Sunday 26 January 2014, 1 Corinthians 1:10-18, Sarah

I’d like to look take a closer look at Paul’s letter to the Corinthians that we heard in our second reading today.

Paul called to be an apostle of Christ.

Paul, formerly, Saul, of Tarsus, which today is southern Turkey came from a wealthy family and was a Roman citizen. He was educated in Jerusalem by a renowned Jewish teacher by the name of Gamaliel and was a well-respected member of his community.  Acts 26:5 tells us he was also a Pharisee.

Paul was infamous for hunting out and imprisoning and even killing followers of The Way, the early Christians. He was an avid follower of Jewish Law and was set on destroying anyone or any movement that didn’t follow it too.  Acts 7:58 provides clear evidence of this, when he actively encourages the stoning of Stephen.

In short, he was a devoted believer in God and he saw Jesus and his followers as upstarts and trouble makers, leading people away from the righteous path of God, and they needed to be stopped.

So why did Jesus choose him. Would you choose one of your biggest enemies to promote you and your story?  Can you imagine someone really hated you, didn’t believe in you, actively working against you, running your campaign of spreading the ‘good news about you’ or bringing in new business? Wouldn’t work would it, they would probably do the opposite, try to destroy you or reap havoc!

But actually, in the case of Paul, he was so infamous with his hate for Jesus and his followers, that his sudden conversion and subsequent fervent following of Christ would quickly spread throughout the nation, giving the message that, This Jesus, This Way … … there must be something more in it.

He chose Paul because he worked so hard for God and put all his efforts into his beliefs and no one compared to him.  Paul was able to communicate with Kings and could speak with confidence.

As Peter was the rock of the early church, Paul would be the shepherd of the gentiles.

Paul was perfect for the job!

Paul had the skills, the knowledge and the enthusiasm to lead the Gentiles, the non-Jewish, to Christ. 

His thirst for God and The Law were exactly the qualifications Jesus needed to spread the news to all the world, that Jesus was the living God … … resurrected. His conversion complete, Paul now knew his destiny. 

So why did Paul visit and write to Corinth and why did he write to them twice. Where they special?

Yes Corinth was special because it was five times larger than Athens and was one of the richest ports and largest cities in ancient Greece.  It was ideally located, and was a well-known commercial centre, adjacent to two thriving seaports.  It also had its downsides.  It was a place where prostitutes were openly used alongwith other sinful  activities, but the advantages outweighed the disadvantages for Paul.

The city was young, open to change and not stuck in tradition. It was inhabited by various individuals with no particular religious followings. 

A perfect and most influential place for Paul to preach the gospel of Christ and to plant a new Church.

We read that Paul always thanks God for the Church at Corinth because of the grace given to them in Christ Jesus. 

As I mentioned earlier, Corinth was a place filled with sexual immorality and was full of sin.

Things were going wrong, the Church was becoming divided with differences of opinion, about who was following who. Serious problems had arisen … … …

Yet Paul always thanks God because of the grace given to them in Christ Jesus! 

Don’t know about you, but there doesn’t seem to be a great deal to be celebrating here or much to be thanking God for. 

Chaos and even some disbelief was occurring within Paul’s newly formed church in Corinth.  Divisions and arguments were becoming so common place,  that the residents of Chloe’s household felt they needed to write and ask Paul for help.

When the news reaches Paul about these divisions within the Church, he doesn’t rebuke the Corinthians, quite the opposite, he reminds them that God loves them, God is faithful and the church can place all their faithfulness in God, which in turn will secure the future of their church and make them strong.

God has blessed and enriched the Corinthians in every way through the grace of Jesus.  They lack no spiritual gift and they are to eagerly wait for the return of Jesus.  God will keep them strong to the end because they are called into fellowship with his Son.

This sounds like praise rather than a good telling off doesn’t it ... 

So ... there are divisions within the church, arguments and not much unity and Paul thanks God!!!

Remember what Karen Kendall said last week, when the Church is divided and full of arguments, those outside the Church don’t see Jesus, they just see Church, making Christianity very unattractive.

I remember one night at the vicarage, having a very heated debate with Bruce a few years ago, where I was so fired up I don’t think he got a word in ‘edge ways’.  He patiently waited for me to take a breath, then seized his chance and asked me;

‘Sarah, where is Jesus in all this’ it stopped me in my tracks for a moment, before replying I don’t know … and I continued for another 20 minutes and once again he waited patiently for a gap to speak and he repeated the same question;

‘Sarah, where is Jesus in all this’? to which I replied;

‘What’s he got to do with it’ … … … …

I remember driving home that night, thinking, he didn’t listen to a word I said. He was listening, but he was focussed on bringing  my thoughts back to Jesus.

I had fallen away from Jesus, I was focussed on my own interests and  had lost my way, just as the Corinthians had. 

The question; Where is Jesus in all this; has served me well and will continue to serve and remind me that my life is about Jesus, about His will, not mine.

Paul urges the Corinthians to put aside their differences and to be united and in one mind with Christ.

He reminded them they are blessed with God’s Grace;

But what is Grace and did the Corinthians understand it – I doubt it.

