Final Sermon – Dean Nicola

Southwell Minster

Festal and Farewell Evensong

Michael and All Angels

29 September 2024, 3.30pm 

Daniel 10: 4-21; Revelation 5

Prayer

‘But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us’ 

2 Corinthians 4:7 

I asked a good friend who knows me far too well if she had any tips for a final sermon.  Her wise advice, ‘Don’t forget Nicola, less is usually more!’  While it’s hard to be brief on such an overwhelming occasion, I will reserve what I want to say by way of ‘thank you to all of you’, to later on in the service. 

Today is the festival of Michael and All Angels.  Traditionally in England Michaelmas was the Quarter Day that signaled the end of the financial year – when all accounts were settled and new labourers hired.  It was a time when the Church prayed to St Michael and All Angels for protection during the coming longer dark nights when dark forces and evil were thought to be lurking.  Micahelmas marks a change of season – both an ending and a beginning which  in some sense today it is, both for the Minster and for me. 

The numerous encounters with angels in the Bible always herald important events when heaven and earth meet.  Most supremely we may think of those heavenly messengers in the story of the One who left heaven to come to earth. An unnamed angel appears to Joseph.  Gabriel himself appears to Mary. And the sky above the shepherds’ field is bright with angels giving glory to God in the highest, bidding the world not to be afraid for there is good news and great joy to be found in the child of Bethlehem for all who seek him.  God has come to us. God is present.  Do not be afraid.

But allow me a detour.  We will come back to angels in a moment.  

The text on my heart today, which has been uppermost over the last 30 years or so,  is from St Paul, writing to that church community that all of us are so relieved we will never be asked to pastor or lead – the troublesome Corinthian Church. 

‘But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us’ 

(2 Corinthians 4:7).  

St Paul has learned the lesson that is for all time for any who would follow Jesus Christ. It’s not about us.  It’s about God.  We’re like these clay, earthen wear jars, knocking around everywhere. Unremarkable, ordinary, fallible, definitely with a few cracks and flaws, an everyday utensil made from dust that is easily passed over and yet – imagine! Containing treasure, priceless, unimaginable treasure, the search of a lifetime to behold. 

The treasure of Jesus in one’s life and heart, pouring out the love of God. For love is God’s power, a love that is self-giving. A love that touches and heals the deepest pain and despair. A love that enables us to say, ‘I’m sorry’.  A love that says ‘I forgive you’.    The ‘love that bade me welcome’, in priest- poet George Herbert’s beautiful words – ‘…yet my soul drew back’. We human beings long for this love. Yet we fear it. We fear its power may overwhelm us. And so, we resist.  The resistance to God’s love we call ‘sin’. The receiving of God’s love we call grace, an undeserved, freely given gift, treasure.   

The treasure of the gospel entrusted to us, imperfect and fallible as we are, is that God’s costly love has been communicated to us in the life, suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The invitation is to turn and follow, to trust, to grow, to change. 

The ‘love that bids welcome’ is why this Cathedral church is here. And to be Dean of a Cathedral is to minister with others to ensure that our doors are open to all who come.  A little over eight years ago I stood the other side of the great west door ready to enter to be made dean.  As I crossed the threshold the choir sang a specially commissioned anthem, composed by a former choral scholar here and now professional musician, Alex Turner. The words meant so much to me then and they still do.  

A prayer written by Thomas Ken, the seventeenth century Bishop of Bath and Wells and hymn writer(whose words we heard at the start of the service), known for his disregard for his high office and his love of the poor.    You may know them:  

“O God, make the door of this house wide enough to receive all who need human love and fellowship; 

but narrow enough to shut out all envy, pride and strife. 

Here may the tempted find help, the sorrowing receive comfort, the careless be awakened to your repentance, 

and the penitent be assured of your mercy;

and here may all your children renew their strength and go on their way in hope and joy. 

O God, make the door of this house the gateway to thine eternal kingdom.”

So, whenever we enter the door of this house of prayer – every day or every week as a regular worshipper, or just once to gaze upon the beauty of this place, or in search of a peaceful space as a visitor.  Or finding ourselves wondering if after all the unimaginable suffering and chaos of the times we live in there can be hope, or justice  or even a future for this earth; or  if  there is a God at all….however and whenever we enter, these doors are a gateway to the  eternal, reminding us that God is present.

And other words which were said to me by the Bishop, at the point of Installation as Dean – again words I have come back to time and time again: 

‘Guard well this holy place; lead and support your people; be a 

diligent minister of God’s holy word and sacraments, and preserve 

this Cathedral as a place of prayer, exploration and a well of healing.’

Guard well this holy place.

That’s not because the Cathedral needs ‘defending’ from change – it has always known change.  Every day I walk from The Residence to Morning Prayer. I look at the ruins of the Archbishop’s Palace reminding me of turbulent times in our history and, as I come through the south door into the stillness of this holy place, I remind myself that my time here is like a blinking of an eye in the long story of faith and worship and witness to Christ. And here is the same Holy Spirit breathing life and giving direction, always opening up a new future.  

So back to those angels we celebrate today, guarding and protecting this holy place, Nottinghamshire’s Cathedral, serving our diocese, county and city, looking outwards, acting for justice, nurturing faith, offering welcome.  Like Michael and All Angels, defeating the darkness, allaying fear and bringing the message of this rich treasure of the Gospel, God revealed in Jesus Christ, present and near.  

Heaven meeting earth, beckoning every living creature to sing a new song. 

Thanks be to God.  Amen.