A sermon for St George’s Day by Pamela

Today we are celebrating St George’s Day.  St George – the patron saint of England.

I used to have a bit of a problem with St George and couldn’t understand why he was chosen to be England’s patron saint.  This was because all I knew about him was that he was a soldier and he killed a dragon.  It was the dragon that caused me the problem because it sounded as though St George had been invented and came from a fairy tale. 

Of course, once I did some research I discovered quite a lot about him and it turned out that he really existed. He was born in the 3rd century CE, more than 2,000 miles away in Cappadocia (modern day Turkey).

Like many saints, St George was described as a martyr after he died for his Christian faith.

However, it is the dragon bit that I want to concentrate on today. It seems that it was a story that was developed and popularised during the Middle Ages, long after George’s death. One version of the story is that he rescued a Libyan king’s daughter from a dragon and then slayed the monster in return for a promise by the king’s subjects that they would all become Christians and would be baptised. To me the more plausible story is that the story of George’s slaying of the dragon may be a Christian version of the legend of Perseus, who was said to have rescued Andromeda from a sea monster near Lydda.  It may also have simply been to illustrate the battle between good and evil.

The battle between good and evil does seem to have a lot of relevance today. We tend to think of dragons as existing only in children’s fairy tales but I think that there are dragons with us all the time.  Not the large scaley creature with a tail who breathes fire, but the dragons that we fear in our lives.   We often hear of the problems that young children and teenagers have, coping with peer pressure particularly on social media; we hear about bullying and, of course, children may have problems at school and feel under a lot of pressure to succeed in their exams.  There are probably many other things about school which cause worry or anxiety among young people.

Then when we look at what is going on in the world today, we can probably think of political leaders who we may fear or distrust, leaders who misuse their power, who want to make the rest of the world fear them and who seem to be threatening us because they want to have power over us all. When we listen to the news we may get the impression that they are trying to manipulate the people of their own countries into thinking that what they tell them is correct,that they are right, they are good and the rest of the world is evil.

Then there are the many dragons in our own personal lives. We all have fears and worries and stresses in our lives.  People may be under pressure at work, have  monetary worries and wonder how they are going to be able to feed and clothe their children. Older people may wonder how they are going to keep their homes warm. Others may have health issues that cause worry or fear – things that have to be dealt with.  Voluntary workers can feel pressured to do all the things that seem to be expected of them; they may worry about trying to fit everything into their lives, worry about making mistakes and worry about letting others down.

But, as GK Chesterton once wrote:-

“Fairy tales are true not because they tell us that dragons exist but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten” .

So how do we deal with our dragons?  How do we beat them? How do we slay them?

This I think is where our faith in God comes in.  God may not wipe away your fears or your anxieties but I have found that it is the knowledge that God is there with me that helps me.  It has always been in the worst moments of my life that I have been most aware of God – most aware of God’s presence.  It is where prayer comes in.   

 Prayer for me is my sort of chat time with God.  Yes I give thanks for the good things that have happened, but I also talk about people I know who are ill or going through a difficult time and ask God to help them.  In other words I’m asking God to help them deal with their dragons.  I talk about things that are going on in the world – the political dragons that I fear. I talk to God about all the things that worry me; I talk about all my dragons, and I do have dragons.  I don’t use the sort of formal words that you might find in a book of prayers.  I do quite literally pour everything out to God – I talk to God as I would to a trusted friend.  There is a great freedom in doing that because I can talk about anything and everything and at any time and anywhere and not be judged or criticized or told that I am silly to worry about these things.  And yes, I admit, sometimes I get angry with God because I want everything sorted out to make everything alright.  But I don’t think that is God’s way.  God gave us all free will.  God doesn’t control us. 

We have to seek God out, we have to ask for the guidance and the strength that we need and we have to be prepared to listen to that Guidance.   If we ask, I believe God will help us to find the strength that we need to beat those dragons that are trying to devour us.  God will give us the strength to cope with our fears and our anxieties, the strength to cope with our lives whatever the future holds for us. 

So will you ask God to help you to find the strength to deal with your dragons?

Perhaps St George is a good patron saint for us to have for England after all,  someone to intercede for us, to offer up more prayers for us, when our dragons need to be slain.

Remember Psalm 46, verse 1 “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble”.