November 2014 – Ben Clapton

As has been my tradition, every sermon that I preach will be posted here. This sermon, Don’t get stuck in the room, was given at The Salvation Army Devonport on Sunday 23 November, 2014, in our first Sunday back in our building following renovations. The Reading was John 20:19-23.

Who knows what next Sunday is, in the Church’s calendar? That’s right, the first Sunday of Advent. Hands up, who puts their Christmas Decorations up on the first Sunday in Advent? And who puts them up on December 1? And who’s got them up already?

Here’s a trickier question – who knows what today is, in the Church Calendar? Today, in the Church Calendar, is what’s known as Christ the King Sunday. And it’s this day that confused me for a long time with the set readings for the day.
If you don’t know, many churches use what’s called a lectionary, which is usually a three year cycle of readings that they will use for their services. There’s a few different ones around, but for the most part – particularly for the high feast days, they will have the same, or similar readings. And this day is one of them, where they will usually have a story related to the crucifixion.
Now, I never really got that until recently. It seemed to make no chronological sense – we were right about to get into Advent, the period of time where we prepare for Christmas, and all of a sudden, we’re brought back to Easter.
I didn’t get it for a long time, until a realised that – through the lectionary – we were being reminded that the whole purpose of Christ’s birth, the whole reason we have Christmas, was so that he would eventually die on that cross, and rise again, and be able to invite us all into eternal life. Continue reading “Don’t get stuck in the room” →

As has been my tradition, every sermon that I preach will be posted here. This sermon, Go All The Way, was given at The Salvation Army Devonport on Sunday 9 November, 2014. The Reading was Mark 10:17-31.

Vincent T Lombardi was born in Brooklyn in 1913, to Italian immigrants. His father ran a butcher shop that allowed the family to prosper during the great depression. His family attended Mass every Sunday, which was always followed by dinner with friends, extended family and local clergy. Vincent graduated from the eighth grade in 1928, and then went to Cathedral College of the Immaculate Conception in Brooklyn to become a catholic priest. After four years, he decided not to pursue the priesthood, and instead headed to St Francis Preparatory high school in 1932. He was offered a football scholarship in 1933 to Fordham University, where he was aggressive and spirited on the football field. After leaving university, he tried his hand at Semi-pro football, and as a debt collector, but failed rather quickly. He enrolled in Law, but withdrew after one semester. In 1939, He accepted an assistant coaching job with the St Cecilia High School in New Jersey. By 1942, he was head coach, and in 1943, St Cecilia’s was recognised as the top football team in the nation.

In 1947, he was coach of the Fordham University Freshman teams, and in 1948 an assistant coach of the varsity team.

In 1949, he started as an assistant at West Point, before eventually joining the New York Giants in 1954 to start his NFL Coaching career. He accepted a head coaching role with the Green Bay Packers in 1959, and was named Coach of the year. He turned the team around from its worst record in history in the 1958 season, to a completely sold out season in 1960, and the Packers have sold out every home game since. The Packers won the 1960 NFL Western Conference, and made it to the NFL Championship game against the Philadelphia Eagles, in what would become his only ever championship game loss. He led the Packers to three consecutive NFL Championships in 65, 66 and 67, and win the first two Superbowls in 1966 and 1967, and would eventually have the Superbowl trophy named after him.

Religion was always a constant part of his life. While at St Cecilia, he would attend mass every day, and when he was head coach, he lead his team to Mass before each home game. While coaching the Packers, he would stop at St Willebrord church every day. His faith, and his experiences when growing up, affected his coaching – seeking to break racial prejudice that was rampant in the league, in a time when the Civil Rights movement was only just getting started. He viewed every one of his players the same, saying he “viewed his players as neither black nor white, but Packer green”. He even went as far as telling all Green Bay businesses that if they didn’t accept his black players as well as his white players, then their business would be off limits to the entire team. Continue reading “Go All the Way” →