Christmas 1 2008
Incarnation
I enjoyed my Christmas this year, actually I enjoy my Christmas celebrations every year, and the many and varied services I took part in were quite moving and very enjoyable. But now the big day has come and gone, the present wrappings have all been cleared up, the aftermath of the mammoth meal has been dealt with, and we settle down to another dose of reality after all of the celebrations have finished. Of course we still have the New Year to see in, but Christmas is past until next August when the shops put their decorations up again.
Or is it? For those of us who believe in the reality of the life of Christ then our celebration of Christmas carries on throughout the year, or rather our celebration of the essence of Christmas carries on throughout the year. Every time we say the creed we say we believe in the Christ who was made incarnate of the virgin Mary, and this word ‘Incarnation’ is one that should inform our whole life and faith.
It’s the same as the fact that every time we take part in Holy Communion we re-enact the fateful events of the last supper even as we celebrate the risen life of our Lord. Christian’s are ‘Easter people’ and ‘Christmas people’ all the year round. I believe this is a good reason for enjoying the Christian life, and not perpetuating the myth that Christians are all ‘black suits, black books and black looks’
The theme of our readings and the prayer for this week is that of incarnation. Incarnation is something that comes into a lot of Christian Theological conversations and a word that is much used by Christian Theologians and Teachers - but it is something that passes most of us by, and to dwell on the minutia of so-called ‘Incarnational Theology’ can be a bit of a distraction from the everyday Christian life! But Incarnation is something that forms the basis of the unique revelation of our Faith and so it does bear some looking at.
Incarnation is an exciting part of the Christian Faith - no, really! It shows us that we have a God who is willing to come alongside us, to be a part of the earthiness of human life. Our God is ‘down to earth’ in the most real and solid manner. Jesus was not ‘God in disguise’, he did not walk a couple of inches off of the ground, he did all the things that we do - ate, slept, laughed, cried, went to the loo, the lot. He did not escape the suffering that is common to the human condition, nor did he miss out on the joys of being a part of the world.
In becoming human, God gave his ultimate approval to humanity. This echoes the words at the very start of scripture - “God saw all that he had made, and behold it was very good.” You see, God likes us. God is on our side. When we think about the judgement of God we should think in terms of him being someone who longs to judge in our favour, not who is seeking to put us down and punish us. The Incarnation tells us that God longs to draw us closer to himself, and in order to make this possible is willing to come alongside us and be a part of our world.
So we are right to put great stock in the Incarnation. Incarnation is God revealing himself in a way that we can not only understand intellectually but in our hearts. God is not just a God of rationality, but of feeling, of our mind and emotions, and our whole lives.
Incarnation allows us to engage with God at the deepest level, knowing that God understands us even when we do not understand God. That even when we feel that we don’t believe in God - GOD BELIEVES IN US.
That’s a good way of thinking of the incarnation - it proves that God believes in us. No matter how far we feel we have fallen, God waits with open arms. In one of the prayers in the modern Church liturgy for the Eucharist we have the most wonderful phrase:
‘Father of all, we give you thanks and praise that when we were still far off, you met us in your Son and brought us home.’
God comes to us. God embraces us in the way that the father in Jesus story embraces the son who spent all of his inheritance. God is not stand-offish, distant or unaware of what our lives are like. God is intimately involved in the world that he has made, and is a part of every experience we go through.
One of the titles that we use over and over again at Christmas time is the title ‘Emmanuel’ - God with us. God is with us, let’s never forget that, let’s hold on to that fact and use it to inform our lives and our faith.
So what does all this incarnational stuff mean in practical terms, what difference should it make to the way we act or think or speak?
Firstly - incarnation reminds us that I am precious in God’s sight. Me. I am loved beyond measure. God loves me enough to come and share my life and experience.
Secondly - incarnation reminds us that those who share our lives are equally valued by God. We should treat our neighbours in a way that reflects the love that God has for them. Do you hold others in such high regard? Does the way we treat those we live and work with, those who share our lives, in a way that reflects their value to God?
Thirdly - incarnation reminds us that we cannot ever accuse God of not knowing how we feel. We have no ground to stand on. God knows first hand what it is like to be human, to be poor, oppressed, persecuted. God knows the joys that this world can bring, and the pains - and goes through them with us.
Finally - incarnation shows us what we are capable of. We human beings, made in the image of God, are able to attain greatness. We cannot explain away what Jesus did by saying ‘well, he was God, wasn’t he?’ - if we believe he was God, it was only in such a way as was limited by being human. Jesus was not the deluxe model human, with extra bells and whistles. Jesus was as human as we are - those who shared his life knew that he was a man, but they saw in him something that reflected who and what God is.
So we pray in our prayer for this Sunday, the collect, ‘grant that, as he came to share in our humanity so we may share in the life of his divinity.’ We are capable of being like Christ - not just in the world to come, but in our lives today. We will fail and fall, but like Christ, with faith we can move forward. We too have the ability to share life in communion with God, to be more than we can imagine.
The Incarnation says to us that God wants to make more of us, to free us from the shackles that we create for ourselves, shackles of fear, sin and lack of forgiveness. God can change us, can make us more like himself - we have to learn to let him. May the reality of God made human deepen our faith, and give us the freedom to be more like Christ, to be the people that God has truly made us to be.
Thursday, 5 February 2009
Saturday, 20 December 2008
A Carol Service Sermon
Christmas Carols 2008
Turn away from the lights
Many of you will know that i am a biker. I do like motorbikes, and take the opportunity to ride whenever i can – and I’m not one of these fairweather bikers, oh no, I will ride wherever and whenever, whatever the weather. And today I got to ride my bike for a couple of hours, which has topped me up, fix wise, for a few days, though you will all, I am sure, be pleased to know that I am riding extra carefully due to the slippery roads at the moment!
But, and some of you may have heard me say this before, there is something you have to watch out for in the darker times of the year. Lights. You see, in a car it doesn’t matter quite so much where you look, your big metal box will keep going in the direction your steering wheel points it, but on a bike, much of your direction comes from where you are looking, because a bike is steered by the way you sit and lean, not just by the handlebars. So where the eye leads, often unconsciously, the bike follows.
Which means that in the winter months, you have to be careful not to be distracted by the lights of the traffic on the other side of the road. You have to keep your focus on the road ahead and not be constantly looking around. Which is quite difficult for someone like me who tends to be distracted very easily. My mum calls it ‘being butterfly minded’ – which is true, if I’m honest.
If you look around at this time of year you will see lots and lots of lights. We’ve got some here in the Church. You only have to drive up through the villages to see an amazing selection of lights on people’s houses, it seems to have become the thing to have more and more lights on our homes at Christmas time and whilst driving around the Mission Community you might wonder if UFO’s had landed with all the lights there are around this time of year.
But I’m not one of those who says ‘bah humbug’ at this, i love the ways that people make such an effort around Christmas to brighten things up. It is, of course, the darkest time of year and we may well feel in need of a little brightness and warmth to drive away the cold and dark nights. I am all in favour of joy, life and light at Christmas, i think it is a great celebration of hope and happiness.
And God knows we need life and light in the world in which we live. It’s easy to have a negative view of the world, seeing what comes at us through the media and some of the things we experience in out lives. We can be forgiven for thinking of the world as a dark place.
But despite this, often in the middle of it, Christmas sheds light, a time of celebrating the good things in life – and if that means plastering houses in lights, or making that extra effort then I think that’s a good thing.
But as Christians we don’t just concentrate on the obvious things at Christmas, we enjoy the festivities (or we should anyway) and we can join in with the various traditions of Christmas that have sprung up over the past few years.
But this is not the whole story, and just like me on my motorbike we shouldn’t be distracted by the lights and keep our focus there. We look beyond the obvious and we remember the reason behind our celebrations.
Whilst we say a resounding ‘yes’ to the things which are good about Christmas – the emphasis on family, on giving, on generosity, the joy and happiness of this time to year. We also realise that Christmas is about God’s resounding ‘yes’ to each one of us that comes through jesus Christ, his Son, sent to show the love of God to the world.