Grace is divine favour from God, that we cannot earn nor do we deserve, but is available to each and every one of us. (Read twice).

Grace cannot be earned through good deeds, but by Faith and obedience to the Gospel.

Salvation is given to us only by grace. It is impossible for us to obtain a perfect righteousness by our own faith or our own good works. This is why God gives us salvation by grace - its a gift.

Grace and works are exact opposites. Rewards come with the practice of works, but mercy comes through receiving grace. In the Bible, salvation is always and exclusively by grace.

When you really understand this, you have truly grasped the meaning of Faith, giving you access to Grace, the two cannot be separated. 

But we CAN ‘fall from Grace’ if we let our faith diminish, just like the Corinthians did.  Paul is reminding them of this.

To fall away from Grace is to be severed from Jesus.

Remember, it is through our true belief and personal relationship in Jesus, through our faith, that we will unlock the secret of Grace, which will lead us to eternal life.

It sounds like the end is nigh when we here it; ‘oh he’s fallen from Grace’ … … The truth is, we fall from Grace on a regular basis, which is why we need to confess our sins and use our Faith to rekindle our relationship with Jesus, to enjoy God’s Grace.

So Paul is thanking God for continuing to believe in the Corinthians by his Grace … … (God still has Faith in them) and Paul urges them to return to their Faith because God has called them into fellowship with his son. 

Even Paul, who, was not just a sinner, but an opposer of Jesus, was saved by the wonderful gift of Grace.

So God believes in us all, but do we all really believe in him?  Have you gained access to Grace by your Faith, or have you fallen away?

Are we busy doing good deeds hoping to gain favour with those around us and not really focussing on Jesus?

Next time you fall out with someone, in the choir, over the flower arrangements, making the coffee or disagreeing with the Vicar, or whose turn is it to do something;

Ask yourself; Where is Jesus in all this?

AMEN

Questions for discussion:

1.      Do you understand the true meaning of Grace?

2.      How can you make sure that you are receiving God’s Grace?

3.      Do you believe Christians can ‘fall from Grace’, even though they are still attending Church?

4.      What message do you think we give out when we fall out and quarrel within the Church family?

Sunday 12 January 2014, Baptism of Christ, Matthew 3: 13-17, Bruce

We still display the star and the crib during this season of Epiphany.  They remind us that God has made himself known.  The crib reminds us that God’s radiance has shone forth in a special baby.  The star reminds us that learned strangers from afar have come to proclaim his that he is unique and royal.  As Anne reminded us last week, it is a revelation, an unveiling.

In Isaiah 42 we read ¹‘Here is my servant, whom I uphold,   my chosen one in whom I delight;
I will put my Spirit on him, and he will bring justice to the nations.’

We have been waiting for long generations for the arrival of the promised one, God’s servant, who would bring in the kingdom.  Matthew has told us of his birth, of the visit of the Magi, of the escape to Egypt and the return to Nazareth.  And then John has appeared to announce that people need to repent and get ready, because the kingdom is near, and the promised deliverer is here.  Then Jesus came from Galilee to be baptised by John.

What questions are we to ask?

In the ancient church it seems to have been “Why did John baptise Jesus and not the other way round?”  If Jesus is the greater and John the lesser, then Jesus should have been the one doing the baptising.  It appears that John thought so, as he tries to deter Jesus.  We can wonder what Jesus was thinking.  The main answer that he gives is that it is necessary.  Jesus feels sure that it is God’s will for him to be baptised.  We get a glimpse straight away that this newly arrived deliverer is going to be a surprise, that he will not fit in with expectations, that the first is willing to become the last.

In today’s church the question seems to be “Why did Jesus need to be baptised?” 

What is baptism and why do we do it?  Is it to wash away sins?  Is Jesus identifying with the sinners who will soon become his followers?  Why is the sinless one being baptized?  What happens when someone is baptized?  How is this relevant to me?

Baptism is a communal act.  John has been recalling people to the true faith of Israel.  The response has been to come and join the throng and be immersed.  Jesus cannot baptize himself and so he appeals to John to work with him: “it is proper for us to do this to fulfil all righteousness”.  "The primary point of baptism is not so much that it does something to the individual, but that it defines the community."  -N.T. Wright

So the water is not special.  The words and the person doing the baptism are not of themselves special.  Rather, baptism is dying, and re-emerging into new life.  We used to be part of a community of individuals dedicated to living our own lives in our own way.  Now we have proclaimed that we are part of a new community of individuals who have heard the call to follow Jesus and we have responded.  It is not just about us, or our local church, but the world-wide community.

This is why we baptize infants.  We celebrate that they are members with us of a community that follows Jesus.  It is a public service where parents and supporters make promises, and where the whole church community is present and we also make promises to support and encourage these new members of our family.  In the Thanksgiving Service that leads us to baptism, the whole church prays:

God our creator,                       

we thank you for the gift of these children,                    

entrusted to our care.               

May we be patient and understanding,               

ready to guide and to forgive, so that through our love              

they may come to know your love;                    

through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.    

