The Sixth Sunday after Trinity

It’s rumoured that as David Cameron cleared his office at Number Ten Downing Street he left on his desk for his successor three envelopes, with a note to say, ‘Open one of these when you get into trouble.’

Have you ever felt like you are putting a lot of time and effort into working for God and not feeling like you’re getting much back?

I want to tell you about three conversations I’ve had recently that I’ve come to believe all add up to something. The first was with a person who’d been coming to St Martin’s for a while. She said, ‘Why don’t we talk more about the Holy Spirit?’

All the way through the Gospels one of Jesus’ constant refrains is “Do not be afraid.”

These words seem to be directly addressed to our times. For while we live in a nation of relative wealth and plenty, we also live in a time it seems of anxiety and fear.

‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they’re endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.’ Those words were agreed on the 4th of July, 1776 in the Declaration of Independence. Americans have spent the last 243 years debating what they mean.