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Preached by Rev'd Canon David Sharp
“You did not choose me,
no, I chose you; and commissioned you to go out and bear
fruit” John 15.16
It was a strange
new world after I was ordained. I suddenly found people
acknowledged me in the street, people I didn’t even know. If
I travelled on a train I got a compartment to myself. Cars
stopped for me on pedestrian crossings. A conductor (we had
them in those days) actually helped me off a stationary bus
– I was only 24!
My old friends
were all a bit mystified, uncomfortable in my presence; you
could tell, they wondered what made me do it. I am told that
when conscription came in in 1939 (that was before my time)
the notice that went out required all young men over 18 on
December 31st to report for call-up except
lunatics the blind and ministers of religion.
How things have
changed over these 50 years. My theological College,
Cuddesdon near Oxford, was a monastic establishment, 8 miles
from anywhere, no transport, no temptations. Fiancees and
girl-friends were taboo, and wives unheard of. One and a
half hours in chapel before breakfast every morning, plus
evensong and compline. The idea was to make or break a
would-be priest. But like the monks we were allowed beer at
meals, and I became cellarer, trained by my predecessor The
Revd Ron Lancaster who I am delighted to say is with us this
morning. He taught me how to keep beer and broach a wooden
barrel – I can still remember that awful split second when
the final blow of the mallet knocks in the bung and fixes
the tap; hesitate or get it wrong and the beer hits the far
wall.
I visited Ron
when he was a curate in Harrogate, and he had enough
gunpowder in his loft to blow up the town. A school chaplain
and science teacher most of his ministry, he went on to
found Kimbolton Fireworks, and has produced world-class
displays, including Hong Kong independence. So you see, you
cannot typecast the clergy and we would all have had very
diverse careers, had we not been called and chosen by God to
be his priests.
How things have
changed! In my first parish I was one of four bachelor
curates, (four curates, only one church, but 600
congregation) living together in a clergy house with a
housekeeper and a cat, which I had named Sheba because she
was exotic, blue-grey and slinky. We were all provided with
Lambretta scooters as our congregation lived all around the
city and suburbs. We were so helpless, having all meals
provided, that on the housekeeper’s day off we all met up
after our morning’s work at Bristol’s only Italian
restaurant (not many eating-places about in those days –
this became Berni Inns) for a cheap pasta. We parked in the
street outside and came out to find PC Plod taking down our
numbers. He soon recovered from the shock of four helmeted
clergymen, to wag his finger at us and say, You will
remember, gentlemen that it says in the good book,
‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord. (you don’t
get policemen like that these days – and knowing their
bible).
But I think the
over-all memory of these 50 years is the number of people in
the three parishes (yes, only three, I was very abstemious,
but all with large congregations) whose lives one has been
privileged to touch at times of sorrow and joy. I can recall
some wonderful Christian people whose faith and courage has
strengthened me at times when mine has begun to flag. If
anything convinces me of the reality of the resurrection of
Jesus it has been the evidence of the Risen Christ at work
in so many lives of ordinary people one has been privileged
to know:-
-the old
man in a geriatric hospital who had spent the last forty
years in care following a spinal injury in Canada, whose
eyes were bright with faith and conviction , who never
complained and was joy to visit…. And who sent me an Easter
card every Easter.
-or the
old lag released from Parkhurst Prison, who was commended to
me by the chaplain because he claimed to have been born in
St. Mary Redcliffe ( I never knew if that was true or just a
good line). He’d spent 27 years out of the previous 40 in
jail for petty theft. His fortunes and failures I followed
for the next 25years, rescuing him from various scrapes – he
just stole to survive. Finally I got him into an old
people’s home, where he married a blind lady resident, never
committed another crime ( they didn’t find out about his
past), and died highly respected and loved.
Sometimes a
priest’s life can be lonely, sometimes he feels burdened by
the sufferings of others which in small way through our
ministry we share. But nothing can detract from the
overflowing abundance of God’s grace which is it our
privilege as priests to minister – “just a bit of pipe,”
Dorothy Kerin the great Christian healer used to say – “just
a bit of pipe”, just a channel through which God has
promised his grace will work.
Mancroft friends
here may remember the medieval painting in the Treasury of
St Paul, tormented by his thorn in the flesh (whatever that
was), and above him in a golden cloud, a “glory”, in which
some words could not be seen at all until we had the
painting cleaned at the Courtauld Institute. Then we saw it
read “ My grace is sufficient for thee”.
One thing that
has changed for the better is that Ministry is seen much
more as something that belongs to the whole church, and all
its members share in the priesthood. We must get rid of any
lingering idea that the clergy are the only representatives
of the church, and we must think instead of the whole
church, lay and ordained alike, ministering to the world at
large. This is the way the Bible thinks of the church: The
OT talks of “the people of God”, the NT of “The Body of
Christ, every member a limb with his or her part to play”.
In fact the Bishop, following the example of the Apostles,
lays his hands on all of us, and send us out as Ministers of
Christ, whether at our Confirmation (most of you will have
been confirmed) or for some at our Ordination.
Having said that
,what about the full-time priestly ministry with a special
responsibility in the church, exercised on behalf of Christ
himself, and in the name of all? There are several names we
give to the ordained ministers of Christ, each highlighting
one facet of this great calling, and there might be
something we can learn from them.
First they are
“Priests”. When a Bishop ordained me he laid his hands on
the heads of the candidates and said: “Receive ye the Holy
Spirit for the office and work of a priest in the Church of
God, now committed unto thee by the imposition of our hands.