Again and again I am struck by the wonder of Christmas – summed up in the best known verse in the Bible, John’s Gospel Chapter 3 verse 16 – God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him will not die but live forever.
It was God’s love for the world that was the reason he was willing to take on human flesh – to go through everything that we go through. It was God’s love for the world that sent Jesus, vulnerable as any human baby is vulnerable, to grow up and show us how to live, and to pay the price of sin.
Jesus is the true light of the world, beyond all the glitz and glitter of Christmas, he is the the light of truth and hope and love. For those of us who know him, then he is the focus of these coming celebrations.
And the joy that comes from knowing him, the truth of his love and grace is greater than any other joy and truth. It’s the reason that we re-enact the story of Christmas every year, it is the reason that no matter how many times i find myself singing these carols and hearing these readings that the wonder is still there. It’s the old old story (to quote a hymn) which never becomes tired or boring. It’s a time of ancient truths which are relevant to each one of us here and now, no matter what we are going through.
Because knowing that Jesus came as one of us – not a pretend human being, but just like us – and felt the joys, sadness, pain, celebration, laughter and tear that all of us feel means that God isn’t out there somewhere distant but right here with us – he knows what it is like to be hungry, lonely, afraid, confused, grieving, sick.
We don’t have a God who doesn’t care about us, but the message of Christmas is that God loves us completely – even though he knows us completely!
Imagine what that is like, to be loved completely, without reservation. Think of the person you love most in the world and how that feels and multiply that by a thousand times and you won’t even touch how much God loves us.
That’s why we celebrate – that’s why the lights and the decorations and the trees and the presents and the carols and the services and the parties and the lunch and everything else all mean so much – because God is in the middle of it all. God is with us – which is what the title Emmanuel means.
O Come to us, abide with us, our Lord, Emmanuel.
Amen and Thanks be to God.
Turn away from the lights
Many of you will know that i am a biker. I do like motorbikes, and take the opportunity to ride whenever i can – and I’m not one of these fairweather bikers, oh no, I will ride wherever and whenever, whatever the weather. And today I got to ride my bike for a couple of hours, which has topped me up, fix wise, for a few days, though you will all, I am sure, be pleased to know that I am riding extra carefully due to the slippery roads at the moment!
But, and some of you may have heard me say this before, there is something you have to watch out for in the darker times of the year. Lights. You see, in a car it doesn’t matter quite so much where you look, your big metal box will keep going in the direction your steering wheel points it, but on a bike, much of your direction comes from where you are looking, because a bike is steered by the way you sit and lean, not just by the handlebars. So where the eye leads, often unconsciously, the bike follows.
Which means that in the winter months, you have to be careful not to be distracted by the lights of the traffic on the other side of the road. You have to keep your focus on the road ahead and not be constantly looking around. Which is quite difficult for someone like me who tends to be distracted very easily. My mum calls it ‘being butterfly minded’ – which is true, if I’m honest.
If you look around at this time of year you will see lots and lots of lights. We’ve got some here in the Church. You only have to drive up through the villages to see an amazing selection of lights on people’s houses, it seems to have become the thing to have more and more lights on our homes at Christmas time and whilst driving around the Mission Community you might wonder if UFO’s had landed with all the lights there are around this time of year.
But I’m not one of those who says ‘bah humbug’ at this, i love the ways that people make such an effort around Christmas to brighten things up. It is, of course, the darkest time of year and we may well feel in need of a little brightness and warmth to drive away the cold and dark nights. I am all in favour of joy, life and light at Christmas, i think it is a great celebration of hope and happiness.
And God knows we need life and light in the world in which we live. It’s easy to have a negative view of the world, seeing what comes at us through the media and some of the things we experience in out lives. We can be forgiven for thinking of the world as a dark place.
But despite this, often in the middle of it, Christmas sheds light, a time of celebrating the good things in life – and if that means plastering houses in lights, or making that extra effort then I think that’s a good thing.
But as Christians we don’t just concentrate on the obvious things at Christmas, we enjoy the festivities (or we should anyway) and we can join in with the various traditions of Christmas that have sprung up over the past few years.
But this is not the whole story, and just like me on my motorbike we shouldn’t be distracted by the lights and keep our focus there. We look beyond the obvious and we remember the reason behind our celebrations.
Whilst we say a resounding ‘yes’ to the things which are good about Christmas – the emphasis on family, on giving, on generosity, the joy and happiness of this time to year. We also realise that Christmas is about God’s resounding ‘yes’ to each one of us that comes through jesus Christ, his Son, sent to show the love of God to the world.
Again and again I am struck by the wonder of Christmas – summed up in the best known verse in the Bible, John’s Gospel Chapter 3 verse 16 – God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him will not die but live forever.
It was God’s love for the world that was the reason he was willing to take on human flesh – to go through everything that we go through. It was God’s love for the world that sent Jesus, vulnerable as any human baby is vulnerable, to grow up and show us how to live, and to pay the price of sin.
Jesus is the true light of the world, beyond all the glitz and glitter of Christmas, he is the the light of truth and hope and love. For those of us who know him, then he is the focus of these coming celebrations.
And the joy that comes from knowing him, the truth of his love and grace is greater than any other joy and truth. It’s the reason that we re-enact the story of Christmas every year, it is the reason that no matter how many times i find myself singing these carols and hearing these readings that the wonder is still there. It’s the old old story (to quote a hymn) which never becomes tired or boring. It’s a time of ancient truths which are relevant to each one of us here and now, no matter what we are going through.
Because knowing that Jesus came as one of us – not a pretend human being, but just like us – and felt the joys, sadness, pain, celebration, laughter and tear that all of us feel means that God isn’t out there somewhere distant but right here with us – he knows what it is like to be hungry, lonely, afraid, confused, grieving, sick.
We don’t have a God who doesn’t care about us, but the message of Christmas is that God loves us completely – even though he knows us completely!
Imagine what that is like, to be loved completely, without reservation. Think of the person you love most in the world and how that feels and multiply that by a thousand times and you won’t even touch how much God loves us.
That’s why we celebrate – that’s why the lights and the decorations and the trees and the presents and the carols and the services and the parties and the lunch and everything else all mean so much – because God is in the middle of it all. God is with us – which is what the title Emmanuel means.
O Come to us, abide with us, our Lord, Emmanuel.
Amen and Thanks be to God.
Thursday, 18 December 2008
Sermon for a cold morning
This was the sermon last week...
Preparing The World
This week I watched a movie about Father Christmas which I enjoyed very much, it was the third one in the series known as ‘The Santa Clause’ movies – called the ‘the escape clause’ and had a very positive message about love being the focus of Christmas, and that the true magic of Christmas wasn’t about toys or commercialism, but about family and friends, about giving and caring. There are many people who feel the same about Christmas time, and the Church should encourage such thoughts as Christmas approaches, but as the shops are packed, decorations are going up, turkeys are being chosen (or nut loaves depending on your preference), carols are being sung, parties are happening, presents are being wrapped, postmen (and women) are complaining, plans are being made, TV guides are being searched for all the best programmes - into the middle of all this comes a voice:
“Prepare the way of the Lord…”
It’s not a very loud voice, compared to most of the noise of Christmas, in fact it’s easily missed. It seems to be the quietest voice of all in today’s Christmas - but that doesn’t mean it’s not there -
“Prepare the way of the Lord…”
It’s so quiet, but it’s insistent, it keeps on calling, even when hidden it keeps calling, even covered in wrapping paper, tinsel, presents, cards and decorations it is still there. Even drowned out by carols it calls. It is the message of Christmas that we as Christians have, the original message of Christmas, the reason this whole thing exists…
“Prepare the way of the Lord…”
It is easy to loose the central message of Christmas in our modern world. Though there are many positive things said about loving, giving, peace and hope in the general Christmas message that comes out from our TV screens, our movies and our media the essential message is more than that, the Christian message is that Christ has come, that Christ still comes (in those we meet every day) and that Christ will come again.
