Conkering King

Here's an extended version of my article for September:

Image by Mabel Amber from Pixabay

With Autumn fast approaching, golden brown leaves will be falling to the ground along with various nuts and seeds, and perhaps the most nostalgia-inducing of all is the conker. The shiny mahogany-brown shell can evoke happy memories of childhood games, or even just the joy of collecting as many as you can. The game of conkers, like many traditional games, has many different variants, rules and scoring systems. Often a conker's score increases by defeating another conker, and it's designation reflects that: so, a conker that has beaten one other is called a 'one-er'; then if it defeats another it becomes a 'two-er' and so on. A variant of this is that the victorious conker receives all the victories of the defeated conker: thus a 'four-er' that defeats a 'two-er' becomes a 'six-er' (or sometimes a 'seven-er' if it also gets a point for the victory too – cue many a playground dispute!!).

Sometimes games and sports are seen as practice for, or imitation of, battles or geo-political events. And the system in conkers of ranking based on previous victories, and in particular of absorbing the victories of the defeated conker, has a parallel in ancient history. From the twelfth century BC onwards, it was common in the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent for the supreme ruler of the area to be known as the “King of Kings” often because they or their predecessors had defeated the other rulers in the region. Two of the Persian kings mentioned in the Bible, Darius and Xerxes, referred to themselves as the King of Kings, and variations of this title were used by the rulers of the Greek Empire which defeated Persia to become the regional superpower.

For us, the title 'King of Kings' is more usually associated with Jesus, and is often paired with a similar title 'Lord of Lords' – and these words will have many people thinking of the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel's Messiah!!  The visions of the four earthly kingdoms in Daniel chapters 2 and 7 teach how “the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever” (Daniel 2:44). Jesus' earliest followers saw that Jesus was the King of that promised kingdom, and therefore the ultimate King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

The odd thing about this is that Jesus never had a position of power or authority during his earthly ministry. His death was that of the lowest criminal and the few followers he had at that time deserted him. The inscription on his cross ('Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews') was deeply ironic, as was the crown of thorns and purple robe the guards made him wear before his crucifixion, and Pilate's declaration “Here is your king!” (John 19:14). However, Paul tells us in Philippians 2 that it was because Jesus laid aside his divine majesty, to become human so that he could die to take the punishment we deserve for our sins, that his Father raised him from the dead and “gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord.” So we have a choice: either follow earthly authorities who grasp self-interestedly after power which will fade, or follow the One who gave self-sacrificially for us and will rule forever.

Kings and Coronations

Here's my May magazine article:

Perhaps the key event this month is the Coronation of King Charles III, and whether you're a monarchist or not, it will be an historic event full of pomp and circumstance.  On the website of the Archbishop of Canterbury it says “At [the Coronation's] centre is a Christian service in which His Majesty will be anointed as King. It will be rooted in longstanding tradition and Christian symbolism.” If you want an in-depth look at the traditions and symbolisms in the Coronation service, I would recommend the YouTube channel of my friend Dr Allan Barton ( @allanbarton ).

As we watch the Coronation we may miss the symbolism unless the commentators point it out.  Though even the Teachers' notes on “Coronation: Values and Symbols” produced by the Historic Royal Palaces says very little about the actual symbolism!!  Some of the symbolism will be referred to in the words spoken, but other symbols will just be visual – for example the cross will be a very common symbol seen on the orb, sceptre and crown, and also as King Charles is anointed (which we may not see) a cross will be draw with the oil on his hands, chest and head.

The Coronation could be seen as a projection of the power of the monarchy (though these days that power is itself more symbolic than actual), but the prevalence of the Christian symbolism in the service helps to put that power into context.  When Queen Elizabeth II was anointed the following words were said “And as Solomon was anointed king by Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet, so be thou anointed, blessed and consecrated Queen over the peoples, whom the Lord thy God hath given thee to rule and govern, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.”  The Coronation is not a civic ceremony, but rather a religious service for setting apart a person for a holy office – a divinely appointed position.  The monarch is therefore accountable to God for the way they rule and govern.

