Final Sermon Canon Ed Pruen
10.1.21 Mark 1. 4-11
And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the
forgiveness of sins.
The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptised by him in the River Jordan. John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt round his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey.
And this was his message: ‘After me comes the one more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie.
I baptise you withwater, but he will baptise you with the Holy Spirit.’
At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptised by John in the Jordan.
Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove.
And a voice came from heaven: ‘You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.’
Let us pray
Lord, it is your ministry that we share – not ours, - may we hear your word as I share these words now. Amen.
Wearing “L” Plate
Those words from his Father must have been a source of encouragement for Jesus throughout his life:
“… with you I am well pleased.”
Words spoken by His Father at his baptism as he began the journey of his ministry.
For me, over 41 years in ministry has been a long journey –
Put it this way - sometimes people in their 40’s come up to me and tell me that I baptized them as a baby!
That kind of focuses the mind!
It was my late dad who baptised me in the village church of Didmarton - one of the parish churches he
was looking after in Gloucestershire. It’s in his diary for 1956, and I have it with me.
On the 12th January – he has written simply –
“My son born – 2.15am”.
Turn a few pages and you come to 11th March – 4th
Sunday in Lent – “Edward baptised”.
He would have prayed for me as he baptized me. I wonder what he prayed for?
So, I’m wearing an “L” plate. Why? And what does the “L” stand for? There are lots of possibles:
L – Laughter – something I have always encouraged here – especially in PCC meetings when folk have taken themselves far too seriously!
Loyalty, Liberty, Light?
Or even Loos? – there have been endless issues with toilets in all four parishes – so yes … tempting!
But no, I’m wearing an “L” plate to remind us of three things:
First of all - L is for Learning.
Even though I am retiring, I am still a disciple – a learner.
Once a disciple, always a disciple – and in so many ways, so far as being a Christian learner is
concerned, it’s only just begun.
Those words: “with you I am well pleased.” – they were, of course, said at the START of Jesus’ ministry – not at the end.
In other words, we serve Christ throughout our lives with nothing to prove – we live knowing that we are already loved.
It is not something we have to earn.
When I was born I was loved by my parents – it’s the same with God – even when you were still being knit together in your mother’s womb - you were loved by God.
And the “L” plate reminds us that one of the joys of life is that the more we learn, the more we realize how much more there is to know, and how much loved by God we really are.
You know, we have been given two wonderful gifts in life, the gift to love and the gift to ask questions. Jesus asked questions all the time.
There were 183 direct questions put to him. But he only gave 3 direct answers.
Instead, he asked questions all the time – helping us to think for ourselves and work out the answers. In fact we have a record of 248 questions asked by Jesus.
I really treasure the questions that I often struggled to answer through over 43 years of challenging pastoral care.
From the day I conducted my first funeral, aged 23, the years as a hospital chaplain in London, years in the back streets of poor neighbourhoods, 16 years at Treloars, plus the day to day funerals and
tragedies of parish ministry – the questions can overwhelm you.
But this is how we grow.
My faith is stronger now because of them.
And I long for our churches to be safe places to
doubt, to ask questions, and to tell the truth, even when it’s uncomfortable.
We shouldn’t be afraid to talk about the tough stuff—biblical interpretation, sexuality, racial reconciliation, and social justice—but without simplistic answers.
We want to bring our whole selves through the church doors, without leaving our hearts and minds behind, without wearing a mask…. as it were.
Jesus once said: “I am among you as one who serves”. And he encouraged his disciples to learn from this. In the King James Bible the word leader appears only 6 times. But the word servant appears 900 times.
And the question and the test for any ministry is:
Are the people you serve growing closer to Christ?
This is the measure of any ministry.
My job has been “To know Christ and make him
known.”
If you are closer to Christ after my 4 and a half years with you – I would be thrilled – because its not
about whether we managed to get the loos working, or money in the plate.
And that is your calling too: “To know Christ and
make him known.”
This meeting place is the learning place for the marketplace.
That’s why there is another letter to think about: the letter “Y”.
You have heard me say this over and over – it’s not
our church, but yours, its not “please give money to
our church”, but yours.
We need to add the letter “Y” to the word “our” all the time.
Because the church is never true to itself when it is living for itself, because if it is chiefly concerned with saving its own life, it will lose it.
The nature of the church is such that it must always be engaged in finding new ways by which to
transcend itself.
Its main responsibility is always outside its own walls in the redemption of common life.
It is always “Welcome to your church”, not our
church …
Do you remember the ten words that can change a life?
“Would you like to come to your church with me?’
And then, in the words of Dietrich Bonhoeffer:
“Your life as a Christian should make non-believers question their disbelief in God”
Which brings us to another reason why I am wearing an “L” plate this morning:
“L” refers to learning but it can also refer to Love. Love, laughter and life.
Because of Love, being a Christian is all about adding life to your years –
“I have come that you might have life –life in all its
fullness” - said Jesus.
The Blessing Cross reminds us of the vertical love for God.
And the horizontal - love for neighbour. But the Gospel is a tough love –
When my Dad retired from the parish of Heckington in the Fens of Lincolnshire one of his
churchwardens said at his leaving service: –
“Well we don’t want another one like Pruen – all the time preaching Christianity”.
Vicars are not here to entertain – even though we sometimes slip into it.
Instead my job has been to comfort the afflicted but also to afflict the comfortable.
I know I have preached some tough and
provocative things – but that is because the Gospel is tough - its tough love.
The manifesto of Jesus, as he began his ministry in Nazareth in Luke 4, is very clear that the Gospel is about good news for the poor and vulnerable. And its not what most people want to hear.
We are not supposed to go out there and be palatable and give the news that people want to hear.
We're supposed to go out there and tell the truth. If the truth makes others uncomfortable—good. Show me an alarm clock that makes a sweet sound and I’ll show you an alarm clock I can sleep through. Christians awake…
Finally, I guess my “L” plate stands for Leaving. My companion throughout my time here and throughout nearly 40 years, has been my wife, Margaret.
There are whole books written on the complex challenge of being married to a vicar and living in the public eye.
Both of us know John Betjamin’s words:
‘It gets the trouble over quicker
To go and blame things on the Vicar.’
But I cannot begin to express my gratitude for Margaret who has somehow juggled her own
vocation as a nurse and a mum and a grandma too. We leave with many uncertainties – not least that the home we have been trying to buy for many months has yet to be completed.
But we have learnt over the years never to be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.
Above all … we both want to thank those of you who have been supportive of the mission of the church here, and the prayers you have prayed for us.
The four churches in the benefice only exist because of the support and care of a few people.
And yet so many people depend upon them, especially in time of need.
Perhaps you too are being called to serve, to support, to enable, to clean, to help lead, to fundraise, to be part of all that the church is for. There is much still to do, and much that can still be done.
It’s good to remember that we are Angli-cans, not Angli-can’ts!
And so now the service begins: as it could easily say at the back of the church as we leave –
So let me close with those wonderful words of
Howard Thurman (1899–1981)
When the song of the angels is stilled, When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flocks, The work of Christmas begins:
To find the lost, To heal the broken, To feed the hungry, To release the prisoner, To rebuild the nations,
To bring peace among people, To make music in the heart.
