John 1:10-18 (NRSV)

¹⁰ He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. ¹¹He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. ¹²But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, ¹³who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God. ¹⁴ And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. ¹⁵(John testified to him and cried out, ‘This was he of whom I said, “He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.” ’) ¹⁶From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. ¹⁷The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. ¹⁸No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known. 

Some thoughts from Bishop Tom Wright ...

Jesus is identical with the Word who was there from the very beginning of everything – through whom all things were made – the one who contained and contains life and light. But when God sent the Word into the world, specifically to Israel, the chosen people do not recognise him. This is the central problem that seems to dominate the whole story: Jesus comes to God’s people, and God’s people do what the rest of the world do – they prefer darkness to light. This is the reason why we all need grace.

Tom Wright suggests (and I agree) that what makes this passage really exciting is that it addresses us as well because in verse 12 we read: “¹²But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God ...” This means that anyone – in history, now and in the future – all are invited to become children of God, born into a new family which Jesus began and which has, since then, spread throughout the world.

All human life is special in God’s sight, but something can happen in this life that adds to its dignity and worth, when we become part of God’s special family. Wright continues: “.... this great drama is a play in search of actors, and there are parts for everyone, you and me included.”

Even today, as we journey through our lives, we can see that they are part of God’s play, revealing truth and beauty to the world.

I now turn to Barclay for inspiration.

Barclay makes the point that for the author of this Gospel it was important that John the Baptist did not occupy an exaggerated position in our thoughts and so quotes the Baptist in verse 15 as saying: “He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.” The Baptist was older than Jesus but this is not what he is saying; he is speaking in the light of eternity and so identifies Jesus as God – the one who existed before the universe came into existence and ‘... beside whom any human figure has no standing at all.’

Verse 16a begins with an interesting phrase: “From his fullness ...” This implies that the sum total of all that is God is Jesus. Paul uses the same word in Colossians when he says that the fullness of God dwelt in Christ. He is implying that the totality of God’s wisdom, power and love is in Jesus, the Christ. Barclay writes:

A person can go to Jesus with any need and find that need supplied. A person can go to Jesus with any ideal and find that ideal realised. In Jesus, a person in love with beauty will find the supreme beauty. In Jesus, the person to whom life is the search for knowledge will find the supreme revelation ...

From Jesus we have also received grace upon grace (verse 16b). In Christ we find one wonder leading to another. Sometimes as we travel a very lovely road we are overtaken by one beautiful sight being followed closely by countless others; at every view we think nothing could be lovelier, only to find there is always more. When a person begins a study of some great subject, they never get to the end of it. Always there are fresh expressions of beauty waiting for them. Barclay continues: “It is so with Christ. The more we know of him, the more wonderful he becomes. The longer we live with him, the more loveliness we discover. ...”

There is another dimension: the grace of God is never static, but always dynamic. Barclay explains: “One need invades life and one grace comes with it. That need passes and another need assaults us and with it another grace comes.”

We are taken to greater experiences of grace as our relationship with Christ grows and develops and we receive grace to meet every challenge ... “¹⁶From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.”

The Law was given by Moses, but grace and truth come through Jesus Christ. In the old way, life is governed by law: people needed to do things whether they wanted to or not, whether they knew the reason or not – because it was required or even demanded by the Law. But with the coming of Jesus, the Christ, we no longer need to seek to keep the law like slaves, we seek to live as sons and daughters who are inspired to keep the law, not because we have to, but because we want to. Barclay writes: “It is through Jesus Christ that God the law-giver became God the Father, that God the judge has become God the lover of the souls of people.”

Verse 18 is wonderful: no person has ever seen God, in fact no person can ever fully comprehend God, because God is greater than anything we can ever conceive of. What we can know and understand and experience of God is made possible through Jesus Christ. “If you want to see what God is like, look at Jesus.”

Jesus is God: an important tenet of Christian faith, but this does not mean that Jesus is identical with God, it does mean that ‘... in mind and character and being he is one with God. ... To see him is to see what God is ...’ Jesus is ‘...close to the Father’s heart ...’ This is, in Hebrew cultures, an expression of the deepest intimacy possible in human life: it is used for the experience of mother and child, husband and wife, it is used of two friends who are in complete communion with each other. Barclay adds: “When John uses this phrase about Jesus, he means that between Jesus and God there is complete and uninterrupted intimacy. It is because Jesus is so intimate with God, that he is one with God and can reveal him to men.’

In Jesus, the previously distant, unknowable, unreachable God has come to reach all people who would receive him and so God can be known, deeply and intimately by all people.

God bless you all as you journey with our Lord in 2014.

Matthew 2.13-end (NRSV)

The Escape to Egypt

 Now after they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.’ Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt, and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfil what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, ‘Out of Egypt I have called my son.’

The Massacre of the Infants

 When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the wise men. Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah:
‘A voice was heard in Ramah,
   wailing and loud lamentation,
Rachel weeping for her children;
   she refused to be consoled, because they are no more.’

The Return from Egypt

 When Herod died, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, ‘Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child’s life are dead.’ Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And after being warned in a dream, he went away to the district of Galilee. There he made his home in a town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, ‘He will be called a Nazorean.’ 

