Canon Rob's Reflections

Regular worshippers will be familiar with Bible Sunday, which the Church keeps each year on the Last Sunday after Trinity which is today. This year it also coincides with the Feast of St Cedd, who I suspect will not be familiar with most readers. More about him later but firstly let us reflect upon some of the verses of Psalm 119 set for Evensong today. In October last year we were invited to consider other verses of this, the longest psalm in the Psalter. Today though, we start at the beginning where those who, as the first verse says, “walk in the law of the Lord” and are blessed or happy for doing so. Pause for a moment to recall what we know as The Beatitudes which form part of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount and which we find in the 5th Chapter of St Matthew’s Gospel. The first of these is “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” [Matthew 5.3 in the New Revised Standard Version, but translated in the Good News Bible as “Happy are those who know they are spiritually poor; the Kingdom of heaven belongs to them!”] Often, when we use the word ‘happy,’ we have in mind something which is transitory depending on what is going on in our lives. However, in the context of today’s psalm, to be ‘happy’ or ‘blessed’ is a gift from God nearer to the deep down joy which nothing can take away, and which for those who read it will be received when they follow the Law of the Lord.

A clue to this positive attitude towards the Law is in the fact that, throughout the psalm, several words are used as synonyms for the Law: including “testimonies” [verse 2], “ways” [verses 3, 5, etc.] “commandments” [verse 4], “statutes” [verses 5,8 etc.] St Paul has much to say about Jewish leaders of his day who condemned any who failed to keep God’s Law, but the author of the psalm saw it as a positive: something to aim for even though there would be failures on the way. Trying to do God’s will was a delight [see verse 16] and not a burden, because doing so brought happiness, joy. Verse 14 speaks of “all manner of riches” or, better, things to be treasured. In our society today there is much talk about tightening up and even changing laws, which often receives a negative reaction. Such negativity will not have been in the mind of the author of today’s psalm any more than in the mind of Jesus when he taught the Beatitudes on the mountain. As the prayer at the end of verse 16 says, “Faithful God, let your word be the treasure of our hearts, that we may delight in your truth and walk in your ways, through Jesus Christ your Son.” Walking in the law of the Lord was a joy not a burden and, seen rightly, it can be for us too.

With this in mind, let us think about St Cedd who holds a special place in my heart because, after being ordained, I was a curate in Canning Town in London’s East End, at the Church dedicated to him. Cedd was born in Northumbria in the late 6th century and brought up by St Aidan on Lindisfarne. He became a monk there, then a missionary priest travelling many miles, especially in Essex, where he converted a large number of East Saxons to the Christian faith. He was consecrated a bishop, ordaining many to share his missionary work. He built several churches and founded monasteries including one, in 654AD, at Lastingham in Northumbria where he died of a fever in 664 after attending the Synod of Whitby. Cedd left the monastery at Lastingham in the care of his brother St Chad, who was also a bishop and became the more famous of the two. Yet, perhaps the most lasting legacy which Cedd left, was the Rule which his fellow monks were called to follow: a Rule which itself was greatly influenced by that of the community on Lindisfarne. It centred around prayer and study but whilst strict, was certainly not as austere as that in other religious communities at the time and the prayer, printed above, would be one with which he whole-heartedly agreed. The word of God was treasured by Cedd and, even when sharing it brought much hardship, following its teaching was a delight. I am confident that he would have agreed with the sentiment in the verses of today’s psalm and that trying to do what God wants us to do was a source of happiness for him as it can be, and is, for us.