And so the symbolism is often reminding the monarch of their duty to God and also of their need for his help.  When the robe is given these words are said “Receive this imperial robe, and the Lord your God endue you with knowledge and wisdom, with majesty and with power from on high: the Lord clothe you with the robe of righteousness and with garments of salvation. Amen.” The Orb set under the cross is a reminder that the whole world is subject to the power and empire of Jesus our Redeemer and the sceptres represent kingly power and justice through Christ, and equity and mercy through the Holy Spirit (symbolised by the dove).  And amidst all the gold and precious stones, King Charles will be given the Bible as his guide and “the most valuable thing that this world affords.”

Another special day this month is Ascension Day when we remember Jesus returning to be with his Father after his death and Resurrection, and receiving all authority in heaven and on earth as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  It is under Jesus' kingship that King Charles rules, and Jesus' kingship is supremely demonstrated in the cross: a life laid down for others.

You can listen to the sermon I preached at our Group Service for the Coronation on Sunday 30th April 2023 here:

Commemoration Service Sermon

Here is the sermon I preached at the parish Commemoration Services marking the death of Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II:

If you've spent any time over the past couple of days watching the news on T.V. or online, or reading the newspapers , or listening to it on the radio, or even looking at social media – you'll have been bombarded with information about the late Queen's life and reign, and stories people tell about meeting her. And of course we have heard a lot of it already this year as we celebrated that historic milestone, the Platinum Jubilee of her reign just a few short months ago. I don't have anything original to add to that huge volume of information, anecdote and commentary (and you can still read my article on the Platinum Jubilee on my blog – please do like, subscribe and share! [you can also read my article on the occasion of her 90th birthday]) - I don't have anything original to say, but I'll keep in line with the tradition of 24hr news coverage, of which someone said “It's full of people with nothing to say, but who insist on saying it!”

As I've been listening over the past few days, two things have struck me: one about her life and one about her death. So firstly about her life. We have a tendency not to want to speak ill of the dead, but in the case of Queen Elizabeth II there seems to be very little to speak ill of her about. Even those who don't agree with the institution of the monarchy, have expressed their admiration and respect for the person of Queen Elizabeth. It seems that everyone that has met her has spoken fondly of their memories, and even those who haven't met her describe her in glowing terms. Words like 'dutiful', 'fun', 'selfless', 'tireless' and 'warm' are often used; and people describe how nervous they'd been to meet her, but how she made them feel relaxed and at ease. Others say how she put the 'Great' into Great Britain, or the 'United' into the United Kingdom. The new Prime Minister, Liz Truss, called her “the rock on which modern Britain was built.”

One aspect that occasionally, but not often, gets mentioned is the deep, profound and living faith that the late Queen had. She was able to be the rock on which modern Britain was built precisely because she built her own life on that of the Rock of Ages, Jesus Christ. She would often in her Christmas speeches say how her life was shaped by the example of Jesus and how she was sustained by her relationship with him. She was a faithful Queen – not just faithful in her duty to her people throughout the world but full of faith in the God who called her to her rôle. And that faith shone through her. Gavin Ashenden who was one of her chaplains said “The reason you like her is because you can smell God in her” and that seems to be true whether you met her or not.

He went on to say that her character, all those qualities people mention over and over again, are what Christians call the 'fruit of the Spirit' - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control – when someone is full of God's Holy Spirit, this is what they are like.

So her life was a reflection and the consequence of her faith in Jesus. But what about her death?

You've probably seen various pictures or heard poems describing her death. They usually involve either Prince Philip coming to get her, or Paddington Bear leading her to heaven. I'm not sure what the theological significance of Paddington Bear is, but the idea that those who believe and trust in Jesus in this life will be resurrected and join with all those faithful followers of Jesus from throughout the ages in eternal life, is a deep rooted and biblical idea. But as we heard in our reading from John's gospel (John 14:1-6,27), it is Jesus himself that will come to get us so that we will be where he is. And the picture in that reading is of a house with many rooms – something that Queen Elizabeth was very familiar with! And it would not be inaccurate to describe this house as a palace, because it is the house of the King of kings, but in this palace there are no protocols to be followed, there is no ranking, there are no barriers or police cordons between the people and the King. As our first reading (Revelation 21:1-7) tells us God will dwell with us and he will be so close to us that he will be able to wipe away every tear from our eyes.