I am indebted to the commentary on Matthew’s Gospel by Stanley Hauerwas (SCM Theological Commentaries) for this reflection, and hope my readers it to be useful as you prepare to preach on this passage on the first Sunday of Christmas.

God’s existence is open to rational demonstration. I believe this is an important reason why Matthew’s account of the magi is included in the canon of Scripture. People can find their way to Jesus in different ways, some through amazing experiences, others in simple acts of faith like that of the shepherds, while still others need to think things through. For me, it has been a mixture of a number of things, but this rational aspect is increasingly important. The magi, in addition to thinking things through, followed a star. This adds the dimension that Paul often refers to, that God can be discerned through nature as well. Hauerwas suggests that this ‘natural knowledge’, ‘… requires narration through the stories that have been given us in scripture.’ We need the balance.

Reason alone would have suggested that a new and important king would be born in the capital – Jerusalem. The magi needed help, and it came from the most surprising of sources – Herod – the evil king, but one who had invoked learned men to be able to work things out for him. They had studied the scriptures and knew of the prophecy in Micah, and so Herod was able to point the Magi in the right direction. Human learning alone is often not enough.

Hauerwas states that the main focus of our reading – the massacre of the innocents – challenges the sentimentality that might creep into our Christmas celebrations. Jesus is born into a world where things are often very ugly indeed – where children are abused and killed – and this continues, sadly, still today.

Some scholars have glossed over this vile truth, suggesting that the victory of the resurrection makes it all worth it! But as MacKinnon suggests, this truth, which I celebrate as fundamental and beautiful, does not always give us any meaning or comfort in the midst of horror and suffering. For too long, some Christians have applied this to explain or even excuse suffering in the world with comments like: “If they have been killed, at least they will have gone home to be with Jesus for all eternity!” But this is cold comfort to the mother who has lost a child in horrific circumstances. Matthew’s account of the death of these children is stark. He reminds us that Jeremiah warned that this was going to happen – that Rachel would weep for her children and refuse to be consoled. As Hauerwas points out: ‘… The Gospel – the crucifixion and the resurrection of Jesus – is no the consolation for those children who are murdered and for their loved ones. Rather, those who would follow and worship Jesus should challenge to those who would harm children in any way.’

Christians need to stand up for all those who are vulnerable and be willing to count and pay the cost of doing so. Christians need to challenge all abuse, and every abuse – like Bonheoffer, Tutu, Mandela and others. As Hauerwas challenges us, Christians need to stand up to the modern day Herods but he adds that we also need to address the fear that motivates ‘Herods’ to do the evil that they do. We need to show the world another way, a different way, the way that Jesus stood for, the way of peace and justice and forgiveness and love. In a time when the world mourns the death of Nelson Mandela, it is apt to be reminded how he removed the fear of those who perpetuated evil on both sides in the apartheid South Africa, calling for justice to be tempered with forgiveness and thereby providing hope. It was this hope that nurtured peace. Hauerwas writes: ‘… the lure of love that moves the sun and the stars, the same love that overwhelmed the wise men with joy. It is that love that makes the church an alternative to the world that fears the child.’

The good news is that all Herods eventually die; unjust rulers and people eventually go, but God’s people endure, because God has made this possible through the kingdom He established in Jesus. So we must continue to fight for justice and protect the weak and vulnerable, especially children. We must stand by those who mourn the unjust loss of their loved ones and support them the best we can. We must fight for fair wages and working conditions for all people and so we need to shop responsibly, making sure that our well-being is not at the cost of anyone else.

A brief comment on the return to Nazareth …

There is no prophecy anywhere in the Old Testament that says that the Messiah would be a Nazorean! But there are references to those who lived disciplined and holy lives – the Nazirites. Jesus lived the simple and disciplined life of a Nazirite.

What is significant about Nazareth is that it was an insignificant part of Galilee which itself was not considered a ‘good’ place to be because it contained a mix of different races and classes of people, including Samaritans and Gentiles. For the up and coming Jew at the time, they would choose not to live in Galilee – it was the wrong side of the tracks. But for a base for the Gospel to reach all the people of the world, it was ideal, and because of this context, the teachings of Jesus, especially the examples he used in his parables show how it is universal. The kingdom of God is for all people, the kingdom established by Jesus would be based on different standards to the norms of the world.

Rather a rushed reflection, but I trust it will be of some use to you.

God bless you all,

David

A Christmas thought from Philip Yancey

Philip Yancey, an American writer uses the following illustration to explain what the ‘incarnation’ means and why it happened. He writes:

I learned about incarnation when I kept a salt-water aquarium. Management of a marine aquarium, I discovered, is no easy task. I had to run a portable chemical laboratory to monitor the nitrate levels and the ammonia content. I pumped vitamins and antibiotics and sulpha drugs and enough enzymes to make a rock grow. I filtered the water through glass fibres and charcoal, and exposed it to ultraviolet light. You would think, in view of all the energy expended on their behalf, that my fish would at least be grateful. Not so. Every time my shadow loomed above the tank they dove for cover into the nearest shell. They showed me one “emotion” only: fear. Although I opened the lid and dropped in food on a regular schedule, three times a day, they responded to each visit as a sure sign of my designs to torture them. I could not convince them of my true concern.

