This will be a sign unto you...

When we come downstairs in the morning, what do we expect from the day? Opportunity or trepidation at what lies ahead? We look for a sign that all will be well as we engage with the world. 

Last week while we were in Peterborough, Evensong in the cathedral included the Christmas story from Luke 2: 1 - 20. The lectionary for evening prayer at the moment is going through Luke’s Gospel. To hear the Christmas event out of season was actually very powerful. “Do not be afraid” is the word of the angel. “Today in David’s town is born to you a Saviour” is the good news of God. The verse I heard afresh as Canon Sarah read it was “this will be a sign unto you.” We look for signs as we go out and engage every day that God is at work. 

Today, I’ve been privileged to share in the service of remembrance and thanksgiving for my first mentor in God, the Revd. Geoffrey Hawkridge. I was deeply humbled when his family asked a friend and I to give the eulogy at his funeral today. We gathered at lunchtime today at St Giles Church in Desborough to celebrate him: a preacher for 70 years reminding us of the signs and the need to respond to them. 

Geoff used to preach using a little spiral bound pad and would excitedly turn the pages over as he got more and more worked up. We used to enjoy counting the times he turned the pages over as he went along. 

He wore his love for Christ on his sleeve, he wasn’t frightened to wear his politics on his sleeve either, his commentaries on the events in the world were relevant and to the point especially when the values of the world and the values of Gods kingdom collided. His worship was full of joy because he believed the Gospel was joyful. Who can forget him gently persuading children on Christmas morning they had to dance with him round the communion table to Good Christian men Rejoice because it HAD to be danced to! 

In the service book presented to me at confirmation Geoff simply wrote in it Isaiah 26 verse 3. “You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast because they trust in you.” Keeping looking for the signs of divine activity. I added the reminder of Isaiah 26 to my notes the other night. It was clearly an important verse to Geoff as it was on the front of the service sheet we were given this afternoon.

Apart from the awesome privilege of delivering the eulogy of a minister who inspired me as a teenager and challenged me to candidate, calling ordained ministry “the greatest calling in the world”, it was deeply moving to hear recordings of Geoff holding forth from the pulpit of The Drive in St Anne’s. In one he talks about responding to the the signs today. Today is all we have. He bemoans our hymn book has left out several huge verses of the Venite: Psalm 95:

Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness:

When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work.

Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways:

Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest.

It was a privilege today to be able to say thank you to Geoff for his ministry. Three of us from youth club days travelled to Desborough from Skegness and Harpenden and Hailsham to be with others in remembering a man who through 70 years of preaching, challenged people to read the signs...

Today is the feast day of St Brendan the voyager. Brendan and his friends set out in a coracle, with no destination, believing that God had new things to show them. 

St Brendan and his companions landed on an island and lit a fire, the earth began to move, and they quickly sailed away. Upon looking back, they realised the island in fact was a giant fish! That may be a dodgy tale, but it reminds us of the need to travel and find the signs, even if there are dangers on the way. 

We need to venture out into the unknown of each new day. We need to open the front door and embrace the divine ahead of us. Hopefully, this will be our front door in a few weeks time. A new beginning after a very bad time. 

Geoff’s service today ended with the Nunc Dimitis. There is a peace in looking for the signs and responding today. 

Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace according to thy word.
For mine eyes have seen thy salvation,
Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people;
To be a light to lighten the Gentiles and to be the glory of thy people Israel.

So tonight I raise a glass to the Revd. Geoffrey Hawkridge. Apt for an ex navy man I used to see buying his rum in the off licence at the bottom of my road, even though alcohol wasn’t allowed in the manse back then! My lungs ache and my head hurts, but I wouldn’t have missed today for the world! Even if I’m now stuck at East Croydon!!