Once upon a time, I was assigned an annual task of being on the team for a Christian youth camp for 14 – 25 year olds. I sighed, muttered darkly, but took it on and hoped to wriggle out of it three years later. Which I almost, almost managed, in fact, for ten months I had, but circumstances were such I went back as main leader, which I did for the next four years. (Plus another couple of years later on as Chief Cook and Bottle Washer to an experimental split of age ranges to the 18+ version. Then, I really did formally leave!!)
It’s still in existence, I get an honourable mention on the commemorative 40th Anniversary tea-towel, which I’m very proud of, especially as I instituted the Daily Tea-Towel Boil Wash in 1993, my first year, when the theme was “Let Your Light Shine” . Yep, we sang Shine, Jesus, Shine, a lot!
More importantly, a huge number of significant people in my life date back to our time together every summer on that camp site, to planning weekends and reunions all over the country.
I preached to this bunch of people a good bit – at least once per camp – it’s fair to say I learnt a lot about it. I also got invited to preach at Alison’s First Eucharist, which she mentioned on her sabbatical blog recently.
“Oooo” said me, “I’ve still got that sermon, it survived the cull.” and I promised to put it on-line for her and her blog readers. (If it was hidden on my memory stick, it survived, all my paper based ones got shredded in one massive paperwork cull about ten years ago. )
Sermon for Alison’s First Eucharist 2005
I promise I’ll be finished this sermon quickly, can you lend me a watch so I can time it?
I promise it’s going to be sunny.
I promise it’s going to be a great day at school/work tomorrow.
I promise I’ll give your watch back to you.
I promise…..
Which of the promises did you believe in? Why?
Would you believe the promises if you knew me a bit better?
Don’t know about you, but I need to trust the person who’s making the promise before I believe in their promise!!! It was very brave of you to lend me your watch, because I didn’t tell you before I asked to borrow it that I’m very good at losing watches and watches are very good at going wrong on me. And I’m very good at forgetting I’ve borrowed a watch and forgetting to give it back!!
Do you still think you should trust me? Are you going to give me a chance to see if I can remember to get it right today? Thank you!
Once, Alison and I used to run a Youth Camp. Some of our Youth Camp people are here today! Anyway, one of the things Alison and I go very good at was organising surprise parties on the camp… there was the year of the Silver Wedding, and an Engagement party… Well, let’s be honest here. Alison was the really good one for organising a party, and I got better at it as time went by. The time came for Alison to stop doing the Camp, and she made me promise faithfully that I would not organise a surprise party behind her back. I kept my promise. But she doesn’t believe me and hasn’t believed me for 6 years or so. That’s because I’d not promised to stop anyone else organising a surprise party. I only added the food to the Cash and Carry list, um, after a guarded phone call about this in Alison’s hearing in her house, and I made sure I bought it, so I really didn’t organise it at all!! She got her own back the year after when it was my turn to leave, by coming back to be part of my leaving party…because I thought I’d remembered everyone who I had to make promise not to do it to me, and I’d not even thought they’d sneakily get Alison in on the act!! I am sad to tell you she enjoyed every minute of it!!
Oddly enough, we’re still friends after all that – and I think we still trust each other’s promises, except when it comes to parties
Today’s readings are all about God’s promises. Let’s start with the first reading, God’s rainbows – his reminder to himself about his promises to us. I guess when Noah first went off in the ark, and was rained on for 40 days and 40 nights, and thought he’d never see dry land again, it would have been so easy to give up on God, and not trust in him any more. And despite all the human race’s best efforts to destroy themselves and our world, efforts to give up on God, there is still plenty of evidence around that God hasn’t given up on us. Even in the darkest days, a rainbow can make us smile and remember God’s promises to us.
The second reading is about more than Jesus’ God’s promises to us. It’s about how we respond to God’s Promises, what we are going to do. It’s not just about God promising us what is good and best for us, promises are a two way thing – and we’ve got to play our part, too. The really scary bit is that God trusts us to do that, to carry out his work in the world. He chose us to do it!! Not us choosing God, but God choosing us.
I thought I was going to spend my life teaching music… but the more I got to know God, and what he wanted from me, the more I discovered it had to be what God wanted from me, not just what I thought I had to offer.
I can promise God to love and serve him until I’m blue in the face, but if I don’t actually do anything about it, then it’s just empty words and means absolutely nothing. I’m dressed in this strange brown dress, called a habit, because I did just that – made promises to love, and to serve God for all of my life. And for me, that means in a religious community, and all that that may bring. Which often has had nothing whatsoever to do with what I thought God might ask of me!! For you it means something else, (school, work, retirement – wherever you happen to be and whoever you happen to be with) and for Alison, it’s meant, amongst other things, the long, winding route to ordination…. and today isn’t the end of that road, it’s more like the end of the beginning!!! And only God knows where the next twists and turns of the path are going to take her, and you at St Michaels, and those of us who have known Alison for lesser or longer times. None of which will do her nerves any good at all, but it’s true. You’re just going to have to trust God on this one, and not organise him!
The Eucharist/Communion service is the place to come back to God again, and again. It’s where we are reminded of his promise to us, and our promises to him. It’s where we hear of God’s stories, where we pray for our world and ourselves, it’s where we come together as a church. It’s where we put our trust in God, and where he puts his trust in us. It’s where we forget ourselves, and put ourselves in God’s hands, and where we let him be put into our hands. It’s where heaven meets earth! And that’s a promise. Amen.
The astute reader will note that, in those days, I belonged to a religious community which I no longer do today. The promises I made to God, however, still hold me firmly and whilst I made Life Vows with Life intention there were excellent reasons “hidden in the will of God” for not remaining in community.
View from my organist's stool 