To my fish I was like God. I was too large for them, my actions too difficult to understand. My acts of mercy they saw as threatening; my attempts at looking after them even healing them, they viewed as dangerous. To change their perceptions, I began to see, would require a form of ‘incarnation’. In order to get through to them, I would have to become a fish and “speak” to them in a language they could understand.

A human being becoming a fish is nothing compared to God becoming a baby. And yet according to the Gospels that is what happened at Bethlehem. The God who created matter took shape within it, as … a playwright a character within his own play. God wrote a story, only using real characters, on the pages of real history. The Word became flesh.[1]

---

[1] Yancey, The Jesus I Never Knew, pp 41-42.

Romans 1:1-7 (NRSV)

¹Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, ²which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures, ³the gospel concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh ⁴and was declared to be Son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness by resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, ⁵through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for the sake of his name, ⁶including yourselves who are called to belong to Jesus Christ,

⁷ To all God’s beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints:

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 

A short reflection on the Epistle for next Sunday ...

Paul was a servant of Jesus Christ, called by God to be an apostle and set apart for the Gospel of God. Paul reminds us here that Jesus loves us and gave himself for us and as a result, we no longer belong to ourselves, but entirely to our Lord. We have an obligation of love as Christ’s servants to do everything, not because we have to, but because we want to.

But there is another dimension. In the Old Testament the word doulos which is translated in the NRSV as servant is used in the LXX to describe some great men of God: Moses was the servant (doulos) of the Lord and it was also used for the prophets Amos and Jeremiah. So when Paul refers to himself as the doulos of the Lord he is claiming to be in the succession of these great prophets of God. Their greatness and glory comes from their servanthood. Barclay comments: “... the phrase, the slave of Jesus Christ, describes at one and the same time the obligation of great love and the honour of a great office.”

In verse 5 Paul tells of two things that he received when he was ‘set apart’ for his calling. Firstly, he had received grace. Grace always refers to a gift that is always free and absolutely unearned and undeserved. In his pre-Christian days, Paul had striven to earn glory in the eyes of people and merit in the eyes of God by meticulously trying to adhere to the Law, but he had never found peace. Now he had come to realise what really matters and that it is not what we do, it is what God does for us. Our salvation is all up to God; it is all of grace, all free and undeserved.

Secondly he had also received a task; he was set apart to be an Apostle to the Gentiles. He had been chosen, not for special honour, but for a special responsibility. Originally, as a Pharisee, Paul had chosen to set himself apart from others because Pharisees saw themselves as being better than others, especially the Gentiles. Now his life was to be completely different; he was to spend himself in bringing the good news of God’s love to the very people he had originally despised.

We too are separated for service, but also for humility and love for all people.

In addition to providing his own credentials, Paul provides an essential outline of the Gospel. It is a Gospel centred on Jesus Christ (verses 3 and 4) and a Gospel of incarnation. It tells of Jesus who was truly a man. Barclay explains: “He became what we are, to make us what He is.” It is also a Gospel of Resurrection. If Jesus had lived a good life and died an heroic death – and that was it – he would simply have been yet another one of many heroic figures. What makes Jesus unique is the Resurrection. Barclay concludes: “The others are dead and gone, and have left a memory. Jesus lives on and gives us a presence, still mighty with power.”

Matthew 11:2-11: (NRSV)

Messengers from John the Baptist

² When John heard in prison what the Messiah^* was doing, he sent word by his^* disciples ³and said to him, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?’ ⁴Jesus answered them, ‘Go and tell John what you hear and see: ⁵the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers^* are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. ⁶And blessed is anyone who takes no offence at me.’

Jesus Praises John the Baptist

⁷ As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: ‘What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind? ⁸What then did you go out to see? Someone^* dressed in soft robes? Look, those who wear soft robes are in royal palaces. ⁹What then did you go out to see? A prophet?^* Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. ¹⁰This is the one about whom it is written,
“See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
   who will prepare your way before you.” 
¹¹Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

The new Revised Common Lectionary that we follow has two Sundays in Advent dedicated to John the Baptist. I rather miss Bible Sunday’s demise, because despite the horrible reputation some fundamentalist have unjustly given the Bible, it still remains the most wonderful treasure trove ever written. But there is no disputing the importance of John the Baptist and what a wonderful testimony of grace where Jesus makes the comment that ‘... the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he ...’ I know that, in my own strength, my testimony does not come anywhere near that of John, but then, our relationship with God is not based on who we are and what we have done, but on who Jesus is and what he has done for us. Indeed, it is a matter of personal choice and commitment and so many in Britain today miss out on so much because they fail to do so, or even see the need to do so! Instead, they continue to worship at the altars of materialism, status, wealth etc. even though these gods have so dismally failed them.

John was a prophet and how we need prophets today. But what a difficult task they have because they never say what people want to hear. The truth always penetrates to the quick and people rebel. John’s message led to his death. The messages of modern prophets like Oscar Romero led also to their deaths.

In this Adventide the world is crying out for a prophet.

