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Lincoln Cathedral

(John 1. 1-14)

 

The last time I was invited to speak to the parish was Advent Sunday, and we were all ready for that journey from darkness to light.

Pauline and I had not long been in living in Ingham and we were fledglings on our new journey in village life. And here we are now just two weeks away from the beginning of lent when we all will be starting that long journey though pain and darkness to the great day of the resurrection and the light that that will bring.

Sebastian has asked me to tell a faith story and it seems to me that all journeys have a hidden element a secret ingredient or two and not least faith.

Having spent 42 years serving in four very public cathedrals it has been a privilege to experience individuals and groups on their many and differing journeys – not knowing how they arrived, from where they had travelled, what they expected, why they had stopped or where they were going.

But for a brief period of welcoming the; searcher, settler, sceptic and the seeker, we are able to gently offer them sight of the hidden ingredients within our buildings, [references in our 1st reading read by John Lockwood – the invisible] and what is true for Lincoln Cathedral is true for any of the nine churches in this parish.

Turning a tour into a pilgrimage brings to life the living stones that surround us, no longer talking about; perpendicular pediments, dates, facts, figures and statistics but to interpret the journey from east to west, from darkness to light.

Looking at the structure as; a vessel of transportation; a forest, a safari of exploration or as a body for Christ on a pilgrimage from dark to light.

Exploring ‘Things visible & invisible’ Col 1 15-20.
  • Entering at the west – The aching feet of the pilgrim
  • Passing the font, always at the entrance – Symbol of welcome, where the Paschal Candle shows the light of Christ , the place Baptism… welcoming into the church.
  • The nave – The torso with all of the organs essential to life
  • Transepts – The outstretched arms of Christ ready to embrace all.
  • The Crossing – The Heart centre of the building and the community – a passing place from the darkness to the rising sun in the east.
  • The chancel steps – rising – climbing Calvary to the new Jerusalem.
  • The quire /chancel, pulpit, Lectern – Open bible. The brains of the body where preaching & teaching leading to understanding take place.
  • The sanctuary – Open empty hands wait to receive the sacraments of bread & wine
  • Retro – The Soul, the New Jerusalem where, by faith, earth & heaven meet.

A journey, a pilgrimage is taken by faith the destination is finding Jesus, but we don’t find Jesus, who was in the beginning and is the light of life, at the end of the journey if we don’t invite him along from the beginning.

So let us pray….

Go before and follow us Lord Jesus,
the light of the world who,
when the light of this word has passed
promises to his saints the light of eternal life.

John G Campbell
[Springline Parish Zoom Worship/2nd Sunday Before Lent – 7th February 2021]