“Prepare the way of the Lord…”
John the Baptist, in our passage today, said more than just ‘The Lord will come’ more than just ‘at some time it will happen’ but Christ is coming. There was an immanence, an immediacy about his proclamation that made people listen. John’s message of God being close brought people from near and far to hear what he had to say. John’s message was one that got people’s attention, that made people respond, that made the reality of God come closer for them. It is the same message that we are called upon to proclaim today, the same gospel, of Immanuel, of God with us that John brought to the people all those years ago.
“Prepare the way of the Lord…”
But how is this message to be proclaimed? Where is John The Baptist for the 21st Century? Who’s task is it to prepare our world for the coming of Christ?
It’s our task. We who are the Church have the job of proclaiming Christ to our generation. There’s no escaping it. Part of the reason the voice is so quiet is that many of us - myself included - enjoy Christmas as it is. It isn’t necessarily a bad thing, there is a good message, there are plenty of positive things about the modern Christmas, plenty of enjoyable things. But it’s not enough to just let everyone get on with celebrating Christmas in the usual way -we have a message that adds to Christmas, that draws more from the celebration, that offers a greater hope to humanity. Our Christmas message is one which stretches throughout the year, which lasts forever, which can change hearts, minds and lives.
“Prepare the way of the Lord…”
So we prepare the world - by proclamation and by living the good news of the Gospel of Christ. Our message is one of new life, of the peace of God, of God’s love for every individual, of the need to love our neighbour. Our message is a positive one and is one to be spoken and one to be lived. It is important to remember that it is not only our words that spread the gospel, it is our lifestyle, it is the way we are God’s people, as well as those who say we are God’s people.
And so a world which tends to speak a language of self-concern and self-advancement, of oppression and injustice, of having and wanting is given a new language, one which is based on words of love and grace, of giving and caring. In this way God’s word is again living and active - and Christ once again is brought near. By our lives and our words we prepare the way for the entry of Christ into the lives of people who do not know him. In this way we prepare a world which is unprepared for a God who cares for them, who is willing to die for them, who loves them with everything he is.
In some ways, however, the world can never be ready for Christ. The message of the gospel is a surprise and always will be. The message that God comes to us in the weak, the humble, the hurting, the needy, is one that shocks, that is unexpected. Our God is a God of surprises. Our God is a God who chooses to work through us, to rely on His people to prepare the way for the working of His living, active, dynamic spirit. God puts into our hands the responsibility of preparing the way.
“Prepare the way of the Lord…”
If I were God I’d want to do it differently - something big, something noticeable - something in neon, perhaps, with a loud soundtrack - maybe multimedia, a few thousand angels and a really big sound system. But I am not God, and our God has chosen us to show and tell the message.
There is a story of a statue of Christ found in a ruined Church. The hands and feet of the statue had broken off in the devastation that had destroyed the Church. That statue was never repaired, though, those who found it said that it reminded them that we are the hands and feet of Christ in our world.
We are the ones responsible for bringing the message of Christmas to the people around us. This may not involve saying anything to them about faith, but by the way we act towards them, as we seek to do what Christ claimed he was here to do:
“…to bring good news to the poor…proclaim release to the captives…recovery of sight to the blind…to let the oppressed go free…to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour…”
In our own way, then, we are the ones who make straight the way of the Lord, who create a path through the barriers in the hearts of women and men who do not know, or want to know, Christ. We are the ones who bring Christ into the wilderness of lives that long for the love of God to come in.
“Prepare the way of the Lord…”
So let’s prepare ourselves and our world for Christmas. In preparing for it let us open ourselves to what God, by the Holy Spirit, would do in us and through us. Let us celebrate the fact that Christ has come near, and that Christ wants to be a part of our world and our lives today. Let us celebrate Christmas because we have good reason to celebrate and because the Kingdom of Heaven is among us, the same Kingdom that can be likened to a banquet or a wedding feast. The same Kingdom of Heaven that is echoed in our celebration of the Eucharist. The same Kingdom we can celebrate in our parties and our Christmas dinners. Let us proclaim a message of good news, the gospel of Christ as we enjoy Christmas and as we Prepare the way of the Lord.
Now to God alone be all majesty, might, power and dominion, in the Church and throughout the world now and evermore. Amen.
Preparing The World
This week I watched a movie about Father Christmas which I enjoyed very much, it was the third one in the series known as ‘The Santa Clause’ movies – called the ‘the escape clause’ and had a very positive message about love being the focus of Christmas, and that the true magic of Christmas wasn’t about toys or commercialism, but about family and friends, about giving and caring. There are many people who feel the same about Christmas time, and the Church should encourage such thoughts as Christmas approaches, but as the shops are packed, decorations are going up, turkeys are being chosen (or nut loaves depending on your preference), carols are being sung, parties are happening, presents are being wrapped, postmen (and women) are complaining, plans are being made, TV guides are being searched for all the best programmes - into the middle of all this comes a voice:
“Prepare the way of the Lord…”
It’s not a very loud voice, compared to most of the noise of Christmas, in fact it’s easily missed. It seems to be the quietest voice of all in today’s Christmas - but that doesn’t mean it’s not there -
“Prepare the way of the Lord…”
It’s so quiet, but it’s insistent, it keeps on calling, even when hidden it keeps calling, even covered in wrapping paper, tinsel, presents, cards and decorations it is still there. Even drowned out by carols it calls. It is the message of Christmas that we as Christians have, the original message of Christmas, the reason this whole thing exists…
“Prepare the way of the Lord…”
It is easy to loose the central message of Christmas in our modern world. Though there are many positive things said about loving, giving, peace and hope in the general Christmas message that comes out from our TV screens, our movies and our media the essential message is more than that, the Christian message is that Christ has come, that Christ still comes (in those we meet every day) and that Christ will come again.
“Prepare the way of the Lord…”
John the Baptist, in our passage today, said more than just ‘The Lord will come’ more than just ‘at some time it will happen’ but Christ is coming. There was an immanence, an immediacy about his proclamation that made people listen. John’s message of God being close brought people from near and far to hear what he had to say. John’s message was one that got people’s attention, that made people respond, that made the reality of God come closer for them. It is the same message that we are called upon to proclaim today, the same gospel, of Immanuel, of God with us that John brought to the people all those years ago.
“Prepare the way of the Lord…”
But how is this message to be proclaimed? Where is John The Baptist for the 21st Century? Who’s task is it to prepare our world for the coming of Christ?
It’s our task. We who are the Church have the job of proclaiming Christ to our generation. There’s no escaping it. Part of the reason the voice is so quiet is that many of us - myself included - enjoy Christmas as it is. It isn’t necessarily a bad thing, there is a good message, there are plenty of positive things about the modern Christmas, plenty of enjoyable things. But it’s not enough to just let everyone get on with celebrating Christmas in the usual way -we have a message that adds to Christmas, that draws more from the celebration, that offers a greater hope to humanity. Our Christmas message is one which stretches throughout the year, which lasts forever, which can change hearts, minds and lives.
“Prepare the way of the Lord…”
So we prepare the world - by proclamation and by living the good news of the Gospel of Christ. Our message is one of new life, of the peace of God, of God’s love for every individual, of the need to love our neighbour. Our message is a positive one and is one to be spoken and one to be lived. It is important to remember that it is not only our words that spread the gospel, it is our lifestyle, it is the way we are God’s people, as well as those who say we are God’s people.
And so a world which tends to speak a language of self-concern and self-advancement, of oppression and injustice, of having and wanting is given a new language, one which is based on words of love and grace, of giving and caring. In this way God’s word is again living and active - and Christ once again is brought near. By our lives and our words we prepare the way for the entry of Christ into the lives of people who do not know him. In this way we prepare a world which is unprepared for a God who cares for them, who is willing to die for them, who loves them with everything he is.