John was unable to see evil without rebuking it. This is much easier when the evil is obvious. When we ministered in South Africa, the horrors or Apartheid were clear for everyone to see and so it was our duty to rebuke it at every turn. I know we were both unpopular in the process (I know that some people probably wanted to throw me into the bay!) In Britain it seems much more difficult for the evil is far less obvious. As we have reflected earlier, the Gospel tends to have a hollow ring when people are unaware of their sin. By far the majority of people we come across are indeed ‘good’ people in the eyes of the world. But in the eyes of God, human righteousness is like filthy rags (as the prophet Isaiah explains).

Our prophetic utterances therefore need to be so different. They need to be much less fierce and forthright, but rather the utterance of love saying that there is a different way, yes, even a better way; it is the way of selfless love as revealed by Jesus.

Jesus replies to the disciples of John. He tells them not to tell John what he was saying, “Tell him what I am doing!” The Good News is that this same Jesus is still doing the same sort of things today. Barclay explains that those who are blind to the truth about themselves, others and God are enabled to see; those whose feet are not strong enough to remain on the right path are strengthened; those who are tainted by the disease of sin are cleansed; those who have been deaf to the voice of conscience and of God begin to listen; those who were dead and powerless in sin are raised to newness and loveliness of life and ‘... in him the poorest person inherits and possesses the riches of the love of God.’

In addition to the good news comes also with a warning: ‘⁶And blessed is anyone who takes no offence at me.’

Barclay suggests that this verse was addressed particularly to John because he seemed only to have grasped part of the truth: John preached a gospel of divine holiness with divine destruction; Jesus preached the gospel of divine holiness with divine love. So Jesus might have been saying: “Maybe I am not doing the things you expected of me, but the powers of evil are being defeated, not by immense power, but by unanswerable love.” Sometimes people are offended by Jesus because his ideas of what ‘religion’ ought to be. Barclay concludes: ‘We will always be offended at Jesus, if we think that we know best.’

What an accolade John was given by our Lord in verse 11: “¹¹Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” So what then did he lack?

Barclay offers the following thoughts.

He had never seen the Cross and so the full revelation of Jesus and the fullness of the love of God. He might have known the holiness of God and God’s justice, but there would always have been something missing. This becomes apparent when we compare the messages of John and Jesus. It is difficult to define John’s message in terms of ‘good news’, his message was more a threat and judgement. Jesus and the Cross reveal the whole picture and includes the most vital ingredient, the height, and breadth and depth of the love of God. Barclay writes: “It is the most amazing thing that it is possible for the humblest Christian to know more about God than the greatest of the Old Testament prophets. It enables us to know more of the heart of God of God in a way than Isaiah or Jeremiah ...”

In theory I agree with what Barclay is saying, but my recent experience would add that this is possible in theory. It is amazing how few people study the Scriptures at all because so few people ever read. I have heard some frightening statistics of how little the Bible is read even by those in the Church. Yes, one can know the depth of the love of God but one needs to confront the Cross with all its love through the Scriptures and how they apply to where we are as the Holy Spirit moves us. We confront the Cross of Christ when we come by faith to the written Word where we encounter the Living Word.

It was John’s destiny to point people to a greatness into which he himself did not enter; he was a mere signpost.

It would appear that he could be the first patron saint of educators together with Thomas Aquinas, John Bosco and John Baptist de la Salle, for this seems to me to be what we are about, for our vocations are to prepare others for doing great things. I fear sometimes that the excellent schools that we have the privilege of being part of, all too easily fall into the trap of preparing people for the best positions in public life and commerce, and that true greatness does not always seem to be an aspiration of many. Quite appropriately our Schools celebrate those who have ‘done well’ and who have become judges or Chairmen of international companies or leaders in politics or the military, but I think we need also to challenge our students to strive for true greatness.

Of course this begs the question: “What is true greatness?”

Few people are aware of the importance or Vernon Johns preparing the way for Martin Luther King’s work in the Civil Rights Movement in the USA, but while he did not receive the great accolades of King, he was still truly great. Barclay is of the opinion that, “... it is very seldom that any great reformer is the first man to labour and to toil for the reform with which his name is connected in history.” He tells of a lovely story of the time when street lamps were gas powered and how one of the lamp lighters did his work with great dignity only to discover that the lighter was blind. “... he was bringing light which he himself would never see ...”

I have had a terrible weekend, feeling bereft at the death of Madiba, our beloved Nelson Mandela. But some of what is attributed to him actually belongs to Desmond Tutu – Madiba’s John the Baptist, and Desmond, being the gracious Christian that he is, will never complain.

And so, I take encouragement that we are about an important task, that as teachers we point others to a goal, even if we never reach the goal ourselves.

I look forward in hope of hearing how any of my pupils have done great things with their lives, but not in the way the world thinks, but those who join me as teachers, ministers of the Gospel, those who have, above all else, sought to be faithful to what God has called them to be and to do. This, for me, is true greatness.

Romans 15:4-13 (NRSV)

⁴For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, so that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope. ⁵May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus, ⁶so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Gospel for Jews and Gentiles Alike

7 Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. ⁸For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the circumcised on behalf of the truth of God in order that he might confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, ⁹and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written,
‘Therefore I will confess^* you among the Gentiles,
   and sing praises to your name’;
¹⁰and again he says,
‘Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people’;
¹¹and again,
‘Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles,
   and let all the peoples praise him’;
¹²and again Isaiah says,
‘The root of Jesse shall come,
   the one who rises to rule the Gentiles;
in him the Gentiles shall hope.’
¹³May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Barclay points out that these verses reveal what Christian fellowship should be like.