Baptism is a personal act.  Did you notice that the way Matthew tells the story; it is only Jesus who sees the Holy Spirit? 

So I wonder, is the epiphany to Jesus?  Is he the only one to hear the words “This is my Son …. ?  (In the other gospels it definitely appears that others also were witnesses to these events, but Matthew has been careful in the way that he makes his point.)  At our first encounter with Jesus in Matthew’s gospel as an adult, we are privileged to witness this intimate moment of strength and affirmation.  One writer has described it as a selfie http://biteintheapple.com/the-selfie/.  A selfie has been defined as a personal image that one can choose to share later with others.  Jesus receives this personal gift, a wash of the Holy Spirit, a breath of the Father’s love.  I wonder if that is why his parable of the prodigal is so special – Jesus knows something of a father’s love.  It will carry him through all the trials and difficulties, the conflicts and the betrayals that he will endure.  His very identity is that of the son of God.  Harry Potter was sustained by his knowledge that he was the son of James and Lily – it defined him.  In the film, Philomena, a biographical account, a woman travels across an ocean to say to a child she bore fifty years ago, that he is her beloved child.  And the miracle of her own pyschic survival, after horrible shame and mistreatment, is rooted in her deep sense of herself as Beloved by God.

So, is the epiphany to us?  When we are baptized, what is happening?  Do we believe that the Holy Spirit rests upon the one baptized.  Do we hear the voice of God claiming “This is my beloved?”   Who sees the Holy Spirit?  Who hears the voice?  How can we remember our baptism, even if we cannot remember our baptism?

One way is to remember the command of Jesus that we should observe two ceremonies, two sacraments.  One is baptism where we pledge ourselves to his service.  As adults we take these promises on ourselves at our confirmation.  The other sacrament is communion, where we come week by week to renew those vows and that commitment.  In each one we take ordinary everyday things, water, bread, wine, and invest them with significance as they help us as a community celebrate our connectedness with Jesus.  There is an analogy with the Big Promise.

The BIG Promise is about re-affirming, not renewing, marriage vows. Certainly some couples hold ceremonies to renew their marriage vows when they have been broken, perhaps in the same way as we would renew a broken appliance or car.  However “Re-affirming” is something we do to celebrate the importance of a promise. It is a way of saying “this promise is still really important to me”.

As we come to communion, we are proclaiming and reaffirming to the whole world, just as we did at our baptism and confirmation, that we are each immersed in the love and grace of God, as individuals who have made our unique response, and as a community.

Baptism is a hopeful act.

Our reading from the Acts has Peter out of his comfort zone, preaching to Gentiles about Jesus.  He says ‘I now realise how true it is that God does not show favouritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right.”  “All the prophets testify about him (Jesus) that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”  For home study, as you read on in Acts 10, you see that as Peter utters these words about acceptance, belief and forgiveness, the Holy Spirit comes upon the hearers, just as he did on Jesus at his baptism.  Peter has them immersed in water to complete the job.

Instead of focusing on our sinfulness and need to be cleansed, can we reclaim our worthy-ness from being claimed by God?  If you have not been baptised, or perhaps feel that in some way you have never fully entered into the promises made at your baptism, Jesus calls you today to respond to him.  The Spirit longs to shine upon you and fill you.  Your Father longs for you to hear his words of comfort and acceptance.

Heavenly Father,
at the Jordan you revealed Jesus as your Son:
may we recognize him as our Lord
and know ourselves to be your beloved children;
through Jesus Christ our Saviour.   Amen.

Sermon 5th January 2014 Epiphany Anne

Today is the Sunday in the church calendar that we celebrate the Feast or Festival of Epiphany.  The feast started in the Eastern church in honour of the baptism of Jesus  and was introduced in the western church in the fourth century.  It then came to be associated with the visit of the Magi, the wise men who came to worship the infant Jesus. 

The word ‘Epiphany’ means revelation, enlightenment or awakening.  Sometimes we talk about an ‘epiphany moment’, when suddenly a mystery or puzzle that was hidden from us is made plain and clear to see.  Let me try to explain; in these pictures, what do you see?  (Only two are represented here)

There are two possibilities in each one.  The moment you see the ‘other’ possibility is an ‘oh yes’ moment because what was hidden becomes clear.  There is a picture hidden in these pictures and yet they are both in plain sight. 

There is something hidden and yet in plain sight in the gospel reading this morning. This story is so familiar to us and yet we can struggle to focus on the most important thing – the mystery revealed to us in the story.  So, what’s the mystery?

Let’s start with the Magi.  Maybe the mystery is the Magi.  We think they were astrologers or magicians because they were used to reading the stars and to interpreting dreams.  They were probably from Persia, but no one really knows.  We’re not even sure how many there were or whether they travelled alone and whether they really did ride on camels.  We call them wise men, but there might have been women among them too.  Sometimes we describe them as kings and we even give them names - Melchior, Balthasar and Caspar.  The fact is, Matthew doesn’t tell us any of these details.  We assume there are three of them because they bring 3 gifts with them, gold, frankincense and myrrh.  We do know they were foreigners, gentiles travelling from the east to find the king of the Jews.  They are very mysterious, but they are not the mystery.

