A whole new ball game!

Please note:

This script cannot exactly reflect the transmission, as it was prepared before the service was broadcast. It may include editorial notes prepared by the producer, and minor spelling and other errors that were corrected before the radio broadcast.

It may contain gaps to be filled in at the time so that prayers may reflect the needs of the world, and changes may also be made at the last minute for timing reasons, or to reflect current events.

BBC RADIO 4: To mark the beginning of the Rugby World Cup this Friday, Sunday Worship comes live from Rugby School, where the game of Rugby Football began – “A Whole New Ballgame.” The preacher is the Chaplain, the Revd Richard Horner. Worship will be led by the Assistant Chaplain, Lisa Greatwood - but we begin with a welcome from the Head Master, Peter Green.

HEAD MASTER:
Good morning and welcome to Rugby School’s flamboyant and imposing high Victorian chapel. On the playing fields just outside these church doors almost two centuries ago, one schoolboy’s rebellious act began a chain of events leading directly to this glorious sporting celebration with games in stadiums across the UK over a period of six weeks. It’s going to be a real gift to Rugby fans like myself right around the world.

The story goes that one day in the year 1823, a young pupil called William Webb Ellis, losing patience with the kicking game, took the ball in his arms and ran towards the opposing touchline. From that moment, by a gradual and convoluted process, there developed the game which the world has come to know as Rugby. Here, of course, we still just call it football!

William Webb Ellis, in his time, didn’t just play on the fields outside; he also sat on the pews in this chapel. Along with his schoolmates he sang his hymns and offered his prayers, and like today’s Rugbeian girls and boys, he heard the unchanging message of God’s love for the world, revealed in the life, death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Something of that life, something of that love, must have taken root in the young William’s heart, for after completing his education he offered himself for a life of service as a minister in the Church. He eventually became the Vicar of St Clement Danes on the Strand in London.

In his single act of game-changing rebellion, William Webb Ellis epitomised the courage to question the accepted way of doing things; in his devotion to his professional calling he demonstrated a life of service to God and to others. Today’s Rugbeians could do a lot worse than follow his example.

A verse in our first hymn speaks of the need for us to dedicate every human gift to the service of God – ‘Lift up your hearts!’

HYMN: Lift Up Your Hearts (Woodlands)

ASSISTANT CHAPLAIN:
Blessed are you, Sovereign God of all,
ALL: To you be glory and praise for ever!

In your tender compassion,
the dawn from on high is breaking upon us
to dispel the lingering shadows of night.
As we look for your coming among us this day,
open our eyes to behold your presence
and strengthen our hands to do your will,
that the world may rejoice and give you praise,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit:
ALL: Blessed be God for ever!

ASSISTANT CHAPLAIN:
So the game of Rugby began with the breaking of a rule. History does not record the precise details of the game’s evolution into the sport we know today. Human nature being what it is, though, it’s likely there was plenty of opposition. We don’t always like change, especially change to the things we know and love the most. Voices must have been raised against the rebellious Webb Ellis and the new methods he introduced. Some of his fellow-pupils would surely have objected – “We’ve been playing the same way for years. You can’t just change the rules!”
“But it makes the game so much better,” the rebels reply.
“That’s not the point,” say the traditionalists. “The rules are the rules. We have to keep them.”

Although any ordered society needs rules to function, sometimes we can hide behind rules and customs to protect ourselves from things we find threatening. Such was the case in the Bible reading we’re about to hear.

[It was the Sabbath day, the day given by God for rest and refreshment. Jesus wanted his followers to be fed, and he wanted a sick man to be made whole. But the Pharisees, those influential but hypocritical religious leaders, tried to impose the letter of the law while disregarding its spirit. The reading comes from Matthew’s Gospel:]

READER – EMILY CURRIE:
A reading from the Gospel of Matthew Chapter 12 beginning at the first verse.

Jesus went through the grain fields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. 2 When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.”
3 He answered, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? 4 He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread—which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests. [5 Or haven’t you read in the Law that the priests on Sabbath duty in the temple desecrate the Sabbath and yet are innocent? 6 I tell you that something greater than the temple is here.] 7 If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’[a] you would not have condemned the innocent. 8 For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”
9 Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue, 10 and a man with a shrivelled hand was there. Looking for a reason to bring charges against Jesus, they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”
11 He said to them, “If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? 12 How much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”
13 Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other. 14 But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus.