In the first instance, fellowship should be marked by a study of Scripture. When one studies Scripture we receive the much needed encouragement because we are provided with two things: (i) we are given a record of how God had dealt with a nation in history and this shows that it is always better to be right with God and suffer than to be wrong with others to avoid trouble. The history of Israel revealed that ‘good’ wins out in the end. Scripture reveals that God’s ways are never easy, but in the end it is the only way that makes life worthwhile both here in time and also for eternity. (ii) The Scriptures also provide us with the promises of God and God never breaks His word. Barclay suggests that “... they are tremendous things to go out to meet life with. In these ways Scripture gives to the man who studies it comfort in his sorrow and encouragement in his struggle.”

Christian fellowship is also marked by steadfastness. Barclay once again uses one of his favourite words ‘fortitude’ which he defines as  “... an attitude of the heart to life ...” It is more than patience, and is rather a triumphant adequacy that can cope with life; it is the strength that not only accept things , transforms them into something good and wonderful.

This all leads to hope. While we should always be realists, we ought never to be pessimists. But our Christian hope is not a cheap hope, not is it an immature hope because it does not see difficulties because it has not encountered the difficulties of life. Barclay explains: “The Christian hope is not hope in the human spirit, in human goodness, in human endurance, in human achievement; the Christian hope is hope in the power of God.”

Christian fellowship should also be marked by harmony. No matter how beautiful a church or cathedral might be irrespective of how wonderful the music might be or how perfect the processions etc. or how generous the charitable giving Barclay suggests that ‘... it has lost the essential of a Christian fellowship if it has lost harmony.’ Of course there must be difference of opinion and argument and debate, but it is essential that, throughout all this those within the Church ‘... will have solved the problem of living together ...’ because the Christ that unites us is greater than the differences that divide us.

The whole essence of being Church should take its pattern and example from our Lord, Jesus Christ who did not seek to please himself, but chose to serve others and so he ‘... sets the pattern which everyone who seeks to be his follower must accept “⁶so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. “

 The people within the Church should be bound into one irrespective of anything: race, class, status; those strong in the faith and those who are week. Paul quotes from the Old Testament to give strength to his argument, most notably from his favourite books: Psalms (18:50 and 117:1); Deuteronomy (32:43) and Isaiah (11:10). When we look back to these passages we find that our translations of these passages vary. This is because our Old Testaments are based on the original Hebrew and Paul was using the Septuagint (LXX) the Greek translation.  But the message is the same. This makes me think that, while accuracy matters, it is more the essence of Scripture that is important and not too much emphasis on literal precision – another reason why fundamentalism is so ill-advised. When the Book of the Law was discovered on return from Exile, and Ezra read it from dawn to noon, the Levites gave’... the sense so that the people understood the meaning ...’ (Nehemiah 8:8)  When they understood the meaning they were united together and were blessed. Meaning is what matters and people today will be united together when they understand and share the meaning of the Gospel. Here the meaning is quite clear the Church of Christ must be an inclusive Church. It is such sadness that the Covenant between our Churches, signed in 2003, seems to be so little acted upon, and a new covenant has been deemed necessary to keep Anglicanism together. Have we lost the ‘sense’ of scripture and the Gospel?

What follows are Barclay’s reflections on verses 7-13: Paul continues to re-state the Gospel.

It is a Gospel of HOPE: There is something in Christian hope that nothing can kill ‘... and that something is the conviction that God is still alive. No person is hopeless so long as there is such a thing as the grace of Jesus Christ ...’

It is a Gospel of JOY: There is a big difference between pleasure and joy, but the world seems to have forgotten this important distinction. Christian joy is not dependent upon things outside a person, it is something that comes from within or as Barclay puts it: “... It comes from the consciousness of the living presence of the living Lord, the certainty that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Him.”

It is a Gospel of PEACE: Life is always going to be filled with challenges, difficulties and worries from time to time, so Christian peace is not an escape or an inoculation from any of these, so Barclay explains: “Things will happen that we cannot understand, but if we are sure enough of love, we can accept with serenity even those things which wound the heart and baffle the mind.

It is  Gospel of POWER: It is not as if we do not know what is good and right and beautiful, what we lack is the ability to do it and so Barclay concludes: “Only when the surge of the power of Christ fills the weakness of man can we master life as we ought to master it. By ourselves we can do nothing; but with God all things are possible.”

ADVENT SUNDAY GOSPEL AND EPISTLE

Matthew 24:36-44 (NRSV)

The Necessity for Watchfulness:

36 ‘But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son,^* but only the Father. ³⁷For as the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. ³⁸For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, ³⁹and they knew nothing until the flood came and swept them all away, so too will be the coming of the Son of Man. ⁴⁰Then two will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. ⁴¹Two women will be grinding meal together; one will be taken and one will be left. ⁴²Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day^* your Lord is coming. ⁴³But understand this: if the owner of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. ⁴⁴Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.

My text this evening is written in Matthew 24:44

⁴⁴Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.