As a faithful follower of Jesus, this was Queen Elizabeth's confident hope and expectation, that at her death, her King and Saviour Jesus would come to her and take her to live with him forever. And ever so gently she would encourage us who are left to build our lives on the Rock that is Jesus, to turn to him in repentance and faith, that we too might live in that eternal palace, and meet her there, but most 
importantly to meet our Saviour, the Almighty and Eternal King, Jesus.



Here's the link to the service itself:

and here's the Order of Service:

How to end all wars

Here's this month's magazine article:

On Sunday, 4^th August 1918, the fourth anniversary of the declaration of war, King George V and Queen Mary joined members of the House of Commons and the House of Lords for a special service at the Church of Saint Margaret, Westminster. The King had asked that 4^th August 1918 should be observed as a National Day of Prayer: 100 days later the war ended.

This year we commemorate the centenary of the end of World War I and our remembrance is particularly poignant as we consider how we have failed all those who died or whose lives were affected by the war. In Peter Capaldi's final episode in Doctor Who, a WWI soldier gets lifted out of time and the Doctor says that he is a WWI soldier to which he replies “Yes, but what do you mean, 'one'?”

For those who fought or suffered in the Great War, the only thing that made the hardship and slaughter bearable was the belief that it was the 'war to end all wars', as H.G. Wells wrote in 1914 “This, the greatest of all wars, is not just another war—it is the last war!” They were told that their sacrifices would make the world a better place, indeed in the new world there would be no war. The reality of the trenches probably put paid to the idealism of the first few months of the war, but it probably also confirmed in them the horror of war that we find in the war poems of that time.

We have failed those all those who died or whose lives were affected by the war because we have failed to learn that war cannot end war; that violence only leads to violence. And if this seems to be an inevitable vicious cycle, that's because it is – at least humanly speaking. The root cause of violence and war is our sinful nature. All human beings are pre-disposed to evil and this affects us individually and collectively. The worse news is that we cannot put this right ourselves, but the good news is that if we truly repent of our sins, God will forgive us and give us his Holy Spirit so that we can live as his children.

And like our sin, this salvation affects us individually and collectively. One of the prayers for Remembrance Sunday is “Almighty Father, whose will is to restore all things in your beloved Son, the King of all: govern the hearts and minds of those in authority, and bring the families of the nations, divided and torn apart by the ravages of sin, to be subject to his just and gentle rule.” It reminds us that we are divided and torn apart by the ravages of sin, and that the only remedy is the just and gentle rule of Jesus, the King of all. Jesus died so that we can be forgiven; he rose from the dead to give us new life; and he will come again to rule over all things.

If we really want to see an end to all war, we need to follow the example of George V: come before God in repentance and with prayers for help; for ourselves, for our nation and for the world.

Check out Glen Scrivener's video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=StuOWU4b1to

Post-truth and the failure of leadership

Here's the sermon from Scawby's Civic Service yesterday.  The Bible readings were Jeremiah 23:1-6 and Colossians 1:11-20.


I said at Broughton's Civic Service last month that this year has been a very interesting one politically – I think that statement is even more true a month onwards! Whatever your opinion might be of the referendum, the party political leadership elections, the US Presidential election; whatever your opinion might be of these, they've certainly got people thinking and talking about politics in a way we haven't for many years. And this is no bad thing. It's also spawned new words, Brexit is the Collins dictionary word of the year and the Oxford English Dictionary chose 'post-truth' for theirs.

According to the OED 'post-truth' is an adjective defined as ‘relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.’ Some have used this word to describe politicians who they claim knowingly lie or mislead in order to get votes. On this definition, although the word may be fairly recent the symptom it describes certainly isn't. Almost everyone who is putting forward a point of view will at the very least selectively use information to reinforce their arguments. I will probably do it during this sermon!

The OED description of the word as being the influence of emotions over facts perhaps points to a more general feeling of having had enough of experts maybe because there are very few objective facts, only lies, damn lies and statistics. In a situation of contradictory 'facts', the only way to decide seems to be on the basis of what you feel. But even this is not new. The story of the second half of the 20th Century onwards is that story of a gradual decline in a belief in absolutes, particularly in a belief in absolute truth. The contemporary creed and mantra becomes “this is my truth, show me yours.” At its best this encourages us to listen to other people's point of view, but increasingly it is being used to silence anyone who dares to disagree with whatever the current cultural agenda is.