MUSIC: There's a wideness in God’s mercy (Choir only)

ASSISTANT CHAPLAIN:
Wherever Jesus went, strange and wonderful things happened. Sick bodies were made whole. Evil spirits were driven away. In every village and by every roadside crowds gathered to see these marvels, and Jesus taught them about the coming Kingdom of God. In the next reading from the Bible, Jesus uses stories – parables - to explain how the influence of God’s Kingdom in a person’s life, or the life of a community, starts in a small way, often unnoticed – but grows to fill and to bless that whole life.

[Perhaps if Jesus had been teaching in our time, he would have made a parable out of the apparently inconsequential picking up of a football on the field outside this chapel, and how that would lead by gradual development to a game played around the world and enjoyed by millions. But that’s just speculation. Let’s hear some of the stories he did tell.]

READER – RORY FARQUHARSON:

A reading from the Gospel of Matthew Chapter 13 beginning at verse 24.
Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25 But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. 26 When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.
27 “The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’
28 “‘An enemy did this,’ he replied.
“The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’
29 “‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’”
31 He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. 32 Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.”

ASSISTANT CHAPLAIN:
The song “Swing low, sweet chariot” comes from the Bible’s account of the prophet Elijah, who was taken up to heaven in a flaming chariot – the original “chariot of fire”. The song was made popular by the civil rights movement as a song of freedom and a prayer for God’s deliverance. And more recently of course, it’s become a prayer for victory particularly at Rugby matches. It’s quite possible to hold both these desires in mind as we listen to it.

MUSIC: Jazz band + soloist – Swing Low, Sweet Chariot

ASSISTANT CHAPLAIN:
The things Jesus said and did were not just unexpected; they were often impossible, going beyond the laws of nature and the limits of human imagination. For a man to walk on water; to feed a crowd with a handful of bread and fish; to command a storm to be still – these things don’t happen within the rules of science as we know them. Just as remarkable, if less visibly dramatic, was Jesus’s claim to be able to forgive people’s sins, and to be able to lead them to eternal life, making whole the spirit as well as the body.

Perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised - at the time of his conception the angel had told his mother Mary, “nothing is impossible with God.” It was the beginning of a life of rule-breaking, and it would end with him breaking the rule that gets us all in the end - the rule of death. On the way, there would be many indications of Jesus’s power, like the one we shall hear about in the next Bible reading. In his Gospel, Mark describes an occasion on which his power over death changed people’s scornful laughter into shouts of joy:

READER – LYDIA NORTON:
A reading from the Gospel of Mark Chapter 5, beginning at verse 21.

When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake. 22 Then one of the synagogue leaders, named Jairus, came, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet. 23 He pleaded earnestly with him, “My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.” 24 So Jesus went with him.
35 While Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. “Your daughter is dead,” they said. “Why bother the teacher anymore?”
36 Overhearing[a] what they said, Jesus told him, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.”
37 He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James and John the brother of James. 38 When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly. 39 He went in and said to them, “Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.” 40 But they laughed at him.
After he put them all out, he took the child’s father and mother and the disciples who were with him, and went in where the child was. 41 He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum!” (which means “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”). 42 Immediately the girl stood up and began to walk around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished. 43 He gave strict orders not to let anyone know about this, and told them to give her something to eat.

ASSISTANT CHAPLAIN:
After our next hymn, the Chaplain of Rugby School the Revd Richard Horner, will give the address.
The hymn “I vow to thee my country” was written amidst the horrors of World War 1. Since then, the tune by Gustav Holst has become associated with the game of rugby. And as we sing it now we shall no doubt be trying to send out strength and encouragement to the teams we support. Over the years, the hymn has often been misappropriated. Its patriotic first verse can only be understood within the context of the second: a beautiful hymn to that other country, our true spiritual homeland that quietly grows around us and within us: …The Kingdom of God.

HYMN: I Vow To Thee My Country

SERMON:
THE CHAPLAIN
Every morning when we come to chapel, we walk around the edge of the famous Close where the game of rugby football began. Every day we go to and from our lessons past the stone plaque which commemorates that beginning. In 1823, it tells us, William Webb Ellis “with a fine disregard for the rules”, took the ball in his arms, and ran.