In some ways, however, the world can never be ready for Christ. The message of the gospel is a surprise and always will be. The message that God comes to us in the weak, the humble, the hurting, the needy, is one that shocks, that is unexpected. Our God is a God of surprises. Our God is a God who chooses to work through us, to rely on His people to prepare the way for the working of His living, active, dynamic spirit. God puts into our hands the responsibility of preparing the way.
“Prepare the way of the Lord…”
If I were God I’d want to do it differently - something big, something noticeable - something in neon, perhaps, with a loud soundtrack - maybe multimedia, a few thousand angels and a really big sound system. But I am not God, and our God has chosen us to show and tell the message.
There is a story of a statue of Christ found in a ruined Church. The hands and feet of the statue had broken off in the devastation that had destroyed the Church. That statue was never repaired, though, those who found it said that it reminded them that we are the hands and feet of Christ in our world.
We are the ones responsible for bringing the message of Christmas to the people around us. This may not involve saying anything to them about faith, but by the way we act towards them, as we seek to do what Christ claimed he was here to do:
“…to bring good news to the poor…proclaim release to the captives…recovery of sight to the blind…to let the oppressed go free…to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour…”
In our own way, then, we are the ones who make straight the way of the Lord, who create a path through the barriers in the hearts of women and men who do not know, or want to know, Christ. We are the ones who bring Christ into the wilderness of lives that long for the love of God to come in.
“Prepare the way of the Lord…”
So let’s prepare ourselves and our world for Christmas. In preparing for it let us open ourselves to what God, by the Holy Spirit, would do in us and through us. Let us celebrate the fact that Christ has come near, and that Christ wants to be a part of our world and our lives today. Let us celebrate Christmas because we have good reason to celebrate and because the Kingdom of Heaven is among us, the same Kingdom that can be likened to a banquet or a wedding feast. The same Kingdom of Heaven that is echoed in our celebration of the Eucharist. The same Kingdom we can celebrate in our parties and our Christmas dinners. Let us proclaim a message of good news, the gospel of Christ as we enjoy Christmas and as we Prepare the way of the Lord.
Now to God alone be all majesty, might, power and dominion, in the Church and throughout the world now and evermore. Amen.
Thursday, 4 December 2008
A sermon for Advent Sunday
Advent 1 2008 Year B RCL
Looking for the Light
Have you started dreaming about what presents you hope to get for Christmas yet? Have you started thinking of the wonderful reaction hope to see on the faces of friends and family as they open up the gifts you bought them. Are your expectations high? Us human beings are pretty good at building up our expectations - a theme that is particularly pertinent as we dream of the wonderful gifts we hope to receive and as we tell ourselves that we’ve finally found the perfect present for the person who has everything.
Unfortunately most of these expectations seem to be dashed as we find our new video game, gardening equipment and expensive jewellery have become badly knitted jumpers, funny coloured ties and an abundance of hankies with your initial on the corner - and that the inventive and original gift you gave is exactly the same as that which three other people gave as well. Our expectations never really seem to be live up to.
God never seems to live up to our expectations either. Not that this is necessarily a bad thing, though. If I were to turn to Isaiah 64, one of the readings set for today, but not one of this readings we are using for today’s theme of looking for light, we would read a prayer that begins:
“Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains would tremble before you! As when fire sets twigs ablaze and causes water to boil...”
This was how the Israelite prophet Isaiah hoped that the Messiah would appear, in glory, bursting through the gates of the sky to reveal the power of God to all the nations and to exalt his chosen nation Israel. This was the hope of the people who heard the prophet Isaiah, or the third prophet called Isaiah as we believe this part of the book comes from. These were those who pictured the light of God as a blinding light, an overwhelming and challenging light, those who thought that the messiah was to be the Messiah of the Jews, a warrior Messiah who would rid Israel of its oppressors and make it a nation to rule over the Gentile, a powerful force who would show Yahweh’s power to the world. In this picture the Messiah will be "Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."- a strong leader, one who would carry the power of God to put down the rebellion of human hearts against God.
Israel had good reason to hold these expectations, they were the chosen people of God, connected to him by a covenant that bound them together. Yet by the time of Jesus they had been exiled not only once, but twice and were under occupation by Rome and under Roman rule. What had happened to the land that God had promised them? Where was the light in their darkness?
It was perhaps natural to expect God to redeem them, to send a Messiah who would be the Saviour of the Jews, to restore them to their land - to fulfil the promise that God would save and redeem His people. This was the hope that had been built up over hundreds of years, it had become a longing - a longing for a redeemer who would liberate the Jewish people and exalt them so that they could take up their rightful place as the chosen people of God. They understood the writings of the prophets to point to the one who would, as Isaiah wrote “rend the heavens and come down”, they believed they were waiting for a political Messiah, a mighty Messiah of power to meet their need for freedom from their Roman oppressors.
It wasn’t that their expectations were wrong, they were the result of a certain way of seeing the promises of God, they were expectations of a certain kind held because of a certain situation. It wasn’t that these were bad expectations, or false ones - but that God often doesn’t live up to our expectations - in fact God holds to a very different way of doing thing than we do, a way we do not easily understand and which we often find difficult to grasp, a way that is often surprising and confusing, and often the opposite of what we would expect or hope for.
And it is because of this thwarting of expectations that we celebrate the birth of Christ every year. In fact, we celebrate a God who came in human form, who was born vulnerable and lowly, who lived the life of an itinerant preacher, teacher and healer and who died, almost in obscurity, an agonising and dishonourable death. It is this God that we think of at this time of year as we move towards Christmas, and this Christ, this Messiah, who rose again and whom we long to see and who we long to come and live with us, we think of in this season of Advent.
Jesus wasn’t anyone’s idea of a Messiah, he turned things upside-down, Jesus shows that he has a different understanding of God, different expectations. He brings out a meaning other than that which had been expected He talks of justice, freedom, salvation for all - not just the Jews, God has redeemed and saved his people, but his people are all of the inhabitants of the world he created. Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ, the light, not just for God’s original chosen people, but for the whole world.
And this theme of expectations goes on throughout scripture. These expectations comprise new values, new hopes - they are about love, wholeness, self-sacrifice, servanthood and justice, they aren’t about political power or favouritism but about God’s love poured out on to all humanity, God’s free gift of grace. This is the light of the world, the light which we are all called to live by and the light we are called to shed throughout all the world. And all of this is unexpected, undeserved, the result of a God who takes our expectations and goes further than we could ever expect, it isn’t that God doesn’t live up to our expectations but that our expectations could never live up to what God has in store for us.
God can do more than we ever ask or imagine, God is a God of surprises who bursts out of our unimaginative bonds and can bring us to new life in him. God calls us to dream and to set our hopes high and to seek Christ in one another and the world in which we live. These are the expectations to aspire to, to let ourselves be gripped by God and to be set free to serve Him in love and to dream dreams of the kingdom of God, and of the return of Christ into our lives - this is the advent hope and we start by expecting it today.
But what are our expectations this Advent-time as we lead up to another Christmas? Do we expect the same routine of TV, Carols, Mince pies, Shopping and all the paraphernalia that goes with modern Christmases? How low are our expectations? Low expectations are the kind God must find it hard to break out of, ones that not only have missed the point but that give Him nothing to work with.
It is easy for us to look back with the benefit of hindsight and say that the Jews were wrong, that they had false expectations, that they were misguided, and many Christians do make such negative assumptions - but those we read of in scripture were seeking God and the fulfilment of His promises, faithfully searching for the end of God’s plan - today many in our world seem to have given up looking. Have we lost the vision of God’s upside-down kingdom, have we let go of the hope of a Messiah, Yeshua, the Christ who redeems our world and longs to draw all people to Himself?
This advent season I hope we can all take the time to examine yourself and look at your expectations - be prepared to have them dashed, but try and give God something to work on to start with – let us together long for the life and light of Christ be shed abroad. And may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. Amen
First sermon in new parishes!
