Lossiemouth Church of Scotland

Rev. Geoff McKee’s sermon for Easter Sunday (01 April 2018) discusses worldliness: concern with material values or ordinary life over a spiritual existence. Jesus knows our names and he calls each of us by name. The challenge we face is to keep looking to Jesus rather than (competitively) at the person next to us.

Download a copy of the sermon in PDF format by clicking here.

John 20:1-18 (New International Version)
The Empty Tomb
20 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2 So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”

3 So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4 Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7 as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. 8 Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. 9 (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) 10 Then the disciples went back to where they were staying.

Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene
11 Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12 and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.

13 They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”

“They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” 14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realise that it was Jesus.

15 He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”

Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”

16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.”

She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).

17 Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

18 Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.

One of the surprising aspects for first-time Commissioners to the Church of Scotland’s General Assembly in Edinburgh is that, for many, the most moving moment of the Assembly occurs during the final session on Friday afternoon.

Some Commissioners don’t even last that long and are on their way home when the names of those ministers who have died since the last Assembly are read out by the recently retired Moderator along with the name of the last Parish in which they served.

It’s usually a long list but one finds oneself listening intently to all the personal names and all the Parishes and by implication the people who have served their local churches through the ministries.

It’s very moving.

It’s moving because it means something when a name is spoken. We all have names which are, of course, personal to us.

I’ve told you the story about ‘Fruit Stand’ before but it’s worth telling again!

When the 1960s ended, San Francisco’s Ashbury district reverted to high rent, and many hippies moved down the coast to Santa Cruz.

They got married and had children. But they didn’t name their children Melissa or Jack.

People in the mountains around Santa Cruz grew accustomed to their children playing with the likes of ‘Frisbee’ or with little ‘Time Warp’ or ‘Spring Fever’. And eventually ‘Moonbeam’, ‘Earth’, ‘Love’ and ‘Precious, Promise’ all ended up in public school.

That’s when the nursery teachers first met ‘Fruit Stand’.

Every autumn, according to tradition, parents bravely apply name tags to their children, kiss them good-bye and send them off to school on the bus.

So it was for Fruit Stand.

The teachers thought the boy’s name was odd, but they tried to make the best of it. [Read more…]

For the fifth Sunday of Lent (18 March 2018), Rev. Geoff McKee discusses the covenant promise given in Jeremiah 31:31-34 and fulfilled through Jesus Christ. By this stage in Lent, we sense Jesus’ weariness. He required great persistence and determination to see things through – an example we must all follow because, in the end, these qualities will serve us better than education, talent and even genius.

Click here to download a PDF version of the sermon.

Jeremiah 31:31-34 (New International Version)
31 “The days are coming,” declares the Lord,
“when I will make a new covenant
with the people of Israel
and with the people of Judah.
32 It will not be like the covenant
I made with their ancestors
when I took them by the hand
to lead them out of Egypt,
because they broke my covenant,
though I was a husband to them,”
declares the Lord.
33 “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel
after that time,” declares the Lord.
“I will put my law in their minds
and write it on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.
34 No longer will they teach their neighbour,
or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’
because they will all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest,”
declares the Lord.
“For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more.”

It has been said that any argument has two sides, and they’re usually married to each other.

I read the following poem recently:

“A horse can’t pull while kicking.
This fact we merely mention.
And he can’t kick while pulling,
Which is our chief contention.
Let’s imitate the good old horse
And lead a life that’s fitting;
Just pull an honest load, and then
There’ll be no time for kicking.”

The relationship between God and humanity had gone horribly wrong.

This was despite the fact that they were in a kind of marriage relationship, through promises made by God and Israel, where both parties had made covenant promises.

God was emphatic that he had kept his promises and that humanity was unfaithful – and the majority of humanity was also quite sure that God had not kept faith with them.

