Purple magnolia

A sermon preached by the Rev’d Natasha Woodward at the Church of Unity, Orpington Sunday 27 September 2009, 16 after Trinity, Proper 21, year B Readings: Numbers 11.4-6, 10-16, 24-29; James 5.13-20; Mark 9.38-50 Does one person’s success mean another person’s failure? Does one person’s prosperity mean another’s poverty? If one person is rich, does that necessarily mean that someone else is poor? For every winner there is a loser, for every first there is a last, so it seems in our world. Resources are limited. Sometimes one person having plenty does mean that others do without – look at Zimbabwe and the ostentatious wealth of those in power will the people descend into more and more extreme poverty – here is a case where no doubt the wealth of the rich is literally made up of what the poor should be receiving. Or on a more parochial level think of a buffet supper – what happens if the first person to fill up his or her plate takes all the cheese? There is nothing left for the rest

A sermon preached by the Rev’d Natasha Woodward at the Church of All Saints, Orpington Sunday 20 September, 15 after Trinity; Proper 20; Year B Readings: Jeremiah 11.18-20, James 3.13-4.3, 7-8a; Mark 9.30-37 Someone said to me recently that having children was the first time in his life he had done something that wasn’t selfish. In his view of himself, having children was the first thing he did which put someone else first. I am impressed by his humility in saying this, and by his enthusiasm for his new way of life. It also must be a sad realisation for him that in his first 30-something years before he had children, in his own view, he had never done anything that wasn’t selfish - although I'm sure that wasn't really true, it was what he said he thought of himself. It took the true turning upside-down-topsy-turvyiness of life with a new little baby for him to put someone else first. The other side of this is that this man was also very successful in all that he did – in t

A sermon preached by the Rev’d Natasha Woodward at the Church of All Saints, Orpington Sunday 6 September 2009, 13 after Trinity / Proper 18 Readings: Isaiah 35.4-7a; James 2.1-10, 14-17; Mark 7.24-end “Left Behind” is a series of 16 novels have sold in their millions in America. They are based on a theological doctrine of “the rapture”- this is a belief mainly held by some American Christians. It is derived from a completely literal reading of the Bible, including, the book of revelation and phrases in the letters. The belief is that at some time in the future, there will be a ‘rapture’, when everyone in the world who is a true Christian believer is taken away – and all the rest of us are left. The novels are about that period, what happens when a seemingly random selection of people are instantly removed from whatever they happen to be doing – whether flying planes or performing surgery – and the subsequent wars and battles, which go on for 16 novels, when you include the ‘preque

A sermon preached by the Rev’d Natasha Woodward at the Church of All Saints, and the Church of Unity, Orpington Sunday 21 August 2009 (Bartholomew – Transferred) Readings: Acts 5.12-16; Luke 22.24-30 In our gospel reading this morning Jesus said to the disciples “You are those who have stood by me in my trials.” Today I’d like to explore a little of what that might mean for us. There is a story of a gathering of a branch of Amnesty International in England. It got to the notices, and the guy giving the notices got up and said – as you know, every branch of Amnesty has a particular political prisoner who they support by sending letters and campaigning. We now have to find a new one, as, unfortunately, our prisoner has been released. Not quite the right turn of phrase – for a group of people who were supporting this prisoner in his trials – to describe his release as unfortunate. A mistake of course, just a mistake of language, but one that could be revealing. Because there are s

A sermon preached by the Rev’d Natasha Woodward at the Church of All Saints’, Orpington 6.30pm Evensong, Sunday 21 June 2009, 2 after Trinity Readings: Jeremiah 10.1-16; Romans 11.25-end Veronica Guerin was the Irish journalist who worked in the 90s to expose drug criminals, and was murdered by them as a consequence. A film about her was on tv this week, all the more moving when you realise that these events took place so recently that her young son in the film is now a young man. It becomes apparent in the film that this was not a woman who knew no fear – fear of the personal consequences of trying to expose major criminals – she did know fear, but she was more fearful of the consequences of letting the drug trade go on unhindered. Of course her motivations in chasing after her story must have been mixed, and the film depicts her drive as being in part about her desire to prove herself as a journalist. But part of her motivation was also her compassion, especially for the children

A sermon preached by the Rev’d Natasha Woodward at the Church of All Saints, Foots Cray, and the Church of Unity, Orpington Sunday 28 June 2009, St Peter Readings: Acts 12.1-11; 1 Peter 2.19-end; Matt 16.13-19 Petertide. A time for ordinations. Because Peter was the first minister – the first priest – let’s say. Yesterday I was lucky enough to be able to share in the ordination of a dozen or so new priests at Rochester cathedral. I was also naturally thinking back to my own ordination as priest 2 years ago, and as deacon a year before that – and thinking about just how much water has gone under the bridge since then, in a short 3 years – I just can’t believe how much I have experienced, and how much I have grown. I wonder how Peter felt at the start of his own ministry, when he looked back at his 3 years of ‘training’ if you like, when he accompanied Jesus. I imagine it might have been hard for him to even remember what it was like before he met Jesus – what was it like not to k