Whose sins thou dost forgive, they are forgiven, and whose
sins thou dost retain, they are retained. And be thou a
faithful dispenser of the Word of God and of his Holy
Sacraments. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of
the Holy Spirit”. At least those were the words with which I
was ordained – I think they are a slightly dumbed down
modern language version today.
The priest is
called a Dispenser, a word we usually use today of the
person in a white coat behind the counter at the pharmacy,
who takes your prescription, on which is written what you
need to take to make you better, who reads it ( if it is
legible) and makes up the medicine or tablets, and hands it
to you. A priest is a dispenser of God’s Word and Sacraments
to all who come whatever their spiritual needs.
As a priest a
man or woman can celebrate Holy Communion, can assure people
in Jesus’ name that their sins are forgiven: he or she can
give them God’s blessing and so solemnise Holy Matrimony ,
marriage.
If you have
never been to an ordination I think you would be very moved
by it. In the C of E about 3 to 400 men and women every
years are ordained, from all walks of life, varying in age
( few today as young as I was, in fact the average age at
ordination today is 40), in education and background. Each
of them has heard the call of God to serve him in this way,
and each has submitted him or herself to a rigorous series
of interviews by a Bishop, several priests, and lay men and
women, to test that his or her vocation is genuine, and that
he or she has the gifts the church can make use of.
Those who are to
be ordained priest will have served at least a year a
deacons, with a more limited ministry, again to test out in
practice that this is the life they are called to.
The word
“priest” is a shortening of the word “Presbyter”, a Greek
word in the NT translated as Elder because in the NT the
Apostles as they founded congregations in each new place,
appointed and ordained “elders”, or priests, to continue the
work, celebrate the Holy Communion, and care for the flock
on their behalf.
A priest is
called by God , but also (and this is important) chosen and
accepted by the church. And so in a way the priest faces two
ways. He or she leads the people in the worship of God, one
of them, a sinner like them, pleading and
praying for the people entrusted to his or her care.
But also the
priest stands and faces the people, as I’m doing now, and
speaks the Word of God to them, words of forgiveness, of
comfort, of power. And the priest ministers to them God’s
holy food from the holy table.
Sometimes in our
work the priest is with the people, facing God: other times
the priest is on God’s side of the fence ministering God’s
grace to the people. It’s a very, very great privilege – of
which he or she is not worthy – but, you know, it’s also an
obvious case for a split personality. So spare thought for
the strains and tensions this does put a priest under. We
may, for instance, share the real human sadness of the
bereaved, but at the same time have to take God’s part and
also bring his word of comfort and hope. We may feel bowed
down by the weight of our own sin, but we have to speak
God’s forgiveness to his people. The priest represents the
people to God and God to the people in his priestly life and
work. It is a very great responsibility, and a great
privilege.
Another name is
“clergyman”. A strange word when you think of it. “Kleros”
means “lot”, as in cast a lot. It doesn’t mean he’s a
bingo-caller (though I have known clergymen landed with that
job). But do you remember when Judas proved a traitor, the
11 apostles appointed two more, Barsabbas and Matthias, and
prayed “Lord…show which of these two you have chosen”. Then
we read, “ and they cast their lots, and the lot fell on
Matthias”. He was a “clergyman, clergyperson we should say
today! So whoever wants to become a clergyperson, must
believe that he or she has been called by God. Lot or no
lot, God’s mark is upon him or her. If a person takes up
this work for any other reason, he or she’ll be utterly
miserable. But if he or she knows God has called him or her,
then they will find it the most wonderful job in the world.
Every young
person – and every Christian older person too – in this and
every congregation should ask themselves, “Is God calling me
to be a priest?” and if we think this might be so, we should
submit ourselves ( not to the lot) but to the selection
process of the church.
Ministers of
Religion – that’s what the state calls us when it allows us
to sign passports and pensions ( I used to love signing
forms certifying that someone was alive!). The word ministry
reminds us that we “ are your servants for Jesus’ sake.”
Never forget that the greatest desire of a priest is to be
used by his or her people in any way he or she can help
them. The bishop who ordained me 50 years ago put it in a
striking way when he said that at the centre of every living
congregation there is a dying priest (wearing him or herself
out, though not too quickly, the Bishop hoped!) in ministry
to his people.
Lastly an
interesting old-fashioned word is Parson. Latin – Persona,
the Person of the Parish. Persona is the word for “mask”,
which the Roman actor held before his face to assume the
character in a play. And so the Person, or Persona, is the
representation of Christ in that place. He or she is to be
as Christ to their people. To be the Person who shares the
lives of God’s people, the Person to whom young or old can
turn in time of difficulty, and who can rejoice with them in
their joys. The Person who can visit them in sickness, pray
with and for them. The Person from whose hands they receive
God’s holy food for their souls. The Person at whose words
their children are made Christians, , and by whose words
their dear dead are laid to rest. The Person who in God’s
name forgives their sins and gives them God’s blessing. The
Person who in spite of his or her own sinfulness and
inadequacy, represents Christ.
What a wonderful
thing is it to be a Parson! But who is worthy of it? I’m
not, I know. I don’t know how we dare be “parsons”. But I
thank God today for the privilege it has been for me, over
these fifty years, and still is, and I thank him that “his
grace was sufficient for me” and ask him to forgive my
failings.
So please,
please, pray for your clergy, for more clergy and for those
preparing for ordination. A congregation can make or break a
clergyman, you know, and its first duty is to pray for its
priest, as he or she for them. |
