds of ordinary people who flocked to him, 鈥淭he Kingdom of God is within you鈥�.听 He kicked out those who had turned God鈥檚 temple into a market-place, and, both literally and metaphorically, he transformed the sterile water of ritual into the wine of celebration.

Best of all was Jesus鈥� fine disregard for the rules of life and death. Our last Bible reading told how he was called to the home of a desperately ill little girl. By the time he got there, it seemed too late 鈥� she had died.听 Coming into the house, he said to the grief-stricken family, 鈥淪he鈥檚 not dead, she鈥檚 just asleep鈥�. These were apparently callous words to utter over an evidently lifeless body; but here as elsewhere, Jesus was not denying death, but redefining it. With Jesus, death, like sleep, is something from which we get up again. To prove it, Jesus spoke to the dead girl, and sure enough, up she got.

And then, of course, the ultimate demonstration. Jesus鈥� fine disregard for the rules of his culture, the rules of nature and the rules of religion offended, angered and threatened the men who occupied the seats of power. With a fine disregard for the rules of revolution as it is normally carried out, Jesus yielded himself to his tormentors, stood meekly before his judges and claimed to be God鈥檚 anointed King, the Messiah. Whether it was self-damning blasphemy or mind-blowing truth, it was only going to end one way. With a fine disregard for the conventions of storytelling, the hero of this one got nailed to a cross and died.
But with Jesus, death is something from which we get up again. With a fine disregard for the rules of life and death, he burst from the tomb, triumphant in victory.

A stone plaque outside this chapel tells how, two hundred years ago, the action of William Webb Ellis started a process which would lead to the game we celebrate today; a game with its own rules 鈥� and how different they are from those of the round-ball game from which it grew.

A text in one of the stained glass windows in this chapel has the words of Jesus 鈥� 鈥淚 have come not to abolish the law, but to fulfil it鈥�. In him, the old laws of sin and death are utterly overwhelmed by the new order of grace and forgiveness, of service and love.
In his life, death and resurrection, Jesus was the greatest game-changer of all time. Still today, he invites men and women to become his followers. The call to live the Christian life is an invitation to pick up the ball and run.

Followers of the game for Rugby look back 200 years; followers of Jesus look back 2000. There have been cheers and there have been jeers. There has been pain as well as joy. There has been exhausting effort and there has been air-punching exhilaration. There has been crushing disappointment, and there has been indescribable elation.

It all began with one man鈥檚 fine disregard for the rules. And the best is yet to come.

MUSIC:听 With prayer and supplication (Amy Beach)听

READER 1:
God of all creation, you have given the rules by which the world turns and the flowers grow, the wonders of science and nature that humankind will spend millennia discovering and exploring. And you have taught men and women how to live together in this world that you have made.听 Forgive the disobedience which makes us put our own desires above your commandments. As a year passes since the death of Queen Elizabeth, we remember her with gratitude and joy, and we pray for the King and his counsellors, and for those who make the laws that govern our daily life, and that we may be wisely and righteously led.听听

Lord, in your mercy
ALL: Hear our prayer听

READER 2:
God of peace, we pray for the world with all its troubles. For the people of Ukraine; of Iraq and Syria and Afghanistan, and all whose lives are affected by war. For those who have been driven from their homes, and those who feel that they have no choice but to leave their home to seek a better life elsewhere. We pray for the homeless and for refugees; and for all who are persecuted for their beliefs. Almighty God, have mercy on all who, by hurting and harming one another, insult you, who created us in your image.听听

Lord, in your mercy
ALL: Hear our prayer

READER 1:
God of all life and growth, we pray, as this new academic year begins, for this and every place of education, that they may be places of happiness and purpose, where the acquisition of knowledge goes hand in hand with the growth of wisdom, and where pupils develop the willingness to serve and the courage to question.

Lord, in your mercy
ALL: Hear our prayer

ASSISTANT CHAPLAIN:
We join our prayers with the unspoken prayers of our hearts, and with the prayers of God鈥檚 people throughout the world, as we say the Lord鈥檚 Prayer together:听

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. 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

CHAPLAIN:
Our service will end with the hymn 鈥淎ll people that on earth do dwell鈥�.听 The musical arrangement was composed for the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953, and at this time of the anniversary of her death, we shall have her in our hearts and minds as we sing.听 So now, May God, who with a fine disregard for the rules of sin and death, raised Christ Jesus from the tomb, making all things new in him, strengthen you to walk with him in his risen life; and may the blessing of God almighty, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, be upon you and remain with you this day, and for ever more. Amen.听

HYMN: All people that on earth do dwell (The Old Hundredth)