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Sermon 54 Epiphany 2, 2012
May I speak in the name of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen
Today is the 15th of January. It's hard to think of a darker date: all the light and joy of Christmas are over, and ahead we have the discipline of Lent. Even on a bright day like today, it still gets dark horribly early in the evening, and the flowers of spring are hardly with us yet. It's a dark world.
The darkness of the 15th of January may also be symbolic. As we look at our society, nationally and internationally, we see a great deal of darkness, the depression of poverty and hunger and violence. It's hard sometimes to see light anywhere around us, or to recognise God making Himself known to His people, to any of us.
So what do our Bible readings tell us about today?
They present us with three forms of vision. Most of us don't see visions; we may even be rather frightened at the idea that we might, but there are in our readings three different kinds of vision, and that is perhaps a reminder that when God speaks to us, He will choose a way that we can cope with, and while it may be as sudden and dramatic as St Paul's on the Damascus road, it doesn't have to be like that. In the Old Testament reading, we hear the call of Samuel, and that's a reassuring kind of vision. Samuel is just going to bed in the ordinary way, in the Temple where he lives with Eli - and God calls him so softly, so gently that the child doesn't even realise what's happening. We feel that this is the kind of vision that people like ourselves might conceivably have - a gentle, persistent voice that doesn't alarm us but doesn't let us rest until we have answered it.
The third reading, the Gospel for today, tells of the promise of a future vision made to Nathanael. Nathaniel was a sceptical kind of person, ready to doubt as many of us are from time to time, but, almost against his will, he has recognised Jesus as the Son of God, and that is ratified in the promise that he will see heaven opening before him - he will see the glory that he has already understood to belong to the Son. If we accept Our Lord, then we are open to whatever kind of vision God may choose to send us, now or in the future.
But it's the second reading, from Revelation, that I'd like to concentrate on for a few minutes. Revelation is a complex and difficult book, and I can look only briefly at this one passage, but it's a key passage for the whole book, and also a startling one, containing within itself two spectacular contradictions. It might help if you have the second lesson in front of you as we consider what this vision might be saying to us.
We don't know who wrote the book we call Revelation, towards the end of the first century after Christ, but he calls himself John, and so that is the name I shall use. John says that in his vision he sees the right hand of God holding a scroll, sealed seven times. The scroll, the contemporary form of book, represents God's plan for the world and for its people, but this plan is kept hidden by the seven seals. Important documents in the Roman empire were sealed, and some, such as wills, were sealed seven times. This is clearly a most valuable document.
An angel asks who is worthy not just to know the will of God but to make it happen, and no human being can be found who is worthy to do this. John weeps bitterly at the weakness and the sin of human beings, until one of the elders, priest-like figures who may represent the saints of the church, reports to him that there is one Being who can open the scroll and so start to bring God's kingdom on earth into being.
It's then that we meet the first great shock of this passage. John is told that this Being is the Messiah, Who is described in terms familiar from the Old Testament: He is the Lion of Judah, foretold way back in Genesis, the powerful, the majestic, the One Who conquers and rules. John looks to where he expects the Lion to appear in all its might, and he sees only a Lamb. His view of a lamb was probably much like ours: lambs are small, defenceless, constantly vulnerable to weather or wild animals - the greatest contrast to the Lion that we, or the prophet, could imagine. John is presented with the staggering truth that the plan of God for the salvation of the world comes through the acceptance of vulnerability, not a Lion but a Lamb, not an earthly ruler but a helpless Baby in Bethlehem.
Immediately, John is presented with the second shock. A dead animal lies down - it has no option, no strength, no life. But this Lamb has been killed and yet is standing. It has defeated death, and indeed it has seven horns, indicating power, and seven eyes, representing the Spirit of God Himself. The Lamb is not just standing, but moving to the throne and taking the scroll to open it. The Lamb alone can act with the power of God to bring about the Kingdom of God, but He acts not through military might or violent compulsion, but through the Cross. He is the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world, by suffering and death.
And what is the reaction of the figures around the throne? They sing a new song. There is tremendous emphasis throughout Revelation on what is new - such as the promise of a new heaven and a new earth - and this is a new song to celebrate the transformation of the world and of the lives of human beings: they are redeemed because the Lamb has died and by His death He has brought back to God all the people of the earth. John uses the words 'every tribe and language and people and nation' as a shorthand to say that the salvation brought by the Lamb is for all creation, all times and all human beings.
So what happens to those who are redeemed? They are made into one kingdom, united in their worship; they are to be priests serving God for ever; they will reign on earth - in other words, this vision is not just a vision of heaven but also a vision of the kingdom of God on earth, an earth made glorious by the power of the Lamb Who died. This is the vision that came to John, but it's a vision that he shares with each one of us.
