Posts by Nick Jackson

Opening our Treasure Chests


Sermon Year C - Feast of the Epiphany
Matthew 2.1-12
Revd. Matthew Peat

The wise men from the East, who have followed the star arrive at the crib. God first reveals his love in a stable before animals and shepherds and then come the wise men.

In contrast to the animals and shepherds, from the stable and the fields, the wise men represent the power and prestige of the world. They remind us that though this baby was born amidst mess and muddle, he’s for all people, rich and poor, those with little and those with lots.

Christmas 2015 is fading from our memory. The decorations have come down and the carol CD’s are put away for next year.

In the last couple of weeks we’ve reflected on the birth of Christ and what it continues to mean for us today.

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Strange That — It’s All About Love


Sermon Year B – Christmas Day
Titus 2.11-14, Luke
Revd. Matthew Peat

Some strange things happen at this time of year. It’s as if we suspend, at least for a bit, the sad stuff about ourselves and the world, enjoy our imagination more and put on our festive face and share a bit of Christmas magic, Ho Ho Ho!

So for example, we talk of Santa Claus coming down chimneys, we maybe even left him something last night to sustain him for his onward journey.

Maybe we watch a good Christmas movie, ‘Miracle on 34th Street’, ‘It’s a wonderful life’ or some other with a happy ending of course.

We may even a bit more charitable to those with whom the rest of the year we find a bit of a trial.

The strangest event of all that which we come here and to celebrate this morning, the birth of Jesus.

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The Risky Yes of Faith


Sermon Year B – Advent 4
Hebrews 10.5-10 Luke 1.39-55
Revd. Matthew Peat

‘Here I am, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.’

I wanted to begin with these verses which precede those we have heard today. We have of course nearly completed our Advent jigsaw puzzle. We have these last few weeks pondered some of the themes of the season. This morning we turn our thoughts to Mary, to Jesus’ mother without whom the puzzle cannot be finished.

Mary is often depicted as serene, beautiful and sad in so many statues, icons and pictures. She looks tidy and neat. Many of these don’t quite ring true for me. They’re just too perfect and also she often looks too old. She was after all a young girl, 16 or 17, perhaps a little older or even younger.

And like most 16 year olds probably had hopes and dreams for her life. She knew this carpenter Joseph and could imagine a life with him. But then the Angel Gabriel appears and invites her to see that the life to which she is being called is going to be different.

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Joy and Gladness


Choral Evensong Sermon for Advent
Isaiah 40.1-11, Luke 1.1-25
Revd. Matthew Peat

If you’re anything like me, you might sometimes look at others and think that they seem happier than you. They seem to be always cheerful and positive, at least on the outside. Maybe we think they’re an image of happiness and want to be like them.

Except we know also that appearances can be deceiving. Smiles sometimes mask great sadness rather than happiness. We all try to put on a brave face and keep smiling. So when someone asks “How are you?” seldom do we give an honest answer, by smiling away giving the impression of being happy, we keep them happy too.

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Advent Schizophrenia, Little Things and Charlie Bucket


Sermon Year C – Advent Sunday
1 Thessalonians 3.9-end, Luke 21.25-36
Revd. Matthew Peat

This morning I want to talk a little about Advent Schizophrenia, Little things and Charlie Bucket. I want to begin with schizophrenia because for me that’s what we become in Advent. For on the one hand we’re surrounded by Christmas, indeed we had a jolly Christmas Bazaar yesterday. In contrast to that the church, in words, music and our building is saying hang on a minute, we’re not there yet.

It’s tricky living in these two worlds. Part of me feels a bit miserable if I get all humbug to the Christmas Cheer. Yet another part of me says I need Advent. I need that sense of hopeful waiting. I need some space to think about things framed by the perspective that this blessed season brings. Advent is good for me.

So perhaps what I need to do is simply accept that we’re a bit schizophrenic over the next few weeks, not being too grumpy “harrumph its not Christmas yet” nor wholly giving oneself to the party spirit as if there’s nothing to be said for waiting. But how?

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Christ the King – Terror and Truth


Sermon Year B
Daniel 7.9-10,13-14, John 18.33-37
Revd. Matthew Peat

Christ is the King, O friends rejoice!

Brothers and sisters with one voice.

Let all men know he is your choice.

These words of Bishop George Bell seem an appropriate place to begin this sermon thinking about Christ the King.

And I want to explore a little what that choice might look like for us and its consequences for how we see the world around us. Particularly in these days following those horrific terrorist attacks in Paris nine days ago.

The readings this morning offer us;

Firstly a vision of the Messiah King in the Old Testament as Daniel dreams of the future.

And secondly an encounter with that king who is before Pilate a short time before his death.

In that memorable scene, Pilate is trying to work out who is this man before him. He asks legitimate questions. The answers though are frustrating for Jesus speaks elusively of kingdoms ‘not of this world’ and that he is here to ‘testify to the truth’.

A bewildered Pilate ends the reading by almost inevitably asking ‘what is truth?’

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What we do helps when words run out


Sermon Year B - Remembrance Sunday
Revd. Matthew Peat

Every year on the second Sunday of November, in some way we step into that place where words run out. In a little while we shall gather at the War Memorial and there, though words are used they are given to surround the silence.

We might think that nothing much happens in that silence and stillness that will envelope our nation at 11am, but it’s an intense two minutes when we are deliberately doing something important, stopping, being still and remembering.

And though we do so to remember those who have given their lives in the service of our nation, I think we all have some experience of those times when words run out, when we are speechless.

Silence is such a powerful thing and for me is an integral part of every funeral I take, the silence even if just for a few moments is often powerful and moving.

However there is more, for when faced with sadness and loss, though silence has its place, we often cope by doing something more tangible than staying in the place where words run out because we cannot stay there for ever anyway.

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Graceful Judgement


Sermon Year B - Trinity 19
Hebrews 4.12-end, Mark 10.17-31
Revd. Matthew Peat

It’s the stuff of fire and brimstone. The words we have heard this morning are just the ammunition a preacher needs to frighten his listeners. It’s what captivated the imaginations of medieval artists who depicted the words they heard on wall paintings in churches. Just take a trip to Easby near Richmond or Pickering and see just how vivid the images are.

Nowadays we tend to treat those wall paintings as historic artefacts, something to be gazed upon with curiosity and so we don’t take them too seriously. That might even be true when we think about judgement as a whole. If that’s so then our readings this morning invite us to think again.

In Hebrews we heard that ‘all are naked and laid bare to the one whom we must render an account.’

And then in our Gospel Jesus when asked ‘what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ speaks of both the commandments but also more. His questioner is sent away ‘shocked’ and ‘grieving’ because though he has followed the commandments it isn’t enough.

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