Monday, 2 December 2019

SERMON 142 - SUNDAY 1 DECEMBER 2019


Sermon at All Saints’ Church, Whiteparish - Advent Sunday - Sunday 2 December 2019

Isaiah 2:1-5;  Romans 13:11-14;  Matthew 24:36-44

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of all our hearts be always acceptable to you, O Lord.  Amen

At the beginning of our service this morning we lit the first of the five candles which make up our Advent Wreath – the  Patriarch’s Candle or the Prophecy Candle or the Candle of Hope – and it is therefore not surprising that each of our readings today, the Old Testament reading from Isaiah, the Epistle of Paul to the Romans and the extract I read from Matthew’s Gospel reminds us to be ever ready from Jesus’s return as nobody but god himself knows the day and time of that return.

I know I have told this story before but it is true that as a child I waited impatiently for the visit of Santa Claus, or Father Christmas as we preferred to call him back then, and I was repeatedly told that this wonderful mythical character would only visit our house if I went to bed early and was asleep by the time he made his visit.  So worried was I that I might still be awake when he arrived that on one occasion, when I had gone to bed early as requested, but full of Christmas Eve goodies, I was feeling decidedly queasy and was violently sick in my bed rather than reveal my wakefulness and sickness to my parents.  “Be asleep or he will not come” had been drummed into me; but the message which we heard from the Gospel reading this morning, when we look not at the mythical person of Father Christmas, but the true reason for our forthcoming festivities, Jesus Christ, is that we must keep awake whilst we wait for him to arrive – even when sometimes our patience and wakefulness is challenged by the worries and troubles of our busy lives and the events of the world which surround us.

Our passages from Isaiah and Paul’s letter to the Romans remind us that we are in the dark times until he returns.  The reading from Isaiah was written at the time of the Exile, when the Jews were in captivity in Babylon pondering on why their Temple and city at Jerusalem had been destroyed and they were now in exile and captivity in a foreign land.  They had cried out to God for an explanation and concluded that through their sins God had forsaken them.

The Book of Isaiah is believed, by biblical theologians to be the work of possibly three different people over a period of 70 years.  It is certainly one of the longest books in the bible consisting of 66 chapters – the same number as books as contained in the whole bible – and today our reading was from Chapter 2 – towards the beginning of the book. Isaiah is describing that the Temple will be re-established and that it will be God’s mountain – not only a high place of safety and sanctuary but also one to look up to metaphorically as a place where the word of God will pronounce to all nations the right way to behave – and here we have the famous words well known to many of us – that we should beat our swords into ploughshares – our warlike implements into implements of peace; that nations shall not go to war any more nor lift swords against each other.

In our second hymn this morning the words of G K Chesterton, the creator of Father Brown reminds us that we should ask God to save us from what he calls the sword of scorn and the sword of profanation but pick up a single sword in defence of God’s salvation.

Paul in his letter to the Romans is writing at a time beyond Isaiah’s prophesy of the coming of Jesus and is speaking on how Christians should behave now and in the future – prophesies like those in Isaiah 2 have already been brought into fruition. Paul therefore saw his own mission to the Gentiles as the fulfilment of Isaiah’s promise – the nations were already coming in to God’s people to hear the message of salvation that the creator God had entrusted to the Jews already and so Isaiah’s call for universal peace must be read as our own personal call to holiness – it must be our present agenda.

This week the Archbishop of Canterbury was interviewed on Radio 5 Live and listeners were able and encouraged to question him – especially in the context of the current political situation and pending General Election.  A recurrent theme promoted by the radio host was whether religious leaders should engage in political discussion or public opinions.  This of course followed the comments of the Chief Rabbi and the leadership of the Labour Party. Justin Welby sits on the House of Lords and as such is at the centre of the political life of our nation but even if he were not it is my honest opinion that we in the church should indeed voice our opinions about the political life of our nation.

It is not easy to do, but whoever said that being a Christian is an easy life. I am constantly reminded of Dietrich Bonhoeffer who ultimately gave his life for his involvement in trying to advocate the bringing down of an evil regime.  

At present much darkness seems to surround us.  Liz and I recently had a two-week break in sunny warm climes. We expected to return back here refreshed but both of us remarked upon the cold darkness of our own country.  Now, of course, returning from the Caribbean to England in mid-October is always going to seem dark and miserable by comparison but this year it seemed much darker than normal – and the clocks hadn’t yet been put back either!  No, it seemed that there was a darkness of spirit which pervaded our whole nation.  Only in the last week have we heard about the satanic symbols and slaughter of animals just down the road in one of our neighbouring parishes and just on Friday another attack on London Bridge. Paul re-assures us that the night is nearly over but he also reminds us to wake from our slumber, put away any deeds of darkness and put on the armour of light.

In our cathedral this weekend we celebrate “Darkness into Light” and I believe that is of such importance to us as Christians.  We are told by Jesus himself to be salt and light to the world.  We must uphold those values which God has instilled in all of us.  As we celebrated Christ the the King only last week we need to remember that our principal allegiance is always to Jesus as our Saviour and King and not our earthy rulers. Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, indeed, but also give to God what is his too.

Let us let Jesus have the last word. In our gospel reading, Jesus reminds us to be ever ready and recalls that it was only Noah who had listened to God’s word and had been prepared for the Great Flood. So too must we be ever vigilant. This is a call to us today not to be complacent, not to just let things ride because either we feel too tired or simply just cannot be bothered.  You will recall that Jesus in another place tells his disciples of the signs of the end times – I think I preached on this at our service here on Advent 1 some two years ago. The number of Christians in this country is dropping all the time yet people need and are seeking some spiritual understanding to their lives.  Yet, Christianity is actually on the increase in the world – there are great revivals going on as I speak in Africa and Asia.  Thousands and thousands of people are coming to Christ each week. Muslims are even being converted to Christianity after having seen Jesus appearing in their dreams and I also see a great yearning for spiritual understanding, direction and growth here in our own country.  Never before have the teachings of Christ been more important on such a global scale.  We are called to be the instruments of spreading that light and dispelling the darkness.

That means being alive and awake to what is happening around us and being ready, not sleeping. I believe that Jesus was talking directly to each and every generation. The words are current because a generation will be born which will observe the end times. It could be us or a future generation – we do not know the day or the hour – just as the exiles in Babylon did not know the hour of their release from captivity; but we do know that God does honour his promises and in his time.  We must wait and be patient but always with the greatest of hope in our hearts. 

Let this Adventide be a time for us all to reflect upon this and ask ourselves how we will keep awake and keep the light burning in all this darkness which surrounds us.  My own answer is that we must always start and end in prayer and if you can do nothing else you can always pray from wherever you find yourselves.

Let us end with that famous prayer of St. Teresa of Avila:-

Let nothing disturb you. Let nothing frighten you. All things pass. God does not change. Patience achieves everything. Whoever has God lacks nothing. God alone suffices.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours; no hands but yours; no feet but yours. Yours are the eyes through which the compassion of Christ must look out on the world. Yours are the feet with which He is to go about doing good. Yours are the hands with which He is to bless His people.

Amen


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