And so, in this situation of marital breakdown, a critical crossroads appeared. Was the relationship doomed and a divorce imminent, as the prophet Hosea had lamented, or was there going to be a breakthrough that would bring reconciliation? [Read more…]

The Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17) is Rev. Geoff McKee’s scripture for the third Sunday in Lent 2018 (04 March). Drawing on a powerful story told by H.A. Ironside, he explains why the Ten Commandments help us understand the difference between law and grace. Why, despite the lack of a “No spitting” sign, there is no spitting on the floor of the beautiful house.

Click here to download a PDF version of the sermon.

Exodus 20:1-17 (New International Version)
The Ten Commandments
20 And God spoke all these words:

2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

3 “You shall have no other gods before me.

4 “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

7 “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.

8 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

12 “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.

13 “You shall not murder.

14 “You shall not commit adultery.

15 “You shall not steal.

16 “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbour.

17 “You shall not covet your neighbour’s house. You shall not covet your neighbour’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbour.”

How difficult it is to do the right thing!

One of the most famous criminal trials in history was that of Benjamin Francois Courvoisier – in London, in 1840.

He’s a character who is now immortalised in Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum.

Courvoisier was a Swiss valet accused of murdering his elderly employer, Lord William Russell.

What made this trial notorious was the argument for the defence.

The police had bungled the investigation.

The evidence against Courvoisier was entirely circumstantial or had been planted. One of the officers had perjured himself, and the maid’s testimony brought suspicion on herself.

The defence barrister, Charles Phillips, was convinced of the innocence of Courvoisier and cross-examined witnesses aggressively.

At the beginning of the second day of the trial, however, Courvoisier confessed privately to his lawyer that he had committed the murder.

When asked if he were going to plead guilty, he replied to Charles Phillips, “No, sir, I expect you to defend me to the utmost.”

Phillips was faced with a dilemma.

Should he declare to the court that the man was guilty, or should he defend Courvoisier as best he could?

Should he break the confidentiality of the client-lawyer relationship or should he help a guilty man to possibly go free?

Which is more important – truth or professional duty? [Read more…]

We celebrated the baptism of Jack Simpson on 25 February 2018 and Rev. Geoff McKee had scripture from Genesis, chapter 17. The discussion includes the concept of a change of name to mark a change of destiny. Abram becomes Abraham and Sarai becomes Sarah.  He also discusses the concept of grace – how God gives us what we need rather than what we deserve.

You can download a PDF of the sermon by clicking here.

Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16 (New International Version)
The Covenant of Circumcision
17 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty; walk before me faithfully and be blameless. 2 Then I will make my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.”

3 Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, 4 “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. 5 No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. 6 I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. 7 I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.

…

15 God also said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. 16 I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.”

Remember the words inscribed on the headstone of Joy Gresham, the wife of C.S. Lewis’ that I referred to last Sunday:

“Here the whole world (stars, water, air,
And field, and forest, as they were
Reflected in a single mind)
Like cast off clothes was left behind
In ashes, yet with hopes that she,
Re-born from holy poverty,
In lenten lands, hereafter may
Resume them on her Easter Day.”

O, how we long for the Easter Day and we long to exit the lenten lands…

But we can’t head straight from our enjoyment of Christmas delights and onto Easter Day.

We can’t do it and so we shouldn’t try.

The season of Lent shares the liturgical colour purple with the season of Advent. But the four weeks of Advent are very different in feel and tempo to the six weeks of Lent.

Advent is over in a flash of frenetic activity and Lent drags its feet like a rainy weekend.

Abram and Sarai in the Genesis’ text today are very much like lenten folk.

Abram is 99 years old and his wife, Sarai is about 90.

Twenty-four years have elapsed since Abram first heard God’s promise.

What would have happened to Mary, the mother of Jesus, if she had to wait twenty-four years for Jesus to be born? She would have had grey hairs!

Nothing happened quickly in Genesis and so Abram and Sarai are the people of the long, slow, reflective lenten times. We need to linger with them to allow ourselves time to reflect on the significance of God’s promises to us.

In all likelihood, it will not be many years before the reign of our Queen, Elizabeth, comes to an end.

At that time, her successor will, of course, be her eldest son Charles. King Charles III? – I wonder!