He was, quite literally, a game-changer. We don’t know whether the young William’s act was premeditated, or simply born of frustration at a boring passage of play. But it must have taken some courage to stoop among the flailing feet of his opponents, reaching in front of swinging boots to scoop the ball away.
Let’s be clear - any member of this school who shows a fine disregard for the rules of our community will not be displaying the kind of courage we’re trying to build in Rugby’s pupils today. Rules have a purpose – they guide the way we behave towards one another and they build up our community.

Nevertheless, to disregard the rules can be a brave thing to do, it can be a fine thing to do, and, just sometimes, it is the right thing to do.

We’ve already heard how a fine disregard for the rules in 1823 led to the World Cup season we’re about to celebrate.

In the early years of the 20th century a fine disregard for the rules of Newtonian mathematics led Albert Einstein to the principles which underlie our modern understanding of science.

In the 1920s the Suffragettes, with a fine disregard for the rules of the British electoral system, campaigned, fought and even died so that women could have the vote.

In 1955 a fine disregard for the rules in segregated Alabama made Rosa Parks refuse to give up her bus seat to a white passenger, a courageous deed which proved a catalyst in the American civil rights movement.

I could go on – but I can’t think of anyone who disregarded quite so many rules, nor to such fine effect, as Jesus of Nazareth. Beginning with his appearance in the womb of Mary with a fine disregard for the rules of human fertilisation, his was a life of joyful, painful, playful, disturbing, rule-breaking.

With a fine disregard for the rules of his culture, Jesus sought out the most unlikely people. He went to the homes of sinners and ate with them. He called despised tax-collectors to follow him. For his closest followers he chose uneducated working men. Unlike other Jewish rabbis of that era he spent time with women and showed that they too could receive, and give, God’s blessing. Going beyond his own people he healed and blessed those whom the religious leaders of his time regarded as of inferior race. He accepted the devotion of prostitutes and showed special love to the poor, just as he shows love to you and me.

With a fine disregard for the rules of nature, Jesus commanded a storm to be still. With a few loaves of bread and some fish he provided a meal for thousands. He filled an empty net with fish and walked on the surface of the water. From many who were in the grip of evil he drove away their torment, and to many who were sick he brought wholeness, giving sight to the blind, dance to the crippled, even life to the dead. He offers the same gifts to you and me.

With a fine disregard for the rules of religion, Jesus infuriated the Pharisees, [those religious hypocrites] who seemed to care more about the letter rather than the spirit of the law and the love of God. He went to a synagogue on the Sabbath and broke the rules by healing people on that day when Jews were supposed to do nothing but pray. He offended the priests who considered themselves God’s gatekeepers by telling the crowds of ordinary people who flocked to him, “The Kingdom of God is within you”. He kicked out those who had turned God’s temple into a market-place, and, both literally and metaphorically, he transformed the sterile water of ritual into the wine of celebration. He invites you and me to join the party.

Best of all was Jesus’ fine disregard for the rules of life and death. Our last Bible reading told how he was called to the home of a desperately ill little girl. By the time he got there, it seemed too late – she had died. Coming into the house, he said to the grief-stricken family, “She’s not dead, she’s just asleep”. These were apparently callous words to utter over an evidently lifeless body; but here as elsewhere, Jesus was not denying death, but redefining it. With Jesus, death, like sleep, is something from which we get up again. To prove it, Jesus spoke to the dead girl, and sure enough, up she got. He visits us too, in our desperation and need.
And then, of course, the ultimate demonstration. Jesus’ fine disregard for the rules of his culture, the rules of nature and the rules of religion offended, angered and threatened the men who occupied the seats of power. With a fine disregard for the rules of revolution as it is normally carried out, Jesus yielded himself to his tormentors, stood meekly before his judges and claimed to be God’s anointed King, the Messiah. Whether it was self-damning blasphemy or mind-blowing truth, it was only going to end one way. With a fine disregard for the conventions of storytelling, the hero of this one got nailed to a cross and died.