The Gospel for Advent Sunday echoes the theme of the Advent Hope coupled with the idea that Christ’s first Advent also comes with a promise of the Second Coming. I have to confess that I am never too concerned about the Second Coming and in my earlier more evangelical days even, I could not see the point of arguing if one was premill, postmill or amill! What matters more is the fact that Jesus is with us now by his Spirit and that we are charged with following him in love and obedience, where we have been placed, by his grace. I hope it does not sound arrogant of me, but I think our Lord was probably addressing this issue as reported here by Matthew for the same reasons, knowing that humans like to be sidetracked into displacement thinking that deflects them from the real task at hand. (I often find that I tidy my study when I should be marking countless essays!!!)

Jesus says that no-one knows when it will happen – even he did not know – only the Father. I know it is an oversimplification, but that does it for me. If no one knows, just get on with what we can know. William Barclay is much more forceful and states that ‘... speculation regarding the time of the Second Coming is nothing less than blasphemy, for the man who so speculates is seeking to wrest from God secrets which belong to God alone.’ I do not believe it is our place to speculate; rather it is our duty to be faithful to what we have been called to do.

These verses also tell us that then time will come with ‘shattering suddenness’ especially for those who are immersed in material things. Noah prepared himself and so was ready while the rest of humanity were immersed in their eating and drinking and marrying, and they were caught completely unawares. Barclay comments: “These verses are a warning never to become immersed in time that we forget eternity ...”

We are also told in these verses that the coming of Christ will be a time of separation and judgement, when Jesus will gather to himself those who are his own, Barclay concludes: “Beyond these things we cannot go – for God has kept the ultimate knowledge to Himself and to his wisdom.”

If we do not know the time that this will all happen, then we need to be prepared – in fact all our life should be a constant preparation for that coming. Jesus will return like a thief in the night in the sense that a thief does not send a letter on ahead to warn the owner because his principle weapon is the element of surprise. The owner of a house that contains precious things must be on their guard. But our watching is different in the sense that we are not afraid; our watching is an eager expectation for the coming of the glory and joy that will mark meeting our Lord face to face.

Being prepared is a wonderful challenge. We cannot tell the time or the place of many things. I well remember when I was struck with an pancreatic tumour, there was no warning, just sudden soaring pain – and for some time – death seemed imminent, for I was not given much chance for survival.

What will we be found doing if our Lord were to return suddenly? I believe the challenge is to be doing what he has called us to do, by being faithful to our calling wherever we find ourselves.

The following lovely illustration comes from www.sermons.com:

Christ May Be Closer Than You Know

Martin, the Cobbler, is Leo Tolstoy's story about a lonely shoemaker who is promised in a dream that Christ will come to visit his shop. The next day Martin rises early, gets his shop ready, prepares a meal and waits. The only one who showed up in the morning was an old beggar who came by and asked for rest. Martin gave him a room he had prepared for his divine guest. The only one to show up in the afternoon was an old lady with a heavy load of wood. She was hungry and asks for food. He gave her the food he had prepared for his divine guest. As evening came, a lost boy wandered by. Martin took him home, afraid all the while he would miss the Christ. That night in his prayers he asks the Lord, "Where were You? I waited all day for You."

The Lord said to Martin:

"Three times I came to your friendly door,
Three times my shadow was on your floor.
I was a beggar with bruised feet.
I was the woman you gave to eat.
I was the homeless child on the street."

Watch out! Christ may be closer than you can imagine.

J. Howard Olds, adapted from Leo Tolstoy's Where Love Is, God Is, Faith Breaks,www.Sermons.com

This same theme is picked up in the Epistle appointed for today’s worship ...

Romans 13.11-end: (NRSV) An Urgent Appeal

¹¹ Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; ¹²the night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armour of light; ¹³let us live honourably as in the day, not in revelling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarrelling and jealousy.¹⁴Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires. 

It was these verses that brought St Augustine of Hippo to faith. After years of living it up, denying himself no pleasure of the world, he heard a little girl reciting these verses and the Holy Spirit used them to convict him of his sinful ways, and brought him to faith. I love this story, because it so graphically shows us how God uses the Scriptures to touch our lives at their very core. As Coleridge observed, the Bible is inspired, not so much in every word contained in it is perfect (for we know this is not true), but because ‘It finds me.’ God’s Word finds the human heart.

When we prayerfully read Scripture, we often find that they wake us up from a sort of sleep; we see things different, afresh, anew, as we have never seen them before, and we become aware of what is happening. The imminence of our salvation is not chronological, a matter of time, it is theological, something that happens to us at the core of our being. The image of ‘putting on’ is nothing new. Isaiah used it (11.5) as did the Psalmist (132.9) as did Paul in 1 Corinthians 15 and 2 Corinthians 5, Galatians 3.27 and Ephesians 6.13-18 speaks of putting on the whole armour of God.

In this advent season, we encounter the lovely imagery of darkness and light – and it is the season of light shining in the darkness and the darkness never putting it out. This armour of light that we put on symbolises the virtues that we can have to as Maly explains ‘... protect us from the assault of evil ...’ In effect we need to put of the Lord Jesus. We should not linger in sin, but show every seriousness by living lives of righteousness and goodness. God’s way of righting wrong has been revealed, and so there is some urgency: are we going to respond in faith or not? Our lives are short, and so there is not much time for us to serve Christ.

