Sermon by Marjorie Brown for Passion Sunday, March 29th 2009

I want to anticipate and shorten the annual parochial church meeting by using this opportunity not only to reflect on the gospel of the day but also to give my vicar’s report. But I will not take time in the pulpit to rehearse the many thank yous that I have included in the written version. They are heartfelt, but I will ask you to read them if you have not already done so.

Let me start with the gospel reading from John, which introduces a theme that the Lent groups have been discussing, based on Timothy Radcliffe’s book Why Go to Church? It is about what seeing Jesus means – the request made by the Greeks to Philip and then to Andrew and then to Jesus himself. We see Jesus truly and recognise him as Lord when we see him with eyes of love, and when know that we are seen by him. When our eyes are opened we discover what we are called to be and to do. Our radical freedom is to become who we are in God’s eyes. We freely choose whether or not to follow and to serve, whatever the cost. It may possibly be at the cost of our lives. It will certainly be sacrificial in many ways that we cannot predict. But our deepest happiness will be in responding to that love that draws us in.

Jesus says that on the cross he will be lifted up in order to draw all people to himself. Desmond Tutu has commented on this passage in these words – and you will have to supply the passion and charisma of his delivery: "Jesus did not say, 'If I be lifted up I will draw some'." Jesus said, 'If I be lifted up I will draw all, all, all, all, all. Black, white, yellow, rich, poor, clever, not so clever, beautiful, not so beautiful. It's one of the most radical things. All, all, all, all, all, all, all, all. All belong. Gay, lesbian, so-called straight. All, all are meant to be held in this incredible embrace that will not let us go. All."

Whew! What a mission statement. And it brings me back to the business of our annual meeting. You will know that our mission aim at St Mary’s is the simple phrase “to make Jesus Christ known.” To make him known does not just mean that people have heard his story and the claims that Christians make about him. To make Jesus known means seeing him and recognising him as the Lord. Our mission is to proclaim that all people are the ones whom Jesus loves and for whom he died. If they do not hear that they are held in the incredible embrace of God’s love, whoever they are, then they do not truly know who Jesus is.

So our actions must mirror our words. If they do not, how will the message be understood? How can Jesus Christ be known if his followers fail to offer his radical welcome and with it, the challenge to offer our lives in his service?

So here we are, on this Passion Sunday, remembering how Jesus turned his face towards Jerusalem and the death that would be the inevitable outcome of his lived-out message. What an appropriate day on which to reflect on the way we live out our mission statement.

This is a parish where a great many things go on. There have been many wonderful initiatives, put in motion and sustained by the sacrificial work of many committed and loving people. I have often heard it quoted that the three particular pillars of St Mary’s life are its worship, its music and its outreach to young people, the historical reason for the church being here in the first place. There are many other strands to our mission, of course, particularly in the area of pastoral care, but for my first annual meeting let me say just a few words about these core commitments.

The most important thing about them is that they must all serve our mission statement, to make Jesus Christ known. Through the experience of worshipping in this church, through the beauty of the music that we offer, and through the activities and care provided for children and young people, the inclusive and challenging love of God must be made known to all. The practical questions arise about how to do that.

I want to focus on two particular challenges that were given to me at the interview when you were seeking a new priest. The trustees said they were looking for someone to give a lead in integrating our church-based and community-based youthwork, and also to find ways to help the many new young families feel more included in the worship and life of St Mary’s. As I said in my written report, I have been greatly encouraged to find that this vision is widely shared.

Both of these challenges will involve trying things that may or may not work, at least initially. We must not be afraid to try them anyway. Last month we experimented with an all-age eucharist at 10.30, celebrated at a nave altar with the choir leading the congregational singing – this was an attempt to unite our commitments to worship, music and young people all in one go! Responses were positive enough to suggest that we should do it again on the Sundays when the whole church family worships together four or five times a year.

Another experiment will be a separate, earlier children’s mass at 9.15 am on the 19th of April and the 24th of May, two days when Sunday school is taking a break. The solemn parish eucharist will follow in the usual way at 10.30 on these Sundays. This will provide, I hope, the opportunity for young families to worship and learn together in a child-friendly atmosphere. The new PCC will have an awayday in June to revamp our mission action plan and consider further ways to include the many young families we are so blessed to have as members of this church.

Since I wrote the report that is published in the booklet, I had the privilege of spending a day with our young candidates who were confirmed last Sunday. We decided that we would continue to meet on Sunday evening a month and invite other teenagers who are members of this church to join us for discussions and film shows, to add to the outings that Yejide already organises. You may know that the PCC has taken a risky step in committing additional funds to support the church-based youth provision, so this is clearly a high priority for the leadership of the parish.

In order to face the very big challenge of finding more common ground between our church-based youthwork and our social inclusion project, we plan to arrange a visit for young people to Westminster to tour Parliament and meet Glenda Jackson. The big idea on the horizon is to twin with a parish in London’s link diocese of New York. This could lead to exchanges for both young people and church musicians and to learning from each other new ideas that may help us in our mission.

In music and worship, we must continue to provide excellence as well as diversity. I am delighted that both choral Evensong and the contemplative prayer services are up and running again on Sunday evenings. It has been a great joy to arrive in this parish in time for the last few performances in the international concert series – and it is wonderful that all the tickets for tonight’s St John’s Passion have been sold.

Many people in the Lent groups asked for more quiet time for personal prayer in church, and we have now established the two-minute silence before the collect. There will no doubt be other experiments in the months ahead – some will work and become part of the great St Mary’s tradition, and others will be quietly dropped. To live is to change, and to be perfect is to have changed often, as John Henry Newman so wisely said. We are not yet perfect at St Mary’s, for which I thank God: until we merrily meet in heaven, we will continue to be a work in progress. As we learn to see Jesus with the eyes of love, we will follow him into all kinds of surprising places. I look forward to sharing the journey with you. Amen.