A sermon preached by the Rev’d Natasha Woodward at the Church of All Saints’, Orpington Sunday14 June , 1st after Trinity, Proper 6 Readings: Ezek 17.22-end; 2 Cor 5.6-10; Mark 4.26-34 We’re in the green season (vestments, etc.). Half the year – which is about growth. Nothing spectacular, just steady living and growth in the faith; as in life - sometimes moving house, changing job, getting married, etc. Rest of the time 'just' living - ordinary time - ordinary life. It seems appropriate that we begin this 'season' this year with readings about seeds and trees and growth in faith. In a few months time this green season in will come to an end shortly after the Harvest festival in the Autumn - a festival all about growth and its fruits. So, early on the seeds are planted, and then it is time to nurture them, to feed them, to wait for them to grow, in anticipation of the harvest. We are invited to think of this as an analogy of the life of faith – s

A sermon preached by the Rev’d Natasha Woodward at the Church of All Saints’, Orpington at Evensong on Trinity Sunday, 6 June 2009 (year B) Readings: Ezekiel 1.4-10, 22-28a; Revelation 4 I find myself feeling sorry for babies and children before they can really talk properly: they so often clearly want to communicate more than they are able to say. When a baby cries parents have to guess what the problem is – too hot, too cold, hungry, wet, lonely – if only the baby could tell us, it would be so much easier. So I feel sorry for the babies, and think it must be great for them when they first learn to speak, and can begin to say those things which they remember being unable to communicate. In everyday terms it’s a problem that we leave behind when we learn to speak, but at another level it stays with us. However sophisticated we become, there are times when words simply fail us. We do not know how to describe what we see or experience. “I wish you could have seen it.” “You had to s

A sermon preached by the Rev’d Natasha Woodward At St Andrew's Orpington Sunday 18 January 2009 (Confession of St Peter) Week of Prayer for Christian Unity Readings: Ezek 3.4-11; 1 Pet 5.1-4; Matt 16.13-19 Peter "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." Jesus is Lord – only thing we can agree on. For some it means that when Jesus died on the cross it was the greatest sacrifice God could make, that God's wrath for the sins of the humanity was satisfied – no human death would have been enough, but the death of his own son was. For others "Jesus is Lord" means that God comes among us in powerlessness and poverty. "Jesus is Lord" for many means that God is closer to us than we can imagine, that Jesus is the height of that human closeness to God. Or "Jesus is Lord" can mean that Jesus is Lord over death – Jesus died – but in God, as God, overcame that death in his resurrection. "Jesus is Lord" can be a statement about Je

A sermon preached by the Rev’d Natasha Woodward At St Nicholas, Strood Sunday 11 January 2009: Baptism of Christ Readings: Mark 1.4-11; Acts 19.1-7 I've been asked to preach tonight about something I am passionate about. I'm also told that I have slightly longer available than I normally do when I preach. Now that you're all safely here, and the doors have been locked, I feel ready to reveal to you that I am passionate about philosophy. And theology. And how they relate. Tonight, I would like to share with you a little bit of philosophy, to talk about its significance, and see just how much it has to say about the Christian life. This little bit of philosophy comes from Austin Farrer, who was a priest, theologian, philosopher, biblical scholar and poet. He lived an worked in Oxford, and died in 1968, unfortunately young, when he was only in his sixties. In the years since his death he has been a little bit out of fashion. The references to him that we find are to

A sermon preached by the Rev’d Natasha Woodward At All Saints' Church, Orpington Sunday, 11 January 2009 (Baptism of Christ) Readings: Mark 1.4-11; Acts 19.1-7 I've noticed that I find it easier to promise to do something if it doesn't involve being in a particular place at a particular time. If someone says – come and preach at my church sometime! I say yes of course. But – come and preach on the 11th of January, as I am doing this evening at another church – makes me just a little jittery. There's the moment of writing it in the diary, when I have to consider whether I can really make this commitment. Much easier just to say, yes I'll come sometime! I wonder if most of us are like this. That, for legitimate reasons, because of busy diaries, or uncertainties about our health or our other commitments, it is much harder to make a commitment that involves saying we'll be in a particular place at a particular time. It's easy to say we must have a chat s

A sermon preached by the Rev’d Natasha Woodward At King's College London, 15 October 2008 Reading: Luke 13:18-21 The mustard seed, the yeast in the bread, are powerful images. The physical reality is that something large can't come out of something small. Something's effect is proportionate to its size. And yet the mustard seed, the yeast have big effects. And so I can say – in this world – we might feel small, we might feel insignificant, but with God's power, we can do great things. I could tell you a host of inspirational stories, about people like Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King, Desmond Tutu whoever you like – and talk about the small, insignificant events in their lives which set them on the road to achieving so much. And you would perhaps be inspired, that, although aware of your smallness, you could do something great. I thought about preaching a sermon like that. But I have to admit, I felt a bit bored at the thought of it. And if I'm bored wit