Southborough is about as far as you can get from the trenches of the First World War, which is where the young men were going to whom that song was first sung. But Joy and I have been touched by the number of people who have wished us luck as we prepare to move on to begin a very different battle.

Generosity is at the very heart of the Christian Gospel - God's generosity to us played out in the Easter story - and we have enjoyed so much generosity in our time in Slade Green.

Jesus said, "It is more blesséd to give than to receive", and if St Augustine's is a happier and more friendly Church than it was when we came (and many people have said that it is) then that is because more of us have made it our business to share gladly of our time and our attention with those who come to see what we're about.

St John records in detail Jesus' prayers for His disciples as He prepares to move into a new stage of His ministry, and one of my abiding prayers for you is that you continue to grow in generosity of heart and spirit in the years to come. An inward looking and self serving Church is a contradiction in terms.

Jesus also commands us to "Love our enemies", but I suspect that in His heart He was thinking even more radical thoughts than that.

Loving one's enemy may be a good start, but it still leaves you with an enemy. A truly generous spirit always seeks to understand those who may appear to be your enemies, and it is in feeling the depths of their pain and their anger that the possibility of reconciliation lies.

In his second letter to the Church in Corinth St Paul says, "Christ was without sin, but for our sake God made Him share our sin so that through Him we might share the righteousness of God."

If Christ who was perfect was prepared to enter into our sinfulness so that we might be freed from its consequences, how much more should we who have deep and personal experiences of human failings be prepared to try to understand where our enemies are coming from, and do our bit to lead them to a better place?

In the wall to wall coverage of events in Iraq it is easy to turn your ears off and let it just flow over you. However, if we truly want to be peace makers we need to start by listening to what our enemies are saying, and wondering how we might feel in their place.
This is generosity put into action, and that is not a bad description of the love Jesus was talking about.

And if you think that's hard then try doing with the noisy neighbour or the troublesome teenager or whoever is your current public enemy number one!

More than anything else in our world today people need to be listened to. To pinch an idea from St Theresa we might say, "Today, ours are the ears through which Christ hears His people cry."

You have loved and supported Joy and I through good times and through bad, and we shall not forget you. We shall keep you all in our prayers and should any of you make the long and dangerous journey into distant Tunbridge Wells we shall welcome you with open arms.

May God bless you in all that you do.

Goodbye

Alan
1st April 2003