Second Sunday Before Advent 2007

Malachi 4.1–2a
2 Thessalonians 3.6–13
Luke 21.5–19

Today is the Second Sunday before Advent, which means that there are now only five more Sundays until Christmas. For several weeks now the shops have been emphasising the commercial side of this annual celebration and, in the church preparations are being made to celebrate the story of the baby in Bethlehem who was born to save the world. But as Christians the coming of Jesus in not only an event in past but also an event we look for in the future. Christians believe in two comings of Jesus. His first coming was as child born to suffer, to die and to rise again in order to save world. His second coming will be to gather in the harvest of creation – a coming in glory to judge the living and the dead.

Today’s Bible readings point us to thinking about this topic of the return of Jesus Christ. Malachi, in the Old Testament, speaks of the decisive day of God’s intervention in history; the Day of the Lord, the day when evil and injustice are banished from the world. Paul, in the second letter to the Thessalonians, calls on his readers not to ‘weary in doing what is right’ – earlier in the letter he has written of the coming of Jesus and the troubled times that will lead up to it and it is in the light of this that his hearers are called to endurance. And in the gospel reading Jesus warns of the troubles that Christians will undergo before his return.

One of the greatest teachers of the early church was a man named Cyril of Jerusalem. He lived about 300 years after Jesus and was Bishop of the City of Jerusalem. Each Lent he would gather together those who were to be baptised at Easter and instruct them in the faith that they were accepting. During one Lent his words were written down by one of these who heard them, and that record has been passed down to us today. Cyril spoke each time on one of the clauses of the creed and when he came to the clause:

He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end...
this is what he said:

We preach not one advent only of Christ,
but a second also, far more glorious than the former.

In His former advent,
He was wrapped in swaddling clothes in the manger;
in His second,
He covers Himself with light as with a garment.

In His first coming,
He endured the Cross, despising shame[1];
in His second,
He comes attended by a host of Angels, receiving glory.

We rest not then upon His first advent only,
but look also for His second.

And as at His first coming we said,
Blessed is He that comes in the Name of the Lord,
so will we repeat the same at His second coming;
that when with Angels we meet our Master,
we may worship Him and say,
Blessed is He that comes in the Name of the Lord.

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Sadly, since Cyril’s time, teaching about the return of Jesus Christ has tended to be neglected topic in the mainstream of the church and has, instead, become the preserve of extremist sects and heretical groups like Jehovah’s witnesses. These have often claimed to know the exact date and time of Jesus return. Indeed Jehovah’s Witnesses have known the exact year of Jesus return to be 1874, 1914, 1915, 1918, 1920, 1925, 1941, 1975 and 1994. Other groups have made similar predictions, and all have been wrong. None of the dates set were correct – nor should we expect them to have been, because in Mark’s Gospel Jesus tells us “about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” ^[2]

Nevertheless the antidote to false and deceptive teaching is not to ignore the subject but to teach the truth about it, so – very briefly – let's look at the orthodox teaching about the return of Jesus.

The teaching of the Church is that Jesus will come again. Because it is not possible for anyone to know the date of his coming beforehand, so we need to be prepared for it at any time. It might be today or sometime in the far distant future. In the New Testament both Jesus and St. Paul seem to suggest that Jesus’ return will come following a time of unprecedented trouble for the world and and a time of persecution for the Church. The return of Jesus will, in fact, be God’s ultimate intervention to rescue humanity from the mess it has got itself into. But the day of rescue will also be the day of judgement. The Catechism of the Catholic Church says:

When he comes at the end of time to judge the living and the dead, the glorious Christ will reveal the secret disposition of hearts and will render to each man according to his works, and according to his acceptance or refusal of grace.[3]

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What should we do? To be a Christian is to live today in the light of tomorrow, to recognise that the world as it is not the world as it will be. To be a Christian is to live in the here and now, a life that prepares us for the life to come.

Brothers and sisters, do not be weary in doing what is right.

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[1] Hebrews 12:2

^[2]Mark 13.32

[3] Catechism of the Christian Church 682

3rd Sunday before Advent

Job 19.23-27a
2 Thessalonians 2.1-5,13-end
Luke 20.27-38

Because today is Remembrance Sunday and we have the service at the War Memorial at 11am I want to keep what I have to say this morning fairly short.

Each of the Bible Readings today deals with the topic of life after death, a topic which is very much on our minds at this time of year and which is, of course, especially appropriate on this Remembrance Sunday.

In the Old Testament Reading, Job expresses his confidence in God. The story of Job is the story of a good man who finds that his world collapses around him as he is affected by material loss, sickness and bereavement. Despite all this he remains faithful to God and retains his confidence that God will stay faithful to him.

In the New Testament Reading, Paul writes about the second coming of Jesus and the events that will precede it. Paul calls on his readers not to get carried away by speculation about what will happen but instead to live their lives faithfully, remembering what they have been taught in the past.

