Sermon at St. John’s Church, West Grimstead and Farley All Saints’ Church – Advent 2 – Sunday 8 December 2024
Luke
3:1-6
May I speak in the name
of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and may these words be yours Lord, and may
you bless all who hear them. Amen.
A few years ago, I was asked to
give a talk and lead a stargazing session at West Dean Social Club’s Midsummer
Evening’s Party. Not a great date to go
stargazing as it doesn’t get dark until 11 p.m. and then not entirely dark
enough for astronomers to do much work.
However, people did stay on after an excellent Middle-Eastern supper
(the theme was the Arabian Nights).
As daylight began to fade and
twilight approached somebody asked me what the bright star in the west
was. It was the planet Venus and I knew
this because it was expected to appear shortly after sunset in the west; but
try as I might I could not see it for myself. I later on discovered that I had
the beginning of cataracts which is no good ailment for an astronomer and as
time went on, I discovered more and more that my fellow stargazers could see
things with their naked eye, and even through optical instruments, which evaded
my sight.
Earlier this week, on Tuesday
morning in fact, I had the cataract in my left eye removed with a replacement
lens and 36 hours later I was amazed at how my sight had improved. Things were
sharp, objects which before had appeared a light grey were revealed to be
brilliant blue, I no longer required spectacles except for reading and on
Thursday night I was able to try out my new eye on the wonders of the celestial
heavens and to my amazement I could See zillions of stars more in my left eye
than my right. I now can’t wait to get the right eye fixed too.
I started to reflect upon how my
eyesight had slowly gone downhill. Like
the brakes on a car, as they wear down so we adjust by putting that extra
pressure with our foot on the pedal to compensate. Likewise with our eyes, we
turn up the brilliance on our devices and the lights in our houses. I also took
to wearing stronger reading glasses. We make adjustments in our selves rather
than tackle the problem at its root cause and we allow ourselves to be
convinced that we can manage and adjust to the changing circumstances.
In our Gospel Reading this
morning, we heard the now very familiar story of the ministry of Jesus’s
cousin, John the Baptist who, we learn, went into all the region around the
Jordan to proclaim a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins and to proclaim
the coming of Christ, the Messiah as foretold by the prophet Isaiah some
hundreds of years previously.
Back then, the world seemed to
reject God as we read in the last book of the Old Testament, Malachi. I do recommend you read it as, in many ways,
it seems to foretell how our world is today – lacking any enthusiasm for God
our Creator and treating Faith as an irrelevance when we can take control of
our own destiny. Today’s world seems to
be about image and control, and money and wealth of course; and so it was back
then.
I celebrated my seventieth
birthday last year. I have lived more than my three score years and ten and
during that period I have seen enormous changes in the world and in this
country in particular; probably none more so than attitudes towards the Church.
In recent weeks our own Anglican
Communion has been beset by scandals and issues which have rocked its very
being. We seem to be on the verge of another schism. I have even been approached by members of a
different denomination enquiring why and how I can stay within the Church of
England when it seems to be so unbiblical?
My response is that my strength
continues to lie in my Faith which is founded on the Gospel of the Good News of
Jesus coming into the world, to lighten and brighten it. To save the sinners, to comfort the poor and
to bring God’s Kingdom to Earth.
As I have discovered over the last
few days, by placing my trust into the hands of medical experts and an eye
surgeon, in effect having faith in him, I have been brought into the light of
the world, literally, which had become darkened for so long because I “coped”
with the malady on my own.
John the Baptist, appeared during the period of waiting for the Light
of World to appear and he encouraged people to repent and be saved through
baptism. Likewise, as we wait for Christmas, during this period of Advent
reflections, let us think about how we might have contributed towards or
ignored any darkening in our own lives by not reaching out for the lantern
which is Jesus Christ. In the words of Psalm 119:105: –
“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a
light to my path; it shows me the way wherein I should go, both night and day”.
We light candles on the Advent Wreath as a reminder of that light. In
some churches we would also have had individual candles to remind us that as
Christians it is our duty to carry that light of salvation – the way we should
go – to all we meet in our daily lives.
Whenever we stray¸ when the world seems dark and cruel, when we feel we
can no longer see God, remember he is all around us and by accepting Him and
following Him we are in communication with God our Creator who made all things
– from the tiniest of living creatures on Earth to the vastness of the Universe
itself. As John the Baptist told us, we
need only repent of our sins to be cleansed. If we all followed that mantra
then I am certain the world would be a better place.
Just as that cataract of dimness was removed from my eye, so through
the adherence of our Faith, so the dimness in our lives can be removed and
replaced by the glorious light of Christ’s Kingdom on Earth.
And, just before I end, you might be interested to learn that this
Christmas there will be two “Stars of Bethlehem”. On Christmas Eve, it will be
possible to see the planet Venus in the West at Sunset at the same time of
being able to see the bright planet Jupiter in the East.
Wishing you all a Happy Advent and Festive Season ahead.
Amen MFB/207/06122024
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