Sermon for the 15th of January, 2023 - Epiphany 2 + Baptism

Today, Joseph is to be baptised. It is the start of his journey of faith. On this occasion, I want to speak of listening to the call to discipleship. If you look at cover of service sheet You may ask Who was Alex Woods and why is he on the front of our service sheet?

He served at the Battle of Jutland as the Signals Officer for the Grand Fleet, based on the flagship Iron Duke, responsible for communication from Admiral Jellicoe to the fleet. Woods was awarded the DSO for his role in the battle. He retired from the Navy in 1931. Was ordained And joined the staff of the Red Ensign Club in Dock Street, just to the east of the Tower of London. Shortly after his first sermon a newspaper article appeared, which went like this: “Seventeen years ago, while he was signalling to the Fleet at the Battle of Jutland, he received an interposed signal, which, his sister told me, “came from no Earthly Captain, but from a Higher Command.”

The article continued:
“His parish is, perhaps the poorest in London. The service was conducted with the full ritual of the high church choral Eucharist. The choir was three times as large as the congregation which totalled seven.” Woods’s story is of a sailor who like St. Andrew and St. Peter who responded to the call to Christ.
He was based in what was then a busy and poor dockland area with heavy lorries thundering through the streets and sailors from all parts of the world, until he died in 1955. Thousands turned out for his funeral.

But there is also a parallel story to his life that needs to be told. An American film studio heard about the life of Woods and thought it could make a good film. But to do so the call from God to Woods at Jutland had to be verified. An author who had also produced film scripts was summoned to write the book.
Now this author called Arthur Calder-Marshall was an agnostic; He set about a rigorous enquiry into the life of Woods. It took many months. He interviewed members of Woods family, parishioners, fellow clergy, those who had worked closely with Woods, a second generation East End doctor known by Woods as the “Beloved Physician.” All spoke of Wood’s humility. How he never judged people. How he never sought to proselytise.

Wood’s confessor when asked what he was like, told Calder Marshall. “He was the humblest man I have ever known. To receive the confession of such a holy man …. to see the standard which he set himself ……it filled me with a sense of my own unworthiness.” As an agnostic, Calder Marshall found many of the conversations baffling. He remained cautious about the interposed message from God to Woods at Jutland.

Many spoke of Woods as being deeply prayerful; he had a list of over 1000 people he prayed for on a rotating basis. Calder Marshall noted Woods also prayed for the dead. How does, this agnostic asked a priest, prayer work? He received the reply “I’m afraid none of us know how prayer works, but I can assure you that it does work.” And then suggested a book Calder Marshall might read. When reading it, Calder Marshall found he had to summon all his agnostic leanings to resist the urge to pray.

This is what he wrote: I have to use words to say what happened next, though translation into words falsifies something which was ineffable. I had the sensation of being lifted up in spirit and carried from a shadowed country across the chasm into the light. I made no effort of any sort, either to further, or to resist, this translation of the spirit I was in someone else’s hands. Sitting at my desk, I had the conviction that I had been given faith. It seemed most improbable. I did not believe in such things happening to anybody, least of all to myself. My feeling of joy was tempered by the fear that at any moment I would wake up.”

Calder Marshall became convinced that the late Alexander Woods had been praying for him throughout the progress of the whole project. The full story can be found in his 1957 biography of Woods “No Earthly Command” Samuel, the leader of ancient Israel when he understood he was being called by God said.
Lord, your servant is listening. Alex Woods listened. Simon and Andrew listened. Arthur Calder-Marshall listened – eventually. Today Joseph starts his journey of faith. If there are times when Joseph will feel in a shadowed country, I pray that his supporters here today will be able to encourage him to listen to God, perhaps even relay to him the story of Alex Woods and Arthur Calder-Marshall. Let all of us all do our best to listen out for the voice of the Lord.