Richard's Sermon at the first united service for the new benefice; a communion at Holy Cross Mark

 

Trinity 11 2025: 31 August 2025:

United Service at Holy Cross Mark

Introduction

Friends, today is a day of celebration.
We are gathered not only as individual congregations but as a family being knit together by the Spirit of God. St Mary’s, Allerton, Christchurch, Holy Trinity -  already they share a life of worship and ministry together. And today, we meet to share communion together in the home of Holy Cross as you prepare to join us on this journey and together we create a brand new Christian community. ‘For we who are many are one body because we all share in one bread.’

Now there are two ways of looking at what this is all about. We can just shrug our shoulders and bemoan that there are fewer people coming to church to pay fewer vicars. We could look at the new union as simply a practical arrangement where more churches have to share the clergy. If so, then what we are doing becomes simply about the pooling of resources, organizing rotas, stretching the rubber band ever thinner. But pray God that what we are doing is also spiritual. It is about listening to God’s call and stepping into a deeper witness of the gospel, becoming one body in Christ, one family at his table.

And that word table is important, because in Luke 14 Jesus gives us a vision of how God’s Kingdom works. At a banquet, He notices people competing for the best seats, the places of honour. And He says, “When you are invited, do not sit at the place of honour… instead, go and sit at the lowest place.” Then He goes further: “When you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind.”

In other words, the Kingdom of God overturns the world’s measures of importance.

It’s a good passage to hear today for it is a passage that challenges us as we step out on this adventure together and invites us to reimagine what is really important.

The Temptation to Seek the Best Seat (Luke 14:7–11)

Jesus, in Luke’s gospel, is at a banquet. It is like he is at Allerton Harvest Home and He sees people scrambling for the best seats, desperate to sit next to the vicar and Matthew Paul at the top table. And He tells a parable:
“When you are invited, do not sit in the place of honour… instead, go and sit in the lowest place.”

The message is simple: in the Kingdom of God, true greatness is found in humility.

Now think about what that means for us. When churches come together, there will quite naturally be anxiety around and the subtle temptation to ask: “Which church will be first? Whose traditions will dominate? Whose voice will be loudest?”

You’ve probably noticed that around the country we are engaged in something of a flag war at the minute. Commentators are struggling to interpret the sudden surge in the presence of union flags or the cross of St George. Is it about a genuine recapturing of a symbol or something more sinister, a sign of increasing xenophobia.

And is brandishing the Palestinian flag a sign of solidarity or does it lead to anti-Semitism? Many homes still proudly fly a Ukrainian flag but I’ve noticed that these are becoming a but tattered and torn now, a reflection perhaps of that country and that war itself. Where we begin to gather around a flag as a symbol of my or our identity in opposition to theirs, then we are in trouble.

Perhaps as a new union we can dare to be defined by something greater than our own individual traditions and voices. And thereby show the world a better way.

Jesus says: “Do not compete for the best seat. Take the lower place.”
That means learning to yield. To listen. To prefer one another in love. And that comes as we pray together, worship together, break bread together, get to know each other better, learn to share one another’s burdens

And here’s the paradox: the more we take the lower place, the more God raises us up. Because God’s Kingdom does not run on status but on grace.

A Table Open to All (Luke 14:12–14)

Which is where Jesus takes the parable next because He then turns to His host and says:
“When you give a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or your rich neighbours. Invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. And you will be blessed.”

What a radical picture! Jesus is saying the Kingdom of God is not a private dinner party for the comfortable. It is a feast where the guest list is filled with people the world overlooks.

Now think of this moment. As our five churches form this new union together, God is setting before us not just a shared table but a bigger table. And who should be at it? Not just us. Not just those who are like us. Not just those who can repay us with their time, their giving, their skills.

No — Jesus calls us to open the doors to those who cannot repay: the struggling, the lonely, the forgotten, the ones who may never make it onto a rota but who matter infinitely to God.

Our coming together as five churches must be shaped by this same spirit — not asking, “What do I gain?” but “Who can we welcome?” Not, “How do we preserve our own corner, our own PCC, our own Sunday service?” but “How do we make space at the table for those on the margins?”

 When an institution or an organisation stretches, there is a temptation towards greater centralisation. And I’ve found in my thirty years of ministry that church life always pulls towards the centre. And then I realise that the diocesan and deanery and PCC meetings mean that there is no time for that hospital visit or PTA Fayre. And as resources become more stretched and fewer people struggle to take on the roles that are needed, there will always be that temptation for centralisation. But I pray that I and Joy and all of you spend your time and energy more away from the centre; with those on the margins of church life, those we see infrequently , those who only come to us when there is a need. For there is space at this table for them and maybe the places of honour as well.

 So as this new union forms, the question is not simply, “How do we worship together?” but “How do we serve together?” How do we, as one body, extend Christ’s invitation to the banquet of grace?

Unity Does Not Mean Sameness

Now, some of you may be thinking: “This all sounds lovely, but what about our differences? Our worship styles, our traditions, our histories?”

Here’s the truth: unity does not mean sameness. Paul’s great image of the body makes that clear. The hand is not the eye. The foot is not the ear. Each part is different, and each part is necessary.

The beauty of five churches coming together is not that we all become identical, but that we bring our distinct gifts into one fellowship.

Together, we reflect Christ more fully than we ever could alone.

And when we open our shared table to others, those differences become strengths — because God uses all of them to bless the world.

 A Witness to the World

Finally, let’s not forget: our unity is not only for us. Jesus prayed in John 17: “That they may all be one… so that the world may believe that you have sent me.”

When five churches come together, the community takes notice. They see something unusual. In a world fractured by division, competition, and suspicion, here is a group of people choosing reconciliation, humility, and love.

That is powerful. That is prophetic. That is a living sermon to the world around us.

When people look at us, may they not see five separate churches clinging to their own corner, but one body, gathered around one table, inviting everyone in.

Conclusion

So today, as we celebrate this new step together, let us remember:

• Take the lower place. God will lift you up.
• Make the table wider. Invite those who cannot repay you.
• Cherish your differences, but walk as one body in love.

And as we do, may the world glimpse the Kingdom of God — where the humble are honoured, the overlooked are welcomed, and Christ is Lord of all.

Five Churches. One body. One Spirit. One hope. One table.