Sermon at St. Mary’s Church, West
Dean - Eleventh Sunday after Trinity – Morning Worship – Sunday 11 August 2013
Genesis
15:1-6; Psalm 33; Hebrews 11:1-3; 8-16; Luke 12:32-40
May I speak in the name
of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen
“The Lord brought Abraham outside and said ‘Look towards
heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them.’ Then he said ‘So shall your descendants be’”.
I thought, as I sat down to write this sermon, how
appropriate it was that we should have that reading from Genesis here in West
Dean this morning where those wonderful stars, painted on the ceiling behind
me, look down at us every time we come here to worship. I know that each time I arrive I am drawn to
look up at them in wonder and amazement at their beauty and craftsmanship and
have often remarked about them to you.
It’s probably hardly surprising that I am drawn to them
because, as quite a few of you will already know, amongst my many interests and
hobbies (my wife says too many!) the
most enduring has been my love and study of astronomy which I began when I was
about 10 years old and was given my first very small telescope and looked at
the crescent moon through it. In fact, it was given to me on the day that
President Kennedy was shot – so vivid is the memory even today.
It opened a whole new world for me – as my parents remarked –
often leaving me with my head in the air!
…and if you ever see the Winterslow Parish Magazine you will know that
each and every month, for the past twelve years, I have written a centre page
article entitled “The Wiltshire Sky at Night” explaining what and where to see
some of the wonders of the heavens.
Recently, I was asked by a fellow theology student how I
could reconcile my great interest in the science of astronomy with my
faith. “Surely,” I was asked, “Didn’t
many of the discoveries of space lessen the belief that God exists – that there
are astrophysical explanations for many of the things which we have ascribed to
God’s creation because we don’t have an answer for them?”
My response has always been unequivocal – the more I learn of
space and the wonders of the cosmos the more I believe that these things were
not brought into being by a random series of events - but were the creation of
a divine being – God or Yahweh in our Faith.
For example, we now know that the particles of atoms – those protons,
neutrons, electrons we learned about at school - are themselves composed of
smaller particles and ultimately, we believe, at the moment, “strings” which
are infinite and point to the possible existence of other universes outside of
our own.
Even on a scale which we can understand, our own solar system
and galaxy is immense – the light from our closest star, apart from the sun,
taking 4.2 light years to reach us. The
light from our own sun takes 8 minutes to reach us.
All these facts go to suggest that even with all the
sophisticated instruments and resources at our fingertips – both for looking
outward to the heavens and inward to the atomic particles - the immensity of
God’s creation goes far beyond anything we can comprehend and it is interesting
that the one thing which keeps eluding the scientists is that “God”-particle –
the one thing which started it all off.
When I look through my telescope at the rings of Saturn or
the crater-marked face of the Moon or the celestial dance of the satellites
around Jupiter, I see the wonder of God’s creation just as I see it in the
faces of smiling children or the flowers of the field. It gives me a great
sense of insignificance, yet at the same time I know that God loves us all,
each and every one of us despite our faults and failings. It therefore, also
gives me a great sense of importance because it puts everything into
perspective and importance and makes that love all the more outstanding.
That is why having a faith is so important – it brings
meaning to everything – when there sometimes appears to be no meaning at all.
Last week we heard from the writer of Ecclesiastes
– how everything was meaningless. What
he meant was how transient most things are, material things especially - and
how everything can pass away so quickly – life itself - and that we should not
concentrate our lives on amassing and collecting material things which will not
last but on those things which make us righteous in the sight of God.
When I look at the night sky I am also encouraged by the
seeming permanence which seems to exist.
The shape of the constellations will not have changed since Roman times
– we look upon the same stars that Jesus and Abraham saw. Even the planets in their nightly wanderings
follow the same paths they did in the pre-historic times. Yet, despite this seemingly stillness,
astronomical objects are moving through space at tremendous speeds too and
things are, on an immense scale, changing and developing.
When Abraham was shown the night sky, it would have been
familiar to him – and with his naked eye the stars in the desert would have
been bright and numerous – there was no light pollution in those days. In fact,
in the near-Eastern desert it is estimated today that about 8,000 stars can be
seen with the naked eye. It would
therefore have been difficult to count them.
Yet here he is, an old
man, childless with an old wife - what possible hope could there be for him to
expect to found a family whose generations would be as numerous as the stars he
could see? It seems an impossibility –
as impossible as counting the stars themselves.
We are told, in the scripture, that despite this seeming
impossibility, he believed in the Lord, he had faith and as a result he was
held up as righteous in the eyes of the Lord – righteous meaning that he was favoured by God, that his belief had
been judged by God as an indication that he was leading a life pleasing to
God. It is a concept of great
significance in Hebrew theology.
The writer of the Book of Hebrews, takes up this theme in our
second reading when he talks about Abraham’s obedience to the call from God to
set out for Canaan and to found a dynasty. That by having faith, the
descendants of Abraham were indeed as numerous as the stars and as innumerable
as the grains of sand on the shore.
The writer of Hebrews is addressing the young Jewish converts
to Christianity who would have been familiar with the language and stories of
the Old Testament - the Hebrew bible. The importance of the message to them,
and to us today as we read that letter in the New Testament, is that it is the
hope of things longed for and a faith in things unseen which includes a belief
that Jesus was the son of God and that by his death and resurrection we can be
redeemed.
It is a pity that the passage from Hebrews read today, as
prescribed by the Common Lectionary, misses out some further examples of faith
in impossible situations described by the author – Noah building a massive boat
in the middle of the desert; Enoch being taken by God to avoid an otherwise
earthly death. Both of these characters
are described as being “righteous”
because of their unfailing faith.
Our gospel reading also picks up on the theme of
righteousness in which Jesus tells the disciples that it is by being watchful
and acting in a state of readiness to receive God, they too will be blessed by
an inheritance of the Kingdom of Heaven. As with the message from Ecclesiastes,
it is far better to deal with the treasures available from heaven than on
Earth. To have faith that God knows your
needs and will provide. In other words,
we must be ready to expect the unexpected, just as Abraham did – and to answer
the call however hard or difficult it is to comprehend or seems impossible to
carry out.
To use another astronomical analogy, astronomers can never
know with any certainly (apart from a very few examples) when a comet will appear
in the sky. It is only by watching and
waiting night after night that they can first be observed. It takes a great deal of patience and
faithful observing to find it – but when found it is wonderfully rewarding.
God, like the night sky is immense, often unfathomable,
seemingly unchangeable. He may often seem remote.
Jesus is like the Hubble telescope through whom we can see
God the Father more clearly and through whom we can have a close
relationship. By studying our bibles,
by listening out for his voice, by praying we get so much closer.
I have also been asked why I didn’t become a professional
astronomer. The answer apart from the
fact I am no good at maths, is that I enjoy the pleasure that amateur status
brings. I love to observe the heavens
and seek out things for myself with my own small instruments. Because I am an
amateur, the night sky is equally available to me as well as to the
professionals and the casual star-gazer.
God is just like the stars in this respect – He is available
to everyone – not just priests and trained holy people. We all have direct
access – but without having faith we cannot see clearly.
On the next starlit night, look out at all those stars,
remember God’s promise to Abraham. He is
also making promises to each of us too if we listen and observe carefully with
hope and faith.
Amen
