Eleventh Sunday after Trinity 2024 St Andrew’s Milngavie
Today we celebrated the Eleventh Sunday after Trinity accompanied by Abigail.
It was a glorious morning, the sun was out and after the service several people took their coffee outside to enjoy the delights of the new garden chair in its beautiful surroundings. Once again thank you to the garden team and all who make this possible.
This week
Tuesday 13th August 7pm The Rev Lynsey Brennan will be inducted to the charge of Baldernock linked with Milngavie, St Paul’s on Tuesday 13th August, 2024 at 7pm in St Paul’s.
The service will be led by the Rev David Burt, Moderator of Clyde Presbytery, and the Rev Dr Alan Hamilton, minister of Bearsden Boclair, will deliver the sermon. All are invited to attend the service which will be live streamed.
There will be a light supper in the Large Hall after the service to welcome Lynsey.
Tuesday 10am – Prayer Group in the Garden Room.
7pm – Induction of Lynsey Brennan at St Paul’s church
Thursday 10am – Said Holy Communion followed by coffee in Friendship House
Readings for next Sunday – 12th Sunday after Trinity – Proverbs 9:1-6 Ephesians 5:15-20 John 6:51-58
Today’s readings – 1 Kings 19:4-8, Ephesians 4:25-5:2, John 6:35,41-51
Anyone who has been in hospital or away from home can understand how easy it is to become institutionalised. In the film The Shawshank Redemption the protagonist Red describes what it means to be institutionalised.
“ These walls are funny “, he says “first you hate them, then you get used to them, and then you depend on them; that’s institutionalised”
When Red is finally released he finds as he feared, that freedom is unnerving and cruel. His mind is so shaped by the years of imprisonment that it is difficult for him to act as a free man. Another programme which portrays this very well was the 90’s series Tenko, which was set in a women’s prisoner of war camp in the Far East during WW2. When liberation finally occurred many of the inmates struggled to adapt to a life of freedom. Like Red they find that even when their bodies are free their minds are telling them that they are still in prison.
Likewise, many people struggled to adapt after lockdown.
Freedom, redemption and hope are also at the heart of the Christian message. And in a sense, it is no less tricky for us to understand what it is to be free than it was for Red in the Shawshank Redemption and the women of Tenko.
There are many things that oppress and imprison us. We are rarely free to simply please ourselves. Our lives are shaped by the boundaries of a legalised society, by our health, our relationships, our responsibilities and indeed our own personalities. But perhaps the thing that represents our captivity is our need for food and drink. Even if we are not held behind bars or trapped in certain situations, we can never be free from the fact that before we do anything else, we need to make sure we and those around us have enough to eat.
Elijah realises this today in the OT reading as he flees to Horeb
“The angel of the Lord….touched him and said, “Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.” So, he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he travelled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God.” 1 Kings 19:7-8
We can all recall times like this when we have been strengthened, sustained and even given a second wind after eating some food.
So, when Jesus announces himself to be the bread of life, he strikes right at the heart of that which hold us captive as human beings. He declares that the bottom line of our existence is not our need for food and drink, but our need for Christ. This was a daring statement to make and not surprisingly it was followed by cries of protest. Who was this local boy, after all, to say such outrageous things? In the verses following our reading we learn that even those who had supported him had started to drift away. But John crafts his gospel to help his readers to see who Jesus was and to put their faith in him.
But it is not easy. It wasn’t easy for the people of Jesus’ time and it’s not easy for us. Through faith in Christ, we have unimaginable gifts: the gift of love, the gift of forgiveness and the gift of hope. But they are not always easy gifts to receive. And we are still held captive to our human needs and circumstances, they still shape how we think and act.
So, what kind of freedom is it that we have through Christ? Is it spiritual freedom that exists despite our physical and mental constraints? Or is it freedom that comes into effect only when we are finally free of our earthly bodies after we die? It is both these things and yet more. When Jesus declares himself to be the bread of life, he is effectively saying that his spirit operates at the heart of our everyday lives, at the heart of what it means to be human. It is a spirit, an energy even, that nurtures and feeds our souls and changes how we live in the here and now and not just one that exists only on a purely spiritual level or only in the hereafter.
As Christians we know what it is to struggle with the contradiction of our human constraints and our spiritual freedom. It may be that we are amply provided with food and drink, but we all know what it is to pay bills on time, please those around us, complete tasks and care for our family and friends.
The trick is not just to live differently bit to think differently. And for Christians the means to achieve this is to feed on the bread of life.
Let’s pray that we find the courage to feed on Christ and in doing so be truly free, even in the captivity of the humdrum constraints of our everyday life.