Rogation Sunday

Rogation Sunday

Rogation days are, in the calendar of the Western Church, four days traditionally set apart for solemn processions to invoke God's mercy. They are today and the three days before Ascension Day on Thursday.

The celebration was introduced as a Christian substitute for the Roman pagan celebration Robigalia, which was a special celebration to pray for crops.

The word "Rogation" comes from the Latin verb rogare, meaning "to ask," and was applied to this time of the liturgical year because the Gospel reading for the previous Sunday included the passage "Ask and ye shall receive" (Gospel of John 16:24). The Sunday itself was often called Rogation Sunday as a result, and marked the start of a three-week period (ending on Trinity Sunday), when Roman Catholic and Anglican clergy did not solemnize marriages

The faithful typically observed the Rogation days by fasting in preparation to celebrate the Ascension, and farmers often had their crops blessed by a priest at this time, which always occurs during the spring in the Northern Hemisphere.

A common feature of Rogation days in former times was the ceremony of "beating the bounds", in which a procession of parishioners, led by the minister, churchwarden, and choirboys, would proceed around the boundary of their parish and pray for its protection in the forthcoming year.

So in that sense, today is a day for Christians to ASK God for things. I don’t suppose many of us are growing crops at the moment – so perhaps we should think about what we need or would like to see as Christians for the rest of the year

Perhaps we will get some ideas from the sermon?

Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? In a dazzling display of naivety Peter asks this question. He continues, “But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed”. I understand where he is coming from, but I worry about the first Christian communities who might have heard this message first.

The new Christians of the early church would have heard the message and converted to the “way”, they would then have joined the common community and given the opportunity to go about doing good.

This is where the problems probably started to arise – did they understand fully what Peter meant?

If the statement was Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do NOTHING? I would have wholeheartedly agreed, but the simple action of doing good, has attracted nothing but trouble since time began.

Do gooders! Why are you meddling in things that are nothing to do with you. There will always be poor people, you don’t understand that this is the way the world is…you can’t do anything to change it – when you get older you will understand.

Peter is sailing quite close to the wind here – I wonder if any of the new Christians came back and said to him you know you said about this ‘doing good’ thing – well, it’s not as easy as it first seems.

Of course, Peter is speaking more spiritually, rather than physically. In the sense that there might be physical persecution, violence imprisonment or even death – but they can’t take away your soul, your faith, or the fact that you have been saved by God and numbered as one of his Saints.

His letter is pleading with them to tell others what they have seen what they’ve heard and what they feel. To tell them without prejudice, but with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously about you might be ashamed of their slander.

On his great rallies, Billy Graham used to have assistants in the stadia, to help with the thousands of people who would come forward during the evening. They would come forward because they felt God calling them to make a commitment.

If you wanted to work as an assistant you would have to go on a training course for three days. The course assumed that they had some sort of basic knowledge of Christianity, and it gave the assistants a good selection of answers to the difficult questions that new Christians might fire at them.

The most important part of the course, though, was tied in with the reading from 1 Peter. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.

To be an assistant at a Billy Graham rally, you would need to give an account of your own journey with God, and how it has changed your life.

This is at the heart of it all really. It wouldn’t be good enough telling people that you were the greatest chef in the world if others couldn’t taste the food. It would be a waste of time telling people that you are a fabulous writer if you never wrote a book, and so it is that if you claim to be a Christian, you should be able to say what that actually means to YOU.

You should be able to give an account of your hopes, prayers and actions.

Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.

At the moment, my older children are at a great age. Last week I got another teenager – as Erin turned 13. This is the age for children to ask the most complex questions, and expect the clearest of answers.

Well, I have been getting questions – I was waiting for the ones about birds and bees and had prepared my answers! Ann tells me that I wasted my time - they know all about that now, and have done so for some time.

There are more difficult questions that they can throw at you – I have discovered this!

The children are asking me questions that make me think deeply about my faith, my commitment and what I have learned about my journey with God. I have had to think about my story in relation to God, and to be honest, I would rather be at the business end of a Billy Graham rally.

When faced with questions about war and poverty and injustice, and all the other things that really shouldn’t exist in today’s world. When asked why people are so unkind to others, and why, if God exists, why doesn’t he intervene. It is easy to reply with the old “well, that’s how it is”, “things never really change”, or even “it’s all because of sin”, when, of course, it isn’t.

Young adults can spot a platitude at 100 yards (or is that Metres?). They seem to have a window into your soul and can make you most uncomfortable. They ask the questions that you can no longer ask yourself – because the truth is hard to take.

When I was driving back from the Gym a few weeks ago, I was asked about poverty and oppression – and I responded with something that sounded like a Bob Marley song – mumbling something about how “We can’t be free, until all God’s children are free, and our futures are tied up with them”. The reply came back…”ok”

Silence…and I thought, the next sentence might be something like… “so why Dad are you languishing in the lap of luxury when people are not only dying for want of food, water and medicines, they are missing out on the Gospel message of freedom, love and peace that can change individuals, communities and nations?”…she didn’t say that, but….well. (At this point in the sermon, you either know what I’m going on about or you are thinking about your lunch).

So it’s Rogation Sunday, and (just like when we blow out the increasing number of candles on our Birthday cakes) we can make a wish – in the form of a prayer – on this day of asking.

I was looking at the Gospel reading for today, where Jesus is preparing the disciples for his departure. He tells us about the coming of the Holy Spirit, and how we will never be alone again.

So, on ASKING SUNDAY, I am asking that the SPIRIT of TRUTH will give me the strength to deal with all those difficult questions, and to have a good account of what GOD HAS DONE FOR ME, so that I won’t make excuses for my faith, but be the living, breathing proof that God can change lives.

I suspect that I have some way to God, but as it says “With God, all things are possible”, in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. AMEN