It’s probably a good job that we didn’t have a radio broadcast this morning! I suppose you can never be completely prepared for an occasion such as that, but we were seriously ‘not in the groove’. But it would’ve kept us on our toes and make us seriously think about what we are doing when we come to Church.

If you look up the Diocesan website, you’ll find a little article from the Bishop about the visit of Franklyn

Graham to the Odyssey two weekends ago. Franklyn is, of

course, the son of the world famous evangelist, Billy

Graham. If you ask anyone in the world about a well-

known Christian preacher, they are more likely to say the

name ‘Billy Graham’ than anybody else. I have very

warm memories of Billy Graham Crusades whether

through film or video or even records! If you remember

what records were? Very often, there was the verse

emblazoned over the speaker, “Jesus said, ‘I am the Way

and the Truth and the Life’”, which we had today in our

Gospel reading. There was the incredibly young Cliff

Richard and the film ‘Two a Penny’ with the song to God,

“If you are real, be real to me”. Our Church in London was

one of those very ‘low’ churches which was nominated to

be a follow-up Church to his crusades.

So it played a big part.

But nostalgia doesn’t make church; nor does sentimentalism.

Do you remember Tom Keightley once saying here at a Harvest Service, “You’re all romantics!” as we happily sang all the traditional Harvest hymns about ploughing the fields and scattering, when the truth is that most of us wouldn’t know one end of a cow from the other! Are we turning Church into just something like the programme that used to be on television, “The Good Old Days”? Or are we still keeping it real?

The ‘big event’ features large in our Diocese. And all of us love the big occasion, of course we do, but we can’t be on top of the mountain all the time. Christian work is always best done at ground level. Even the most so-called ‘successful’ crusades have their limitations, and most people become Christian through the influence of a friend. The Parish Church on a Sunday morning is not show business; what it is mainly is a group of ‘Elder brothers’ (and sisters) getting together to give God his worth. The Parish Church is made up of mainly ‘elder brothers’, do you not think?

It is wonderful when a prodigal son returns to the fold, or even visits for the first time, but most of us have been here all the time.

When the prodigal son had squandered his inheritance in wild living; when he had debased himself so utterly by wanting to eat the pods that the pigs were eating, he returned home to be one of his Father’s hired hands. But his Father could not do enough for him; music and dancing and even killing the fatted calf! The elder brother was furious (you know the story backwards) and the Father says to him, “My son, you are always with me, and everything I have is yours”. I have always loved you!

The elder brother was the one who remained faithful, for he had always been with the Father.

Many years ago, a farmer owned land along the Atlantic seacoast of America. He constantly advertised for hired hands. Most people were reluctant to work on farms along the Atlantic. They dreaded the awful storms that raged across the Atlantic, wreaking havoc on building and crops.

As the farmer interviewed applicants for the job, he received a steady stream of refusals. Finally, a short thin man, well past middle age, approached the farmer. “Are you a good farmhand?” the farmer asked. “Well, I can sleep when the wind blows,” answered the man. Although puzzled by this answer, the farmer, desperate for help, hired him. The little man worked well around the farm, busy from morning till dusk. And the farmer felt satisfied with the man’s work.

Then one night the wind howled loudly in from offshore. Jumping out of bed, the farmer grabbed a lantern and rushed next door to the hired hand’s sleeping quarters. He shook the little man and yelled, “Get up! A storm is coming! Tie things down before they blow away!”

The little man rolled over in bed and said firmly, “No sir. I told you, I can sleep when the wind blows.” Enraged by the old man’s response, the farmer was tempted to fire him on the spot. Instead, he hurried outside to prepare for the storm. To his amazement, he discovered that all of the haystacks had been covered with tarpaulins. The cows were in the barn, the chickens were in the coops, and the doors were barred. The shutters were tightly secured. Everything was tied down. Nothing could blow away.

The farmer then understood what his hired hand meant, and he returned to bed to also sleep while the wind blew.

At the beginning of my Easter Vestry address, I said I was very grateful to all of those who remained so faithful, and I meant every word. I often think of Jesus’ Parable of the Sower where some seeds grew well, but were choked by life’s worries and concerns. Some seeds grew quickly, but they hadn’t enough soil and foundation in which to thrive, and they also withered and died. I have actually seen this happen before my very eyes! “Still other seed” (the title of our Church history) fell on good soil where it produced a good crop. As an elder brother, or an elder sister (I don’t mean an old brother or an old sister), please feel secure and safe in God’s love and faithfulness to you; rest assured and be at peace!

When we come to Church, Sunday by Sunday, what we are doing is that we are being faithful to a loving and faithful God. Sunday by Sunday, that’s keeping it real and true!