But with Jesus, death is something from which we get up again. With a fine disregard for the rules of life and death, he burst from the tomb, triumphant in victory. And he has thrown open the gate of glory, for you and for me, that we might follow him there.

The stone plaque outside this chapel tells how William Webb Ellis’s action started a process which would lead to the game we celebrate today; a game with its own rules – and how different they are from those of the round-ball game from which it grew.

And it’s not to lawlessness that Jesus calls his followers. He said that he had come not to abolish law, but to fulfil it. But in him, the old laws of sin and death are utterly overwhelmed by the new order of grace and forgiveness, of service and love. In his life, death and resurrection, Jesus was the greatest game-changer of all time. Still today, he invites men and women to become his followers. The call to live the Christian life is an invitation to us all to pick up the ball and run.

Great things lie ahead of us. There will be cheers and there will be jeers. There will be pain as well as joy. There will be exhausting effort and there will be air-punching exhilaration. There will be crushing disappointment, and there will be indescribable elation.

In the end there will be victory.

And it all began with one man’s fine disregard for the rules.

[ASSISTANT CHAPLAIN:
The victory over sin and death which Jesus won is a victory which all his people will share. When the struggle is over and all conflict is ended, the victors will celebrate together. Together with all the saints, we shall go marching in . . . . . ]

MUSIC: Jazz band + choir - When the saints go marching in

PRAYERS:

READER 1 – AURELIA MARCUS:
And so we pray…
God of the nations, you have always called your people to be a blessing for the world;
bless all who take part in the Rugby World Cup beginning this Friday.
Look with favour on the host nations, on the countries represented in competition and on all those who travel to join in the event.
May all find in this competition a source of celebration, an experience of common humanity and a growing attitude of generous sportsmanship to others.
Lord, in your mercy
ALL: Hear our prayer

READER 2 – EWAN ROWLANDS:
God of all creation, you have given the rules by which the world turns and the flowers grow, the wonders of science and nature that humankind will spend millennia discovering and exploring. And you have taught men and women how to live together in this world that you have made. Forgive the disobedience which makes us put our own desires above your commandments. Hear our prayer for our rulers: for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth in the week when she became Britain’s longest-reigning monarch – and for those who make the laws that govern our daily life, that we may be wisely and righteously led. Comfort your people who live under unjust laws, and strengthen those who are working for justice and the freedom of all.

Lord, in your mercy
ALL: Hear our prayer
READER 1 – AURELIA MARCUS:
God of peace, we pray for the world with all its troubles. For the people of Iraq and Syria, and all whose lives are affected by war. For those who have been driven from their homes, and those who feel that they have no choice but to leave their home to seek a better life elsewhere. We pray for the homeless and for refugees; for people living in lands where famine and drought have taken the lives of many; and for all who are persecuted for their beliefs.
Almighty God, have mercy on all who, by hurting and harming one another, insult you, who created us in your image.
Lord, in your mercy
ALL: Hear our prayer

READER 2 – EWAN ROWLANDS:
God of all comfort, we pray for those who are suffering today – be it physically, spiritually or emotionally. We remember those among our own friends and family who are unwell, and we think of people we know who are going through difficult times; the bereaved and the lonely, the lost and the confused. We pray for those who are in hospital, for the medical staff who care for them, and for those who anxiously watch beside them.
As this new academic year begins, we pray for this and every place of education, that they may be places of happiness and purpose, where the acquisition of knowledge goes hand in hand with the growth of wisdom, and where pupils develop the willingness to serve and the courage to question.
Lord, in your mercy
ALL: Hear our prayer

ASSISTANT CHAPLAIN: […any topical prayer(s)…]

We join our prayers with the unspoken prayers of our hearts, and with the prayers of God’s people throughout the world, as we say the Lord’s Prayer together:

ALL:
Our Father,
Who art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory,
For ever and ever,
Amen

BLESSING:
THE CHAPLAIN:
May God, who with a fine disregard for the rules of sin and death, raised Christ Jesus from the tomb, making all things new in him, strengthen you to walk with him in his risen life; and may the blessing of God almighty, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, be upon you and remain with you this day, and for ever more.

ALL: Amen

HYMN: Mine Eyes Have Seen The Glory (with last verse trumpet descant)

SEGUE…

MUSIC: Jazz band instead of voluntary…