SERMON - MARCH 2007

VICAR: The Revd. Martin Fredriksen Tel: 694109

PARISH OFFICE (Mondays to Fridays 9.30am – Noon) Tel: 697641

FROM THE VICAR: If you have ever tried to make a complaint to a major company over the telephone you will know that you will be passed from department to department because no individual will be responsible for what may have gone wrong - no-one is going to apologise. Nowadays, nothing is anyone’s fault. There is always an excuse or justification - which may turn out to be a pack of lies. Irritating though Catherine Tate’s teenage character may be, she typifies the current attitude to most things - “am I bovvered?”.

Are we concerned [or even ’bovvered’] when another person is hurt by our, or someone else’s words or actions? This is the insidious nature of sin, that others can hurt, become depressed, feel humiliated or, at an extreme, become suicidal as the result of another’s wrong-doing. Ultimately and more importantly, sin is also an affront to God.

It may seem to be “old fashioned” to talk about sin, but our Patron Saint, John the Baptist, preached the need for repentance because “the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand”.

Today, the Kingdom of Heaven is even nearer than when the message was first preached and there is a dire need for repentance from each of us, if the Kingdom is to be fulfilled. The season of Lent is an ideal opportunity to do just that.

On reflection, when I look at the state that the Church is in and that of the world around me, I think that I really am bovvered! What about you?

Martin Fredriksen

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