Last Saturday, like many of us, and whatever our opinions about British royalty I was captivated by the spectacle of the Royal Wedding. It had it all: colour and style, fancy hats, celebrities, pomp and great music. With the rest of the world, I was blown away by Bishop Michael Curry’s passionate sermon, where billions of people heard the heart of the Gospel message: that we are loved, and that love is at the centre of everything. If you haven’t listened to this sermon, then I strongly recommend that you go and find it on YouTube. It’ll be the best thirteen minutes you’ll spend all day. During the week I read a commentary on Bishop Curry’s sermon by Scott Gunn, an episcopal priest who clearly and succinctly, brought home what all this means for us:
‘It was not the preacher, but the subject that moved people’s hearts. We are all yearning to know that we are loved, that our lives have purpose, and that the world can be transformed. Don’t let this moment pass you by…If you found that message powerful, then go to Church. But before you get there, you should know a few things first. The preacher probably won’t be as good as Bishop Curry. The ceremony and the music won’t be as impressive. There won’t be celebrities at every turn, and you’re unlikely to see fancy outfits.
What you find in Church is better than all that. In church you’ll find a community of people trying to figure out what it means to live meaningful lives rooted in redemptive love. The church won’t look like a fairy tale, and it won’t be perfect. That’s the point. The gospel of Jesus begins in imperfection. In church week in week out, we hear that violence, poverty and hatred do not have the last word. We hear the Gospel, that love, hope, justice and mercy have the final word. That’s the redemptive love that Bishop Curry was preaching about, and it’s the redemptive love you can experience in Church. When the church is at its best, love is the way. Come and experience that love and join the effort to share that love with the whole world.’
Last Sunday we celebrated the Feast of Pentecost, the coming of the Holy Spirit into the world. Here in St George’s Chapel in Windsor we saw the Holy Spirit in action, flaming into the world in words of hope, words with the power to transform the way we live.
In peace, Mother Lynda