Trinity Sunday/City Service - 31 May 2026

Trinity Sunday/City Service, 11.00am Sung Eucharist, 31 May 2026 

So what is a City?  A question worth considering as Portsmouth continues to celebrate one hundred years of city status, awarded by royal warrant and letters patent.  I was glad to be part of a Portsmouth100 Civic Ceremony in the Guildhall, in which the order of service explained that while being a city is often linked to having a cathedral, or perhaps a university, or simply a large population, in fact there are no fixed rules. 

 The Bible offers as high a view of the city as there could be, as potentially fulfilling the will of God for the whole human race.   The book of Genesis, with which the Bible begins, opens with an account of the creation of all things, and with the first human beings in a garden.   Sixty six books later we come to the end of the Bible, with the Revelation to John.  The final pages tell of a city.  Not just any city, but ‘the holy city… coming down out of heaven from God.’   There are no places of worship here, because the glory of God is everywhere.  

 So who lives in this holy city?   We are told that all the nations of the world are present, or to be more precise, ‘the glory and the honour of the nations’.   All that is false and destructive is excluded.  As I said, this is ‘the holy city’; there is a gap between our current reality, our current cities, and what we could be: what God calls us to be. 

 So wherein is the ‘glory and honour’ of Portsmouth?   What in the life of our city might rightfully take its place in the City of God, and are there aspects we might wish to see left behind and excluded?   For example, the kind of unacceptable abuse to which those in public life are all too frequently subject?   Surely we could all agree about that, whatever our political loyalties.

 Our English word ‘politics’ derives from the Greek word politika, meaning ‘the affairs of cities’.  Our second reading is addressed to an early Christian community in the cosmopolitan city of Corinth.  The part we heard comes right at the end of a letter, to be read out to the assembled gathering.  ‘Farewell’, Paul says, followed by sentence of thinly veiled frustration.  ‘Put things in order, listen to my appeal, agree with one another, live in peace.’  So more colloquially, something like this: Get your act together, stop ignoring what I’m saying, no more squabbling.  Struggling to live together in peace is an age old problem!

 So let us consider how to bridge the gap between the ‘affairs of cities’ as they all too often are, and the ‘holy city’ of which the Bible speaks, not ruling out Paul’s suggestion that perhaps the grace and love of God may be needed!

 We can learn from our own history.  Last week I heard the historian, writer and broadcaster David Olusoga speaking at a national cathedrals conference.   He offered a contrast from the second world war, and the rather different fate of St Paul’s and Coventry cathedrals.

 In late1940, Winston Churchill said that, ‘St Paul’s Cathedral must be saved at all costs’.   On a single night in December, twenty eight incendiary devices fell on the building, but volunteer firefighters prevented any fire taking hold.  Their bravery made possible the famous image of St Paul’s during the blitz, standing tall in the midst of destruction.  So too, here in Portsmouth, volunteers saved this building from an inferno.   Here is the cathedral as a symbol of resilience, courage and hope.

 Contrast this with what happened in Coventry.  In November 1940, much of the city centre, including the cathedral, was left in ruins after a bombing raid.  Six weeks later, on Christmas Day, the Provost Dick Howard broadcast from the ruins, saying that when the war was over, we should work with those who had been enemies to ‘build a kinder, more Christ Child-like world.’   He had the words, ‘Father forgive’ inscribed on a wall in the ruins.   Not ‘Father forgive them’, as Jesus said to those who crucified him, but the more all embracing ‘Father forgive’.

 The ruins of the cathedral were left, and you can now move from them into the new building.   Here is the cathedral, in the midst of destruction, as a symbol of peace building and forgiveness, complementing the hopeful resilience conveyed by the survival of St Paul’s.  If the biblical promise of all nations finding their place in the holy city is to be realized, all these things will be needed.  Yes, courage and endurance, but also something even more challenging: accepting that no one is wholly innocent.  The responsibility for human violence is shared, and reaching out across boundaries and divisions is essential if we ever to live in peace. 

 We can also learn from today’s readings.  I’ve mentioned the second: the first and third offer more insight into bridging that gap between actuality, and the promise of the holy city. The prophet Isaiah encourages humility, and a sense of perspective.  Amidst the wonders of creation, and the glory of God, we should not get above ourselves: ‘Even the nations are like a drop from a bucket.’  And then in Matthew’s Gospel, the nations are to be taught to obey all that Christ has commanded. 

 I suspect this kind of language doesn’t land well for many in today’s world.  Obey?  Someone else’s commandments?  It all sounds a bit authoritarian, doesn’t it?  Well, let’s take a moment to consider just what Jesus has commanded.   Firstly, to love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength; and to love your neighbour as yourself.  And when asked by a lawyer to define ‘neighbour’, Jesus told a story, a parable, in which someone who has been mugged is offered practical help not by his own people, but by a stranger from a community usually considered hostile.   An injured man in a Pompey strip being assisted by a Southhampton fan; just imagine it!

One more thing; shortly before his death, Jesus offers what he calls a new commandment.   To his followers he says, ‘love one another, just as I have loved you.’  He tells them this just after he has personally washed their feet; he, their leader, is also their servant. 

 What virtues and values might we draw from this, for the glory and honour of our city?  Serving the most vulnerable, perhaps. Treating people equally, setting an example of loving service. Resisting narratives of fear and hatred.  Always keeping in mind the common good, the good of all.

 Many wonder today if the ties that bind our cities together are fraying.  We are increasingly impatient in an age of instant gratification: online convenience, same day deliveries, impatient with having to wait, not wanting to set aside our own needs so someone else might be served. 

 It’s tough for those in local government and national government, and it is part of our role in this cathedral to give thanks for those prepared to serve in this way, and to offer our prayers and support. 

 We pray also, daily, not only for our nation, but for all the nations of the world.  We pray in the light of that vision of the holy city, in which all that is best in humanity, by the grace of God, is honoured and glorified.  Courage and endurance, absolutely, but also service, humility, self-criticism, and the willingness to listen and to change. 

 So may it be that love of God and neighbour more and more shape the reality of our earthly cities today, not least this city of Portsmouth.  May heaven’s light, genuinely be our guide, as we learn and work together in achieving what it truly means to be a city.   AMEN.