There is a sense that we live in the new age, but at the same time we await its full coming and while we wait, we need to display the behaviour of the new age and so attract others to it. Best explains: “In wearing Jesus Christ the Christian puts on the character and ways of Jesus.” He continues and explains that Christians are “... now called to let the world see the clothes they have already been given ...”

Simply put, the most effective way of showing Christ to the world is to live differently. Paul explains in verse 13:

We should avoid revelry – the Greek word komos – which refers to the sort of revelling that lowers a person’s sense of self and is a disturbance and nuisance to others. This is obviously linked to drunkenness which is shameful and disgraceful. Immorality – where one shows no sense of self-control, but takes pleasure when and when one can. Shamefulness is an interesting one in our present times. Don’t you feel so sorry for the way in which our young people no longer seem to feel any shame, and they stumble through our streets, half naked and out of control. Gone is the sense of shame, where people are not bothered anyn ore by what others think!

Our whole economy seems to rest on contention (or as some refer to as jealousy). We are told that we should be unhappy with what we have because wanting and greed are good for the economy. This has been translated into a modern virtue where competition is good, and the desire for place, power and prestige are praised and where people are taught to hate being surpassed and that second place is no good. This envy is what drives things on.

Living in the light is living differently, is being dignified, living for others and not ourselves alone, reaching out in love and forgiveness, and being content with what we have. It is living in the light, it is being like Jesus, clothed with him, living his life where we are. This is what brings light and this is what brings hope to ourselves and to the world we live in. This is what Paul believed is ‘... putting on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.’ Jesus put it this way:

⁴⁴Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.

Amen.

Christ the King

The Feast of Christ the King

Colossians 1:11-20 (NRSV)

¹¹May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully ¹²giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled^* you^* to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. ¹³He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, ¹⁴in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.^*

The Supremacy of Christ

 15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; ¹⁶for in^* him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him. ¹⁷He himself is before all things, and in^* him all things hold together. ¹⁸He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. ¹⁹For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, ²⁰and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.

My text this morning is written in Colossians 1:15: “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation ...”

How are people to live in such a way that they get the most out of life? In his letter to the Colossians, Paul suggests that we need to be made strong because life sometimes requires us to endure difficult things and we need to be able to see them through to the end, especially if we are going to face injustices and wrongs. This is not all: Paul adds that we need to add joy to the process. Hunter comments: “The temper called for is no gray and close-lipped Stoicism which can only grin and bear it, but true Christian serenity which, born in suffering, meets the world with cheerfulness and abounds in thanksgiving.”

We see then that Paul adds to strength and joy the need to always be thankful – a central theme of all his writings. This thankfulness ought to be part of our lives because of God’s inestimable love shown to us in our redemption. Paul explains from verse 13:

“¹³He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, ¹⁴in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.^*”

This is not something we have earned and it is not something we deserve, God has qualified us for this by His grace.

To live in such a way that we see meaning and purpose in our lives and how we can live with a sense of fulfilment therefore implies that our lives need to be in a state of constant transformation; a process that is dynamic and continuous. We need to do those things that enable us to gain strength. We need spiritual nourishment that comes from a regular study of Scripture, regular participation in the Sacrament of Holy Communion, and daily to be found at the source of strength, in a time of quite reflection and prayer. In order to be made strong we need to be in the presence of God who can make us strong; in order to be able to endure and even find joy in all times of our lives, especially the difficult times, we need to be found in the presence of God, because we need to be rescued from the power of darkness and, to use Paul’s lovely image, we need to be transferred into the kingdom of light. Since the 1960s people have been told that you can be a Christian and never attend church. I would challenge this for unless we are found with God’s people, being nourished by the Word and Sacraments, we are in danger of dying spiritually, or only just surviving because we are trying to live on starvation rations.

Our salvation is not merely a future hope; it is a present blessing – we have been rescued from the power of darkness. I pause here because this is something that seems foreign to many modern people in the UK and Europe. For Paul, this kingdom of darkness was a realm full of sinister, superhuman forces menacing people’s lives, and Paul identified them with the Devil and his minions. But, as A M Hunter points out, we hardly use this sort of language anymore and we talk rather of people being in the grip of economic forces, things that can more easily be explained. But this does not make what Paul is saying an outmoded myth. Hunter continues: “We have begun again to talk of the ‘demonic’ in our world, as well they might who have seen with their own eyes the depths of devilry to which great nations can descend and the savage bestiality of men to their fellow men.” Is this not sadly most vivid at this time when we have remembered the horrors of war in our Remembrance Services? Is it not also true that the word ‘evil’ is being used more in law courts (and elsewhere) to describe some of the terrible things people are doing to others?

But Paul has stressed that we are no longer at the mercy of this kingdom of darkness because we have been transferred to the ‘kingdom of his beloved Son.’ This means that our sins have been forgiven; the chains that once bound us have been broken and we have been set free from our guilt. This is especially foreign in the minds of most in our society because, while they might have a renewed understanding of the notions of ‘evil’ and the ‘realms of darkness’ there is little awareness of personal sin.