I'm rather sorry that our reading for today ends where it does, because what follows are the words of the new song, now taken up and proclaimed, as John tells us, by myriads and myriads and thousands of thousands, by, as we might say, the whole Church Militant and Triumphant. And the words are familiar to us:
'Worthy is the Lamb that was slain
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might
and honour and glory and blessing.'
I started this sermon by describing the darkness: the darkness of mid-January and the darkness of the world, of the society in which we live. Look where our reading of Revelation has brought us: to a vision of the everlasting life and glory and radiance of the Kingdom of God. And the two exist side by side, because the glory and the radiance come only through the suffering, the darkness, of the Cross.
But beyond the Cross is resurrection, and we know that the suffering and the darkness are always defeated, for God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.
Thanks be to Him. Amen
Copyright: Joan van Emden
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THE EPIPHANY 2012
The story of the three wise men is intended to remind us that life is a journey: no matter what our starting point God awaits us.
The story also teaches us that there is more than one kind of journey that we can make.
The journey that mostly preoccupies us is the one that is determined by the star. As we read the narrative of the wise mens’ journey we are left in no doubt that the route that they have taken is the most direct and straightforward. They remain true to their belief that the guiding star is the clue to the success of their journey and that there can be no diversions or distractions. We are also meant to understand that this journey is well planned and thought through, the result of determined effort. It is a masterpiece of organisation. If it had not been so, the wise men would never have arrived..... read more
Copyright: Fr. David West
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CHRISTMAS 1 2011
We have just heard an excerpt from St. Lukes account of the birth of Christ. Luke has been traditionally described as a painter and it cannot be denied that in writing about the nativity he has drawn a most beautiful picture that stays in the mind. He was a master of words, a craftsman in prose and the proof of this is that his composition is imprinted in the popular imagination..... read more
Copyright: Fr. David West
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MIDNIGHT MASS 2011
What do you do for a new-born baby?
First, there is a need to clear its airway, and then attend to its umbilical cord. The next concern is to give it some warmth by wrapping it in a blanket. It is at this point, in my own experience, that the midwife will carefully hand the child to its mother so that it can rest and recover from its trauma.
Modern clinical methods haven’t given us these procedures. What you do with a new-born baby has been very clearly understood from the beginning of time. We might say it is instinctive to attend to the needs of a new-born in the way I have described.... read more
Copyright: Fr. David West
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Sermon Sunday November 27th 2011
May the words of my lips and the meditations of all our hearts be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, our strength and our Redeemer.
“In those days after that tribulation the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light … and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory” (Mark Ch 13, vv. 24 and 25).
These words of Our Lord were prompted by the disciples’ wonder at the construction of the Temple at Jerusalem. Our Lord predicted that the whole edifice would soon be razed to the ground, as indeed happened following the siege of Jerusalem and its sacking by the Romans..... read more
Copyright: Peter Smith
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Sermon 53, Advent 2, 2011
May I speak in the name of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen
In some ways, prophets have a bad name. We're inclined to think of them as a bit like Private Fraser in Dad's Army, constantly warning us, in a rather chilling way, that we are doomed. We feel that prophets are fierce people, threatening people, who foretell our future with enthusiasm especially if that future is a catastrophic one..... read more
Copyright: Joan Van Emden
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REMEMBRANCE SUNDAY 2011
Martha Gellhorn, American journalist, wrote: “I believed that all one did about a war was go to it ….and get killed, or survive ….I had no idea you could become what I became, an unscathed tourist of wars.”
I have, on my bookshelf, a rather strange book, published in 1919 by the Michelin Tyre Company and which is entitled, simply, “Ypres and the Battle of Ypres.” Other titles in the series include: “Battles of Picardie”, “Battles of the Somme”, The Hindenburg Line” and so on. The book is filled with grainy black and white photographs of a route taken in and around Ypres in the immediate post-war period......... read more
Copyright: Fr. David West
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Sermon 52, All Saints, Oct. 2011
May I speak in the name of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen
There are some words in the English language which it's really hard to define, although we use them freely and assume that we know what they mean. This morning, when we celebrate All Saints, gives us a prize example.
What is a saint? We can think of plenty of people we call saints, but why are they saints? Are there any saints here this morning? It depends what you mean by the word, so we'll start with a bit of history.... read more
Copyright: Joan Van Emden
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TRINITY 16 YEAR A
I was recently invited to a black tie event.
It’s easy enough to respond to an invitation to a party if you have the right clothes. Clergy, however, are not generally known for their collection of ties, whatever the colour. Ties do not feature strongly as an item in the wardrobe.
