Sermon by Fr Peter Wolton on Sunday 25th September 2016, United Benefice of Holland Park
Sermon by Fr Peter Wolton on Sunday 25th September 2016, United Benefice of Holland Park
Imagine you are in France by the banks of the River Loire in the town of Amboise. Taking the road to the south of the town you climb out of the river valley into the Forest of Amboise and there you will pass the Pagoda at Chanteloup. It’s not like the Pagoda at Kew, but more liked a wedding cake steeple of a London Christopher Wren church like St. Brides. It’s all that remains of a magnificent chateau owned by the Choiseul family which was destroyed in the French Revolution.
In the days before the Revolution, when the main chateau was being extended, a labourer attracted the Duke’s attention by his hard work and optimistic demeanour. The Duke asked him how much he earnt a day. The labourer, evading the question replied, “If I could have two Louis (gold coins) my fortune would be assured.” “Here” said the Duke, and handing him two coins, continued, “go and make your fortune”
In the days after the revolution, the Duchess was living in penury in Paris. She receives an unknown visitor who explains he is Leonard Perraud from Chanteloup who had been greatly assisted by her late husband, who had given him two gold pieces that set him up to make a fortune. He presents her with 200 golden pieces and leaves as quickly as he had arrived.
But it did not stop there. The late Duke’s tomb (he died in 1785) at Amboise was destroyed for its lead. In 1802 Perraud has it reassembled, and later arranges for the Duchess to be buried alongside her husband and is later still himself buried alongside his benefactors.
A true story. You can visit their tombs in Amboise today. And what a contrast story to the parable of the rich man and Lazarus that we have just heard, one of three remarkable readings this Sunday;
the immortal parable of the rich man and the poor man, Lazarus, at his gate, and how following their deaths, the rich man finds himself in Hades, whereas Lazarus is carried away by angels to be with Abraham.
from Amos who chastises the indolent of Zion as they lounge on their couches or beds of ivory.
From Paul in his letter to Timothy who stresses the need to strive for “the life that really is life” and that godliness and contentment is more likely to be achieved if we can set aside the seductiveness of money.
This morning I would like us to reflect on three things:
• the love of money
• to be rich in good works and
• our desire for godliness and contentment.
The first thing to say is that Jesus did not say “money is evil.” He said the love of money was evil. It’s how we use of our money that is important. There is no doubt that our consumerist society fertilises and encourages the desire for more worldly goods. Nelson Rockefeller, one of the richest men of his age is reputed to have said when asked how much he needed to live on comfortably, “A little more than I get.”
We probably all spend too much time thinking about money, our loans, our savings, inheritance and the need to be financially sustainable. And perhaps we also desire to spend less time thinking over these matters.
The fact that we are gathered here today in the sight of God, is evidence of our desire to achieve a state of godliness. But what is true godliness and how do we achieve contentment? St. Paul in his letter to Timothy gives some telling advice on how to. We should be rich in good works and not be haughty. And looking at the parable of Lazarus and the rich man, the main issue there was that the rich man had ignored the poor man.
Jesus did not ignore. He saw what was happening around him and acted. To truly love our neighbour, we have to be alert and see. And to be generous, not with a “if I must” attitude but one that is Holy Spirit filled, a generosity that comes from deep within. The Duc de Choiseul saw and acted. Leonard Perrault heard and acted.
The readings today can help us to identify some objectives to help us “live life as life itself” which I suggest might be as follows:
• I wish to love God and my neighbour
• I wish to be rich in good works
• I wish to have life that really is life.
• Oh and I wish to be financially sustainable
The challenge is how to balance these aims. And here I suggest, we can be really helped by the Rule of St. Benedict. His writings are all about achieving balance between life (work in the home or elsewhere, community and prayer.
Prayer helps us to balance out our lives, to approach challenges, to lay issues before God, to restore us when we think we have failed. Prayer and the gospel of Christ reminds us that Jesus was never angry with sinners, only with those who thought they were not, which is solace for us as we wrestle with challenges of daily life.
Work we should see as prayer in action.
Benedict stresses the importance of community, how we live alongside each other, how we are led and for those asked to lead, how it is best done.
Thinking about this address and the emphasis on community and loving our neighbours, I found myself reminded of the appeal we have in our United Benefice for our sister church at St. John’s Holland Road. We have a vision for that church to become a centre of community for that part of our parish. You will know that St. John’s is on a busy road, with many bed sits and there is great need for those who live in the area.
We want the church to be a spiritual sanctuary and to provide practical services that the neighbourhood needs. Meeting spaces, lunches for older people, a homework club, and so on, so we plan to create a community space at the west end of the church/ a kitchen/ new lavatories and heating and better access so people can see into the church. We need to raise £400,000 for this next phase of our project. We are making good progress with grants promised from certain trusts. But we do need £40,000 from our congregation. I know that some of you have already been very generous, but if any of you would like to know more about this project, do please see me afterwards. I am convinced that completion of this project will result in the transformation of life for many in that part of London, just as the Chanteloup Duke’s generosity to Perrault led to amazing outcomes.
And if you would like to know more about the rule of Benedict, please speak to me afterwards and I’ll put up some titles of Benedictine books on the Sermon blog.
(The Rule of Benedict: A Spirituality for the 21st Century by Joan Chittister – any book by Chittister is recommended – also YouTube clip:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZsUMjvzzeE
We will shortly pray the Lord’s Prayer and that thy Kingdom comes on earth as it is heaven. Let us depart from St. Georges this morning confident and profoundly optimistic that through the gift of faith, through good works and by balancing our lives of prayer, work and community, by striving for godliness and contentment, we can be confident that human liberation and divine union is occurring now in this earthly life.