And then in the Gospel Reading, some Sadducees mock Jesus’ belief in the resurrection of the dead but find themselves confounded by his deeper understanding of scripture.

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Let’s look at the Gospel reading in a bit more detail. The Sadducees were one of several divisions in the Jewish faith in the time of Jesus. They were in fact the most powerful division of the Jewish faith at the time being made up of the wealthiest parts of the population and having control of the temple in Jerusalem. In order to protect the Temple, and incidentally their own power and wealth, the Sadducees collaborated with the Roman authorities. The accepted as scripture only the first five books of the Bible and, whilst they believed in God, they claimed that there was no evidence in these books for spiritual beings such as angels or for life after death. There is an old joke which states that the Sadducees did not believe in life after death – that’s why they were sad-you-see.

The Sadducees challenge Jesus on this issue of life after death by telling the story of a woman who married, one after another, seven brothers. If she has been married to all seven of them, they ask, who will she be married to when they all rise from the dead? Jesus tells them that they have got the wrong idea about the resurrection and then goes on to quote, from that part of the Bible that they accept, a passage which speaks about those who have died in the present tense rather than the past tense.

I’d love to go into detail about this but I want to keep this short so let me just make two points.

Firstly, people often deride belief in life after death as ‘primitive’ but in fact that is to misread history entirely. The Sadducees were quite right in thinking that the idea of life after death is not clearly expressed in the older parts of the Old Testament. There are some hints towards it, as Jesus demonstrates, but it is not clear. The belief in life after death came only with deeper reflection, and only becomes totally expressed in the New Testament. It’s not a primitive belief at all but part of the Good News of God’s faithfulness which is expressed in the Old Testament but made clear in the New.

The second point I want to make is that the life of the Resurrection is a New life. It is not a continuation of the old life. This is makes spiritualism, which I believe to be utterly deceitful, such nonsense. The resurrected life is in no way simply a continuation of our life on earth, it is a New life in which our primary concern will be the worship of God. The Christian message is not that somehow the life of this world can be carried on eternally – it is that the life of the next world can be experienced even now.

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Some people will find that a difficult message to hear – particularly those who are most comfortable in this life. Astoundingly, some may hear this as bad news, not good. Hence Jesus saying that it is more difficult for the rich to enter heaven than for a camel to get through the eye of a needle. Nevertheless the message is clear. Through Jesus we are given a New life. It is a life which will last through eternity but which can begin right here and now.

All Souls, service of remembrance 2007

One of my favourite films of all time is the classic comedy, "Educating Rita". It tells the story of a woman who decides to transform her life by studying for a degree with the Open University, and in doing so draws opposition from those around her who think that by refusing to be bound by the limits that hold others back she is somehow letting down her working class roots. My favourite scene in the film comes after Rita has embarrassed herself by pretending to be something she isn't. She goes back to the streets where she grew up and finds herself sitting in a pub with her family. A song is playing on the jukebox and the people in the pub begin to join in. Hesitantly Rita joins her voice with the others in the pub but then she stops singing and walks out of the pub and goes back to the difficult struggle in which she has been engaged. The struggle to become more than the constraints of her background and upbringing would permit. She explains to her Open University tutor, "I thought, there must be a better song than this to sing".

This evening we have gathered together for a service of thanksgiving. In a few moments Caroline and I will read out a list of names - names of those who people in this congregation have known and loved; names of those who have been separated from us by death. No matter what we believe about the afterlife remembering and reading out those names is a good thing. These are people who have been part of our lives, people we have love or who have had a powerful influence on the way in which our lives have developed and today we remember them. We recognise that their going from us has diminished us and we seek healing in this process of remembering. We recognise that while we live and while their names are remembered there is still a sense in which they live on. All this is right and fitting.

But for me, as a Christian, it is not enough. The loss that we experience is real and grief that that loss brings us is more painful than any physical hurt and it is right to sing the song of remembering, it right sing the song of lament. But if that is the only song we sing then it is a song of hopelessness. And there must be a better song than that to sing.

One of the greatest leaders of the Christian Church during the first centuries of its existence was a man name Augustine. He was a Bishop in the city of Hippo on the coast of North Africa in what is now known as Algeria. In one of his sermons to the people of that city he stated that, "We [Christians] are an Easter people and Alleluia is our song". He was saying that for Christians the central message of their faith was that Jesus Christ, who had been put to death in the most brutal possible fashion by being nailed to a Roman cross had not been held by death but had risen from the grave to walk and talk with his followers once again, and because that had had happened the song that Christians sang was not a song of defeat and despair but one of joy and celebration.

We are an Easter people, and alleluia is our song. The resurrection of Jesus shows that there is more to life than this mortal life. That we are made, not for the grave, but for glory. That when the story of our life on earth is over, it is not the end of the book but merely the close of the first chapter our eternal story. That we are created not for this mortal life alone but to Glorify God, and to enjoy him for ever.