Maybe the mystery in the story is something to do with the behaviour of the teachers of the law and chief priests of Jerusalem.  Now these really were wise men.  Matthew tells us that Herod called them together.  If anyone knew where the king of the Jews was, it would be them.  They knew the Scriptures like the backs of their hands and used them to tell Herod where the Messiah would be – in Bethlehem in Judea.  No mystery here then, except, it’s strange … why didn’t they go to Bethlehem?  Why wasn’t His birth already on their radar?  Why weren’t they following the star?  Why didn’t they seek out the Messiah?  But maybe Herod didn’t tell them the whole story, after all, he secretly met with the Magi to find out the details about the star.  Mysterious yes, but they are not the mystery.

So that brings us to the star, maybe the star is the mystery.  The star must be important – it’s mentioned 4 times in Matthew’s account!  There has been so much speculation about this star.  Could it have been Halley’s comet? A supernova? Or the result of some planetary conjunction? We will be singing about it later - it was the guiding star, the ‘star of wonder, star of night … westward leading …’.   The Magi saw it and followed it.  Herod quizzed them and wanted to know the exact time it appeared to them and then the star guided them from Jerusalem to Bethlehem.  Mysterious happenings in the night sky, but not the mystery. 

So, the Magi, the chief priests, the star are not the mystery, but they do tell us something about it.  They do reveal the mystery to us -  point to it – show us what’s hidden and yet in plain sight.  Such mysterious happenings, so much tooing and froing, so many people and places in this story, and in the midst of this busy-ness, in the midst of these mysterious and wondrous events, the star reveals something of cosmic importance.  As it stops over a house the Magi are overjoyed.  Inside the house is a mother, Mary, and the child.  A vulnerable infant.  Not in a palace.  Not with a kingly entourage, but just there, in that house with His mother.  Everything happening around this child points to who he is.  The Epiphany moment;  the mystery is revealed – the mystery is this child, Jesus.  The Epiphany, the revelation, is God on earth.  The child is both human and divine, God’s glory is revealed on earth in his Son.

The Magi know it; they understand.  They journey from afar and God reveals to these foreigners who this child is and the first thing they do is bow down and worship him.  This child is the long awaited Messiah promised in Hebrew Scripture, but he is sent for Gentiles too.  In this child, God’s glory is revealed to everyone.

No one, whether they be Magi from the east, tax collectors or fisherman disciples, us in church this morning, those fighting in Southern Sudan, those in Camberley who know nothing about Jesus, no one is outside the reach of Christ’s saving embrace.  In that house, on that night, the Christ child is revealed as being for all people.  And this message, this vision, goes back with the Magi to their own country.  They return home by a different route; such an experience must have transformed them.  I wonder what happened when they got home?  What did they say to their loved ones?  Who did they tell – their friends, family, people in the street, merchants, other star gazers?  I wonder if their faces lit up with excitement and joy as they remembered the joy they felt when the star stopped and they saw the child?  I wonder how they revealed to others the mystery of the Christ child?

Jesus is saviour for all humankind.  We need to catch that vision too.  Our own ‘Epiphany moment’, when we became aware of Christ’s saving embrace, of God’s love for us, may have been a dramatic experience, a sudden revelation or awakening.  Or, it may have been more gradual as the hidden slowly came into plain sight over a period of time.  Maybe you can’t remember when that was – sometime in your childhood, you became aware of God’s mercy, or the love of Jesus.  Either way, it doesn’t stop there.  We are called to share that moment, to ‘return home with the good news’; what began with the Magi, continues with us. 

So, when we ‘go home’ – return to our everyday activities in the coming week –  who will we tell about our Epiphany moments?  Our friends? Family? School mates?  Neighbours?  How will we describe our Epiphany experience?  And will our faces light up with joy and excitement as we tell them?  This week, let’s catch the vision, let’s go out into the world and be ready to share the mystery, to reveal what’s hidden in plain sight, to share His story by telling our story.

Questions

1.  What surprises you about Matthew’s account of the visit from the Magi?

2.  How can we as a church ‘catch the vision’?  See also Ephesians 3:6.

3.  Consider the questions in the last paragraph.

4.  How does Paul use his ‘Epiphany moment’ to share the Good News? See Eph 3:1-12

The pictures: – the first is a native indian and an eskimo looking in a cave; the second is a woman and also a man playing a saxophone standing sideways on; the third is a young woman and an old woman.

Sunday 29 December 2013, Matthew 2, Christmas 1, Escape to Egypt, Bruce

“When they had gone …”  When who had gone?  Thus starts our Gospel extract, and it is a reminder to read more widely.  Matthew has started with a list of descendants from Abraham down to his present day and the birth of Jesus.  Mary has been found to be pregnant, and an angel has warned Joseph her betrothed to accept her and the baby and to name him Jesus.  They have travelled to Bethlehem where the baby has been born.  Magi, wise men, have appeared from the East, seeking the new born king of the Jews so that they may worship him.  This is an important theme for Matthew, the glory of Jesus, revealed to the nations – to Magi here at the beginning and by the apostles being sent out at the end (Matthew 28).