It is debatable how far 'post-truth' explains the political events of this year, but another factor seems to have been an anti-establishment vote, or a protest against the current political elite by people who feel forgotten or ignored. There is a sense among some people that the leaders of the world have failed to lead properly. This finds an echo in our reading from the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah. In it God describes the leaders of Israel as being shepherds who have failed to look after and care for their sheep. Worse than that, they have destroyed and scattered them. God's solution to the problem was to come himself to lead the Israelites, to gather them back, tend them and rule them wisely and with justice.

Fast forward 650 years and we have St Paul writing to the Colossian church about 30 years after Jesus death and resurrection. He describes to them Jesus the Good Shepherd in whom all the fullness of God dwells and who is now king of all things in heaven and on earth having rescued us by that same death and and resurrection. Jesus therefore is the pattern for how all those in authority should behave, whether they are international or national leaders, local officials, parish councillors, community leaders, employers, teachers, sports coaches, parents or anyone else who has responsibility for others. Jesus the king came not to be served but to serve; to gather, to tend, and to rule wisely and with justice but ultimately he came to give his life for us.

If this is a post-truth world where leaders could and should be leading better, the answer is not to to stick two fingers up to the establishment by voting for the equivalent of Boaty McBoat Face. Instead we should look to imitate and follow Jesus the King of kings, the Lord of lords, the Ruler of rulers, the Leader of leaders, the Servant of servants, the only one who is the Way, the Truth and the Life.

"If these walls could speak..."

Here's my sermon for Broughton's Civic Service this year:

I think that I can say without fear of contradiction that this year has been a very interesting one politically! Whatever your opinion might be of the referendum, the party political leadership elections, the US Presidential race; whatever your opinion might be of these, they've certainly got people thinking and talking about politics in a way we haven't for many years. And this is no bad thing. But one of the consequences of this is that it has caused, or at least highlighted many divisions in our society and even between family and friends. So we gather today aware of our differences and perhaps wondering whether we do share much in common with our neighbour at all.

But what better place to gather at this turbulent time than here in St Mary's?  This year, as many of you are aware, we are celebrating our 950th Anniversary, although as Dr Kevin Leahy reminded us in his lecture here last night the church is certainly older than that.  Just think about the history that this church has been around for, as the old saying goes “If these walls could speak...”

The Norman Conquest, the Magna Carta, the Reformation, the Civil War, the Agricultural Revolution, the Industrial Revolution, two world wars, one world cup... the list goes on.  Loads of times of turbulence, loads of eras of uncertainty, loads of periods where communities and families were divided.  Yet this place has been a constant.

It's been a constant reminder that there is something bigger than us, something more stable and reliable.  Sometimes when the school children come in to look around this church we think about how big it is and how much bigger it would have seemed when it was first built and people lived in small single storey houses, perhaps made of wood.  We think about how extravagant and unnecessarily high it is and we think about two reasons for that. Firstly it was big enough to hold everyone in the village, everyone could find a place here.  But secondly, and most importantly, it reminds us of how big, strong and secure God is.

This year we've been able to help people rediscover their place here.  Last academic year the school children  and some of the staff each made a square or a leaf that have been put together to form the two banners either side of me.  They now have a very visible place within the fabric of the church, that will hopefully be there for many generations to come.  This weekend we had the parish registers out so people could find themselves and their family in the history books – part of the life of this church.  This is their church, this is our church and we all have a place in it.

When the children are thinking of words to describe this building they say things like 'welcoming', 'like home','peaceful', like another world', 'safe'.  This is partly because for almost a thousand years people have been worshipping and praying here and the presence of God can be felt here.  God, who is the true firm foundation for our lives; God, who loves us even if we think we're unlovable; God, who believes in us even if we don't believe in him.

In these uncertain times, we need places like St Mary's to remind us that although there have always been difficult times, both in our national and international life and in our community and families, even though there have been difficult times, these times pass.  We need places like St Mary's to remind us that despite our differences we can come together as a community because we are all welcome here.

But also it reminds us that especially in our darkest times we need Jesus the light of the world; in a time of confusion in leadership we need Jesus who is the truly wise King of kings; in our broken world we need Jesus who reconciles us to each other and to God; in our divided world we Jesus who is the only Prince of Peace and ultimately the only answer to humanity's problems.