“St Giles” for the St Giles’ Church, Durham, Patronal Festival 5th Sep 2010

Bishop Stephen Sykes

Thank you for your kind invitation to St Giles and to preach on the festival of St Giles, patron saint of the “lame and halt”. This connects with my own story, of which I shall share a little more, later in this sermon.

There is surely no need to remind you, in this church, who St Giles was. The legends surrounding him are well know to you, as they were in the Middle Ages – you are one of 162 churches dedicated in his name in England.

But I do want to begin this sermon in an unconventional place – though we shall return to the readings later. St Giles is patron saint of the “lame”. Indeed he is patron saint of “cripples”, that politically incorrect word. (We now talk about the “partially-abled” – more politically correct.) St Giles is the patron saint of “cripples” – which is what I am. So just a word about myself, if I may…

[Here Bishop Stephen might have shared with us that within a few months of retirement he was struck down with a mystery illness, still not fully diagnosed, which has severely affected his mobility – he is in a wheelchair or a zimmer frame – , his general health and his ability to concentrate. He looks like someone who has had a stroke. He has had to withdraw from most public ministry. We should remember that he was one of the foremost theologians of the Anglican Communion, as well as a bishop and theology professor.]

I have three main points to make.

First, our flesh is fragile. The onset of the pains of older age should not surprise, though it often does. In As You Like It Shakespeare reminded us of the ‘seven ages of man’:
‘The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slipper’d pantaloon,
With spectacles on nose and pouch on side,
His youthful hose well sav’d, a world too wide
For his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice,
Turning again towards childish treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound.’

The Bible tells us again and again about our ephemeral mortality:
‘The grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of the Lord blows upon it’. (Isaiah 40:7)
‘As for mortals, their days are like grass; they flourish as a flower of the field; for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more.’ (Ps. 103: 15,16).
‘The rich will disappear like a flower in the field. For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the field; its flower falls and its beauty perishes.’ (James 1:10-11).
‘All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers and the flower falls.’ (1 Peter 1:24).

Our bodies are not made to last for ever. We will all wear out. Our flesh will fail. It is best to be realistic about this. The Gospel is not that God will stop this happening, but that even in death, when our bodies fail finally, the Lord is with us.
‘The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want…
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall not fear,
because your rod and your staff, they comfort me.’ (Ps.23)
That is the Gospel. Christ present with us, even at our most crippled. St Giles reminds us of this.

But there are comforts on the way, now, even though I am crippled. And this takes me to my second point.

One of the advantages of being partially dependent is that I need to ask for help, and to receive this help with grace and gratitude – hopefully. I have experienced the demonstration of affection from so many. Human beings are made by God to love and to be loved. One cannot live humanly without affection. This affection is found, crucially, in our early years of life where it is so formative. It is present in our families, in our community, even in the wider humanity. It is this God-given and thoroughly human affection which makes the impoverished parts of this world our business. We are to spread Christ-like affection. That is what the example of St Giles’ teaches us. That is what should shape the life and mission of this church of St Giles today.

And thirdly: we do this grounded in, sustained by Christ’s passionate love and our love for him. Remember today’s Bible readings: ‘Many waters cannot quench love, nor can the floods drown it.’ (Songs of Songs 8:7). This is an image of the depth of this passionate love. This was the love that drove Christ through the pain of the Cross, thereby bringing victory over suffering.

Paul knew it. ‘I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death.’ (Philippians 3:10), a love that goes through the Cross to life.

Therefore, even when the Cross comes, we do not need to be afraid.

Jesus said: “Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s pleasure to give you the Kingdom.” (Luke 12:32). Whatever comes, we can rest secure in this love. This is the Gospel. St Giles knew this. We know this. I know this.

Amen.

Rt. Rev'd Professor Stephen Sykes

Formerly Bishop of Ely and retired Principal of St. John's College, Durham