The Magi do the obvious thing and go to King Herod to ask where the new prince is.  Perhaps they thought it was his son!  they are soon put right, however, and the king sends them to Bethlehem to search for the new-born and to bring word so that Herod himself “might go and worship him”.  They succeed in their mission and find Jesus.  They present their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.  Then they are warned in a dream not to return to Herod with the exact address where Jesus is to be found, but to go home by another route.

“When they had gone …”  This is where it can get confusing.  We have a system of special days.  25 December we celebrate the birth of Jesus.  26 December we remember Stephen, the first martyr.  27 December we remember John the brother of James, credited with writing a gospel, letters and Revelation.  28 December we remember the Holy Innocents, of whom we will speak more in a few moments.  Next Sunday we celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany, the revealing of Jesus’ glory.  The traditional story to do this is the visit of the Magi, so Anne will be preaching about that.  This morning, I am picking up the thread of what happened immediately after.

Joseph has another dream.  He is urged to make a night time flit, to get away, to take Mary and Jesus to Egypt.  People say that we should never mix religion and politics, but for Jesus, just being born was a political act.  He represented a new world order, and alternative to Herod and his regime.  He was in danger.  For Matthew he is a new Moses.  The Egyptians in the time of Moses felt threatened by the growing numbers of Israelites within their borders, and started a programme of ethnic cleansing.  They ordered the midwives not to let any boy babies live, but the midwives ignored them.  Then the Egyptians ordered that all Hebrew baby boys should be thrown into the Nile.  We do not know how many this affected but we do know that one Hebrew mother put her baby into a basket and floated it out onto the river where it was rescued by the daughter of Pharaoh and given the name Moses.  Eventually this Moses will lead his people out of Egypt.  So it is ironic that Joseph is directed by the angel to take his family down into Egypt for safety.

What follows is truly awful.  People have responded to this story in different ways.  Some have doubted its historicity – obviously Matthew made the whole thing up…  except that there is no evidence that he did.  There is no historical evidence either way. 

In a small village of a few hundred, there may have been somewhere between five and twenty baby boys of the right age.  They were not important people and so no historian will have been on hand write down their account.  The affair is sadly in keeping with what we do know about the character of Herod, who disposed of suspected rivals, killed all his relatives, built fortresses throughout his kingdom so he would never be far from them, and ordered the death of all political prisoners upon his death to cause the land to mourn.  The affair is sadly in keeping with what we know of the world today, where those in power are happy to accept so called “collateral damage”, whether of a car bomb or a drone, or a campaign of rape and pillage, and calculated starvation.  In fact, given what we know of turmoil in our world today, it seems that if it had not been for the testimony of Matthew this event might have passed unnoticed by practically everybody, except for the bereft mothers of Bethlehem.

The question to be asked is “Where was God in all this?”  I spoke to someone recently about the death of a relative; they were grateful for prayers, but had seen so much suffering that they themselves did not pray now.  We can be forgiven for asking why God allows such things.  We can also wonder why such a sad event is allowed to be part of the Christmas story, which should be such a happy time of the year.  Why didn't God warn the other parents of Bethlehem?  Did the advent of the Saviour bring with it the death of innocents?

There are no answers, certainly none that are easy.  It does seem to me that this is but one event, part of a much bigger story that goes back to the garden, back to Eden.  Just as Pharaoh was fully responsible for ordering the deaths of babies in his day, so Herod was fully to blame for this atrocity.  As I alluded to in my sermon about traffic wardens on Christmas Eve, good people can find themselves caught up in evil deeds.  Our whole world is need of redemption.

It is into this world that the redeemer came, and he was in danger and hardship from the outset.  No palace, no armed guard, no charmed route, no silver spoon.  He was, in effect, an asylum seeker.  Presumably with the benefit of the Magis’ gold, he was not forced to claim benefits while in Egypt, but otherwise how different was he from a refugee from Syria or Southern Sudan, or forced to leave his home in Belfast?  And as you follow his story through the gospel, look to see if Jesus ever had it easy.  You could almost say that the shadow of the cross has fallen across him from his earliest days.

And he feeleth for our sadness.  We do celebrate the birth of this baby boy, Jesus, but we do so giving thanks that he is here, that he knows us and all whom we love, that there is no hardship, difficulty or sadness of ours that he does not fully understand.  You might feel that there is no-one who can be a comfort to you, but there is one, and his name is Jesus.

Christmas Eve Communion, 24 December 2013, 11.00pm Hebrews 1, John 1, Bruce

The sermon on Sunday at the carol service was the one with all the jokes.  So tonight I thought I would be a bit more serious.

Well, ok, I will try one little one:

One day, a teacher, a dustman, and a traffic warden all died and went to heaven. 
St. Peter was there, having a bad day because heaven was getting crowded. When they got to the gate, St. Peter informed them that there would be a test to get into Heaven: They each had to answer a single question. 

To the teacher, he said, "What was the name of the ship that crashed into an iceberg and sunk with all its passengers?" 

