Sermon by the Rt Revd Anthony Poggo for the Fifth Sunday of Easter, May 3, 2026

The Rt Revd Anthony Poggo is the Secretary General of the Anglican Communion.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

May I speak in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Please be seated. Good morning. My name is Anthony Pogo. I am the Secretary General of the Anglican Communion. It is good to be here and share God's word. I want to thank you, Rector, Father Alester. Thank you for the opportunity to share and the invitation to preach at this service. One of my roles as Secretary General of the Anglican Communion is to visit member churches of the communion to listen, to learn, and also understand the mission that each of the member churches, parishes, and dioceses are involved in. And so when I find an opportunity like this, I share it, and so it's good to be here. I am responsible for the leadership of the uh the team that we have at the Anglican Communion Office, which is the Secretariat of the Anglican Communion in London. We are a family of 42 member churches, some refer to them as provinces, which are scattered in uh 165 countries across the globe. Central to the work of the Anglican Communion Office is a commitment to cultivating and protecting the unity, faith, and order of Anglicans or Episcopalians across the globe. This is also the purpose of what we call in our Anglican Communion language the four instruments of communion, which give us the way in which we work together. Very, very quickly, the four instruments of the communion are the Ibishop Canterbury, the Lambeth Conference, Primates Meeting, and the Anglican Consultative Council. So this is why we are who we are as a communion. So our role is to support these instruments as we work together as a family. We are seeking, even when we disagree, we are seeking to work together in holiness and humility, to love one another, and also to learn from each other, to learn together the ways of God and the ways in which God is helping us work together as a family of Anglicans or Episcopalians across the globe. This morning I would like us to focus on our two of our readings. Our gospel reading begins by these words do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, trust also in me. We live in a troubling world where we are anxious of many things. As I was preparing this talk, as we all are aware, we have concerns over our globe, conflicts in many parts of the globe, and especially in the Middle East and the Gulf region. But also in Ukraine. But there are also many other parts of the world which are not highlighted. And in my role, I get in touch with many, many people from many of these places. Eastern Congo, South Sudan, Sudan, Myanmar, Haiti, and some of these are some of the conflicts that are not talked about. In such a situation, Jesus' words, do not let your husband trouble, or do not be anxious, is what keeps some of the believers in many of these situations to keep going on. Many of them are resilient even in the midst of their challenging situations. Now, when Jesus spoke these words, he was preparing the disciples for his death. And Jesus was giving them the assurance that it's because he knew that he would be leaving them soon, but that his going was so important for them because he needed to prepare a place for them. Then they would meet again, and that he will come back to take them to where he will be going. Now, Jesus links the occupancy of this place where he was going to prepare to one thing: trusting in God and in him. Another word that is used in some versions is believe in God. So trust in God or belief is God in God is such an important thing. It's actually a condition. It's a condition that he gives to his disciples for them to secure a place. And this is also the same requirement for us. Namely, we need to believe in God and believe in Jesus Christ as a fundamental precondition to enter the Father's house. Belief in God and belief in Jesus Christ. Now, Thomas, one of the disciples, asked a very intelligent question. He said he did not know where Jesus was going and he did not know the way. Now Thomas has received negative publicity. He is often referred to as the doubting Thomas. But in this occasion, he actually asks a very, very good question. He asked Jesus as to where he will be going. Now, Jesus replied, he answered. Thomas, he answered Thomas's question. Again, answering in one of the clearest statements in scripture about where or how one would go to God. Verse 6. He says, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. Now, this is one of the ayams. There are about seven ayams, major ayams. But in this particular case, Jesus refers to and calls it the way. Now, in in primary school, I learned about a definite article. He is saying he is the way. The way to go to God is only through Jesus. Jesus was made very, very clear that all roads do not lead to Rome. And that no matter how often we have been assured of this saying, in terms of eternal life, Jesus is the way. Philip was another of Jesus' disciples who actually asked us a follow-up question. He wanted Jesus to show them the Father. In response, Jesus outlined to them that he is visible, that he is the visible and tangible image of the invisible God. He said they had already seen his words and his deeds. He then went on to emphasize again the importance of faith in him, which results in them doing his work. Perhaps a reference to the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives as Christians. And then he concludes by saying, Ask for anything in my name. Again, the importance of prayer. That conversation that Jesus had with these disciples, with his disciples, the number of things that we we can learn from. I don't have enough time to go into all the details, but but faith and belief is significant. And that the way and the truth and the life we get that in Jesus' with through Jesus Christ. And for us to occupy that place that he referred to, it's important to believe in God. But before we prepare and occupy the place he is referring to, in our epistle, we we we read some of the things that are outlined to us, things that we should do while we are still living in this world. He outlines a number of things. One of the important things he outlines there is the need for growing up in our spiritual lives, the need for growth. And Peter talks of milk, talks of spiritual food. In my role, I travel across many parts of the communion. And one of the things that I have found as I travel around is there is a need for people to go deep in the individual spiritual lives in order for them to grow. And as we grow as individuals, we then find that even the church of God, the body of Christ, would grow. It's important to be thinking of our own individual life for growth, but also to think collectively of our corporate life. Many times we forget that. But I think it's important, and Peter is emphasizing the need for milk, in other words, the need for the word of God, which is so important for us to grow. Now, why is growth important? It's important because if we don't, then we remain technology, we remain what we are. If if if you have a baby and you don't see that baby growing, you really it raises concerns. Certainly in some of our churches, we we don't have any concerns when we don't see any form of individual growth or collective growth. It's important that we grow. And I've been to parts of the communion where I see that growth. I was in Congo two years ago and I was given the privilege of confirming 120-something candidates for confirmation. The archbishop said to me, in two weeks' time, he will be confirming another thousand candidates. Two weeks later, I saw on Facebook he confirmed 2,000 candidates. Exciting. In one service, he invited three other two other bishops to help him with the confirmation service. That is what I call growth numerical. Now we we can have about it all across the communion, but that's that's that's that's exciting. That's exciting. The word of God plays an important role in our lives as we grow in our spiritual life. But also, there are many other things that we need to undertake. Again, due to time, I don't have time to go through the detail, but I want to mention four or five quick things. Bible reading is a must for each individual. Prayer again is another important thing that we need to do. Thirdly, we must also be witnesses, we must share our faith. Christian witness is telling the good news of salvation to others. We need to be witnesses of what we have experienced. Someone said that a true Christian life must be contagious. You must share your faith. The fourth thing is the importance of fellowship with other believers, the importance of coming together. Hebrews 10:25 encourages us to fellowship with other Christians. Peter portrays the church as God's spiritual house with Christ as the foundation and cornerstone. And each one of us as believers, we are a stone that forms part of the body of Christ. In fact, we are called to a priest to priesthood of believers. That's why it's important for each one of us as individuals to grow in our individual life based on the thing that we have outlined: reading of scripture, prayer, witnessing, fellowship with other believers. Then, as we grow as individuals, our church grows, the body of Christ grows. No believer can say, I have grown enough. So as individuals grow, we see God also being happy with the growth that we are experiencing. So may God help us to be individual members of the church who desire to share the word of God, but also desire to grow individually, but also corporately, corporately looking at what is important in our church. In the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.

unknown 12:03

Amen.