St Margaret's Church Prestwich

Rev Helen gave this sermon on Sunday 9 July. Here it is for you again:

Once upon a time in a faraway land… some of my favourite words in the world because, I don’t know about you but I love stories, especially the old fairytales. When me and my niece do some colouring we get my tablet out and always put a story on to listen to, Little Red Ridding Hood is a particular favourite, three billy goats gruff or the three little pigs. I’m sure even at the mention of it you’re all recalling your favourite stories, first time you heard them, who told you it.

One thing I’ve noticed with these kinds of stories is that they usually involve some kind of journey or quest. The main character starts in one place goes on a journey and that journey changes and forms them by the end, usually for the better. Three little pigs start off innocent, have their encounters with the wolf and makes them wiser, little red ridding hood starts as an innocent girl, on her journey has an encounter with a wolf and makes less innocent.

When I think about the start of my own journey with God it felt a bit like that. As someone who was born in Oldham (I’ll be honest rarely left there) and my life was quite normal for a child/teenager, watching Doctor Who listening to David Bowie when God called me. No idea what for, there was more thinking and praying before that became clear. Then I spent about 10 year gathering skills and strange thing is I spent a lot of time not ending up where I thought I would but always where I needed to be. For example, choosing a university. I was set on going to Bangor university, but changed my mind last minute and went to York St John, getting a job in the diocesan offices in the education department when the job I’d applied for was on receptionist!

To get wiser by the end of the stories we know journey isn’t always easy, there are scenarios to negotiate and forests to get lost in. Like when the wolf has blown down the little pigs houses or when the billy goat is being started down by a very angry troll. For me losing three of my grandparents before I was 18, two just over a couple of years apart, moving to theological college in Birmingham in the middle of a global pandemic, when my sending vicar, Derek who was a large part of my journey and one of the reasons I’m here died May last year. We’ve all had those times when things have gotten tough.

However one constant I have found is when I have had my darkest and most worrying moments and felt alone I’ve not been alone. God has always been with me and helped my see the way out of the difficulties through the love and care and a lot of patience.

One of the people who work has helped me a lot in my story is Julian of Norwich and her Revelations of Divine Love, which celebrate 650 years since their publication this year. Her story is she wrote these when England was being ravaged by the Black Plague. She fell ill, she though she was going to die and during this time she had many visions which inspired her writings. Her mantra through the book is ‘All shall be well and all manor of things shall be well’, now I’m very aware that can sound very patronising if said in the wrong situation and to someone having a tough time but what Julian means is that you are never alone. God is always there even in your most troubling and difficult moments guiding and helping us even when things and life gets tough.

We hear it again in the gospel reading today that re assurance when Jesus says ‘Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens and I will give you rest’. You think you won’t survive those times but you do and you come out ok. The wolf (it’s always the poor wolf who gets a bad rep isn’t it!) is vanquished and the hero gets on with their journey.

Remembering the importance of stories we’re all here because of a story, the story of a man named Jesus who did and said some amazing things. He left his comfortable life to go out to be with the poor, the needy, the outcasts, he told people to love each other, to forgive those who wrong them and when he was about my age he was executed for that but of course the story didn’t end there, he came back to life and told his followers to keep telling his story until he returned which is what we still do. Our stories and journey with him help tell his story.

I’m still making that journey with God, this story isn’t at the end, we’re a long way from the happily ever after! I’m looking forward to sharing this next part with you all at St Margaret’s and St George’s I’m looking forward to hearing all of your stories and your journeys with God, exciting times a head!

I’m going to leave the last word, as I might have mentioned I’m a Doctor Who fan… to the Doctor as he’s portrayed by Matt Smith, ‘we’re all stories in the end, just make it a good one’ Amen