The fashion for casual clothes, loose T shirts and crumpled linen tops and trousers, has had a devastating effect upon the man who, from time to time, has to keep up appearances. I was talking recently with someone who was required to wear a suit and couldn’t remember the last time he had worn one. He went to his wardrobe to discover, to his horror, that the suit he owned no longer fitted and so he had to go on a sudden and unexpected shopping trip. The occasion he had to attend did not allow for open-necked shirts or denims. read more
Copyright: Fr.David West
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Sermon 51, Sept. 2011
May I speak in the name of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen
I think it’s fair to say that by nature I’m not a revolutionary. I’m not even very good at taking risks. I like things to be well organised and orderly; I enjoy good fellowship and agreement all round.
The trouble is, the more I learn about the Lord Whom I serve, the more I get the distinct impression that He rather likes turning things upside down, that He might prefer me to live more dangerously than I would choose to. After all, if He hadn’t been a bit of a risk taker, He might not have ended up on the Cross...... read more
Copyright: Joan Van Emden
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St. Thomas’ Day 2011.
On the second Sunday of Easter, the same text for the Gospel was read as was today for St. Thomas’ Day, I spoke about the stories circulating about St Thomas.
Today I would like to continue by considering an ancient book known as the ‘Acts of Thomas’.
This text from the early 3rd century is one of a number of apocryphal books written in the first and second centuries...... read more
Copyright: Fr. John Croton
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Sermon 47, June 2011
May I speak in the name of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen
The German city of Dresden was, as many of you will know, attacked in an aerial bombardment in February 1945 by British and American planes; 15 square miles of the city was laid waste, and at least 25,000 people died, many of them burnt to death in the firestorm that resulted from the attack.
Some years ago, I was in the Opera House in Dresden, listening to a performance of Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem, with an international cast of singers. The words include the story we heard as our first lesson, that of Abraham and Isaac....... read more
Copyright: Joan van Emden
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Sermon: Pentecost 2011
Genesis; chapter 1, verse 2; from the King James translation.
“And the earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.”
Right from the start, we need to have a clear understanding that the Holy Spirit did not come into existence at that Pentecost so beautifully described at the start of the second chapter of the Acts of the Apostles.It is clear that the Holy Spirit moved the prophets of the Old Testament, to speak the words of God to the chosen people of God.
The Holy Spirit was the instrument of the conception of our Lord.The triune Godhead, Father, Son and Holy Spirit... read more
Copyright: Fr. John Croton
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PEW VIEW Pentecost: York Minster
A little while ago, I stood in one of the most beautiful man-made spaces I know. It was dusk outside, the lights were on, but in between were areas of shadow and just an awareness of the great Church around me. I had walked into the nave of York Minster, and I started to feel very small and insignificant among its towering pillars. Then something strange happened. I had a powerful sense of growth, that my spirit was expanding in the vast space and that the silence was itself a mighty, soundless hymn of praise. Read more
Copyright: Joan van Emden
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Sermon 47, Easter 5, May 2011
May I speak in the name of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen
In keeping with the BBC’s rather strange attitude to religion, and especially to Christianity, it hid its best television programme over Easter by showing it at a time when probably few people would be watching – 9 o’clock on Good Friday morning. The result of this was, presumably, low viewing figures, but whether that was the intention or not, who am I to say?...... read more
Copyright: Joan van Emden
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Sermon Sunday May 8 2011 - The Emmaus Story
When our hopes have been dashed we can allow gloom to colour the whole way we look at previous good events. Not long before I was due to come home from Cape Town I sprained my ankle. I thought I would have problems with the long journey home. I can now look back gratefully on my visit to South Africa. In the aftermath of my swollen ankle all I could think about was that one unhappy aspect..... read more
Copyright : Peter Smith
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GOOD FRIDAY 2011: SERMON for THE LITURGY
As a nation, in general, the French are pretty good at creating or, at the very least, contributing to spectacular monuments: what comes to mind are the Arc de Triomph, the Eiffel Tower and the Statue of Liberty. It isn’t surprising to know that the French had been practising their skills long before the period that might be regarded as their grand monument-making golden age.
One early example of the type was the work of a Breton fisherman by the name of Jacques Cartier (not to be confused with the Cartier of diamond fame). In 1534 Cartier had been commissioned by King Francis I to find a sea passage to India. By some means Cartier found himself on the coast of Canada - what we now identify as the gulf of the St Lawrence River, to be exact. Cartier realised that this was a part of the New World that the Spanish had not yet discovered, or at least, taken for themselves. He immediately claimed the area for the King of France and set about erecting a monument to proclaim French sovereignty.
It is certain that it had not occurred to Cartier that the monument he had chosen was both strange and inappropriate: returning to France, what he left behind him as a marker was a 10 metre, 30 foot high crucifix dedicated to the French monarch........ read more
Copyright: Fr. David West