Sermon - Psalm 85 & 3 Facebook Posts

Sermon preached at St. Senan's Inniscarra on Sunday 28th July 2019 - A service of the Word. 

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be now and always acceptable in thy sight O Lord our strength and our redeemer. Amen 

The text I am using today - is from the psalms - From Psalm 85 

In the middle of the psalm we read

Love and faithfulness meet together;

    righteousness and peace kiss each other.

The Lord will indeed give what is good,

    and our land will yield its harvest.

I was struck in the past week when I scrolling through Facebook - by 3 Posts (all by Bishops) have had a profound impact upon my thoughts as I’ve read through them this week 

The First was a from Bishop Ken Clarke - known to many of us here 

He wrote this on Monday

WHAT A CONTRAST!! Thousands were there to see it and yesterday millions around the world watched Shane Lowry's amazing win in The Open at Royal Portrush Golf Course in Northern Ireland. Cheers and celebrations marked his spectacular win. I will never forget it. I rejoiced! 

Nor will I ever forget the same day 47 years ago... 21st July in 1972, during what we call The Troubles. At least twenty bombs exploded in Belfast in the space of eighty minutes, most within a half hour period. Most of them were car bombs and most targeted infrastructure, especially the transport network. Nine people were killed: ….while 130 people of all political persuasions were injured. We will never forget the carnage, the loss of precious lives and the ensuing heartbreak. It became known as Bloody Friday. 
I wept!
What a CONTRAST yesterday.  

THANK YOU to all around the world who have prayed for Ireland! We thank the Lord and we thank you that we are in a different place now. As we thank the Lord for peace please continue to pray for a fresh move of The Holy Spirit in the lives of leaders and people in this beautiful island called Ireland!!! 
Thank you friends!

I share this … because history, our history is made up of darkest moments but also hopeful turn of events as well. 

We know that in our own individual histories as well as in the global scale … there are dark, bleak moments but then there are beautiful moments of love, peace and reconciliation. 

The second from Bishop Paul Colton - which was a post based upon a sermon he preached in crookhaven a few weeks ago about Rural Ministry -I mention it here - when things look bleak or desolate … actually there still is hope. He said …

Where the people of God are, in a particular place in the sparsely populated areas such as this, they are ‘the Church’ as much as the big city and suburban parishes in Cork, Dublin or in the North East of Ireland are ‘the Church’.   

‘It is no secret’ said Bishop Colton, ‘that in places like this, our Diocese, the Church of Ireland as a whole, indeed other churches too, and not only religious institutions, but also other organisations have been and are reflecting about how best to support the sustainability of rural Ireland. 

In this diocese we are working to have confidence - that we are indeed in a new place - The world is a different place than it was 47, 30 20 years ago - Thank God for that. 

But where we are now we need to own the fact that things are different and we might need to do things differently that we ever did before - I mention this because we won’t do things if we don’t have confidence that the future is bright, that we have a future and things can be different. 

In the darkest depths of the violence in Northern Ireland - there were always people who held out hope that things could be different, that worked for peace and reconciliation. That even in the depths of despair, in the unbearable pain of loss that a future could be crafted that communities could work together, live together and play together. 

At this point in my sermon - up until early this morning I was going to be looking at some stuff about the future of the Church and get quite excited  … but as I woke this morning some words from another Bishop that I read yesterday were echoing through my mind - and have changed what I want to say this morning. I don’t normally do this! - Nor do I want to get political in the pulpit 

The Church of Ireland Bishop of Clogher in an open letter to Prime Minister  Boris Johnston which appeared in the Belfast Telegraph on Friday about issues within his Cross Border Diocese It can be found in full on the diocese of Clogher website… 

see -Clogher Diocese

Bishop John writes - The Border and the problems which it poses for any form of Brexit are not only technical or technological issues. Nor are they simply issues to do with trade or security matters. Expressed in the starkest terms, the Border is the background against which all political and much cultural life in Northern Ireland (and in a more limited way in the Republic of Ireland) is worked out. Some people like the Border and others do not, but positively or negatively, consciously or unconsciously, it is pivotal to how politicians and people here assess almost all policy alternatives. 

For a political border, it is very beautiful in places. That is largely because of the hundreds of small farms looked after by hundreds of sturdy farmers along its length. There isn’t much money in it for most of them, but if you ask them why they don’t move to somewhere less difficult to farm they say “You can’t roll up the land and take it with you”. The long term well-being of men and women like these, and their neighbours all along the border, requires and deserves a clearly spelt-out, sustainable agreement between both sides. This is so that they have not only that material basis necessary for civilised living but also hope for their children’s future. Neither peace nor prosperity are possible without hope. 

I think it was the great English public figure and man of Letters Thomas Babbington Macauley who said of Ireland that “the molten lava of the past flows hot and dangerous under the thin crust of the present”.
The ground on which people build and grow in the Border region feels particularly fragile today. It is almost possible to feel the heat of the past burning the soles of our feet. 

So, please, in your consideration of the future of this place: tread carefully. And with deep and genuine concern I would ask you to be very conscious of the legacy your Government will leave. 

I have tremendous hope for the people of this Island and the church on this Island - Yes the turbulent times that the UK is going through at the moment and the uncertainty that is being faced. Yes we must pray for our leaders at this time. Our thoughts and prayers are with all those closer to the border than we are. 

Returning to Bishop Ken Clarkes comment - prayer and working for peace got us to where we are today - My hope and prayer is that this will be an opportunity for Christians right across the island of Ireland to stand up, speak truth to those in political leadership and call for action where there has been a void an perhaps where there is lack of understanding. 

People, kingdoms, governments, borders, politics, farming, relationships between nations - the world has been here before and will be here again. 

The psalmist poetically paints a picture of love and faithfulness - other wise translated as - love and truth meeting and going deeper right living and peace embracing and kissing each other 

What a wonderful picture and then the psalmist looks at the fruit of this ‘the Lord will give what is good and the land will bear fruit. 

It starts from a meeting of love and truth 

That seems like a good start to any dialogue which may lead to lasting peace. 

This is not just for nations - its the same pattern for Churches, Communities, families and individuals. 

The gospel mentions that the Lord will give good gifts to those who ask him … are we asking?, are we seeking? Are we knocking at the door? 

What ever our politics … lets pray for Leo and Borris as they discuss and sort out the future of this land. 

Let’s pray for those deep divisions in this land … that there may be healing and reconciliation and peace. 

Let’s do what we can to work for that peace … showing love, living rightly and displaying peace