The teacher thought for a second, and then replied: "That would have been the Titanic, right?" St. Peter let him through the gate. 

Next, St. Peter turned to the dustman, and figuring that heaven didn’t really need all the stink that he would bring in, decided to make the question a little harder. "How many people died on the ship?" 

The dustman guessed 1228, to which St. Peter said, "That happens to be right. Go ahead." 

St. Peter then turned to the traffic warden. "What were their names?" 

Parking is a bit of an issue in Camberley at the moment.  Several roads in the town have been designated from 30 Minutes to Permit Holders Only.  The new signs look exactly like the old signs and quite a few folk have not noticed them.  I believe the number of tickets issued is approaching 1000.  This has upset quite a lot of people, and it does not seem fair to me.

I am talking about this now because I seek a direct link with the coming of Jesus.  I really do.

In John 3:16 we read: ¹⁶ For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

The world, literally the kosmos.  This is a hard word to get a grip on.  Does it mean that God loves the rocks and earth that we stand on?  Does it mean all the people who live on the earth?  One translation reads For God so loved all of us that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  But that is to restrict the meaning which is wider than that.  Sometimes the word “world” is used to indicate sinful and perverse ways of operating: avoid the sins of the world.  Sometimes the word is used to indicate all of creation, the creation that Jesus was instrumental in creating – the way that Christians tell the story. 

 

The truth is that God has created a wonderful world system, that is literally beyond our understanding.  Physicists used to be quite blaze about how they had figured out the universe.  It appears that 95% of all creation – dark matter and dark energy – exists as a theory.  It might be there, and probably is, but we have not discovered ways to prove it.  I have noticed that physicists are tending to be quite humble now; it is the geneticists and biochemists who think they have it all figured out.  I await developments with interest.

If it is true that the world of the physical is wonderful and awe inspiring, then it is also true in the realm of human society.  The big claim, made in Genesis, is that God created us in his image.  We have the capacity to love and create and appreciate beauty.  There is so much to admire in humankind.

And yet we find ourselves shut out of the garden, estranged from God and from each other.  It is very rare to find a truly evil person.  And yet the world is full of people, good kind people, who find themselves to be part of systems that force them to act in ways that are less than human.  Organisations such as the armed forces, governments, health services, banks (I used to work for one), churches (I work for one today), are not immune from acting in ways that seem to ignore the needs and concerns of ordinary individuals.  This is what it means to be human, and it is why Jesus came to live among us.

Camberley has a good story to tell.  As more offices are being converted to flats, people are moving back into the town.  We might soon return to a society such as I observed in Northern Spain when I walked the Camino, where people lived in apartments over the shops and the towns were vibrant and alive.  As a Streetangel I am glad to see something that might improve the quality of nightlife in Camberley.

But these residents need somewhere to park.  It does not seem unreasonable to reallocate some spaces for their use.  But you have to tell people.  The way our world works is that the decision is made here by Surrey Borough Council, but the notices are the responsibility of Surrey County Council.  The enforcement then goes back to SHBC.  If parkers make a fuss and complain, and SHBC stop enforcing the new rules, the residents who have bought tickets will quite reasonably complain that they are unable to park.

It is a very small scale example of how our human relationships and interactions are so complicated and can lead to such difficulty.  In the area of benefits or education or health provision, we again and again find that real hardship can be caused as a result of decisions made or enforced by people who perhaps feel helpless to change the system.  It is a symptom of a world order, a kosmos, that is out of joint.

Tonight we celebrate a life.  A baby was born who grew to be a man who challenged the system.  He absorbed all the evil that could be thrown at him.  He is God’s gift to the world, precisely because he is a light that shines in the darkness.  We might picture a diseased organism, and a drop of antibiotic, or perhaps some stem cells, are introduced that spreads out and kills infection and restores health.  In the same way this one life, lived 2000 years ago, has made a real impact.  Ideas of human worth and equality spring from that one life.  Hospices and hospitals, schools and universities, the whole concept of welfare and democracy, have rippled out.  Jesus came to his own, and to as many as received him, he gave the right to become children of God.  He calls each of us today to follow him, to receive forgiveness and new life, and to part of his ongoing movement.  When we pray Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven, we are saying that we want this world to be better, that we want the weak and vulnerable to be protected, that we are willing to protest against systems that are unjust and unfeeling, that God loved every single person, including you, so much that he gave his only son that no one need perish but that all should inherit eternal life.

Sunday 22 December 2013, The birth of Jesus according to Matthew, Bruce

“Joseph was an old man, and an old man was he.”  Thus starts one of our carols that we sing at the carol service this afternoon.  It is a lovely carol, but we do not know if it was true.  What do we know about Joseph?

He appears in the stories about the birth of Jesus, and when Jesus is twelve going up to Jerusalem.  He does not appear in any stories about Jesus when he has begun his adult ministry from the age of about thirty.  We therefore presume he must have died by then, and that he was likely older than Mary.  But that might mean that he was 20 and she was 15.