So today we remember those who have gone before us through death, not because they are gone from for ever but because death is, through Jesus Christ, the gateway to eternal life.

And that has implications for how we live now. Because if we live our lives as though they are all there is, as though there is no God and no heaven, then we are making a terrible mistake. We’re singing the wrong song. Today God invites us to join in the song that lasts for ever. The everlasting allelula which the church on earth sings in concert with those who live on, though Jesus Christ, in the eternal presence of God.

All Saint's Sunday 2007

Daniel 7.1-3, 15-18
Ephesians 1.11-23
Luke 6.20-31

Introduction

When St. Cuthbert was a young man he worked as a shepherd out on the hills of Northumbria. One night, when he was sixteen years old he was guarding the sheep out in the field when he saw a vision of the soul of a holy man being carried up to heaven. The next day he heard that Bishop Aidan had died, and realised that God was calling to follow Aidan in the life of holiness and devotion and so he entered the Monastery at Melrose and began to walk the path which would lead him also to be remembered as one of Britain’s greatest saints.

One doesn’t hear much about people having visions nowadays. In a culture which has been formed by secular psychiatry visions tend to be equated with ‘seeing things’ and ‘seeing things’ with mental illness. As a vicar people sometimes tell me about unusual experiences they have had, but often go on to say “don’t tell anyone that I’ve told you this because they’ll think I’m mad”. And, whilst I always assure them that their secret is safe with me I also seek to reassure them that the experience which they have had is more common than they might expect.

Now whilst literal visions tend to be little spoken of in our society the language of vision is often used today. Not only churches but all sorts of organisations are encouraged to develop statements of their vision – of the way that see that they could and should be in the years to come. I doubt that very many of the secular companies who put their vision for their future down in writing would see that vision as being a revelation from God but when Christian organisations, churches and individual Christians undertake this exercise the question being asked has to be, not “what do I think I or we should be?” but “what do I discern as God’s will for me or us in the future?”

So there is a sense in which modern talk about vision can, for Christians, tie in to the older (and, I believe, more authentic) idea of a vision as revelation from God.

Exposition
Today’s Old Testament reading is a classic account of a vision taken from the Book of Daniel. Now, I’m well aware that most scholars believe the Book of Daniel to be pseudonymous (which means that it was written by someone other than the person claimed as the author in the text) and anachronistic (which means that it was written at a time other than that in which it was set). Nevertheless it is for Jews and Christians part of our scripture and as we read it we listen for God’s word to us. In today’s reading we have the opening and concluding verses of a longer passage describing the development of history. Whilst the details of the vision are complex and fascinating the overall message is straightforward. That despite the way events may appear as one is going through them History is in God’s hands and that human existence has meaning and purpose. It is a vision, not because it predicts the future but because it sees things as they really are.

This theme of vision continues in our New Testament reading. Paul, writing to the Christians in the city of Ephesus prays for his readers:
“that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power.”

Paul is praying that they might see through the surface appearance of the way things are to reality that lies within. And that reality is again about God’s power and about the fact that the way things work out is in God’s hands.

In our Gospel reading we hear Luke’s version of the beatitudes and again we find ourselves confronted by the message that the way things appear on the surface is not the way that they really are. Jesus tells us that it may look as though those who are rich, full, happy and spoken of with approval are the ones who have got life right but when we look with God’s eyes we see that the opposite is true. Vision is looking with God’s eyes and seeing a reality which is very different from surface appearance.

Application

Today is All Saints Sunday, and it is particularly appropriate that we consider this topic of vision today. The very name we give to this Sunday sets vision before us. For me me All Saints Sunday is not just about a group of individuals in the past who lived lives of exemplary holiness but about the fact that the path of holiness is one which every human being is called to walk. It sets before us the vision of a world transformed by holiness and challenges us to play our part in the building of that world by allowing God’s holiness to be expressed in us.

You know, as we get older it is easy to lose the vision that we had when we were younger. In our teens and twenties and thirties we the future seems clear but as we get older our vision both literally and spiritually becomes clouded. Like the seeds that fall among the thorns in the parable of the sower “the cares of the world, and the lure of wealth and the desire for other things come in and choke” the vision and it is lost. And yet, as the Book of Proverbs says, “Where there is no vision, the people perish”.

So my challenge today is for us as God’s people here in Stansted to regain that vision of God at work in us and in this place, and my prayer for you is the prayer is the prayer of St. Paul for the Ephesians:

Lord,
I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Father of glory,
may give to the people of this church
a spirit of wisdom and revelation
as we come to know him,
so that,
with the eyes of our hearts enlightened,
we may know what is the hope to which he has called us,
what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints,
and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe,
according to the working of his great power.
AMEN