Here’s the text of the sermon I preached on Sunday 7 August 2011. I’ll try to get the video up later in the week when I can – I’ve had loads of stuff to try to get from one format to another this last week or two – inspires print and e-mail, pics on the church website and the stuff I create like this too.

This sermon seemed to generate quite a lot of chatter on Sunday and has been much discussed with me since. It might be a bit apophatic for some, but clearly that speaks to people……

But the Lord was not in the earthquake, the wind or the fire. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

It is clear why the Old Testament reading and the Gospel have been chosen to go together today. There are common elements – the wind and storm and then sudden peace. For Elijah, it came after earthquake, wind and fire. For the Peter in the boat on the stormy sea, peace comes when he puts his trust in Jesus, cries out to him and takes his hand.

They are both stories that people are quite fond of. And they are both stories that people preach on quite readily. There is a fairly standard narrative about each of them that is common in sermons. You get nice pious sermons about how we need to draw closer to God. Not in the hustle and bustle of life will we find the Lord but when we hear the sound of sheer silence. When we put aside time to be with God. When we cry out to Jesus to help us. When we reach out to God, we will find God is reaching out to us.

So far. So pious. [Read more…]