Engaged.  In keeping with Jewish custom he had been betrothed to Mary.  They had had a ceremony at her house at which vows were exchanged.  He had said the words “I go to my father’s house to prepare a place for you; I will come back to take you to be with me.”  A period which was typically as long as a year had begun during which building work could be done to prepare the bridal home.  The young couple had a lot to look forward to.

Expectant. We do know that he was of the tribe of David.  Like all the people of Israel, he was waiting.  At some time in the future, God would send the promised deliverer to rescue his people.  Centuries before God had promised to King Ahaz that he would deliver the “house of David” from the threatened invasion by the Assyrians and Ephraimites.  He would do this quickly, in the time it took for a new born child to grow old enough to start eating solid foods.  Joseph was heir to this tradition, the way that we are to the Battle of Waterloo or the Battle of Britain, but with something extra.  There is the expectation that at some time in the future God will act.

Exercised.  Like a character in the new X box ad, Joseph is put on the spot.  God is acting now, and he wants Joseph to be involved.  Out of the blue his whole life and expectations are shaken up.

First, his intended is found to be with child.  There was careful provision made for this in the law in Deuteronomy 22.  It mattered whether the offence took place in a city or out in the fields.  It was a serious matter, and in ancient times could be subject to the death penalty.  Joseph reveals himself as a compassionate interpreter of the law; he will deal with her as gently and quietly as circumstances allow.

Second, an angel breaks into his dream with a warning and a promise.  It is as if you were suddenly called to join Wellington at Waterloo.  As if you were asked to climb into a Spitfire or help operate an operations room as enemy bombers sweep in.  What you thought was history, to be remembered and celebrated has become your living reality and you must make a choice. 

Joseph, remember when God appears to Moses and says I have seen my people’s troubles and I am with them to deliver them?  It is that moment now, and God is with us.  Joseph, do you remember when Isaiah promised that a young woman would conceive, and this would be a sign that God is with his people Israel?  It is that time now, and you are in the place of Ahaz.  Joseph, do not be afraid to take this woman as your wife, and this child as your son.  It matters that he will be the son of Joseph, because then he will be revealed to be the promised descendant of Abraham and David that we read about in the first 18 verses of the Gospel.  Joseph, call him Joshua (Hebrew), Jesus (Greek), because that means “Yahweh will save”.  It tells us all that we need to know about your son to be, that he will save us from our sins.  Joseph, what are you going to do?

It is striking that Matthew has his priorities.  There is no story about how Jesus was born, no stable or manger; Jesus appears half way through verse 25 and the story continues.  Neither Mary nor Joseph get to say anything in this telling of the story.  It is all about God.  God acts in history by promising long beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures (Romans1:2).  God sends the angel with the message that it is the Holy Spirit who has enabled Mary to conceive.

What can Joseph do?  He can be obedient.  There are subsidiary questions we can ask.  How was Joseph equipped to receive this calling from God?  A lifetime of patient study of the scriptures must have come into it.  A regular pattern of prayer so that he was familiar with God’s ways and could realise that it really was an angel speaking.

What can we do?  We are called to share that obedience that comes from faith for the sake of the name of the one who received the name of Jesus – Saviour.  We are called, like Joseph, to be open for all that God has for us, open for all that he would teach us, open to serve and help all who seek for him, and open to follow him wherever he leads us.  We will see in the next week where God was leading Joseph.  Let us also be open to see where God is leading us, and who he is leading us to.

ADVENT 2. 8th DECEMBER 2013. ACTIONS FOR ADVENT. ROBERT

Isaiah 11. 1 – 10         Romans 15 : 4 – 13         Matthew 3 : 1 – 12

I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you what the word ‘Advent’ means – it’s Latin of course, and it literally means ‘To come towards’ or more simply in English ‘to arrive’. So Advent is ‘The Arrival’. Who is arriving? Jesus is arriving. Where is he arriving? On earth and – more personally – in your life and in mine. When does he arrive? There are three arrival times – past, present, and future.

His first arrival on the world stage was in Bethlehem. His exact date of birth? Unknown – but we celebrate his birthday on 25^th December which is as good a date as any. The main thing is that we celebrate his birth for the right reasons and in an appropriate manner.  The year of his birth? Well, the scholars tell us – on the basis of the biblical evidence (and even more importantly) references to Jesus in outside sources – that those who worked out the first calendar didn’t quite get it right.  It was 4 BC or very close to that. The important thing is that we can place him in history with a great deal of certainty.

His second arrival is in the present. He comes to dwell in the lives of all who invite him in. Jesus doesn’t force himself upon anyone. Who you ask to come to stay with you is your prerogative. When your front door bell rings and you open the door slightly and peer out, who do you invite inside – and who do you politely send on their way to the next house and the one after that? That’s your decision. Jesus stands at the door and knocks. But Advent – his arrival – doesn’t truly come until you have opened the door widely and invited him in to stay. We call that invitation a ‘prayer’ but it’s really no more difficult than a conversation that starts with an invitation – ‘Come in, Lord Jesus, and stay with me’. Then it’s Advent. Jesus has arrived in your life.

His third arrival is in the future. When? No-one knows. It will be when God’s purpose for his world is complete.

