A beautiful and ancient city

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Indeed, by faith our ancestors received approval. By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible.

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; and he set out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he stayed for a time in the land he had been promised, as in a foreign land, living in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he looked forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

By faith he received power of procreation, even though he was too old—and Sarah herself was barren—because he considered him faithful who had promised. Therefore from one person, and this one as good as dead, descendants were born, ‘as many as the stars of heaven and as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.’

All of these died in faith without having received the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted them. They confessed that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth, for people who speak in this way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of the land that they had left behind, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; indeed, he has prepared a city for them.

Hebrews 11

May the words…

I have just returned from a holiday in Croatia. My wife and I decided that to minimise our carbon footprint we would go by train and it made for a fun journey. We got as far as the beautiful and ancient city of Dubrovnik.



And at the end of our two weeks having been on twelve trains, three ferries, one bus and car we got safely back to Clapham North tube station.

Travelling slowly towards a great city is the subject of our reading this morning from the Book of Hebrews. That city is one designed and built by God, elsewhere it is called the ‘City of God’ or ‘the New Jerusalem’.

The writer tells us that we are pilgrims on the way to this city and reminds us of those who have gone before. He continues by giving us three pieces of advice for the journey.

Firstly, we should travel by faith. Being convinced of the promises of God- fanciful as they may sometimes seem. And allowing these promises to shape our lives and actions.

As I have recently been reminded, that can be scary. Over the last year I have exchanged a career, a final salary pension scheme and a team of twenty for a grant, a student railcard and an unknown prospect of where I will be living and working for the next three years. To be frank, this is a vocation that I have edged into, a heady cocktail of faith and fear. Someone once said that ‘God made the world round, so that we cannot see too far ahead’. So, travel by faith seems good advice.

Secondly, the writer tells us that we should travel light. We are honoured citizens of the eternal city to which we are travelling but for now we are strangers and foreigners, living in tents.

This theme is taken up in our Gospel reading from Luke. “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also”. For those of us who are well off such a radical message can be hard to swallow. It is a powerful reminder that our wealth, or whatever it is that we hold dear, influences the choices that we make. An enduring truth echoed by Frodo’s ring and more recently Harry Potter’s Hallows and Horcruxes. And so we are told that if we are going to get to this city- we should travel lightly.

Thirdly, we should travel hopefully. Straining to look ahead to catch sight of this great city. Recognising and celebrating the signs of it appearing.

To travel in hope requires us to think the best of others and more importantly to think the best of ourselves. It requires us to encourage and share our good news with one another. To celebrate our joys and stand with one another in our sorrows. That is something that we do here each week and it is called Church.

So we should travel in faith, travel lightly and in hope.

Let me share with you an example of what I mean. A conversation which I had up the road from here the other week.

As part of my placement here, I have spent a few afternoons with Tony, a youth worker employed by the YMCA and part funded by Holy Trinity. Tony works on the steps of the Centre Courts shopping centre with teenagers who hang around there in the afternoons. Some are there to meet friends, others because it feels safe and it’s the most interesting place to be. For a few, it is a good place to deal drugs with older teenagers from up the hill buying and those down the hill selling.

Tony is what is known in the trade as ‘detached’ youth worker. That means, there is no youth club, no table tennis tables just yourself, a packet of chewing gum and the ability to strike-up a conversation. That’s travelling light.

When I was with Tony standing next to the big iron figures at the top of the steps, we started chatting with a young man. ‘Abdul’ is seventeen, was born in Afghanistan and moved to Britain about five years ago.

He told us that he had just started 100 hours of community service after being convicted for assault. He had got into a fight and with other teenagers on a bus who were racially abusing him. He explained that CCTV caught the images of the fight but with no audio it had not recorded the abuse that preceded it. Abdul is now taking fewer drugs and is starting a College course in tourism.

Tony asked him about his hopes for the future. He went on to gently encourage him to keep a clear head for his studies and advised him to try to complete his community service before the beginning of the new term. In all, we spoke for maybe five minutes but it was enough and perhaps he will stop and chat another day and let us know how he is getting on.

It’s Tony’s faith that led him into this work. It is hope that drove that conversation and by the end of it I believe that Abdul and Tony were a little closer to the City of God.

My own experience of this pilgrimage is that it is made in small steps, not giant leaps. Yet with each loving, hopeful and generous decision that we make this City comes a little closer.


Let me leave you with a vision of it from Revelation. Where we read that this is City that descends from Heaven, as God makes his home among us, wiping the tears from our eyes and making all things new. It is a Holy city in which mourning, dying, pain and death will be no more.

More than any other beautiful and ancient city, it is well worth the trip, however long it takes.

In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.

Amen.