What is in Kelvin's Head?

  • Sermon preached on 12 October 2014

    20141012 kelvin holdsworth – gnashing of teeth.movie from Kelvin Holdsworth on Vimeo.

    ‘Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ For many are called, but few are chosen

    In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

    Here in St Mary’s we end our Gospel reading with the response – Give thanks to the Lord for his Glorious Gospel, Praise to Christ our Lord.

    In many churches, they end readings with the response “This is the Word of the Lord – Thanks be to God”.

    I think that is one of those readings from scripture that would tempt me greatly, if that was the response that we were used to, to say, “Is this the word of the Lord?”

    There’s no denying at all that it is a tricky gospel reading for many people who will be sitting here this morning.

    Maybe you don’t think so and find it an obvious way of reinforcing what you believe – that anyone who doesn’t conform with what God wants will be thrown out of the feast unto the outer darkness.

    Well, if that’s you, then good luck living your life with it. I know it isn’t for me.

    Conformity to anything is a challenge to me and I find myself immediately troubled by the poor victim of Jesus’s tale who gets thrown out of all that is good and nourishing simply for breaking a dress code. What’s that all about?

    Well, perhaps the best I can do this morning is to tell a few more stories. Let us see whether we can start to unravel this parable by telling some more parables.

    Here’s one about dress codes to soften you up and we’ll come back to the gospel story in a minute.

    Once upon a time (about four weeks ago) in a land far away (the West End of Glasgow) there was a Provost. And the Provost would strut around his cathedral the Lord of all he surveyed. He was young (or at least he still thought he was still young) and witty (or so they told him at the end of the service in about half an hour’s time) and he was handsome and fair…..and thanks be to God, he was modest and humble too. (more…)

    ,

16 responses to “St Andrew's Day 2008”

  1. Christina Avatar
    Christina

    On a related theme, was there not a year recently when we had to move the assumption because it fell on Ash Wednesday? I don’t remember Christmas being delayed, but of course, can’t comment on the delay of the second coming.

    Reply
  2. Christina Avatar
    Christina

    And I know I meant “annunciation” before you point it out to me.

    Reply
  3. Rob Murray Brown Avatar
    Rob Murray Brown

    Is there a reason that the two celebrations cant be held on the same day? Do you really think that Christ would object to sharing a day with one of his disciples. I think not!

    Reply
  4. kelvin Avatar
    kelvin

    I think that it is more about giving the church the full opportunity to concentrate on both.

    The themes that we remember at Christ the King (ie how Jesus undermines all our expectations of monarchy and power) don’t fit terribly well with theme we think about on St Andrew’s Day (thinking about missions and spreading faith in the world and also praying for Scotland). Advent 1 is something else altogether and also does not make a good fit.

    I quite like the way the calendar works as it is a good reminder to us that being God’s people is something that happens daily, not weekly.

    Reply
  5. Rob Murray Brown Avatar
    Rob Murray Brown

    Im feel sure that your congregation would manage to digest more than one message on any particular day. The fact is that St Andrews Day is on the 30 November each year – every 7 or so years this will fall on a Sunday. I cant remember it ever being moved before and see no reason to start in 2009.

    Reply
  6. Kelvin Avatar
    Kelvin

    St Andrews Day is on 1 December this year in the Scottish Episcopal Calendar as it is every year when 30 November falls on a Sunday.

    It is the way the Ecclesiastical calendar works.

    To quote fully from the published Calendar:

    Each Holy and Saint’s Day listed in the Calendar has been assigned a number which indicates its category.
    It is intended that feasts in categories 1 – 4 (below) should be kept by the whole Church. Days in categories 5 and
    6 may be kept according to diocesan or local discretion. Commemorations not included in this Calendar may be
    observed with the approval of the Bishop.
    When two celebrations fall on the same day, the following table indicates which takes precedence.
    1 Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday;
    Easter Day (and the weekdays following);
    Pentecost;
    Ash Wednesday; Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday in Holy Week; Ascension Day;
    Christmas Day ; Epiphany;
    Sundays of Advent, Lent and Easter.
    2 Feasts of The Lord (Naming, Presentation, Annunciation, Transfiguration);
    Trinity Sunday; All Saints’ Day;
    Dedication and Patronal Festivals;
    Eves of Christmas and Pentecost;
    First Sunday after Christmas;
    First Sunday after Epiphany (the Baptism of the Lord).
    3 Sundays after Christmas (except Christmas 1);
    Sundays after Epiphany (except Epiphany 1);
    Sundays after Pentecost (except Pentecost 1);
    Weekdays in Lent.
    4 Feasts of the Apostles and Evangelists;
    Saint Mary the Virgin, the Visit to Elizabeth;
    Joseph, John the Baptist (Birth, Beheading);
    Mary Magdalene; Michael and All Angels;
    Stephen, the Holy Innocents;
    Kentigern, Patrick, Columba, Ninian, Margaret of Scotland.
    5 All Souls’ Day; Holy Cross Day;
    Conception and Birth of Mary, Mother of the Lord;
    Thanksgiving for the Institution of the Holy Communion (Corpus Christi);
    Thanksgiving for Harvest.
    6 Other commemorations.
    Notes:
    (i) Epiphany may be kept on the Sunday following 1 January, and the Ascension on the Seventh Sunday of
    Easter.
    (ii) Feasts in Category 2, falling on a weekday, may be kept on the nearest Sunday, except Sundays in
    Categories 1 and 2.
    (iii) Feasts in Category 4, falling on a day of higher category (other than a weekday in Lent), should be
    transferred (in chronological order) to the next available weekday.
    (iv) Where feasts in Category 4 fall on a Sunday (other than a Sunday in Categories 1 and 2), they may, if local
    circumstances require, be kept on that day.
    (v) The weekdays of Advent and Easter may be given special weighting.
    (vi) When days in Category 6 coincide with a day of higher category, they should be omitted that year.
    (vii) Thanksgiving for the Institution of Holy Communion is particularly associated with the Thursday after
    Trinity Sunday.
    (viii) Thanksgiving for the Harvest may take place on any appropriate Sunday.

    The full thing can be found within this zip file:
    http://www.scotland.anglican.org/media/liturgy/liturgy/calendar_and_lectionary_pdf.zip

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Previous Posts

  • Humble pie

    So, I knew I had a Standing Committee (in Edinburgh) meeting and a Chapter meeting in Glasgow on consecutive Wednesday. I was always going to remember this because Wednesday is usually my day off and the both weeks were going to need some juggling with in order to make sure I got time off at…

  • Bethlehem Blessings

    The Rt Rev Paul Marshall, bishop of the Diocese of Bethlehem in the USA has released a set of pastoral guidelines for how clergy are to undertake same-sex blessings in that diocese. That is worthy of a cheer in itself. However, it is worth reading through the guidelines to see exactly what they say. (See…

  • Thought for the Day

    The BBC Trust has been discussing Thought for the Day, the slot which appears in the middle of BBC Radio 4’s morning news programme Today. The point at hand is over whether atheists and humanists should have access to the slot. The thing that has struck me about this debate is how old it all…

  • 6 things I'd hope for in a new bishop

    There is a sifting process going on at the moment by the Prepartory Committee for the Episcopal election in this diocese. We must all wish the Committee well and keep them in our prayers. Here are five things I would hope for in a new bishop Sense of humour Able to preach and represent the…