I read the following recently:

“Prince Charles was nine when he was given the title the Prince of Wales. He’s now 68 and is the longest-serving heir apparent in British history.

As speculation around the day that he inherits the throne gains momentum, questions around his future title are bubbling up. Will we be welcoming the reign of King Charles III?

Back in 2005, multiple reports said the Prince had discussed giving up the title Charles III because of unfortunate associations with previous monarchs named Charles. (Charles I was the only member of the monarchy to be tried and executed for treason, and his son, Charles II, who was known for his legendary love life, ruled during a particularly nasty bout of the plague and the Great Fire of London).

According to The Guardian, the Prince, who was christened Charles Philip Arthur George, held private talks with “trusted friends” about the possibility of using his third middle name and reigning as George VII. And former Buckingham Palace press spokesman Dickie Arbiter said, by using the name George, Charles would be paying tribute to the both his grandparents.

“It would not just be a tribute to his grandfather [King George VI], but a sort of loving memory to his late grandmother, whom he absolutely adored,” Arbiter told the BBC at the time.

But Clarence House quickly denied these claims. “No decision has been made and it will be made at the time,” Charles’ representatives said in response to the news.”

We will have to wait and see. But what is interesting and relevant to the passage in Genesis today is the concept of a change of name to mark a change of destiny.

All the principal characters receive a new name in our Genesis text, including God Himself.

God referred to Himself as El-Shaddai for the first time in Scripture.

El-Shaddai is often translated as God Almighty; it may mean more specifically ‘God of the Mountains’. Abram becomes Abraham and Sarai becomes Sarah.

There is an ancient tradition at baptisms where the candidate would be given a new name too.

In the Acts of St. Balsamus, who died AD 331, there is an early example of the connection between baptism and the giving of a name.

“By my paternal name”, this martyr is said to have declared, “I am called Balsamus, but by the spiritual name which I received in baptism, I am known as Peter.”

We use the term “Christian name” to refer to a person’s first name.

But, historically, that implied that the name was given at the point of infant baptism.

Jack will be christened, or baptised, this morning and he will not receive a new name but the name that has been chosen for him will be used throughout the rite of initiation and so becomes in the fullest sense of the term, his Christ name, his Christian name.

The covenant that God has made with creation through his Son Jesus is brought to mind and applied specifically in the naming of Jack before all of you present with God’s spirit: with blessing and promise come naming and covenant.

All of this is achieved by God.

This covenant with Abraham and his descendants is different from the unilateral covenant made with the created order after the Flood. Here with Abraham and his descendants there is a requirement that they worship El-Shaddai exclusively.

You see, Abraham lived in an age where multiple gods were worshipped by different peoples in different locations. Here, there is one God promising one people-group a multitude of nations spread throughout the world. Such a God demands exclusive worship. There is no room for a return to religious pluralism.

And yet, of course, we know that’s exactly the trap that the people fell into.

We might have expected the covenant with Abraham to be declared null and void but we find quite the opposite. Instead of withdrawing his favour, God expands his promise.

Charles Spurgeon and Joseph Parker led churches in London in the 19th century.

On one occasion, Parker commented on the poor condition of children admitted to Spurgeon’s orphanage. It was reported to Spurgeon however, that Parker had criticised the orphanage itself. Spurgeon blasted Parker the next week from the pulpit. The attack was printed in the newspapers and became the talk of the town. People flocked to Parker’s church the next Sunday to hear his rebuttal.

“I understand Dr. Spurgeon is not in his pulpit today, and this is the Sunday they use to take an offering for the orphanage. I suggest we take a love offering here instead.”

The crowd was delighted. The ushers had to empty the collection plates 3 times.

Later that week there was a knock at Parker’s study. It was Spurgeon.

“You know Parker, you have practised grace on me. You have given me not what I deserved; you have given me what I needed.”

God’s covenant promise led him to name his son Jesus, ‘God saves’, and to take his son to the Cross, the Grave and the Skies that the promise remained unshakeable.

That’s grace – and it’s that grace we celebrate today, as we present young Jack for baptism.

Amen.