2 before Advent (2008) Year A RCL Principal
Risking our Talents
It’s somewhat nerve racking to be preaching a first sermon anywhere – but especially in one’s new parishes. This is the point where people could start thinking ‘oh my goodness, what kind of Vicar do we have?’ – Which may or may not be a good thing!
And it doesn’t help that the reading set for today, the Parable of the Talents, is one of the more difficult parables we could encounter! It’s not difficult to understand, the two servants who were willing to take a risk with the talents they were left with are rewarded, the one who lost his bottle and buried his talent in the back garden is punished. That’s clear enough, it’s what it might mean for us that might make it more of a difficult parable to deal with!
The Revd Ian Paisley is reputed to have preached on this particular parable once, and to have been interrupted as he talked about the place where there is wailing and gnashing of teeth. One older woman in the group who were listening responded with ‘what about us who don’t have any teeth’ to which Paisley responded ‘Madam, teeth will be provided!’ I’m not sure how much truth there is in that story, but it does seem to illustrate how literally some take these stories, and actually how powerful they can be in shaking us up! If we allow them to, that is…
Jesus has a habit of shaking people up with his parables. He doesn’t tell nice, easy, comfortable stories that allow us to settle back with a warm glow and think ‘it’s alright, I am saved, a happy Christian with nothing to worry about’. Pretty much every parable Jesus tells has something of a sting in the tail, a challenge for us to take away with us, and something to make us consider what it means to be a Christian and how we live our lives of faith.
Of course, there is more to each parable than we could ever explore in one sermon. It seems that every time I read one of Jesus’ parables I find myself considering another aspect of my faith and my life. These amazing stories consist of layer upon layer, meaning within meaning. Jesus’ storytelling ability is exceptional, drawing his hearers in with familiar images – sheep, seeds, bread, sons and fathers, servants and masters etc etc – then turning expectations upon their heads as he brings a new twist to these familiar situations and creates stories that serve to highlight the nature of the kingdom of God and of God’s relationship to us and our relationship to him and to one another.
So any reflection I give on this parable is bound to tell only part of the story, and I don’t claim to have any definitive explanation, or to have the only meaning or the only way of interpreting the parable.
But let’s return to the text in hand…
I must admit to feeling a fair amount of sympathy with our single talent fella in today’s parable. The text (certainly in the words of that unfortunate servant) suggests that the Master is a hard man, and someone who might not take kindly to the loss of a talent . Here is this servant entrusted with a significant amount of money, enough that if it were lost he couldn’t afford to pay it back! So he plays it safe, it is buried so that it can’t be stolen or, maybe, lost in a sudden economic downturn. Perhaps this servant was more canny than we think, and resisted putting the money into Northern Rock or Leeman brothers… But I’m straying off the point. Essentially, this servant’s fear is what motivates him, or rather de-motivates him. The other servants take risks and their risks are rewarded, first by the return on their speculation and then by the master on his return. This servant, though, is told that he is wicked and lazy and is cast out to, and as I quoted earlier ‘outer darkness, where is will be wailing and gnashing of teeth’.
Such a powerful story should stir up in us questions of our commitment, and what we do with that which is entrusted to us. Yes, to use the pun, whether we believe it or not we all have talents, we all have gifts which God has given us. These talents might be something we have never considered as a particular gift – and there are a huge number of people who tell me ‘it’s just what I do’ without realising that their ministry and their talents enhance the worship and the life of the Church. Flower arrangers, cleaners, those who set up for worship, those who read or lead prayers in services, our musicians and choir, those who help on committees, those who care for the children in our churches, those who care for their neighbours, those who pray at home for the Mission and Ministry of the Church, and for the needs of their communities and the world, those who do administration, those who collect for Christian Aid, or the poppy appeal, or children in need, those who offer hospitality, those who listen to friends, family, neighbours, those who offer lifts, those who encourage, those who support village and church events, those who write to prisoners via Amnesty International or to MPs or who give their time, money, or energy to the church and local community, the list goes on and on, and I’ve only just scratched the surface in that list – apologies if I’ve missed you out! All of these things and more involve putting our talents to use, and no matter how small you may feel your contribution is, it is a contribution, and it has an effect.
It’s those who take no risks, those who don’t reach out even to friends and neighbours, those who cut themselves off from the world and from God, its these people that Jesus seems to be criticising so harshly. It’s these for whom teeth may need to be provided!
For those of us who call ourselves Christians, who seek to live by the principles and standards that Jesus Christ calls us to, we have a responsibility towards one another in the body of the Church, and beyond that to the world which God sends us out to heal, to love, to serve, and to share the Good News of faith in. Each one of us has a part, for some of us it will be a quiet, perhaps even unnoticed contribution, but if we are involved in building up the Church and in building up God’s people in any way whatsoever, we have a part in the Mission of God. If we are engaging with the world around us in any way at all, we are serving the purpose of the God who reaches out to the world.
So, in my first Sunday as your Vicar I want to offer you an encouragement – not to undervalue yourself and your talents in the service of God and of God’s Church and God’s world. But as this parable does, I want to offer a challenge too – to consider whether you are using your talents as you perhaps should be. Or whether fear has you burying them away and preventing God from using them, and indeed you, for his work. We, as a church and Mission Community, are going to have to take risks, to look at what we do and whether there are things we should and shouldn’t be doing if we are to grow and gain a return on our talents. I don’t know yet what that might mean, but when the time comes may God find us faithful in offering again to him our talents, our time, our prayers and our faith. Amen.
Risking our Talents
It’s somewhat nerve racking to be preaching a first sermon anywhere – but especially in one’s new parishes. This is the point where people could start thinking ‘oh my goodness, what kind of Vicar do we have?’ – Which may or may not be a good thing!
And it doesn’t help that the reading set for today, the Parable of the Talents, is one of the more difficult parables we could encounter! It’s not difficult to understand, the two servants who were willing to take a risk with the talents they were left with are rewarded, the one who lost his bottle and buried his talent in the back garden is punished. That’s clear enough, it’s what it might mean for us that might make it more of a difficult parable to deal with!
The Revd Ian Paisley is reputed to have preached on this particular parable once, and to have been interrupted as he talked about the place where there is wailing and gnashing of teeth. One older woman in the group who were listening responded with ‘what about us who don’t have any teeth’ to which Paisley responded ‘Madam, teeth will be provided!’ I’m not sure how much truth there is in that story, but it does seem to illustrate how literally some take these stories, and actually how powerful they can be in shaking us up! If we allow them to, that is…
Jesus has a habit of shaking people up with his parables. He doesn’t tell nice, easy, comfortable stories that allow us to settle back with a warm glow and think ‘it’s alright, I am saved, a happy Christian with nothing to worry about’. Pretty much every parable Jesus tells has something of a sting in the tail, a challenge for us to take away with us, and something to make us consider what it means to be a Christian and how we live our lives of faith.
Of course, there is more to each parable than we could ever explore in one sermon. It seems that every time I read one of Jesus’ parables I find myself considering another aspect of my faith and my life. These amazing stories consist of layer upon layer, meaning within meaning. Jesus’ storytelling ability is exceptional, drawing his hearers in with familiar images – sheep, seeds, bread, sons and fathers, servants and masters etc etc – then turning expectations upon their heads as he brings a new twist to these familiar situations and creates stories that serve to highlight the nature of the kingdom of God and of God’s relationship to us and our relationship to him and to one another.
So any reflection I give on this parable is bound to tell only part of the story, and I don’t claim to have any definitive explanation, or to have the only meaning or the only way of interpreting the parable.
But let’s return to the text in hand…
I must admit to feeling a fair amount of sympathy with our single talent fella in today’s parable. The text (certainly in the words of that unfortunate servant) suggests that the Master is a hard man, and someone who might not take kindly to the loss of a talent . Here is this servant entrusted with a significant amount of money, enough that if it were lost he couldn’t afford to pay it back! So he plays it safe, it is buried so that it can’t be stolen or, maybe, lost in a sudden economic downturn. Perhaps this servant was more canny than we think, and resisted putting the money into Northern Rock or Leeman brothers… But I’m straying off the point. Essentially, this servant’s fear is what motivates him, or rather de-motivates him. The other servants take risks and their risks are rewarded, first by the return on their speculation and then by the master on his return. This servant, though, is told that he is wicked and lazy and is cast out to, and as I quoted earlier ‘outer darkness, where is will be wailing and gnashing of teeth’.
