{"id":112492,"date":"2026-05-10T18:25:06","date_gmt":"2026-05-10T17:25:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.salisburycathedral.org.uk\/?p=112492"},"modified":"2026-05-11T10:58:50","modified_gmt":"2026-05-11T09:58:50","slug":"two-tales-of-a-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.salisburycathedral.org.uk\/two-tales-of-a-city\/","title":{"rendered":"Two Tales of a City"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Sunday 10 May 2026<br \/>\n<\/strong><strong>The Very Reverend Nicholas Papadopulos, Dean of Salisbury<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Sermon: Two Tales of a City\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/QgGH7dQQVo0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" class=\"lazyload\" data-load-mode=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Zechariah 8: 1\u201313<br \/>\nRevelation 21: 22\u201422: 5<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Tonight\u2019s readings are not so much a tale of two cities as two tales of a city\u2026<\/p>\n<p>The first is the prophet Zechariah\u2019s account of God\u2019s words to Jewish exiles returning to Judah from Babylon, to rebuild their Temple. \u00a0The second is the prophet John the Divine\u2019s account of God\u2019s words to believers beyond the bounds of Palestine, anticipating an era of severe persecution.<\/p>\n<p>The accounts are written centuries apart and are addressed to different audiences in different contexts. \u00a0But both articulate a vision of a city \u2013 Jerusalem \u2013 a city which has borne and continues to bear a burden of significance, meaning, and interpretation which surely exceeds that of any other city in history.<\/p>\n<p>The two tales have much in common.<\/p>\n<p>In both, Jerusalem features as the locus of God\u2019s ultimate reconciliation with humankind. \u2018<em>I will return to Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem\u2019<\/em> God promises Zechariah. \u00a0\u2018<em>The city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God is its light\u2019<\/em> John promises his hearers.<\/p>\n<p>In both, God\u2019s reconciliation with humankind brings blessings for the city\u2019s inhabitants. \u00a0In the first, the returning exiles sit in the city streets if they are old and play in them if they are young. \u00a0In the second, night never falls and the gates are never shut. \u00a0How often are portraits still painted of an era when doors were unlocked and children played in the streets!\u00a0 Across the centuries it\u2019s been a powerful image of perfect unruffled security.<\/p>\n<p>And in both, the very soil of the earth responds to the presence of God. \u00a0In the first, vines yield their fruit and the ground gives produce. \u00a0In the second, the tree of life blooms and its leaves offer healing to the nations.<\/p>\n<p>To the prophet Zechariah and to the prophet John Jerusalem means reconciliation; tranquillity; fruitfulness and healing. \u00a0The poets and visionaries who have followed them have not stopped imagining and re-imagining the city. \u00a0Many of these imaginings and re-imaginings are part and parcel of our worshipping life. \u00a0They tell tales of Jerusalem the golden, with milk and honey blest; they recall that glorious things are spoken of the city of our God; they name it as light\u2019s abode whence peace doth spring; they claim it as the city we will build in England\u2019s green and pleasant land.<\/p>\n<p>Jerusalem is so many things to so many peoples. \u00a0And to you and to me Jerusalem is\u2026what?<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s forty-eight square miles on a plateau of the Judean Mountains, between the Mediterranean and the Dead Seas. \u00a0It\u2019s a human settlement known to Zechariah, to Jesus of Nazareth, and to the prophet Muhammad. \u00a0It\u2019s a bitterly contested space at the epicentre of history\u2019s most intractable conflict. \u00a0It\u2019s a metaphor for the final realization of God\u2019s presence in and rule over all things.<\/p>\n<p>Ancient city; conflict zone; icon of God\u2019s ultimate purpose \u2013 but what does Jerusalem mean? \u00a0What does it mean to us, this Easter?<\/p>\n<p>Jerusalem is the place where God chooses to dwell. \u00a0Where God chooses to dwell there is life; there is no need for any other source of power. \u00a0Where God chooses to dwell there is peace and there is light; there is no fear and no darkness; children play in the streets and the aged sit with their staffs in their hands. \u00a0Where God chooses to dwell the earth around is abundant; there is new life springing up in abundance and for the enjoyment of all.<\/p>\n<p>Sisters, brothers: you and I are the place where God chooses to dwell. \u00a0We are built to be Jerusalem \u2013 the place, the people from whom shines the light that lights up the earth; in whom there is peace; around whom there is abundance. \u00a0We are the new Jerusalem \u2013 we are those from whom the new Jerusalem will be built. \u00a0May it be so!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sunday 10 May 2026 The Very Reverend Nicholas Papadopulos, Dean of Salisbury &nbsp; &nbsp; Zechariah 8: 1\u201313 Revelation 21: 22\u201422: 5 &nbsp; Tonight\u2019s readings are not so much a tale of two cities as two tales of a city\u2026 The first is the prophet Zechariah\u2019s account of God\u2019s words to Jewish exiles returning to Judah [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":112493,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-112492","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sermon"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.4 (Yoast SEO v27.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Two Tales of a City - Salisbury 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