Sermons

Edmund, King and Martyr
Sunday 20 November at 8am and 6.30pm

Maureen Williams

Readings: Hebrews 11 v32-end

Today is St Edmund's Day, the day we celebrate the life of our patron saint. Edmund was a Christian king in the 9th century, in what we now know as East Anglia. It was a challenging time to be a Christian because of the threat of invasion by the Danes. In 855AD, the Danes invaded and Edmund lost the battle fought at Hosne on the Suffolk/Norfolk border. He was captured and offered the chance to serve as a vassal lord if he renounced his faith. Edmund refused.

Today, we celebrate the strength of his faith; his willingness to suffer at the hands of the Danes rather than renounce it; and finally, to die at their hands as a martyr because of it.

Today also marks the end of our Stewardship Campaign. This has been a time for thinking through the challenges and implications of our faith; considering our response to God's faithfulness; our gratitude for his generosity.

In our first reading from Hebrews 11, learning how key people of faith in the Old Testament also struggled as we do in our Christian journey, may help us to grasp more about what faith entails and the kind of life it promises.

I would like to begin by contradicting the promise of the so-called 'prosperity gospel' that is sometimes taught today - that a life lived in faith will bring health, wealth and prosperity, and that where these are lacking, it is because faith is lacking. Teaching like this is the cause of much pain for people who are struggling to keep hold of their faith as they also struggle with problems of ill health in themselves or those closest to them; struggle with the pain of bereavement or loss, or the everyday grind of poverty, loneliness or despair. There can be no need for the added burden of wrong teaching that the cause of all their suffering is because they are lacking in faith.

Having faith is not the final deciding factor in whether we suffer or not. We see this in Edmund's life, in the saints in Hebrews and in the life of Jesus. We do not say to the people we pray for in church that if they had more faith they would get well. Our Healing Ministry is for wholeness, healing of body, mind and spirit, of memories or current pain, trusting in God's faithfulness to us; that whatever our outward circumstances may seem, God is with us, working all things together for our ultimate good. However flimsy our grasp on faith, HIS faithfulness to US is never-ending.

God works in different ways. If we look at the Old Testament background to the six people named in the reading, we see that they were flawed and fallible, often deeply sinful, yet the Bible holds them up as outstanding models of faith. Gideon and Barak were timid if not cowardly, Samson had a violent temper, Jephthah was rash, David was an adulterer and a murderer and Samuel could not control his own family. If God could use people like these, who were so flawed, can he not also use us?

Half way through the reading in the second half of v35, the language changes from what went right 'by faith', to what went wrong. Sometimes we are programmed to expect that faith always removes difficulties, always excludes suffering, always delivers us from misfortune - and sometimes it does. But here we see that having a true faith in God is no guarantee of comfort and security in this life.

In v34 by faith, some 'escaped being killed by the sword'; they became strong and mighty in battle. In v37, the reverse: others were stoned, sawn in two (the traditional fate of Isaiah) or killed. There is a similar example in the New Testament in Acts ch12, when Herod had James, brother of John, killed. The next verses tell how Herod arrested Peter to kill him too, but in Peter's case, God intervened and Peter was freed. James and Peter were both men of faith, but while one was killed, the other escaped.

God does not always work miracles, but he is our source of strength. The bible is full of verses of reassurance. Psalm 46 'God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble,' and Isaiah 43,'When you pass through the waters, I will be with you and when you pass through the rivers they will not sweep you away.' And at the end of Matthew's gospel, the promise of Jesus, 'I will be with you, even to the end of the age.'

Faith can be seen in great achievements and courageous actions like Edmund's refusal to renounce his faith, but it is also found in the small and everyday, in a steadfast patience and refusal to give up on God.

And even when our faith is small or falters, we have a God who continues to be faithful to us - and as the lesson of Edmund and the other saints in Hebrews testifies, this sort of faith can change things forever.

© St Edmund's Church, Roundhay