Such a powerful story should stir up in us questions of our commitment, and what we do with that which is entrusted to us. Yes, to use the pun, whether we believe it or not we all have talents, we all have gifts which God has given us. These talents might be something we have never considered as a particular gift – and there are a huge number of people who tell me ‘it’s just what I do’ without realising that their ministry and their talents enhance the worship and the life of the Church. Flower arrangers, cleaners, those who set up for worship, those who read or lead prayers in services, our musicians and choir, those who help on committees, those who care for the children in our churches, those who care for their neighbours, those who pray at home for the Mission and Ministry of the Church, and for the needs of their communities and the world, those who do administration, those who collect for Christian Aid, or the poppy appeal, or children in need, those who offer hospitality, those who listen to friends, family, neighbours, those who offer lifts, those who encourage, those who support village and church events, those who write to prisoners via Amnesty International or to MPs or who give their time, money, or energy to the church and local community, the list goes on and on, and I’ve only just scratched the surface in that list – apologies if I’ve missed you out! All of these things and more involve putting our talents to use, and no matter how small you may feel your contribution is, it is a contribution, and it has an effect.
It’s those who take no risks, those who don’t reach out even to friends and neighbours, those who cut themselves off from the world and from God, its these people that Jesus seems to be criticising so harshly. It’s these for whom teeth may need to be provided!
For those of us who call ourselves Christians, who seek to live by the principles and standards that Jesus Christ calls us to, we have a responsibility towards one another in the body of the Church, and beyond that to the world which God sends us out to heal, to love, to serve, and to share the Good News of faith in. Each one of us has a part, for some of us it will be a quiet, perhaps even unnoticed contribution, but if we are involved in building up the Church and in building up God’s people in any way whatsoever, we have a part in the Mission of God. If we are engaging with the world around us in any way at all, we are serving the purpose of the God who reaches out to the world.
So, in my first Sunday as your Vicar I want to offer you an encouragement – not to undervalue yourself and your talents in the service of God and of God’s Church and God’s world. But as this parable does, I want to offer a challenge too – to consider whether you are using your talents as you perhaps should be. Or whether fear has you burying them away and preventing God from using them, and indeed you, for his work. We, as a church and Mission Community, are going to have to take risks, to look at what we do and whether there are things we should and shouldn’t be doing if we are to grow and gain a return on our talents. I don’t know yet what that might mean, but when the time comes may God find us faithful in offering again to him our talents, our time, our prayers and our faith. Amen.
Thursday, 23 October 2008
Year A Proper 21
A follow up to the Moan Moan Moan sermon...perhaps a bit more sympathetic!
Year A Proper 21 (2008) RCL Principal
Seeing from the other side…
Last week I preached on moaning, and talked about how good we, and by we I mean most human beings, are at moaning. It doesn’t matter what our usual temperament, or whether we are generally happy, give us the chance and we will be away, grumbling about the weather, the economy, the government, the way things aren’t what they used to be, the Church, the world, whatever.
This train of thought was inspired by the Israelites in this amazing story of the Exodus. Freed from Egypt following the 10 plagues, brought through the red sea without even getting their feet wet, they seemed to follow that up with a protracted campaign of complaint. At least that’s what the text seems to say. First of all we have complaints over bitter water, which is sweetened by God and made drinkable, then complaints over the lack of meat and bread in the desert. We had that almost incredible moment when they seem to say ‘it was OK in Egypt really because the food was good’. No matter that they were in slavery, no matter that at the end their children were being murdered, that they were being beaten and oppressed – they got meat and bread. Now I am as fond of meat and bread as the next person, as is obvious, but when compared to being free or being enslaved, even I would take the freedom and get on with sorting out the meals later. It reminds me of a picture I was sent yesterday which said in large letters ‘never underestimate the power of stupidity in large groups of people’.
And as we continue the story in today’s reading, we see more complaining, this time again over water. It seems as if the people collectively have forgotten just what God has done to get them to this point – they have forgotten his provision, his miraculous works and the way in which he has continued to care for them no matter what happens.
But, having said all that, we can if we look see a little of why they might react in such a way. They had to flee Egypt, with just what they could carry – some of which had been thrust upon them by terrified Egyptians just glad to see the back of them. Remembering that this was not the age of mass communication, there would have been many amongst them that probably had very little idea of what was going on. Many of them I expect were simply following their neighbours and friends and simply going with the flow, with no idea as to quite where or why they were going anywhere at all!
So imagine how many of them might have felt. They haven’t had particular instruction as to how long the journey will be, they probably weren’t quite sure why Moses led them to the Red Sea, but were mightily relieved when they got across it, they might not have known about what happened at the Spring but were happy to have water to drink, and then were probably bemused by both the Quails and this strange doughy substance on the ground in the mornings. So now they continue to wander in the wilderness and start to get rather concerned about where the next drink is coming from – for in a desert there is something of a deficit in water and with its rather essential part in their continued survival I expect there was a fair amount of anxiety in the camp, which soon translated into anger and complaint.
And on the other side of this is Moses, who gets the word from God, who has been at the centre of events, who himself suffers from a certain lack of confidence yet who has been called, somewhat reluctantly, to lead this rag tag brigade of somewhat disaffected folk to the new land.
But he’s the one who is expected to have the answers, he’s the one who everyone turns to, the one everyone complains to, the one who feels at the sharp end of things.
And he sees the frustrations of the Israelites, he hears the voices raised in anger, the questions, the concerns, the grumbles.
So he comes before God and again is called upon to perform a miracle, he strikes the rock and water flows out. God has again provided.
And we can perhaps see some parallels with our own Christian lives, and perhaps there’s a word here for those of us who take responsibility for leading our congregations!
Sometimes it can feel that our walk together in faith is somewhat lacking in direction! Its hard for a Church to share a vision, we all come from different backgrounds, different experience, different understandings of our faith. We are united by our desire to worship God and to know Christ, but we may all have very different ways of expressing this and we struggle to work together to make our Churches places where all are welcome and all feel at home.
It can sometimes feel as though there should be someone who holds it all together, and that role is often taken by those of us who have a responsibility for ordained ministry in the Church. And it is true that to a certain point we are responsible for leadership and guidance in the Church. But unlike Moses we don’t have the voice of God in our ear, we don’t spend quite so much time in the direct presence of God, and I personally (unlike Moses) have never had to wear a veil to shield those who meet me from the brightness of the glory of God.
No, in the Church we believe that there is only one who knows the big picture, and that is God, and we are all responsible for the life of the Church. I can see why people often turn to the Clergy to complain about the state of the Church in general, or to express their concerns and their anxieties – but in the end we all have a responsibility for the life and witness of Christ’s Church. We are all called to share the life of Christ with others, we are all responsible for making our Churches places which shed light to our communities and in our world.
In our Gospel reading for today we have a picture of two sons who are asked to help their father in the vineyard. One says ‘no’ and yet goes to help, the other says ‘yes’ but doesn’t actually do anything. In the end, says the passage, it is the one who does something that is obedient to his father, rather than the one who says something but doesn’t do anything. And though this story was particularly aimed at the religious who claimed to be following God but wouldn’t heed the call of Christ, unlike the prostitutes and tax collectors who weren’t considered worthy – it still has a message for us.
We are to be a Church that says and does! We all together have to put our faith into action. We are not to complain about the way things are and then do nothing about it! Nor are we to blame our Clergy and lay leaders for failing to build up the Church and have more people taking part in our services, or failing to get interest going in the Church or whatever. Though those of us who have responsibility for leading services, for pastoral care and for visiting will do our best to fulfil those duties, we are (in the end) not those who will fill our churches. People will be attracted to our fellowships by those who are seeking to share faith, and who are enthusiastic about Christ. And often the contacts will come from our everyday living, from friends, family and neighbours.
