Colourful Dreamer

 Gate Pa – 30 th July 2013 Readings: Hebrew Scripture:     2 Kings  2:1-2, 6-14 Psalm:                          Psalm 77:1-2, 11-20 Epistle:                        Gal 5:1, 13-25 Gospel:                        Luke 9:51-62        What I want to say: Who are we passing our mantle on to and what are we passing on? What I want to happen: People to reflect on the important people in their lives and how they helped shaped them today How they seek to help shape and support younger people today Reflect on what need to let go of pass on mantle of Christ The Sermon        1.       Introduction: Last week Jo asked us to think about people inspired us Take that bit further this week at 9.30 service explore story just heard of Elijah and Elisha spend time four groups             praying story Elijah and Elisha             responding to story in art             telling stories those gone before us in this parish and how we inherited their mantle

This is a really interesting article from Spanky. I have a lot of time for him. I attended the Kitchen several times and was really engaged with it's final incarnation. What I likes about it was that what happened on Sunday wasn't the point. What happened the rest of the week was the point, and what happened at the Kitchen helped people see that and live that out. I liked that. What worries me about some of what he ways about Fresh Expression is that what happens on Sunday becomes the point. Mission becomes getting people to come to church. Don't get me wrong, I think what happens on Sunday, or whenever we gather as God's people, is important, but it is not the point. It should be a vehicle by which God shapes and moulds us to be a people of mission, to be a people who in Rowan Williams’ words, "find out what God is doing and join in." I am also not as convinced as Spanky that the prayer book is redundant. But we do need to use it in more life giving ways.

Last week Jo Keogan talked to us about LT4Youth, the Diocesan leadership training programme for young people, and our role walking with those young people as mentors and supporters. This week we explore this in terms of our mantle and we are asked: who are we passing our mantle on to and what are we passing on? In the reading from 2 Kings we hear the story of Elijah passing his mantle on the Elisha. A mantle was originally a cape worn simply to ward off the cold. For Elijah it became a symbol of his prophetic call. As Elijah tours the sacred sites of the Northern Kingdom, Elisha tags along denying what is happening. At the end he watches his mentor being taken up to heaven in a fiery chariot and is rewarded with Elijah’s mantle. This symbolises that Elijah has passed on all he needs and that God will be with him as he had been with Elijah. Who are we preparing to pick up our mantles? The other three readings help us explore the nature of our mantle, or what we are passing on.

There are things that Bishop Justin thinks and says I struggle with. I really don't think he gets liturgy, or its place in shaping us as people of God. But at times he inspires me with how he has lived his life, and he helps me call into question what I seek out of life, and out of my life in God. Do I really give my best for the least? Most of the time no, sadly. Do I strive for a world where all can contribute and all can benefit? I talk about it, but strive is a heavy word.  So well done Bishop Justin. I pray we give you the space to be who God calls you to be, and find ways of making normal boring bishop stuff happen around that.

At the heart of this weeks gospel is evil. We meet a man, tormented by oppressive evil spirits, a great problem for his community who seek to protect themselves by binding him in chains in the cemetery. Nothing works and they are at their wits ends. Then along comes Jesus, fresh from calming wild storms on lakes. And in a flash all is changed. Evil is outsmarted. The man is liberated. Pigs die. And the people are filled with….awe, wonder? Fear! They are afeared to their core and ask him to leave. For many of us it is a story that makes us feel uncomfortable. We are not so sure what to believe about or what to do with these evil spirits. But at its core this is about evil, and the man is a victim of the work of evil. One possible interesting word play in this story is the name “legion”. The Roman Legions were the power on which Roman peace was based. Wo betide any who fell fowl of that legion. For those who did Legion was evil personified. Merciless, unjust, ruthless. They coul

Today’s Gospel reading from Luke comes at the end of a section that began with Jesus reading the scroll in his home synagogue in Nazareth. The stories that follow show Jesus doing exactly what he proclaimed, bringing good news to the poor, proclaiming release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, letting the oppressed go free and proclaiming the year of the Lord’s favour. Today marks the climax of those stories. The scene is a common one. The average life expectancy then is around 35. Funerals are common. When we read stories like this our focus is usually on the miracle of the young man being raised from the dead. But the focus of the story is really the woman, a widow and a mother. As a widow she is in a very precarious position. Her only hope of economic survival is her son, who is now dead. She is facing destitution and maybe her own death. As the two crowds collide at the gate to Nain, Jesus sees what is going on and is filled with compassion for her. In a