A reason for this is that modern people tend to see sin as being only about “doing”. While it is true that there are actions that cause hurt and suffering to others and from which we need to repent, but it is more; sin is about “being”; it is because of whom we are that we fail in our love for God and others. It is the selfishness that makes people think that we live in a vacuum, and that we do not need to care about the plight of others, that plunges one into darkness. I believe we in the west need to repent of our arrogance in thinking that we are so superior to others in the world; I think our bankers and their obscene bonuses are just an extreme example of the sickness that prevails.

Some people think life is all about getting, when it is meant to be all about giving. How many children are encouraged to be acquisitive because of the way we have allowed Christmas to lose its real focus of sacrifice and care and become something that plunges poor families into even greater debt because they do not want their children to feel left out? Even our economy is based on debt and spending and selfishness because at the core of capitalism is the notion that if you are looking after yourself first and foremost, you will indirectly be looking after others. I believe that too many still think that our current economic plight is the fault of others – like the bankers – “doing” and not the system itself – “being”.

The kingdom of darkness seems attractive because it does not appear to be darkness at all. It is like Plato’s allegory of the cave: because this is all people know, they seem quite contented with it and when one wants to show them the light, they rebel and reject it. But we have a duty of love to reveal the nature of the darkness and to show the world the kingdom of God’s son, not by dumbing things down, and trying to give people what they think they want, but by honestly speaking in a language that people understand and which reveals the world without Christ as it really is.

The joy of it all comes from knowing that the status quo is not what it has to be. It is also not that we are left to guess or experiment to try to find the secret, or achieve enlightenment or nirvana. The truth of God, humanity and human existence has been revealed to the world in Jesus Christ and is explained in our reading. God has been made known to the world in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

Verses 15-20 must rank as some of the most profound truths ever expressed and I never tire of reading them here and as they are expressed elsewhere, most notably Hebrews 1:3 which reads:

^“He is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being, and he sustains^* all things by his powerful word.”

The NEB does really capture the essence of this truth in the most wonderful way, translating this verse as:

“… the Son who is the effulgence of God’s splendour and the stamp of God’s very being, and sustains the universe by his word of power …”

“Effulgence” refers to “shining brightly” and therefore more than a mere reflection, but more a highlighting of the nature of God. Jesus, the Son, is the perfect representation of God, the perfect revelation of who God really is – he is the visible likeness of the invisible God as the TEV translates it.

I spend a great deal of my time thinking about the nature and existence of God. As a teacher of philosophy, we explore the various arguments and ponder the imponderable. We define God and struggle to get our heads around “… that, than which nothing can be conceived or thought or even imagined …”

But God is not understood because this is impossible; it is impossible for our finite minds ever to understand the infinity of God – the truth of God is revealed. The infinite God, who is beyond our comprehension, became one of us and made Himself known to us – revealed Himself to the world - in the person of Jesus of Nazareth – the Messiah of God. This does not mean that that we do not have to grapple with this because we do; we do not turn our minds off as we enter Church and suspend our intellect – we leave it all on in fact we amplify all our senses. We know that we are not mere bodies and minds; we are souls and spirits as well, and in order to know truth we need to approach it with all that we are, and not mere compartments. The world seems to have lost sight that we are much more than mere rational minds alone.

As Barclay reminds us, salvation is not found through intellectual knowledge; it is rather redemption and the forgiveness of sins. We know through reason but we also know through faith; the one is not better than the other, they are just different, and both are vital. I believe that there are certain things that we will never understand using reason, no matter how human knowledge develops, simply because being human, our knowledge is going to be finite and flawed and imperfect; and ultimate truth is infinite and beyond our reach. Paul, in this passage acknowledges the mystery of God. Simply expressed: “To see what God is like, you must look at Jesus …”

This is most explicitly explained in claiming that it was Jesus who created the world and it is for Him that it is created and that He was before all things and in Him all things hold together.

Everything else is contingent –  which means it does not have to exist – but the only thing that has necessary existence is that which brought all contingent things into being – Jesus! Jesus ‘… holds all things together …’ because what we know as the laws of science which make sense of the universe are in fact an expression of the thought of God and are therefore divine laws.

I believe the essence of what it means to live is, to quote C S Lewis, ‘… to love and be loved …’ God is love – and this is always going to be non-cognitive and beyond rational explanation. What can be known has therefore been given a practical demonstration in the life teaching and ministry of Jesus. To make life full and meaningful, we need to be reconciled to God and to others. Paul puts everything into a nutshell in the last two verses of this passage where we read:

“¹⁹For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, ²⁰and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.”

Many modern people really struggle with the last phrase: “… making peace through the blood of the cross …” To the modern reader the whole idea of Jesus’ death being a sacrifice seems bizarre. Why should that be necessary? Here again, Barclay provides some useful insight. He writes:

“In the death of Jesus, God is saying to us, ‘I love you like that. I love you enough to see my Son suffer and die for you. I love you enough to bear the Cross on my heart, if only it will win you to myself.’ … the Cross is the final proof of the love of God … If the Cross will not waken love and wonder in men’s hearts, nothing will.”

Now, as always, perhaps more than for many years, the world needs to hear the truth of salvation in Jesus, but not in language that they cannot identify with or understand, language that confronts head on the reality of modern existence and with it the challenge that it can be different, it can be better, it can be transformed, we can move from darkness into the light, because God has revealed the way in Jesus Christ our Lord for he is “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation ...”

Amen.