We are all in this together, God has called us to share in this task of living, loving, faithful following and proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ – may he also give us the grace to do it.
Year A Proper 21 (2008) RCL Principal
Seeing from the other side…
Last week I preached on moaning, and talked about how good we, and by we I mean most human beings, are at moaning. It doesn’t matter what our usual temperament, or whether we are generally happy, give us the chance and we will be away, grumbling about the weather, the economy, the government, the way things aren’t what they used to be, the Church, the world, whatever.
This train of thought was inspired by the Israelites in this amazing story of the Exodus. Freed from Egypt following the 10 plagues, brought through the red sea without even getting their feet wet, they seemed to follow that up with a protracted campaign of complaint. At least that’s what the text seems to say. First of all we have complaints over bitter water, which is sweetened by God and made drinkable, then complaints over the lack of meat and bread in the desert. We had that almost incredible moment when they seem to say ‘it was OK in Egypt really because the food was good’. No matter that they were in slavery, no matter that at the end their children were being murdered, that they were being beaten and oppressed – they got meat and bread. Now I am as fond of meat and bread as the next person, as is obvious, but when compared to being free or being enslaved, even I would take the freedom and get on with sorting out the meals later. It reminds me of a picture I was sent yesterday which said in large letters ‘never underestimate the power of stupidity in large groups of people’.
And as we continue the story in today’s reading, we see more complaining, this time again over water. It seems as if the people collectively have forgotten just what God has done to get them to this point – they have forgotten his provision, his miraculous works and the way in which he has continued to care for them no matter what happens.
But, having said all that, we can if we look see a little of why they might react in such a way. They had to flee Egypt, with just what they could carry – some of which had been thrust upon them by terrified Egyptians just glad to see the back of them. Remembering that this was not the age of mass communication, there would have been many amongst them that probably had very little idea of what was going on. Many of them I expect were simply following their neighbours and friends and simply going with the flow, with no idea as to quite where or why they were going anywhere at all!
So imagine how many of them might have felt. They haven’t had particular instruction as to how long the journey will be, they probably weren’t quite sure why Moses led them to the Red Sea, but were mightily relieved when they got across it, they might not have known about what happened at the Spring but were happy to have water to drink, and then were probably bemused by both the Quails and this strange doughy substance on the ground in the mornings. So now they continue to wander in the wilderness and start to get rather concerned about where the next drink is coming from – for in a desert there is something of a deficit in water and with its rather essential part in their continued survival I expect there was a fair amount of anxiety in the camp, which soon translated into anger and complaint.
And on the other side of this is Moses, who gets the word from God, who has been at the centre of events, who himself suffers from a certain lack of confidence yet who has been called, somewhat reluctantly, to lead this rag tag brigade of somewhat disaffected folk to the new land.
But he’s the one who is expected to have the answers, he’s the one who everyone turns to, the one everyone complains to, the one who feels at the sharp end of things.
And he sees the frustrations of the Israelites, he hears the voices raised in anger, the questions, the concerns, the grumbles.
So he comes before God and again is called upon to perform a miracle, he strikes the rock and water flows out. God has again provided.
And we can perhaps see some parallels with our own Christian lives, and perhaps there’s a word here for those of us who take responsibility for leading our congregations!
Sometimes it can feel that our walk together in faith is somewhat lacking in direction! Its hard for a Church to share a vision, we all come from different backgrounds, different experience, different understandings of our faith. We are united by our desire to worship God and to know Christ, but we may all have very different ways of expressing this and we struggle to work together to make our Churches places where all are welcome and all feel at home.
It can sometimes feel as though there should be someone who holds it all together, and that role is often taken by those of us who have a responsibility for ordained ministry in the Church. And it is true that to a certain point we are responsible for leadership and guidance in the Church. But unlike Moses we don’t have the voice of God in our ear, we don’t spend quite so much time in the direct presence of God, and I personally (unlike Moses) have never had to wear a veil to shield those who meet me from the brightness of the glory of God.
No, in the Church we believe that there is only one who knows the big picture, and that is God, and we are all responsible for the life of the Church. I can see why people often turn to the Clergy to complain about the state of the Church in general, or to express their concerns and their anxieties – but in the end we all have a responsibility for the life and witness of Christ’s Church. We are all called to share the life of Christ with others, we are all responsible for making our Churches places which shed light to our communities and in our world.
In our Gospel reading for today we have a picture of two sons who are asked to help their father in the vineyard. One says ‘no’ and yet goes to help, the other says ‘yes’ but doesn’t actually do anything. In the end, says the passage, it is the one who does something that is obedient to his father, rather than the one who says something but doesn’t do anything. And though this story was particularly aimed at the religious who claimed to be following God but wouldn’t heed the call of Christ, unlike the prostitutes and tax collectors who weren’t considered worthy – it still has a message for us.
We are to be a Church that says and does! We all together have to put our faith into action. We are not to complain about the way things are and then do nothing about it! Nor are we to blame our Clergy and lay leaders for failing to build up the Church and have more people taking part in our services, or failing to get interest going in the Church or whatever. Though those of us who have responsibility for leading services, for pastoral care and for visiting will do our best to fulfil those duties, we are (in the end) not those who will fill our churches. People will be attracted to our fellowships by those who are seeking to share faith, and who are enthusiastic about Christ. And often the contacts will come from our everyday living, from friends, family and neighbours.
We are all in this together, God has called us to share in this task of living, loving, faithful following and proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ – may he also give us the grace to do it.
The Lost Son
Part of a series of talks on parables for our longer teaching sessions at Team Evening Worship
Luke 15Coming home – the parable of the lost son
Jesus was a consummate storyteller. It may seem obvious to us now, but the way he used parables was, though not unusual in the ancient world, certainly striking and filled with a depth and meaning upon meaning that even now through the ages resonates with us as we try and know him more and seek his will and the Kingdom of God that he proclaims.
And today we are faced with one of the most striking and, in some ways to the leaders of his day, disturbing parables that he told. The parable of the prodigal son, as it is known, or perhaps more accurately the prodigal father or the lost son (as it is headed in the New International Version that we have here).
Of course, like most Biblical passages, it helps to have a bit of background, a bit of context to add to our understanding and, whilst we could probably never know the definitive meaning of any parable – as every time we read one new meanings come out – it might help us grow in our appreciation of all that is in this parable.
Actually its worth expanding a little on what I mean about seeing other meanings at different times. Its not that I think we can decide what a particular passage or parable in scripture is about and then read the meaning into it – on the contrary my understanding of the inspiriation of Scripture is that it was written under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and when we read with the help of the Holy Spirit we are going to see what God is seeking to communicate to us. That’s why I believe we need to approach Scripture with heart, soul, strength and mind – to engage our brains, but also to pray our way into the Bible and feel what the Bible is saying to our Spirits and our hearts too. I think Christians don’t always engage their mental circuits when opening their Bible, cos it’s scripture innit, but that we should intelligently view the Bible and take on board the wealth of historical, literary and textual criticism. On the other side I think that many of us who open our Bibles don’t actually ask for God’s assistance in getting to know what’s in God’s book! Nor do I think we feel the pain, joy, awe and wonder of the words in our Bibles often enough, but engage in a purely rational or intellectual way.
For example, as we will see in the parable for this evening there is a lot about how God relates to us as a father – or in other parts of the bible as a mother, friend, lover – and we file away that this is one of the images that scripture uses about God – but how does that make you feel? When I think of the overwhelming love I have for my children and, no matter what they do, how I just want to hold them sometimes and tell them I love them, for no other reason than the fact that I do. When I think of how I related to my own father when he was alive. When I feel all those complicated, overwhelming feelings that the word ‘father’ brings to me, I tend to turn all of that off when I read that God is my father ‘oh, that’s nice’ thinks Alastair, moving swiftly on.
