2013  Fourth Sunday of Easter:  Hollowell Matins and Guilsborough Evensong.
Although there are a three more Sundays left before we leave the Easter season  at Pentecost, our reading from St. Luke's Gospel today brings one version of the  story of Jesus on earth to an end.   Last Sunday twe heard he story of the encounter on the road to Emmaus between two of the disciples,  one called Cleopas, the other  remaining unknown,  with a man who turned out to be Jesus  This is one of the most vivid of New Testament stories for me,  not least the church at Emmaus marked the end also of our pilgrimage to the Holy Land  the place where  we celebrated our final eucharist  
After Cleopas and his companion had persuaded the stranger to remain overnight and broken bread with him, they recognised Jesus who then disappears   They then rush back to Jerusalem 8 miles or so away to tell the Apostles who were already aware from Peter that Jesus had risen from the dead.   Cleopas for his part disappears from history. 
In our reading to day following on from that  we find the apostles worried and uncertain about what is  going on. Only to be reassured by Jesus that they have great things to do.  And with that Jesus leaves them and we have a group of men and women who are now ready to fulfil their destinies    They know the message that they have to convey to the world, and the way they set about that is  recorded in the Book of Acts of the Apostles. 
And that message of hope, salvation and eternal life, has been an inspiration to millions for 2000 years and remains so.  Look at the thousands in St. Peter's square to greet the new Pope Francis in recent weeks.  Then think of the long procession of great Christians over ages who have reinforced that message in our own country by their actions and example.   St. Augustine, Julian of Norwich, John Wesley, William Booth,  C S Lewis . Bishop Desmond Tutu etc.   Inspiration is what we all need and we have had this last week a very vivid illustration of what inspiration can do.. 
I don't know if you heard  or read the Bishop of London's sermon at the funeral of Margaret Thatcher. I thought it was quite brilliant, analysing the character of that remarkable woman in Christian terms.   As I listened to it, and read the text  afterwards, I thought of how Christian beliefs had shaped her life.  She was no saint; none of us is.  But she had vision based in principles that were forged in experience of her Christian faith. .
Here are some extracts from what the Bishop had to say.    What has struck me most forcibly is that she was an unabashed Christian.  How well I remember another Prime Minister who could not even bring himself to say God Bless You at the end of a television address ( as he had originally intended,  because his press secretary told him   "We don't do God". 
So here is Margaret Thatcher in her own words :
"We often went to church twice on Sunday, as well as on other occasions during the week. We were taught there always to make up our own minds and never take the easy way of following the crowd."    
I'm not sure what text that though was based on but certainly we have one that seems relevant in 2 Corinthians Chapter 9 :  "Each one must do as he has made up his mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion"  
The importance of the individual in society:   The Ten Commandments, Margaret Thatcher pointed out, were  addressed to each of us individually.  Honour thy father and they mother: Thou shalt not steal; thou shalt do no murder etc. 
" Of course, we can deduce from the teachings of the Bible principles of public as well as private morality; but, in the last resort, all these principles refer back to the individual in his relationships to others. We must always beware of supposing that somehow we can get rid of our own moral duties by handing them over to the community; that somehow we can get rid of our own guilt by talking about "national" or "social" guilt. We are called on to repent our own sins, not each others' sins. " 
But the application of Christian principles, she made clear, is no easy matter: 
"Christianity" , she said, " offers no easy solutions to political and economic issues.  It teaches us that we cannot achieve a compassionate society simply by passing new laws and appointing more staff to administer them"   
True enough: but I confess I have not yet found the bit of the Bible that spells that out in those stark terms.   However,  it is true surely, as the Bishop said, that there are prior conditions that are needed to make market economics and democratic institutions work: the habits of truth telling, mutual sympathy and the capacity to cooperate.  These dispositions are given power by relationships.  So it is the families , as Margaret Thatcher put it  " that are at the heart of our society and nurture civic virtue "     Moral and spiritual capital is accumulated over many generations but can easily be eroded as the banking crisis of recent years has shown.  . 
The disciples who were left behind to carry on Jesus Christ's ministry on earth and hand it on to future generations, had heard from Him what they needed to do.  The Message was there. God has given us the freedom to be ourselves and as human beings to be drawn freely, as the Bishop put it, into an ever closer relationship with the divine nature- the Jesus whom we know.   
Jesus does not bring information or mere advice, but embodies the reality of divine love.  He became one of us  -  as Margaret was fond of saying about some of the personalities she met : Is he/she one of us/ 
There was a very striking photograph of the interior of St. Pauls' taken from above with Margaret Thatcher's coffin laid out surrounded hundreds in the  congregation.  How many  of them I wondered will be here in twenty years?  Were they thinking about their own destinies, their achievements and their failures, their hopes for the future ?  
 What in the end, the Bishop of London asked, makes our lives seems valuable after the storms and stress of life have passed away and there is great calm?   How loving have I been?   How faithful in personal relation ships? Have I discovered joy within myself, or am I still looking for it outside ? 
These are the questions that, I submit,  we need to keep in mind as we journey along life's road.  The examples of our forebears help to guide us.  But in the end , the responsibility is and will remain our own..  
I heard  preacher point out recently that Jesus never uttered the words  " I love you".  Letters/ texts emails etc.  end Love You ".
Jesus spoke only of God's love and because he was the son of God we know that Jesus loves us.  He does not have to say so.  What Jesus wants from us is rather loving actions, that speak louder than loving words   Let's go for that. 