C. S. Lewis has been much in the news recently as we celebrated the 50^th anniversary of his death and laid a memorial plaque in the floor of Westminster Abbey on 22^nd November. He became one of the best apologists for the Christian faith in the western world of the 20^th century. But for very many years he was a convinced atheist. And one of the reasons for that was that, as a historical scholar of the highest standing, he knew very well that many ancient religions were based on the idea of the dying and rising God. If you understood that our main source of life comes from the sun, you could see very well that the sun appears to die as winter takes its icy hold, and then miraculously rises again in the spring, with the birth of new life.  We celebrate the birth of Christ in December because Christianity simply came to supplant the ancient yuletide festivities.

But C. S. Lewis eventually came to believe that, without doubt, Christianity was true because it placed the death and resurrection of Jesus firmly in history. It was not just a way of explaining the cyclical nature of the seasons, which repeated year after year. It concerned a real person, whose birth, ministry, death and resurrection could be placed in real time and not in cyclical myth. Its critical basis is in history, and now (as we shall be singing later in this service), ‘God is working his purpose out as year succeeds to year’, and when that purpose is complete, the final Advent will mark the fulfilment of his plan, a glimpse of which is mirrored in all our hearts and longings. The day of our dreams, when justice, truth and love finally triumph, God wipes away every tear from our eyes, and a new heaven and a new earth is born. Christianity has nothing to do with repeating cycles which never end. It has a beginning in time, and it works its way through time, to a final victorious climax when time finally comes to an end.

So Advent means that Jesus came; Jesus comes – to us in answer to our invitation; and, when the time is right in God’s sight, Jesus will come again.

We celebrate Advent in the four weeks leading us up to Christmas in order that we may examine ourselves and prepare ourselves for the arrival of Jesus. And the three readings we have heard – and have in front of us in our orders of service this morning -  have three key themes to guide us.

1. Repent. Advent is always linked with John the Baptist and our Gospel reading from Matthew chapter 3 shows him in action. His mission was to prepare the way for the arrival of Jesus, and his call was to repentance.

Now you will know well from many past sermons that repentance is much more about looking forward than about looking backward. No doubt we all have regrets – things done that ought not to have been done, and things undone which ought to have been done – and whenever we take part in a service, we confess our misdeeds and ask for forgiveness. But we can’t change the past. What we can change is the future – our direction of travel. Repentance means a change of mind and will, which leads to a change of life and direction. The Christian faith is always leading us forwards in a positive direction, not a wallowing in negative self-abasement.

So Advent is about an honest self examination to see what needs to be changed in order that we may receive the light of Christ shining in full brightness and become happier, healthier, holier people. We await the arrival of Christ the King. We must make ourselves ready.

2. Receive. Our first reading from Isaiah chapter 11 contains amazing promises. It tells us that Jesus will be full of God’s Spirit – ‘the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.’

As Jesus arrives at our door and we invite him to enter and stay with us, these are the qualities he brings. And they can’t be bought at any price, or acquired by good deeds, or by trying ever harder. They are gifts – Christmas gifts from Jesus which he brings into our lives. He will give us wisdom to understand the things of God. He will counsel us in how to lead our lives. He will give us the power to live as – in our hearts – we truly want to live. He will fill us with the life, the breath, the love of God himself. He is the channel of God’s grace and truth. People ask us what we want for Christmas. What greater gifts could we possibly request? And Jesus is the one who comes to us bearing these precious and wonderful gifts. Don’t turn him away. Accept with huge thankfulness these wonderful gifts he brings.

3. Re-Focus. This will enable us to re-focus our lives as we face the future. Paul tells us here in our 2^nd reading from Romans 15 that our God is a God of hope. There are many reasons why hope may be in rather short supply this Christmas and as we look forward to 2014. Perhaps even ‘looking forward’ is the wrong phrase if we only consider our outward circumstances, health, resources and circumstances. But Advent is, supremely, a time of hopeful looking forward because when Jesus comes into our lives as the greatest Christmas present of all, he brings hope beyond measure. Hope of a renewed relationship with God. Hope of a glorious future which dawns on the horizon. Hope which is not bounded by death. Hope which is eternal.

Repent. Receive. Re-Focus.    If we can understand what it means this Advent to repent, to receive and to re-focus, then the love, the peace and hope in God becomes unbounded. And Paul’s prayer here at the end of our reading from Romans 15, will become true in your life and in mine. He prays for us: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” 

If you will follow these steps as God guides you, this Christmas will be very special indeed – you will be blessed by the birth of Jesus in your own soul, and the Christmas angels over St Michael’s will rejoice in the good news, and sing their praises to the glory of God, saying ‘Hallelujah’ Christ is born today in another soul here in this church.

Discussion

1. Discuss how we can practically make time in these weeks before Christmas to reflect and pray and make ready to celebrate Christmas in the right spirit.

2. What first comes to mind when you hear the word ‘Repent’. Discuss its biblical meaning as a change of mind leading to a change of direction in life.

3. We hear about the need to ‘receive’ Jesus into our lives through ‘prayer’. Discuss what this means and how we can personally make such a prayer.