But if I feel that God is my father, it makes me want to weep and laugh and dance and collapse with wonder all at once. To know that God loves me more and better and more powerfully than my own father did, that the good and bad I saw in my own father is just a pale imitation of the fatherhood of God, and even that my own imperfect, faltering attempts to be a dad pale into insignificance when I consider God’s parenthood towards me. Wow! That doesn’t just make my brain hurt, it hits me in the heart and in the soul as well! I feel more than I could ever put into words, I mean, just, WOW!
And that’s what Scripture should do to us, for us, in us. That’s what parables are there to do. They say to us ‘this is ordinary, stuff about coins and sheep and dads and mustard seeds and yet look deeper, feel this, think about this, let God speak to you through this, struggle with it, laugh about it, cry because of it, let it in.’
So with all that in mind, lets take a deep breath and look at the parable of the lost son.
This parable is the last of three parables with a common thread. It’s a giveaway in the NIV because they all have headings ‘the lost sheep’, ‘the lost coin’ and ‘the lost son’ – I suspect you have spotted the connection… But there’s more, of course there is otherwise you wouldn’t pay me the big bucks to talk about it!
What really holds these things together is just how daft the actions within them are! I mean, leaving behind 99 defenceless sheep to go and look for one foolish animal that’s strayed off, or turning the house upside-down to find one coin and then having a party to celebrate, or standing looking for your profligate, waseful, ungrateful son and welcoming him back even though he has squandered your money and reduced himself, through his own fault, to a lowly pig-herder. Really, this doesn’t make sense.
And these parables aren’t meant to make sense, they are to remind us that God’s response to the lost, to those who, perhaps deliberately have placed themselves out of reach, who have strayed, who have walked away is to reach out to them, and to welcome them back even if they themselves don’t feel they deserve welcome and forgiveness.
As such, this wonderfully crafted story is the pinnacle of these parables of the lost. It shows a father who is prodigal – for prodigal actually means generous to a fault, generous beyond reason – and that is what we see.
So lets break this parable down a little bit. Let’s hope for a glimpse of the depth and emotion and spiritual challenge that is in this parable.
We start off with ‘there was a man with two sons’ and an echo of biblical stories of Cain and Abel, Jacob and Esau, Joseph and his brothers. It’s turned upside down, though, because there is no sense of the younger brother triumphing, but being laid low to the point of returning to the father in humility and sorrow and of the older brother being welcomed to the feast as well. But more of that in a moment. Jesus starts, as many parables do, with a recognisable situation – and everyday event, the family. We then see this son becoming rather disloyal to the family ‘give me my share of this estate’. Now in effect he says ‘I don’t want to work on the farm, and I can’t be bothered to wait until you croak – let me have what I’ll get eventually anyway so I can go off and party’
So dad divvies up the money and older brother stays, loyally, to work on the farm whilst we hear that younger bro ‘squandered his wealth in wild living’. Sounds like fun, but like most wild living things eventually turn out badly, the money runs out, the ‘friends’ who were always around when there were parties and there was fun to be had mysteriously vanish and there is nothing less.
So it’s off to be a pig farmer. Now that in itself is worth remarking on, there is nothing more gentile than a pig farmer, and Jesus was telling this story to Jews, those who knew themselves to be a part of God’s chosen people. These people were on the inside, and the gentiles were on the outside! Yet here we have a son of Israel reduced to the most gentile state, having lived entirely for himself he ends up caring for animals that are unclean, and therefore becomes unclean himself. It gets to the point that he’s even willing to share the food with the pigs. I mean, as far as being a faithful Jew is concerned, how low can you go?
But he comes to his senses, as the text says in verse 17 and there is a real sense of repentance, of sorrow for his actions and alongside a certain degree of self interest (the hired men get to eat better than I do!) there is also a sense of having made a mistake and acknowledging that. It’s an important point, because it is that turning around that makes a difference – he doesn’t rely on his one time status, or his background as a son, his position of privilege in the household. He says ‘I am not worthy to be called your son’. He also states ‘I have sinned against heaven and against you’ as he recognises that his behaviour doesn’t just go against his father’s love for him, but against the way which God has called him to live.
So there’s this long, humiliating walk home. And what does he find at the end, a censorious father who berates his son for his wastefulness? A cold return home and menial duties? Oh no, we see a father who is waiting for his son and who runs to embrace him! This is not your typical early middle-eastern family behaviour, no if you’ve seen ‘the Jazz singer (the Neil Diamond version rather than the Al Jolson) you will see a remnant of what happens when you go against father’s wishes in a strict Jewish household. There’s the ripping of clothes (a symbol of mourning and loss) and then there’s the back turning, the exclusion, the being made an outsider.
But not this father. It’s hugs and kisses, the best robe and a party at which the chunky calf is the guest at the feast. It’s a tremendous picture of welcome and celebration, my son was lost and is now found – he was dead but is alive again.
And this is what we’re to feel, this sense of coming home of welcome. It seems obvious that this parable is meant to parallel what happens when we turn to God again, when we see our own sinfulness and recognise our unworthiness, this is the welcome we receive this is our adoption as daughters and sons of God. Perhaps its particularly endemic to liturgical churches, but our confession often seems to be ‘just something we do’ at the start (or after the sermon) in our services. I doubt we think of the angels rejoicing in heaven over our repentance, or of God throwing a party to celebrate our turning back to him, but that’s what these parables say. You’re home! Welcome back! Wheel out the fattened calf….no, not the Vicar…the one who makes such great steaks! It’s party time ‘I’m accepted, I’m forgiven’ we sang a few minutes back – have we really let that sink deep into our hearts and our lives, into our bones and into our spirits – God has been waiting for you and I to come back to him and has accepted us without reservation.
That’s what I mean about letting this parable speak to our hearts, soul, strength and mind. It’s not just so we can have a good doctrine of repentance and forgiveness, but so that we can feel and know ourselves forgiven and embraced by our loving God. This is real, this story says in a much more striking way than any theological treatise could that we are welcomed into God’s love and God’s life when we turn to him again. Wow again!
And we go into the end of the parable, which I could spend a long time on, but won’t. We see the older son come back in from a days work in the fields and finding a party in full swing – a party for this waster of a little brother who went off and had lots of fun whilst the loyal, faithful, hardworking son stayed home and kept going.
The other son’s response is understandable, how many of us would feel so gracious towards someone who was so sinful and yet was welcomed back into our fellowships with such rejoicing! Lets put it another way, if we knew that at the very last minute someone as evil as, say, Hitler, turned to God with true repentance and was forgiven? It’s not a comfortable thought, really, but we can’t rule it out if we truly take God’s infinite love and grace seriously. Now, I don’t know how God will sort out that kind of thing in eternal terms, but our Bibles challenge us to believe that it is possible for all to be forgiven, just as each one of us has, as the letter to the Romans says, ‘sinned and fallen short of the glory of God’.
This is the profligate, prodigal grace of God. This is the love which the father has lavished upon the human race! This is what the death and resurrection of Jesus has made possible.
We don’t find the ultimate reaction of the older son, but he too is welcomed to the feast, and is reminded that the father’s riches were there all the time for him to share and to have a part of. For those of us who follow, those of us who strive to remain faithful, this is a reminder that God’s riches are here for us now, if we ask for them. When we look at those around us who seem to be growing spiritually we shouldn’t ask ‘why have they got what I haven’t?’ but rather ‘Father give me the grace I need to grow in faith’. God is always willing to share his riches with us, to give us his gifts, to embrace each one of us, sometimes we just need to ask.
So, again, a parable with so much to teach us, and as I said I don’t have the definitive meaning of it – but I want to encourage you to look again at scripture and let it speak to you, to all of you not just to your mind or just to back up what you want it to say. Open yourselves up prayerfully to what God has to say to you in the Bible. Let God live and move and act in, through and with you.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)