Fr. Peter Wolton
25 September 2016
Imagine you are in France by the banks of the River Loire in the town of Amboise. Taking the road to the south of the town you climb out of the river valley into the Forest of Amboise and there you will pass the Pagoda at Chanteloup. It’s not like the Pagoda at Kew, but more liked a wedding cake steeple of a London Christopher Wren church like St. Brides. It’s all that remains of a magnificent chateau owned by the Choiseul family which was destroyed in the French Revolution.
In the days before the Revolution, when the main chateau was being extended, a labourer attracted the Duke’s attention by his hard work and optimistic demeanour. The Duke asked him how much he earnt a day. The labourer, evading the question replied, “If I could have two Louis (gold coins) my fortune would be assured.” “Here” said the Duke, and handing him two coins, continued, “go and make your fortune”
In the days after the revolution, the Duchess was living in penury in Paris. She receives an unknown visitor who explains he is Leonard Perraud from Chanteloup who had been greatly assisted by her late husband, who had given him two gold pieces that set him up to make a fortune. He presents her with 200 golden pieces and leaves as quickly as he had arrived.
But it did not stop there. The late Duke’s tomb (he died in 1785) at Amboise was destroyed for its lead. In 1802 Perraud has it reassembled, and later arranges for the Duchess to be buried alongside her husband and is later still himself buried alongside his benefactors.
A true story. You can visit their tombs in Amboise today. And what a contrast story to the parable of the rich man and Lazarus that we have just heard, one of three remarkable readings this Sunday;
the immortal parable of the rich man and the poor man, Lazarus, at his gate, and how following their deaths, the rich man finds himself in Hades, whereas Lazarus is carried away by angels to be with Abraham.
from Amos who chastises the indolent of Zion as they lounge on their couches or beds of ivory.
From Paul in his letter to Timothy who stresses the need to strive for “the life that really is life” and that godliness and contentment is more likely to be achieved if we can set aside the seductiveness of money.
This morning I would like us to reflect on three things:
• the love of money
• to be rich in good works and
• our desire for godliness and contentment.
The first thing to say is that Jesus did not say “money is evil.” He said the love of money was evil. It’s how we use of our money that is important. There is no doubt that our consumerist society fertilises and encourages the desire for more worldly goods. Nelson Rockefeller, one of the richest men of his age is reputed to have said when asked how much he needed to live on comfortably, “A little more than I get.”
We probably all spend too much time thinking about money, our loans, our savings, inheritance and the need to be financially sustainable. And perhaps we also desire to spend less time thinking over these matters.
The fact that we are gathered here today in the sight of God, is evidence of our desire to achieve a state of godliness. But what is true godliness and how do we achieve contentment? St. Paul in his letter to Timothy gives some telling advice on how to. We should be rich in good works and not be haughty. And looking at the parable of Lazarus and the rich man, the main issue there was that the rich man had ignored the poor man.
Jesus did not ignore. He saw what was happening around him and acted. To truly love our neighbour, we have to be alert and see. And to be generous, not with a “if I must” attitude but one that is Holy Spirit filled, a generosity that comes from deep within. The Duc de Choiseul saw and acted. Leonard Perrault heard and acted.
The readings today can help us to identify some objectives to help us “live life as life itself” which I suggest might be as follows:
• I wish to love God and my neighbour
• I wish to be rich in good works
• I wish to have life that really is life.
• Oh and I wish to be financially sustainable
The challenge is how to balance these aims. And here I suggest, we can be really helped by the Rule of St. Benedict. His writings are all about achieving balance between life (work in the home or elsewhere, community and prayer.
Prayer helps us to balance out our lives, to approach challenges, to lay issues before God, to restore us when we think we have failed. Prayer and the gospel of Christ reminds us that Jesus was never angry with sinners, only with those who thought they were not, which is solace for us as we wrestle with challenges of daily life.
Work we should see as prayer in action.
Benedict stresses the importance of community, how we live alongside each other, how we are led and for those asked to lead, how it is best done.
Thinking about this address and the emphasis on community and loving our neighbours, I found myself reminded of the appeal we have in our United Benefice for our sister church at St. John’s Holland Road. We have a vision for that church to become a centre of community for that part of our parish. You will know that St. John’s is on a busy road, with many bed sits and there is great need for those who live in the area.
We want the church to be a spiritual sanctuary and to provide practical services that the neighbourhood needs. Meeting spaces, lunches for older people, a homework club, and so on, so we plan to create a community space at the west end of the church/ a kitchen/ new lavatories and heating and better access so people can see into the church. We need to raise £400,000 for this next phase of our project. We are making good progress with grants promised from certain trusts. But we do need £40,000 from our congregation. I know that some of you have already been very generous, but if any of you would like to know more about this project, do please see me afterwards. I am convinced that completion of this project will result in the transformation of life for many in that part of London, just as the Chanteloup Duke’s generosity to Perrault led to amazing outcomes.
And if you would like to know more about the rule of Benedict, please speak to me afterwards and I’ll put up some titles of Benedictine books on the Sermon blog.
(The Rule of Benedict: A Spirituality for the 21st Century by Joan Chittister – any book by Chittister is recommended – also YouTube clip:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZsUMjvzzeE
We will shortly pray the Lord’s Prayer and that thy Kingdom comes on earth as it is heaven. Let us depart from St. Georges this morning confident and profoundly optimistic that through the gift of faith, through good works and by balancing our lives of prayer, work and community, by striving for godliness and contentment, we can be confident that human liberation and divine union is occurring now in this earthly life.
Fr. Peter Wolton
25 September 2016